QUEEN’S PARK – A PC MPP’s Private Member’s Bill that aimed to limit the speed of big rig trucks on Ontario highways – opposed by key Liberal MPPs and denied a third and final reading in the Legislature – has been put on the fast track now that the McGuinty Liberals are on the campaign trail. PC environment critic Laurie Scott introduced a Bill in May 2006 to install speed limiters on transport trucks, which would limit them to travelling at a maximum of 105 kilometres per hour. Though the Bill was supported by the Ontario Trucking Association, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Canadian Automobile Association, the Ontario Safety League, the Ontario Lung Association, and members of all parties, a number of Liberal MPPs voted against it, including parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Transportation Phil McNeely and Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman. On Monday, the proposal was resurrected by Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield, who announced that transport trucks will soon be outfitted with speed limiters. “This plan didn’t even get support from the Minister’s own parliamentary assistant when it was brought forward over a year ago,” Hudak said. “Now that we’re heading into an election, the McGuinty Liberals have pulled a U-turn and said they’re going to have speed limiters installed on trucks.” Scott first brought forward the Bill on the recommendation of the Ontario Trucking Association, which indicated in its own report that limiters would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a minimum of 140 kilotonnes per year, significantly reduce fuel consumption, and improve safety on Ontario highways. Despite overwhelming support, Premier McGuinty allowed the Bill to languish in Legislature for more than a year and then killed it when he adjourned the spring session three weeks early last month. “If the Premier was sincere about improving air quality and safety on Ontario’s highways, he would have passed MPP Scott’s Bill last year,” Hudak said. “Dalton's latest promise is simply a last minute diversion on the road to defeat."