Laval, March 16, 2017 – The provincial government and the Québec Provincial Police (QPP) are looking for scapegoats. It appears that they’re accusing two truckers, who were stuck in snow and allegedly refusing to move, of causing the traffic jam that trapped 300 drivers on the A13 during a blizzard from the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
In any case, that’s what the Teamsters are taking away from the QPP’s press conference this morning. These are, in our opinion, serious allegations that need to be put in perspective.
If this is true, then the police failed in its duties by not taking all the legal means at its disposal to force to the truckers to move.
Tow trucks should also have been able to access the highway to move the vehicles.
Moreover, the Ministry of Transportation should have had snow removal crews in place to facilitate traffic on the A13. None of this would have happened had the highway been properly cleared.
Finally, we sincerely doubt that these truckers wanted to stay put for hours on the A13. Truckers are usually paid by the kilometre and lose a substantial amount of money when they aren’t on the road.
There were so many failures during these sad events. Instead of scapegoating a couple of truckers, the Couillard government should focus on improving how it deals with major snowstorms.
This is Canada, after all.
Teamsters Canada represents 125,000 members in Canada in all industries. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America.
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Information:
Stéphane Lacroix, Directeur of Public Relations
Cell: 514-609-5101
[email protected]
