The proposed Highway 413 Act…

The proposed Highway 413 Act is a near-sighted plan that will harm more people, plants and animals in the long run. Highway 413 should not be exempt from Laws like the Environmental Assessment, the process in place for a reason, so why should this one highway be allowed to not properly protect the environment? And if highway 413 is exempt, how can we be sure all future projects won’t follow suite, and we stop considering the environmental impacts of our development?

In numerous studies, it has been found that increasing lanes does not reduce traffic. Building more highways and more lanes, initially seems like it can speed things up, will in the end only encourage more vehicles to use these roads, creating a vicious cycle. I understand that it is very frustrating and difficult to move around the GTA, but encouraging more cars on the roads and funding public transit or bike lanes less will only add to the congestion, and the pollution.

The Environmental Assessment laws and protocols are in place for a reason: to minimize our impact on the environment. Before laws like this were in place and it was required to have a plan, atrocities like the Mercury in the Grassy Narrows water occur, we cannot let accidents like this happen again. Ontario people deserve a clean environment, and accelerating the environmental assessment process on a large construction project could lead to unexpected and harmful consequences.

Lastly, being exempt from the environmental assessment, and allowing changes in the construction plan without following the EIAR will harm the natural environment and its many species. It is against the law to harm or harass any endangered or species at risk in Ontario. Skipping over the full assessment means more harm could come to these at-risk animals, plants and fungi, or that animals could become threatened if too much of their crucial habitat is destroyed. As a Fleming College student studying Ecology, I’ve learned how important every organism is for a healthy ecosystem, and how important healthy ecosystems are for us humans to be able to sustain ourselves with clean water, food, and soil.