Province softens its stance on controversial Highway 413 project,

Ford government faces revved-up opposition to Highway 413 project

Faced with revved-up opposition to the controversial Highway 413 project, the Progressive Conservatives are giving themselves room to slam the brakes and swerve onto an off-ramp.

Government house leader Paul Calandra emphasized in the legislature on Monday that the proposed Vaughan-Brampton-Caledon-Milton highway is far from a done deal.

“There’s still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done here: some consultations that have to happen with our partners in the area, an environmental assessment,” Calandra said in response to pointed questions from Green Leader Mike Schreiner.

“Once we accomplish all these consultations, if it makes sense for the highway to proceed, it will; if it doesn’t, we won’t,” the minister said.

His comments came after both Mississauga and Brampton councils voted last Wednesday to ask the federal government to do an environmental assessment of the freeway.

“The proposed GTA West Highway will have a disastrous impact on the environment, encourage residential sprawl and increase our dependence on cars,” warned Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie.

In recent days, the PC government’s official GTA West website has been updated to include the headline “Your Voice Matters & We Want To Hear From You,” suggesting more community input is being sought.

Reviving the GTA West Transportation Corridor, as Highway 413 is formally known, comes as Premier Doug Ford’s Tories have promised to expand the 800,000-hectare Greenbelt around the Greater Toronto Area.

Ontario’s Greenbelt law allows infrastructure like roads and sewage systems to be built on the protected, environmentally sensitive lands.

Still, the proposed $6-billion highway was cancelled as unnecessary in 2018 by former premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals.

Ford’s Tories have expressed hope that it is the kind of massive infrastructure project that could create jobs and boost economic growth as Ontario emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite that, Schreiner told reporters he was encouraged by Calandra’s response in the house.

“It certainly feels like, with the growing opposition to Hwy. 413, the government seems to be feeling that pressure,” the Green leader said.

“When I asked about this a few weeks ago, their support for it was crystal clear. Today, there seemed to be an opening for opposition,” he said.

“It is a complete waste of money … on a highway that’s going to pave over 2,000 acres of prime farmland and 400 acres of the Greenbelt to save commuters 30 seconds.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said “there’s no doubt in my mind that Highway 413 is the wrong thing to do.”

“This is all about Doug Ford giving more opportunity for his developer friends to pave Greenbelt lands, to develop farmland for housing and other kind of development,” Horwath said, noting it is “completely backwards” to promote urban sprawl. “There is no reason for that highway to be built and there are many, many reasons for it not to be built.”

Liberal house leader John Fraser pointed out that the highway would not even alleviate traffic gridlock. “It’s going to have minimal impact on commuters but maximum impact on developers.

“Maybe there’s another motive behind it because the people who seem to be benefiting from it aren’t the people who are driving. They’re the people who would build around it,” he said.