I strongly object to…

I strongly object to exmpting activities related to Highway 413 from the Environmental Assessment Act. This is an egregious misuse of power that goes against the very purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act. This process ensures that governments and public bodies consider potential environmental effects before an infrastructure project begins. Bypassing the Act at this stage paves the way to ignore the myriad negative impacts on the environment we already know Hwy 413 will result in - from threatening dozens of Species At Risk, to paving protected Greenbelt lands and threatening Ontario's threatened wetlands and freshwater ecosystems. It is irresponsible to attempt to bypass environmental assessment.

I also object to fast-tracking the EA process, as this will make it harder to conduct environmental assessments thoroughly and properly, and is more likely to result in a substandard process that fails to accurately and reliably assess the impacts of this project.

In general, I do not support this project at all, in any form, as there are plenty of data available to demonstrate that the proposed highway will not substantially reduce travel times or improve traffic flow, and other solutions to improving travel times and traffic flow already exist (such as converting Hwy 407 to a truck route, thereby reducing traffic on the non-toll 400 series highways).

In addition, the costs (overall and to taxpayers specifically) of building this highway have not been clearly articulated to the public, but the price tag is on track to be way too high. Instead, I would much rather support investment in improvements to public transit and active transportation (such as installing more protected bike lanes) and adjusting traffic flow on existing highways - all of which are evidence-based solutions to reducing congestion and improving the lives of Ontarians that are consistent with responsble development in light of the current climate emergency and urgent need to reduce emsisions and divest from fossil fuels and unsustainable development.

Overall, this project lacks public support (noting that over 90, 000 people signed a petition to stop highway 413) and should not proceed.

References:
https://environmentaldefence.ca/2023/10/09/top-reasons-why-building-hig…

https://environmentaldefence.ca/2023/09/23/fact-checking_ontario_govern…

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/david-suzuki-foundation-petition…

https://davidsuzuki.org/action/stop-highway-413/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/highway-413-open-letter-to-doug-…

https://globalnews.ca/news/10427424/ontario-highway-413-critics-continu…

https://thepointer.com/article/2024-11-14/abominable-attack-on-democrac…

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20241118/281565181299447