Bill 59 explained in plain English
Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act, 2022
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 59, the Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act, 2021, amends the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act to establish a five-class highway system with specific snow removal timelines to improve winter road maintenance.
This bill, called the Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act, 2021, proposes to amend the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act. It aims to improve winter road maintenance by establishing a system to classify highways and setting specific timelines for snow removal based on highway class. The bill classifies highways into five classes, with Class 1 highways (including 400-series highways, the QEW, Highways 11 and 17) having the most stringent snow removal requirements, needing to be clear of snow within eight hours of the end of a snowfall. Other classes have progressively longer timelines or different standards, such as maintaining a clear center strip or a snow-packed surface.
- Amends the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act.
- Establishes a system for classifying highways into five classes.
- Defines which highways fall into Class 1, including 400-series highways, the QEW, Highways 11 and 17.
- Sets specific standards and timelines for snow removal for each highway class after a snowfall.
- Requires the Minister to ensure snow removal in accordance with the new provisions.
- The Minister of Transportation (responsible for ensuring snow removal standards are met).
- Drivers using Ontario highways, particularly in winter conditions.
- The Ministry of Transportation (responsible for classifying highways and potentially regulating their maintenance).
- The Minister has an obligation to ensure snow is removed from highways according to the established standards and timelines.
- Drivers have a right to expect highways to be cleared of snow within specified times based on their classification.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- The exact date the Act comes into force is not specified and depends on a proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor.
- While the bill defines Class 1 highways, the criteria for classifying highways into Classes 2 through 5 (based on traffic volume, traffic quality, and other prescribed criteria) are to be set by regulation and are not detailed in the bill itself.
- The bill does not specify penalties for failing to meet the snow removal standards.
This Act is amended by adding a new section that establishes a highway classification system and sets standards for winter road maintenance, including timelines for snow removal.
Source: Section 1
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced