WHEREAS the Provincial Government has an enforcement arm for weights and measures on “Public Highways”; and

WHEREAS all municipal roads are considered “Public Highways” under The Highway and Transportation Act, 1997; and

WHEREAS rural municipalities would experience significant costs and hardships trying to duplicate a system already in place by the Provincial Government;

BE IT RESOLVED that SARM lobby the Provincial Government to increase the number of enforcement officers to adequately patrol all municipal road infrastructure.

Response from Honourable Don McMorris, Minister of Highways and Infrastructure:

Today’s mandate for Traffic Officers is focused on the commercial vehicle industry including:
• Weight and dimension enforcement;
• Commercial vehicle safety inspections;
• Ensuring proper commercial vehicle registration and licensing;
• Enforcement of commercial driver safety regulations;
• Enforcement of the transportation of dangerous goods regulations; and
• Educating trucking companies.

The Ministry is responsible for the operation and maintenance of 26,000 km of provincial highways, and does not have the budget or mandate to provide enforcement on municipal road infrastructure.

The Ministry’s enforcement officers do consider the route that the commercial vehicle has taken when conducting inspection. Laws such as weight laws applying to municipal roads are considered for violations if the commercial vehicles point of origin was via a municipal road.

The Ministry’s subject matter experts would be willing to discuss the Ministry’s system and standards to assist SARM officials develop options for commercial vehicle enforcement.