A Northern Ontario New Democrat says a report on the failure of the Nipigon River Bridge raises red flags. Mike Mantha of Algoma Manitoulin says the Liberals risked public safety by opening the bridge even though they knew it had problems. Mantha says inspectors identified problems with a part that eventually failed three months later this past January.
Mantha says although contractors had a solution, engineers told the Ministry of Transportation there was still a problem. Mantha says the Ministry of Transportation approved the bridge without installing replacement parts. In response, transportation minister Steven Del Duca says safety is the number one priority for the MTO. When the bridge broke apart, it cut off East-West travel between all of Canada.