Why isn’t Canada cracking down on illegal truckers?

You may have come across some of our trucking stories lately. No, we’re not talking about the patriots who were part of the Freedom Convoy in 2022. Those truckers were and are heroes.

Rather, we speak of certain newcomers to our once great Dominion. You know, people who lack basic driving and language skills, yet are still somehow on the road driving 18-wheelers!

And consider the number of trucks that are poorly maintained, resulting in a clear and present danger.

And then there are those mblockive trucking storage yards in such Ontario cities such as Vaughan, Caledon, and Brampton. These yards are illegally situated on residential or agricultural land. Yet, instead of being shut down, these eyesores are tolerated by every level of government – municipal, provincial and federal. How weird is that?

And as they used to say on those cheesy Ronco TV commercials, “But wait – there’s more!”

Such as: many of these illicit trucking companies are fostering a growing underground economy that is breeding lawlessness on the roads. This includes everything from drug running to human trafficking.

Naturally, there’s prolific immigration fraud involving temporary foreign workers employed in this industry.

And then there are the rules that are being violated at every level – from the rules of the road to the rules regarding environmental stewardship (i.e., the illegal dumping of used motor oil and transmission fluid into waterways).

But most shocking of all, nothing is being done to put an end to these dangerous shenanigans.

Did we say “dangerous”? Correction: we meant to say “deadly”.

Case in point: Adrianna Milena McCauley.

This 23-year-old woman died in a four-vehicle collision on Sept. 10, 2024, on Coleraine Drive and King Street West in Caledon.

Rajwinder Singh, a Punjabi asylum seeker, was behind the wheel of a transport truck that soared through a red light that had been illuminated for a full 10 seconds.

Earlier this year, Singh was shockingly handed a mere 55-day jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.

Was he deported? What do you think?

But while those in charge in Canada are doing nothing to address this problem, such is not the case south of the border.

Make no mistake: the U.S. is also experiencing issues with foreign ill-trained truckers who can’t speak English or read road signs or competently drive big rigs.

The difference is that Washington is acting on this scandal while Ottawa looks the other way.

Check out this media release that was issued on August 4th from the Department of Homeland Security entitled, “DHS and Department of Transportation Announce Successful Operation that Removed More than 800 Dangerous Truckers from America’s Roads.”

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, dozens of the arrested truckers who were busted in Operation Highway Shield are indeed illegal aliens. Thank you, Joe Biden…

Here’s the skinny: “In a three-day operation from July 28 to July 30, inspectors from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations along with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and state highway patrols, conducted roadside checks to crack down on illegal, unvetted drivers and unsafe vehicles.

“Over the course of those three days, law enforcement officers:

• Detained 51 illegal immigrants, including 21 drivers with non-domiciled commercial driver licenses issued by California and New York. 
• Placed 766 unsafe drivers and vehicles out of service.
• Arrested 86 operators for dangerous behavior (including road rage and domestic violence).
• Issued 36 violations for failing English Language Proficiency tests.
• Recovered nearly $1 million in stolen cargo.

Nice…

But again, while the Trump administration is getting serious when it comes to cracking down on this problem, the Carney Liberals and, in Ontario, the Doug Ford Progressive Conservatives have no intention of launching a Canadian version of Operation Highway Shield.

Now, why would that be? Did we learn absolutely nothing from the Humboldt Broncos tragedy?

Our take: maybe enforcing the rules of the road would be… oh, you know, culturally insensitive. Maybe Premier Ford and Prime Minister Carney realize that the sort of people getting into this industry – i.e., predominantly Indians – represents a powerful and growing voting bloc. And offending this voting bloc would surely be very unwise for a politician hoping to get elected or re-elected.

Convince us we’re wrong on this. We know we have a deadly problem on our hands with certain migrant truckers. We know who they are and where to find them.

But nothing is being done.

In the meantime, the roads are fraught with danger. Sometimes innocent people are needlessly killed.

This is what happens when irresponsible politicians embrace a policy of “safety last”. This is what happens when those same politicians put party before country.