Cobequid Pass tolls to end: Grits
Protesters heckle Rankin over border restrictions
AMHERST — 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 continuing 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. “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 about 51 per cent of all revenue generated by the highway tolls.
“This does nothing for truckers. 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,” Dowe said.
Earlier Tuesday, Iain Rankin made a campaign stop in Amherst to announce a Liberal government 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,” the Liberal leader 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. The premier, 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.”
“I know you don't feel connected and we don't want that,” Rankin 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. 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.”
During his announcement, the premier 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 “10s of millions” and will be paid off by September. He said he understands how motorists going elsewhere in Nova Scotia can sometimes feel as if they are only entering the province when they approach the toll booth.
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.
Rankin said commercial vehicles and drivers from outside Nova Scotia will continue paying the toll with the leader 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 when 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.”