NDP MPP demands to know why Waterloo Region wasn’t granted a temporary road test centre

By Karis Mapp

Community members of Waterloo Region are frustrated by the wait time they're encountering to book a driver's test. Over 300,000 people are looking to book a test now and the earliest appointments available are well into 2022. 

The backlog stems from drive test centres being closed for almost three months due to the pandemic. The government recognized the issue and made the decision to open temporary road test centres across the province. Guelph, Mississauga and Stratford were a few cities to be granted these pop-up centres and most recently it was Sarnia, Niagara Falls and Ottawa.

Kitchener's NDP MPP, Catherine Fife, was confused as to why Waterloo Region was not included on list of centre locations. 

“This adds insult to injury for the people of Kitchener/Waterloo because we have the population and we have the demographics that warrant a pop-up temporary drive test centre to address the backlog in this region,” said Fife. 

She wrote a letter to Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney asking why Waterloo Region was forgotten about, but has not yet heard back on the matter. In the letter, she said that “the situation has continued to escalate and community members are increasingly stressed by the lack of attention to this issue”.

With the amount of individuals looking to book a test, the desperation is becoming evident. Many are commuting to as far as Owen Sound in attempts of obtaining a licence quicker. Fife understands their frustration but says they should not have to leave their local area to get a license.

Many people returning to work for the first time in a while and having a method of transportation is more important now than ever.

“Long wait times for appointments locally are posing a serious barrier to people's ability to go to work,” said Fife. “The long lineups and wait times to access a G license road test is preventing people from earning a living”

Fife also noted that younger drivers with their G2 licenses are paying higher insurance rates because they can't access a test to become a full G certified driver, at which they would be paying lower rates. There is also a growing amount of pressure to anybody going to take a test because they know if they're unsuccessful, they may not get a chance to retest for at least another year.

Despite not yet hearing back from Mulroney, Fife and her team said they will continue to apply the pressure needed to get the region a pop-up centre because it is will benefit everyone. 

“We've heard that the minister is addressing other pressure areas but we've made the case that Waterloo Region is indeed a pressure area,” said Fife. “What we would like to see is Minister Mulroney acknowledge that our region and our residents warrant this kind of investment and we need to address this backlog to get people back to work.”

 

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