Re-elected PC government will expand provincial waterbomber fleet, widen Highway 69 to keep Northern communities safe
Seguin Township, February 14, 2025 — Today, Ontario PC candidates Graydon Smith and Prabmeet Sarkaria were in Seguin Township to announce that a re-elected PC government will help protect Northern Ontario homes, businesses and communities from wildfires by purchasing six new waterbombers, for a total of $530 million. These new waterbombers would be phased in over the next 10 years, bringing the total number of provincial waterbombers to 15.
“While the previous Liberal government abandoned Northern Ontario, our PC government has made record investments to make rural and Northern communities safer and more prosperous,” said Graydon Smith. “By expanding our provincial fleet of waterbombers, we’re protecting homes and businesses and supporting growth throughout Northern Ontario.”
A re-elected PC government will also invest to improve road safety, support trade and economic growth, and keep workers on the job by accelerating $15 billion in infrastructure investments across Ontario. In Northern Ontario, this includes working with First Nations communities to advance the widening of Highway 69 from two to four lanes from Parry Sound to Sudbury.
“We’re making record investments to make Northern Ontario roads safer and help keep workers on the job in the face of President Trump’s tariff threats,” said Prabmeet Sarkaria. “From bringing back the Northlander to expanding roads and highways, we’re doing what it takes to make Northern Ontario more connected and more prosperous.”
The Ontario PC government’s investments mean that the Northlander train service, with 16 stops from Toronto to Cochrane, including Washago, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge and Huntsville, is on track to re-enter service next year, nearly 15 years after it was shut down by the previous Liberal government.
Only Doug Ford and the Ontario PCs have a plan to protect Ontario:
- Building Ontario’s economy by investing more than $200 billion in our plan to build roads, highways, transit and other infrastructure projects while investing $2.5 billion to train more than one million people for better jobs and bigger paycheques in the skilled trades.
- Protecting workers in the face of President Trump’s tariffs by doing whatever is necessary to protect people’s livelihoods, including by investing tens of billions of dollars to keep people working.
- Keeping us competitive by fighting the job-killing Liberal carbon tax and urging the federal government to cut red tape and streamline approvals to get big things built.
- Cleaning up our streets by protecting families and children by banning drug injection sites near schools and daycares and clearing out encampments from public parks with new investments in shelters.
- Delivering better care, including by investing $1.8 billion more to connect everyone in Ontario to a family doctor and primary care.
Doug Ford will never stop working to protect Ontario.
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