Northern Ontario: Residents Unite and Rally Over Dangerous Highways and Fatal Crashes

For years, residents and municipalities across Northern Ontario have been sounding the alarm about the condition of Highways 11 and 17, but the current wave of mobilization marks a clear breaking point.

These highways, which have only one lane in each direction and no real alternate routes over long distances, leave little room for error. Passing manoeuvres are risky, and when a crash occurs, the consequences are immediate: serious collisions, full road closures, and entire communities cut off from the rest of the province.

This configuration is further compounded by well-documented aggravating factors, including a high volume of heavy truck traffic, sometimes operated by drivers who are poorly trained or hold licenses obtained fraudulently, a lack of inspections of commercial vehicles, winter maintenance widely viewed as insufficient for a corridor of this importance, and long stretches without lighting or a central median.

These routes are not merely regional roads. They form a critical segment of the Trans-Canada Highway, a vital corridor for workers, families, and the movement of goods across the country.

It is in this context that several Northern Ontario municipalities are organizing coordinated peaceful rallies on Saturday, January 24, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Events are planned in Smooth Rock Falls, Cochrane, Temiskaming Shores, Hearst and Fauquier-Strickland, highlighting the geographic scale of the movement. Everywhere, the message is the same: the situation is no longer tolerable. Organizers want to make it clear that the issue goes far beyond any single community and affects all those who depend on these highways every day.

For many residents, this mobilization is also deeply personal. Jennifer Baker, a resident of Hilliardton involved in the Temiskaming Shores rally, explains that the movement is meant for everyone affected by the highway’s dangerous conditions.

“This rally is for all Northerners – for every life that has been senselessly lost, people who should still be here today.”

The human and social impacts are severe. Deaths continue to mount, serious crashes repeat themselves, and road closures occur year after year. Over the course of a single year, these interruptions add up to weeks — sometimes more than a month — of closures, paralyzing travel, the local economy and access to essential services.

For many residents, this reality creates genuine fear. People who pay their taxes like every other Ontarian now hesitate to take the road simply to get to work, fully aware that a minor incident can quickly turn into a tragedy or prolonged isolation.

“This rally is deeply personal to me. I travel that highway every day – to go to work, get groceries, and attend appointments”, explains Jennifer Baker. “My husband is a professional truck driver with 20 years of experience. He has gone through the proper training and is fully qualified and equipped for Northern travel conditions. Yet despite all of this, he is putting his life at risk every single time he goes out on a trip.”

She says the psychological toll is real.

“The carnage he has witnessed on our highways caused by unqualified drivers has left him shaken. My family, my friends, my co-workers – all Northerners – are forced to take that same risk every time we get on that highway.”

On the political front, some Northern Ontario elected officials have been working for years to push the issue forward. Lise Vaugeois, Guy Bourgouin and John Vanthof are among those actively pressing the provincial government to improve road conditions. John Vanthof’s sharing of the calls to mobilize further underscores that the issue cuts across political lines and is widely recognized as a public safety concern. While the dangers of Highways 11 and 17 are well known, documented and regularly raised at Queen’s Park, communities on the ground continue to point to a persistent gap between political commitments and tangible action.

“Decision-makers and elected officials need to understand that Northerners have had enough. We are standing united and calling for real action – not more empty promises. We want to see better winter maintenance, more MTO inspections and enforcement, more passing lanes or, ideally, a divided highway, and most importantly, stricter licensing regulations. It’s time to start shutting down these fraudulent companies who are selling these unskilled drivers commercial vehicle licenses.”

Road safety can no longer wait.

“Acting on road safety is so critical because Northerners’ lives are at risk every single day. How many more lives need to be lost before they finally take action?”

These figures directly clash with the narrative promoted by the Doug Ford government, which continues to claim that Ontario’s roads are among the safest. For many Northern residents, such statements reflect a deep disregard for reality. The government is seen as minimizing the suffering of grieving families, downplaying deaths, and, in the eyes of many, trivializing the memory of victims.

When people continue to die on these highways, insisting that everything is fine is perceived as mocking those who are gone — and those who live with the fear of being next.

The January 24 rallies are intended to send a clear, collective message: there is a limit to what Northerners are willing to accept. Highways 11 and 17 — and all the roads across Northern Ontario — must become safe. There is no longer room for inaction.

Tonight at 5 p.m. on Truck Stop Québec radio, hear Hearst Mayor Roger Sigouin discuss the rallies and the ongoing situation on Northern Ontario’s highways (French).

Read More : 

• Ontario’s Highway 11-17: Crashes, Broken Lives… and Government Neglect
• The trucking industry and Mr. Barsalou-Duval call for an investigation and reform measures in Ottawa
• Highway 11 : A Tragedy That Slipped Under the Radar Exposes Major Gaps and a Deep Sense of Injustice
• Truck Driver Rajwinder Singh Sentenced to 55 days in jail for taking Adrianna’s life