Iain Rankin says commercial vehicles, non-Nova Scotia drivers would continue paying until at least 2026
AMHERST, N.S. — Bill Dowe is of two views when it comes to the future of tolls on the Cobequid Pass.
As president of the Amherst and Area Chamber of Commerce, he is happy to see the tolls removed after nearly 25 years. As a trucker, he’s furious he will be required to continue paying them.
“It’s mediocre at best. It sounds like it’s good for people travelling for medical appointments or to see family elsewhere in the province, but it does absolutely nothing to alleviate the cost of shipping product to the rest of Nova Scotia or getting product from other parts of the province,” Dowe said Tuesday, July 20. “It’s long past due. It’s time to pay off this debt and remove the toll for everyone.”
Dowe estimates commercial traffic is responsible for up to $10 million in revenues annually and represents approximately 51 per cent of all revenue generated by the highway tolls.
“This does nothing for truckers," said Dowe. "There’s no help whatsoever for people in the transportation industry and in the long run the consumer will pay the cost of goods moving in and out of our county.
Campaign announcement
Earlier in the day, Liberal Leader Iain Rankin made a campaign stop in Amherst to announce the province would eliminate tolls for non-commercial Nova Scotia drivers on the 44-kilometre Cobequid Pass on Oct. 1.
“Affordable regional travel is critical to our economy and connects us to people who we care about,” Rankin said. “During the third wave, Nova Scotians worked hard to keep each other safe. It was a particularly tough time for people near the New Brunswick border. Removing tolls on the Cobequid Pass is one way to make it easier for Nova Scotians to reconnect with relationships that matter most to them.”
Rankin was greeted by a vocal group of protesters, some of whom waved signs in support of independent candidate and former PC MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin. Rankin, who briefly engaged the protesters before his announcement, was heckled throughout his speech
Protester Tom Everett said he came to the announcement to be heard. He led a group of people who have been protesting at the border with New Brunswick since May and organized the blockade that shut the highway down for nearly 24 hours in June.
“We’ve been protesting for weeks and no one is recognizing us, so we had to do something to be recognized,” Everett said. “We had to let Premier Rankin know we matter because a lot of us think we don’t matter to him. The only time it seems we matter on this side of the Cobequid Pass is when he needs a vote. Now he’s going to save us $4 to take the highway to Halifax. We want him to know it’s not going to fly.”
During his announcement, Rankin said eliminating the tolls is possible because of higher-than-expected traffic volumes leading up to the pandemic that led to increased revenues.
He said it builds on the announcement several weeks ago to remove fees from provincially operated ferries.
Rankin said the remaining debt is in the “tens of millions” and will be paid off by September. He said he understands how motorists going elsewhere in Nova Scotia can sometimes feel as they are only entering the province when they approach the toll booth.
“I know you don’t feel connected and we don’t want that,” he said, adding he also understands the frustrations of people living along the border with New Brunswick during the pandemic’s restrictions.
“We know for Amherst residents it was a heavy burden. Maintaining isolation requirements had a great impact on this area. I understand this and did not do this without Public Health asking me to," said Rankin. "Working with Dr. (Robert) Strang we decided the border measures were necessary because of the virus and how it was spreading. When we felt it was safe we removed those restrictions.”
The province is moving forward with the construction of rest stations and maintenance facilities at the midpoint of both lanes of the highway that connects Thomson Station in Cumberland County and Glenholme in Colchester.
Still tolls for some
Rankin said commercial vehicles and drivers from outside Nova Scotia will continue paying the toll with Rankin hinting those tolls may be removed by 2026 the original date the debt for the highway was supposed to be paid off.
Former MP Bill Casey, who was long an opponent of the toll from the time it was first announced in 1994, is running for the Liberals in Cumberland North. He said he’s happy to see government acknowledge the burden of the tolls and take action to eliminate a local irritant.
“People in Cumberland County often feel as though we’re disconnected from the rest of Nova Scotia and tolls are tangible evidence of that,” Casey told reporters later. “It was important for me to hear that they would entertain this and today they followed through with it.”
Election ploy?
Dowe, however, said the announcement is nothing more than an election ploy – another promise he fears won’t be kept. It’s the third time government has promised to eliminate the tolls.
During the 2017 provincial election, and again during the 2018 Cumberland South byelection, then-premier Stephen McNeil promised to eliminate the tolls as soon as the debt is paid off, predicting it would likely happen in 2019 or 2020 – but not 2026 as suggested by the opposition Progressive Conservatives.
Lloyd Hines, the province’s transportation minister, stepped back from that pledge in early 2020 saying he wanted a pair of capital projects – rest stops and a maintenance area – completed first.
“All this is about is buying votes," Dowe said. "After the election, and as we move closer to that Oct. 1 date, there will be a reason why it can’t be done. I’m highly skeptical. I hate to sound cynical but I fear it will become another broken election promise. I said when they opened that highway that the toll would never disappear. It’s as temporary as income tax.”
Dowe also questioned maintaining the tolls on out-of-province drivers. He said the announcement will do nothing to encourage tourism, which is a huge part of the economy of
Nova Scotia and something that will be important to leading the province out of the pandemic economically.
Province needs to go further
Amherst Mayor Dr. David Kogon said that while he welcomes the announcement, he doesn’t think it goes far enough.
“It’s a first step and hopefully one that will eventually see tolls removed for all vehicles sometime in the future,” Kogon said.
The mayor said the announcement is good for people on this side of the toll highway who wish to use it to go to other parts of the province, but it’s not good for businesses who will continue to suffer the burden of the added costs of the tolls.
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Nova Scotia Liberal leader pledges to remove Cobequid Pass tolls by Oct. 1
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
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