‘I'll believe it when I see it': Islanders frustrated over wait to lower Confederation Bridge tolls
Frustration is growing over a lack of a firm timeline for when the federal government will drop tolls at the Confederation Bridge. Maria Sarrouh has more.
People on Prince Edward Island are eager to see the federal election campaign promise to lower tolls at the Confederation Bridge fulfilled.
Every time a vehicle crosses from P.E.I. to New Brunswick, the driver pays $50 and some change, despite a campaign promise from Prime Minister Mark Carney to cut the toll to $20.
But with no firm timeline to change the cost , frustration is growing.
'I'll believe it when I see it,' one man told CTV News.
'Not gonna happen, that was just an election promise, in my opinion,' said another.
For some tourists, the toll is a small price to pay to see P.E.I.
'I think, to be honest, it's fair enough,' said one woman.
'It's beautiful over here, we're staying on a little farm, it's so nice,' said another.
Trailers and commercial trucks pay a higher toll, and it adds up for big businesses on the island and across the East Coast.
'There's probably 40-to-50 trucks a day for the same company going back and forth; it's a lot,' said one truck driver.
Nearly one million vehicles cross the Confederation Bridge every year and business leaders say every truckload of supplies drives up the cost of operating on the island. The province's potato industry is one of the hardest hit, with up to $7 million in toll-related costs.
Small and medium-sized businesses could be more competitive if the tolls are cut, according to the Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce.
'I think it is really needed at this point. You know, get people looking out there and starting to choose the Atlantic option opposed to the Amazon option,' said Mitch Martin, the chamber's executive director.
CTV News reached out to the prime minister's office for comment on his commitment to cutting P.E.I. bridge tolls and ferry prices but didn't get a response by deadline.
P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz has called the issue a trade barrier and local politicians pushed for the drop to be done by Canada Day. Egmont MP Robert Morrissey was one of them.
'I have every confidence that the prime minister will deliver on the commitment that he made on behalf of us, and I'm in contact with his office on a regular basis. In fact, I spoke to them yesterday,' he said.
Morrissey adds the bridge is federally-owned, but operated by a private group, so lowering the toll means negotiations. He hopes for movement by the end of the summer.
For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
4 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘We're a little bit more unique': CMHC predicts housing dip, but Windsor-Essex staying resilient
Take a look at Windsor's updated housing outlook for July. CTV Windsor's Ricardo Veneza has more. Take a look at Windsor's updated housing outlook for July. CTV Windsor's Ricardo Veneza has more. The latest forecast for the housing market from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), particularly for Ontario, is a dour one — but Windsor-Essex seems to be somewhat of an outlier. On Thursday, the CMHC released its 2025 Housing Market Outlook summer update forecasting price drops of 2 per cent across the country and expecting even larger drops in Ontario and B.C. 'Vancouver and Toronto seem to always skew some of our statistics,' said Julianna Biondo, president of the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors (WECAR). 'I'm not saying that Windsor is immune to any of that for sure but, definitely we're a little bit more unique and niche in our market.' The report points to its new scenario based on Canada-U.S. trade tariff information as of June 26 and predicts tariffs will peak in the second half of the year. That will continue to impact the Canadian economy, producing a mild recession, and contributing to three key factors leading to the housing market slowdown: price pressures, lower demand, and uncertainty. 'I haven't experienced any get out of dodge, you know, everybody [saying] 'Oh, my gosh the sky is falling' I haven't experienced that. But I think there is some hesitancy,' said Biondo. 'We do have a drop in sales for sure.' Windsor is taking the brunt of the trade war, evidenced by Statistics Canada's June jobs report putting the city firmly at the top of the unemployment pile with a jobless rate of 11.2 per cent. But it seems the real estate market in Windsor-Essex is proving resilient — at least in the more competitive sub-$600,000 price bracket where most homes are bought and sold. 'Buyers are just being a little bit more choosy,' said Biondo. 'They're being a little bit more particular and they're getting the opportunity to get their conditions met, which is wonderful. And that is a key element to having a stable environment for a market.' WECAR's June report showed an increase in the average sale price of 2.97 per cent even as home sales dipped again 5.23 per cent and new listings climbed by 11.86 per cent. The CMHC forecast indicates an expected recovery in 2026, even as unemployment is expected to continue to climb come the fall of 2025 and inflation is predicted to crest 3 per cent by mid-2026 due to the trade environment and connected geopolitical events. Come next year, Biondo expects that will mean steadier price increases in the Windsor-Essex market as the broader real estate landscape recovers from a tariff-induced downturn. 'We're still very much in a seller's market in this area,' said Biondo of the sub-$600,000 category. 'Let's let this trade war play out. Everybody knows that this will come to terms at some point.' The other drag on the market, according to the report, is the sluggish home construction much of the country is seeing, particularly in Ontario and British Columbia, where starts are predicted to see even further declines. In those provinces, CMHC points to high housing prices, rising construction costs, and lower investor confidence as factors weighing down the sector with some developers delaying or cancelling projects and missing presale targets as unsold inventory rises — all challenges expected to persist for the rest of 2025.
National Post
34 minutes ago
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: The Law Commission of Canada's radical mission to decolonize justice
Article content To their credit, they don't beat people over the head with social justice. The commission's website is bland; its budget is small ($4 million per year — modest, in government measures); its top project at the moment has to do with charity law, a niche that most people don't think or care about. Think-tank-like, it runs student photo competitions to engage those entering the profession. Article content But within all that mundanity sits an opportunity more open to radical change: the commission's 'Beyond Tomorrow' project, which offers $20,000 to successful essay writers, is aimed at addressing concerns of stakeholders and 'embracing complicated conversations, addressing breakdown of trust, contributing to common endeavours, and fostering constructive change.' Article content It doesn't mean much until you examine those stakeholder concerns, which the commission compiles in an annual report. Included in these are radical notions of a decolonized legal system. Article content 'There is a need for this shift to take place at the pedagogical level in universities, particularly because students are at the heart of decolonization,' read one piece of input in favour of politicizing education even further. Most law schools already mandate Indigenous courses (which are often taught with a heavy anti-Canadian bias). But for some activists, that's simply not enough. Article content Article content Another favoured the 'recognition of Indigenous jurisdiction over environmental matters,' while other feedback spoke of a 'multi-juridical future' in Canada that could be assisted by adding Indigenous legal traditions into law school curriulcums. Canada, for context, is a bijural system that uses both English common law and French civil law; some activists insist that the notion of 'Indigenous law' — a heterogeneous mix of tribal traditions that are often interpreted through the lens of far-left academics — should make up a third pillar of Canadian law that governs the lives of citizens. The federal justice department supports making this so-called third order of law a reality. Article content We have every reason to believe these will resonate with the commission. Aside from its initial mandate, it published a bizarre navel-gazey essay about intersectionality — one concept at the heart of progressive thought — written in the fluffy, philosophically shallow style of a diversity consultant's website. For example: Article content 'Intersections may prompt us to think of Canada in the world and of worlds within Canada, or of the complicated and perhaps permeable boundaries between human and non-human, whether living or artificial. Solidly grounded in the complex reality of law, the framing notion of intersection mandates ambitious creativity in delineating the scope of meaningful law reform.' Article content
CBC
34 minutes ago
- CBC
Sask. tech companies look to EU for growth amid US tariffs
Federal figures suggest Canadian companies are looking to Europe in larger numbers to reduce their reliance on markets and investment in the United States. In April, 245 Canadian startups showcased their products at the Hannover Messe trade fair in Germany. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe also attended the trade show, with hopes of promoting Canadian exports. Aaron Genest, president of Sask Tech and a manager at Siemens Digital Industries, says that trade with the United States is unlikely to change much, but most new market expansion is coming from Europe. "We have a very small tech industry, but we have a lot of tech-enabled industries in Saskatchewan in mining and in agriculture, for instance," said Genest. "Those companies are seeing lots of opportunities in the EU." As for the stock market, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) reached a record high on Friday, with technology shares leading the gains. A deadline of Aug. 1 on a Canada-US trade deal continues to loom however, and could be the cause of so many companies turning attention to overseas growth. Though outcomes are still uncertain, Trump said Friday that his country may not reach a new trade deal with Canada. Genest says that the Federal and Provincial governments are doing a lot to create buzz for Canadian exports to Europe, and it gives businesses more opportunity. "There are artificial logistics that could be put in place that would change that equation, and we're seeing that with the Trump government," said Genest. "They've been clearly making it harder to move things. At some point those artificial barriers overcome the geographical convenience." CEO and Founder of Saskatoon's River City Innovations Jeff Shirley produces industrial electronic temperature sensors for foreign and domestic markets. He says that he still does business with the US, but in the past two years, he's tripled his business in the Middle East. With his business having presence in Spain and France as well, Shirley says Canadian companies have developed a reputation of quality and reliability. "We found the local market here in Canada to be very challenging right now," said Shirley. Last week, Scott Moe called on all provinces and territories to join Canada's largest barrier-free interprovincial market through the New West Partnership Trade Agreement. Originally created in 2010, the agreement has lower procurement thresholds and fewer exemptions than the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
