“Maybe they could just answer their emails”

“Government does not have to spend money to find out what we think“

Truckers for Safer Highways co-founder Travis McDougall was bemused to learn that Canada’s federal government is paying a consulting firm to conduct discussion groups on barriers in trucking.

“Maybe they could just answer their emails, instead of paying a consultant hold discussions,” notes McDougall, who has written to the offices of both the federal and provincial Transportation Ministers to ask for better winter driver training and much better enforcement on numerous occasions. “They don’t have to spend money to find out what we think.”

The discussion project being organized by the Government of Canada is designed to “identify barriers to internal trade and labour mobility in the trucking sector. This research will help develop creative policy solutions to facilitate the movement of trucks and workers across provinces and territories.”

“We are currently looking for participants (business and workers in the trucking sector) to take part in discussion groups during the months of March and April 2024. The purpose of this phase of the research project is to understand how barriers to internal trade and labour mobility affect members of the trucking sector differently,” the invitation reads.

“Please note that these focus groups will be bilingual, and that participants will have the opportunity to speak in the official language of their choice. Please also note that for reporting purposes, all input will be aggregated, and no confidential or proprietary information will be included.

Interested participants can sign up between now and March 18 by clicking on the links in the table below:”