TORONTO – A convoy of angry truckers protested at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, upset by an 11-week strike by the province’s driving examiners.
About two dozen truckers descended on the legislature to complain about the lengthy strike.
They say recent graduates could get rusty behind the wheel unless they are licensed shortly after training and could lose job opportunities that require a proper licence.
But Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was reluctant to intervene in the strike.
"What we’ve done is all that we can do at this point, which is to say that you can’t admit new drivers at this point, but anybody who’s been licensed and is up for renewal, we’re giving them an extension," McGuinty said.
Ontario privatized driver examinations in 2003, when the Conservative government of the day awarded a 10-year, $114-million contract to Serco DES Inc., to deliver the exams.
About 590 DriveTest examiners are involved in the strike.
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