More than 1,000 tow trucks are set to converge upon Queen’s Park on Tuesday, tying up traffic to protest the province’s auto insurance law.
The protest will be similar to a 2014 demonstration over the same legislation, Bill 15, which MPPs passed back in November of that year. It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.
Ontario said the new auto insurance legislation will regulate the tow truck industry and reduce auto insurance rates by 15 per cent.
However, tow truck industry officials said the new rules, which limit the number of hours operators can work and require drivers to provide a list of charges to customers, will put more restrictions on drivers, affect their bottom line and may ultimately raise prices.
Under the new act, drivers are under the authority of the Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration, which would limit their workdays to 13 hours, and a maximum of 60 hours a week. Drivers said this will limit their ability to serve customers and create longer response times, especially during the winter.
Starting at 7 a.m., tow trucks are expected to make their way from about eight different locations outside the downtown core using highways 400, 401, 403, 410, 427, the Gardiner Expressway, and the Don Valley Parkway.
Tow truck drivers are expected to arrive at the Ontario legislature around 9:30 a.m.
Police are warning the protest will disrupt the morning and afternoon rush hour commutes along local roads and highways and as the tow trucks make their way into downtown Toronto.
Tow truck drivers are expected to travel along two routes. One involves trucks heading south on the DVP, exiting at the Richmond Street East off-ramp, continuing along Richmond Street to University Avenue, then north on University Avenue and arriving at Queen’s Park Crescent.
With the second route, drivers will travel east on the Gardiner, to the York/Bay/Yonge Street off-ramp, head north on University Avenue and to Queen’s Park
Drivers involved in the protest will arrive at Queen’s Park from various staging routes around the GTA. They include:
- Brock Road and Highway 401
- Woodbine Avenue, north of Steeles Avenue East
- Northeast corner of Keele Street and Wilson Avenue
- Highway 7 and Highway 410
- Dixie Road and Queen Elizabeth Way
- Winston Churchill Boulevard and Argentia Road
- Mavis Road and Highway 401
- King City Side Road and Highway 400
- Evergreen Brick Works at 550 Bayview Ave
The tow trucks, along with their drivers, are expected to surround Queen’s Park Crescent using three lanes, leaving the fourth one free for motorists and emergency vehicles.
They are expected to converge on the south lawn between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
