Companies which are contracted to clear the highways in Ontario sometimes fall short of whatever standard is expected. When they fail, they are fined. And while there are no examples cited in media reports of exactly how they fell short, contractors owe as much as $2.5 million in fines for poor performance last winter, according to Mike Crawley, the CBC’s Queen’s Park reporter. The process is saddled with an appeal process that apparently takes many months. Crawley writes: “The province levied $3.25 million in fines against its highway maintenance contractors during the winter of 2015-16, but has so far only collected $693,000.” . The ministry says five contractors owing $2.56 million in fines from last winter are involved in the appeal process, which can be followed by mediation, then arbitration or litigation.
