The Urgent Push to Upgrade Northern Ontario Highways | The Rundown

Closures on Highways 11 and 17 can cut off entire northern communities and disrupt supply chains, raising questions about why long-standing calls for more resilient infrastructure have yet to be answered. Charles Cirtwill, founding president and CEO of the Northern Policy Institute, and Maggie Horsfield, first vice-president of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities and deputy mayor of North Bay, join Jeyan to discuss. Then, in Sault Ste. Marie, a decades-old vision for a deep-water port is back in focus. Could the project finally move forward, and what would it take to make it viable? Mayor Matthew Shoemaker weighs in. 00:00 Intro 1:18 Why leaders say action is overdue 2:42 How dangerous are these highways 5:45 Fixes on the table: twinning vs 2+1 10:21 What governments are doing and what’s missing 12:33 Push for national interest and federal role 19:54 Sault Ste. Marie port and northern economy About The Rundown: The Rundown is your nightly half-hour deep dive into just one headline. With host Jeyan Jeganathan, we’ll cover everything from housing and health care to climate and AI. We’ll break down why each topic matters, who’s living it, and what’s being done to make things better – starting right here in Ontario. Slow down. Tune in. Make sense of the moment. And tell us what you think. Follow on social media: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/therundowntvo Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/TheRundownTVO X- https://twitter.com/therundowntvo Bluesky- https://bsky.app/profile/therundowntvo.bsky.social Subscribe to TVO Today to watch more content like this: https://www.youtube.com/@tvotoday Listen to the podcast: https://www.tvo.org/podcasts/the-rundown-audio Check out the rest of the TVO ecosystem TVO Docs - https://www.youtube.com/@tvo TVO Kids - https://www.youtube.com/@TVOkids TVO Learn - https://www.youtube.com/@tvolearn Download the TVO Today App Apple - https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/tvo-today/id1616182112 Available on: Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung, LG, Amazon Fire TV Enjoying this content and want to make a meaningful impact? Consider donating today! https://support.tvo.org/site/Donation2?mfc_pref=T&idb=599945504&df_id=16843&16843.donation=form1&DONATION_LEVEL_ID_SELECTED=1661&mfc_pref=T