Dear Editor:
I have returned from wintering in Florida and discovered that in the February Wellington Advertisers there were articles regarding the Morriston bypass and its progress – or lack thereof.
As a former resident of Puslinch who, along with Bill Knetsch and many others who were heavily involved in moving this long overdue project forward, I have continued to take a keen interest in it.
I was recently forwarded a section of the Hansard record for March 9 dealing with the questions raised by Mr. Knetsch around the Morriston bypass. While I am sure the intent of the record was to show that the government is working on the project and where it currently stands, what struck me was the misinformation provided by transportation minister Caroline Mulroney.
Not once, but twice she referred to the previous Liberal government’s inaction on the project and how it was the current government who approved the bypass and are actively working on it. Really? Are the Conservatives trying to rewrite history? The project was approved in 2016 by the then Liberal government through the hard work of then-transportation minister Stephen Del Duca, the current Liberal leader. Shovels were due to go in the ground in 2019.
When the current government took power in 2018, we waited with bated breath to see if they would cancel the bypass project as they did so many other Liberal-introduced projects. We were somewhat relieved to find that it was still on the burner, but not necessarily on the front burner.
I do understand that other aspects of the project need to be completed (such as work on the 401) to tie in with the bypass but this does not preclude parallel work being done on the rest of the route. If the government was at all serious about this project, it would be a lot further along.
So forgive me if I side with Mr. Knetsch when he says that the controversial Highway 413 and the Brantford Bypass (in the minster of transportation’s riding) are pushing the Morriston bypass further down the funding list.
This in itself is disheartening but misinforming the public about who actually approved the Morriston bypass is just playing politics. In the 40 years of many people fighting for this realignment, all political parties had a kick at the can and did nothing, but it was the Liberals in 2016 who approved it.
Sandra Solomon,
Belwood (formerly of Puslinch)