Ghosted: Province declines to answer question about Highway 69 four-laning timeline, again

Tyler Clarke - July 10, 2026
 Sudbury.com

The unanswered question Sudbury.com submitted was: ‘By what date does the province commit to four-laning the final 68-km stretch of Highway 69 between Sudbury and Toronto?

A Ministry of Transportation map shows the section of Highway 69 which still needs to be four-laned.Image: Ministry of Transportation

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In the latest in a long list of refusals on the part of the provincial government to answer questions regarding the four-laning of Highway 69, they’ve done it again.

Earlier this week, Sudbury.com sent Ministry of Transportation communications staff the following question: “By what date does the province commit to four-laning the final 68-km stretch of Highway 69 between Sudbury and Toronto?”

They have yet to acknowledge the email.

This is common practice among provincial ministries under the Ford government. When they do choose to respond, interview requests are consistently ignored and written statements frequently fail to answer all of the questions they are asked.

As reported earlier today, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing communications staff have also neglected to respond to an inquiry regarding the status of a request by Mayor Paul Lefebvre for them to enact the Disaster Recovery Assistance Program for Ontarians. Between the June 29 inquiry and follow-up emails sent on July 7, July 8 and July 10, they have yet to respond.

In early March, Sudbury.com sent provincial spokespeople a series of questions regarding Highway 69, including:

What's the hold-up in addressing the Magnetawan land claim? An assessment was to be completed within three years, a timeline which has passed. Why hasn't it been completed?

Last year, Premier Doug Ford pledged to get Highway 69 done "as quickly as possible." What evidence is there that this has been a priority in the 12 months that followed his making this statement?

Four-laning Highway 69 has been a "priority" for eight years. What has the province done in that time to signal to Northern Ontarians that they've followed through on this pledge?

Under what specific timeline does the province propose finalizing the four-laning of Highway 69?

What is the status of the province's consultation with each of the three affected First Nations, including Magnetawan, Henvey Inlet and Shawanaga?

None of these questions were meaningfully answered.

Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West picked up the mantle by asking similarly themed questions, which Transportation Minister Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria failed to meaningfully answer.

Then, Sudburian Ryan Minor took it upon himself to file a series of freedom of information requests seeking information regarding the four-laning of Highway 69. The province's first response came back recently, in which Minor sought “a record containing the current timeline for actual construction of the highway, preferably broken down by highway segment.”

This record was withheld under Section 18 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which allows records to be withheld “to protect the economic interests of Ontario.”

The operative clause indicates, “A head may refuse to disclose a record.” The use of “may” and not “must” means the decision to withhold the information is subjective. In this case, the decision was made by Transportation Infrastructure Management Division assistant deputy minister Eric Doidge, under the delegated authority of Sarkaria. Minor is appealing this decision.

In related news, West joined fellow NDP MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) in penning an open letter to Premier Doug Ford on July 3 highlighting the importance of four-laning Highway 69.

The Manitoulin-Sudbury District Services Board penned an open letter to Sarkaria similarly supporting the completion of the Highway 69 four-laning project.

They listed the consequences of not completing the four-laning as being the following:

Continued risk of high-speed head-on collisions inherent to undivided two-lane highways

Ongoing loss of life and life-altering injuries that are largely preventable through divided highway infrastructure

Significant and repeated psychological trauma experienced by paramedics, firefighters and other emergency responders attending fatal and catastrophic collisions

Continued strain on local and regional healthcare resources due to severe trauma cases

Ongoing wildlife-vehicle collisions resulting in both human injury and animal mortality

Continued preventable economic and social impacts on affected families and communities

The project’s completion is an “urgent” matter, they said, adding that the project “represents a critical and evidence-based public safety intervention that directly addresses preventable harm that continues under the current configuration.”

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.