Highway 413 construction could begin next year

This article was written by Robert Benzie and was published in the Toronto Star on April 17, 2024.

Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives say construction on their promised Highway 413 could begin as early as 2025 after a landmark environmental deal with Ottawa.

“I’m hoping to get shovels in the ground within the next year,” Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria told reporters at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.

His comments came the morning after a major impasse to the planned 52-kilometre freeway from Highway 401 in Milton to Highway 400 in Vaughan was cleared. On Monday, the federal and provincial governments struck a joint working group to “recommend appropriate measures to minimize environmental impacts” of the highway.

“We’ve come to a conclusion with our federal partners on this to ensure — from an environmental perspective through that working group — that all issues are being addressed, but we’re very excited to now move forward and have that certainty to be able to build this highway,” said Sarkaria.

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, who had been a thorn in the side of the highway scheme, said Monday that “this agreement shows Canada and Ontario’s ability to work together while recognizing their shared jurisdiction on matters to do with the environment.”

But NDP Leader Marit Stiles blasted the federal Liberals for capitulating and warned 413 would be an unlucky number for Ontario taxpayers and the environment.

“A lot of that is about … Doug Ford giving his insider friends a sweetheart deal just like he did with the Greenbelt so we don’t trust them,” said Stiles, referring to the $8.28billion Greenbelt land swap scandal under investigation by the RCMP.

Liberal house leader John Fraser said the freeway, which could take years and more than $10 billion to build, is ripe for potential cronyism.

“Once that highway becomes reality almost automatically that land goes up in value and so it’s about land speculation and about the premier rewarding friends and insiders,” said Fraser.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner, noting the highway would cut through the Greenbelt of protected lands while paving over thousands of acres of farmland and crisscrossing local streams and rivers more than 100 times, said he was “very disappointed with the federal government (for) not upholding their responsibility to protect endangered species.”

Phil Pothen of Environmental Defence, a group opposed to the 413, also expressed alarm at the moves from Ottawa.

Unless the Liberals change course, “it would be a willing 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,” said Pothen.

There has been pressure on Ford’s Tories to show progress on the highway, a cornerstone promise of their 2022 “Get It Done” re-election campaign. While the Tories won every riding along the proposed route, which at the time was estimated to be as long as 60 kilometres, little has happened since and they are scrambling with the June 2026 election on the horizon.

I’m hoping to get shovels in the ground within the next year. PRABMEET SARKARIA ONTARIO TRANSPORT MINISTER

Author: Ray Nakano

Ray is a retired, third generation Japanese Canadian born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He resides in Toronto where he worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years. Ray was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2011 and practises in the Plum Village tradition, supporting sanghas in their mindfulness practice. Ray is very concerned about our climate crisis. He has been actively involved with the ClimateFast group (https://climatefast.ca) for the past 5 years. He works to bring awareness of our climate crisis to others and motivate them to take action. He has created the myclimatechange.home.blog website, for tracking climate-related news articles, reports, and organizations. He has created mobilizecanada.ca to focus on what you can do to address the climate crisis. He is always looking for opportunities to reach out to communities, politicians, and governments to communicate about our climate crisis and what we need to do. He says: “Our world is in dire straits. We have to bend the curve on our heat-trapping pollutants in the next few years if we hope to avoid the most serious impacts of human-caused global warming. Doing nothing is not an option. We must do everything we can to create a livable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all future generations.”