The growing outrage over the constant breakdowns of the swing bridge at Little Current, that remains the Island鈥檚 only full season access, has engendered recent online petitions calling on the replacement of the bridge to be moved forward. What do we want, we want a bridge, when do we want it? We want it now!
For a party that is eying up expansion in the North, Doug Ford鈥檚 Progressive Conservatives, it is puzzling that they are continuing to hold Manitoulin electors in contempt. That is a perception that is growing across the Island, as commuters seeking off-Island medical appointments and other goods and services that they cannot source in their home communities, are stymied by sudden and unpredicted closures.
Certainly, as reported in the pages of this newspaper earlier this year, the replacement of the Manitoulin swing bridge was mentioned in the recent provincial budget鈥攂ut that was essentially all the information Doug Ford鈥檚 government has provided a travel-weary public.
This is a disgraceful lack of transparency, placed against the assurances provided to The Expositor by Premier Ford when he was seeking his first mandate, that his government would 鈥榗ut through the red tape鈥� and just 鈥渂uild the thing.鈥� Assurances of swift and decisive action comparable to his promise to build a road to the Ring of Fire 鈥渋f I have to get on the bulldozer myself鈥� and assurances that his government would 鈥渆nd hallway medicine.鈥�
That first election in 2018 secured Mr. Ford a majority mandate, thereby placing under his hand the near total power conferred by our parliamentary system to such victors. This electoral victory cleared away any significant obstacles that might be strewn in his path by Ontario鈥檚 opposition parties. A second election in 2022 did the same.
Since then, Premier Ford has throughout spent literally billions of dollars on building superhighways thought Greenbelt lands, while offering up the dubious opportunity for underage youth to access alcohol through the thousands of corner stores and groceries across the province. But of our earnestly promised expedited bridge鈥攊t鈥檚 been crickets in the halls of power.
Therein, as they say, lies the rub.
That is not to say there has been no progress. To be fair, the 鈥渞ed tape鈥� studies so reviled by the then Mr. Ford have been completed. Lands have been expropriated (or are close to being so) for the entry and egress of the new bridge. We have been assured the detailed design phase for the new swing bridge is underway.
So, why the silence? There is little doubt that timelines are in play. The government bureaucracies know roughly when the new bridge is anticipated to be in place.
In fairness, a two-lane swing bridge does not get built in a day. It takes time, a lot of time, to ensure that the new structure is safe, secure and ready to serve for a century like its predecessor. But it is the silence that is so very frustrating for Island residents.
Oh, to be sure, travelling across the Island to arrive at a swing bridge that is stuck in mid-swing is annoying (and potentially life-threatening), but the contempt inherent in the silence of the Tories is helping to fuel an anger that will do little to encourage Manitoulin Island electors to vote blue. Perhaps we can anticipate some new and exciting promises when Premier Ford drops his highly anticipated early writ and plunges us all into an unnecessary election cycle鈥攋ust to be able to leverage the personal unpopularity of the current federal prime minister. Who knows? Certainly, Islanders don鈥檛.
In the meantime, Manitoulin Island residents, many of them elderly and vulnerable, are left having to decide if they should travel to their off-Island appointments a day early to ensure they might arrive on time. Getting those appointments was a challenge in the first place thanks to the provincial government dropping the ball on healthcare.
Premier Doug Ford owes Manitoulin a clear answer as to when actual construction on the new bridge will begin and when it will be completed, an answer at least as clear and assertive as his promise of six years ago. Otherwise, perhaps Hydro One should look into harnessing the abundant hot air emanating from our current premier.
