Ottawa and Ontario announce deal to scrap Highway 413 impact assessment

Ontario and the federal government say they have reached a deal to drop an assessment of the province's Highway 413 project after the Federal Court ruled it can be set aside.

In a news release on Mon‐ day, officials said the provin‐ cial and federal governments have agreed to a "collabora‐ tive process to assess and manage the issues around federal species at risk throughout Ontario's plan‐ ning of the project."

The new deal means the highway project can proceed without a full-fledged federal environmental assessment.

According to the release, the Federal Court has agreed to cancel the project's desig‐ nation under the Impact As‐ sessment Act. Both levels of government had filed a joint consent order with the court on March 20 that had asked the judge to discontinue the federal environment assess‐ ment for the project.

A memo of understanding has been signed between the Ontario transportation min‐ istry and the Impact Assess‐ ment Agency of Canada to set up a joint working group in which federal and provinci‐ al officials "will recommend appropriate measures to minimize environmental im‐ pacts in areas of federal envi‐ ronmental jurisdiction," the province said in the release.

According to the province, the working group will use its "collective expertise" to pro‐ tect the environment and en‐ sure impacts to species at risk, such as the Western chorus frog and the redheaded woodpecker, and their critical habitats are con‐ sidered before the project moves into a design stage.

The province added that its own environmental as‐ sessment process is "well un‐ derway" and it is committed to building projects that mini‐ mize environmental impacts.

"Both Canada and Ontario have robust and transparent regulatory regimes to ensure the environment is protected before major projects are de‐ veloped," the release says.

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria hailed the agreement.

"This is a great day for On‐ tario and the people of this province," he said on Mon‐ day. "We finally have certain‐ ty to move forward with the Highway 413 project given the agreement that we have come to with the federal gov‐ ernment."

Sarkaria said the province hopes to get working on the project within the next year. He said a federal environ‐ ment assessment would have delayed the project by about five years.

"There's no waste," he said.

The proposed 52-kilo‐ metre Highway 413, which would connect York, Peel, and Halton regions, has been touted as part of the province's plan to fight grid‐ lock and expand public tran‐ sit, but opposition parties and environmental groups have said it would encourage sprawl into the protected Greenbelt, pave over prime farmland, and jeopardize the health of at-risk frog and fish species.

Green Party calls project 'environmental wrecking ball'

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement on Monday that it is "shameful" that the federal government has reached the agreement with the provincial govern‐ ment.

Stiles said the Doug Ford government "cannot be trusted to protect the envi‐ ronment" and the federal Liberal government is "simply rolling over."

"The Ford government still can't answer how many bil‐ lions of taxpayer dollars they're spending on this project, or come clean about whose interests it serves," Stiles said.

In a statement on Mon‐ day, the Green Party of On‐ tario said the news is "disap‐ pointing" and it will keep fighting to stop the highway and will continue to propose housing solutions that pro‐ tect farms, forests and wet‐ lands from urban sprawl.

The Green Party called the project an "environmental wrecking ball." time to

"Highway 413 is a sprawl supercharger that will cost Ontarians at least $10 billion and pave over 2,000 acres of prime farmland - all to save commuters a few extra sec‐ onds. Once that land is gone, it's gone for good," Ontario Green MPP Aislinn Clancy said in the statement.

"By subsidizing tolls for trucks on Highway 407 in‐ stead, the Ford government could reduce congestion to‐ day and create $6 billion in savings."

New impact assessment law needed, group says

Phil Pothen, counsel for Environmental Defence, an advocacy group, said in a statement on Monday that there is an urgent need for the federal government to in‐ troduce and pass an updated Impact Assessment Act and to re-designate the highway for an assessment.

"The Ontario public's ex‐ pectation is that Highway 413 will be re-designated fast enough to ensure that the provincial government does not have time to destroy key habitats or waterways during a gap in protections," Pothen said.

"If the federal government were to decide not to re-des‐ ignate Highway 413 for an impact assessment, that would not be a consequence of today's court order - or this Memorandum of Under‐ standing with the Ontario government," he added.

"Rather it would be a will‐ ing and reckless betrayal of everyone in Ontario who is experiencing unprecedented attacks on their communities by the provincial government and has trusted federal MPs to do their job and protect the environment rather than colluding with the province in its destruction."

Provincial oversight weak, environmentalists say

When a tentative deal on this issue was announced in late March, environmental groups and opposition par‐ ties were upset because they had pushed for a federal en‐ vironmental review of the project in light of what they have alleged was weak provincial oversight.

The province had accused Ottawa of overreach when it marked the planned highway for a federal review under the act, and had asked the court to stop the federal gov‐ ernment from applying the legislation to the 413 project.

Last fall, the Supreme Court of Canada found parts of the Impact Assessment Act to be unconstitutional, ruling it was written in a way that could allow the federal gov‐ ernment to make decisions about projects wholly within provincial jurisdiction.

In a statement on Mon‐ day, federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said the agreement shows the two governments can work to‐ gether while recognizing their shared jurisdiction on environmental protections.

"It also ensures federal in‐ terests will be maintained on the protection of species while offering Ontario, in light of the recent Supreme Court's decision, a greater level of clarity around the re‐ view process for the Highway 413 Project," the statement said.