#StopHighway413

Recently, our Political Advocacy team delegated at the March 11th, 2021 Peel Regional Council meeting, in opposition of Highway 413. For those who may not know, Highway 413 is a provincial project that was resurrected by the current Conservative government after the previous Liberal government shut it down based on the recommendation of an expert panel. The new, proposed highway will connect highway 401 to highway 400 by cutting through Halton Hills and Georgetown (in Halton Region), Brampton and Caledon (in Peel Region), and Vaughan (in York Region).

Based on previous studies, reports, and new findings, the assumed ‘pros’ of this highway are simply not true. Highways don’t solve the problem of congestion due to a phenomenon known as induced demand, which explains that new roads actually increase traffic due to the attractive availability of the route. This highway will not boost economic development. Instead, the highway cuts across important watercourses and rivers pave over prime farmland, threatens ecologically significant wetlands, forests, ecosystems, and wildlife, and will contribute to future GHG emissions by increasing our dependency on cars. What’s worse is that the project is being fast-tracked by streamlining the environmental assessment (EA) process so we may never uncover the real effects of this highway on our community.

After Mississauga Council officially opposed the highway, a motion was brought forward by Councillor Parrish to the Peel Regional Council, in hopes that the Peel Region would join the growing list of municipalities to officially reverse endorsement for this highway. Our team was one of the 5 delegations in opposition of the highway, which was supported by more than 60 letters sent by residents who shared our views of the opposition. As a result of people's power, Peel Region Council voted to officially oppose the project, including any construction work that is planned to take place before the EA is complete, and supported the request for a federal EA. It was a huge win for our community, and we would like to thank the Councillors who voted in our favour.

Unfortunately, York Regional Council did not make the same decision at their March 18th, 2021 Special Council meeting: York did not reverse endorsement but at least supported the request for a federal EA.

So what’s next? Aside from hearing from environmental and advocacy groups, it is important that the elected officials hear from the average constituents. So please, make your voice heard by emailing your MPP to stop the project, emailing your MP to proceed with the federal EA. If you do not know enough to make an informed decision, please visit our webpage to learn more. Together, we can envision an Ontario that does not come at the cost of our environment!

Our team welcomes feedback, so if you have any ideas for actions or events that we can organize to make it easier for you to get involved, please let us know by emailing us at politicaladvocacy@peelccc.org.