I would like to express my…

I would like to express my strong opposition to this Bill that proposes to reduce gridlock by building more highways faster. As proposed, it will do little to reduce gridlock, while causing significant damage to the environment, municipal relations, affordable housing and Ontario's reputation as a place to grow (healthily).
This Highway 413 has been part of a highway package proposal that has been under consideration for over a decade. The time-frame is not excessive given it reflects the significance of its potential impact both positively and negatively. To accelerate building such a Highway by pretending these impacts don't exist, risks far wider ramifications to our province than just the building of this Highway 413. I quote from the proposed Bill 212, "it would also enable other highway projects to be designated in the future", "over-ride most municipal bylaws", "would create offence and penalty provisions", "compel provision of information", "block FOI requests" and "withhold critical sensitive study reports". This Bill is not about approving one highway but approving an over-ride of municipal, corporate and individual rights, especially environmental rights, which is where this ERO comes into play.
Balanced development is critical to Ontario's growth but that balance must be of risk versus gain and in this case the environmental risk alone outweighs any community gain as shown by independent studies (between thirty seconds and two minutes saved daily by commuters). You'll notice I didn't include developer gain as this Bill seems clearly aimed at maximizing their gain regardless of environmental cost.
The balance when considering this Bill 212 clearly requires continuing to prioritize the environment not only for the future but to ensure we have a future. Please reject these changes to environmental protections.