"Exempting activities for…

"Exempting activities for Highway 413 from the Environmental Assessment Act" via the proposed "Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act" will not only undermine the core principles behind the Environmental Assessment Act, but will have further unforeseen consequences via paving a path for normalization of these "exemptions" that result in bypassing significant environmental protections for the sake of gaining the votes of the general public while securing the support of powerful wealthy corporate lobbyists that will significantly benefit financially from such developments.

This will be a slippery slope, we shouldn't simply bypass (or "exempt") any development project from the single most important environmental piece of legislation in the entire province of Ontario. We should allow the process to follow its normal path of going through getting approvals, in the process ensuring the project is developed according to environmental regulations that protect us all. If there are elements of this project that cause friction with the Environmental Assessment Act, the correct course of action is to improve upon those aspects of the project & modify the project to ensure it complies with environmental protections, not to simply pass an act to conveniently exempt the project from the single most important piece of environmental legislation we have.

Though this could be a move to get this project going ahead of next provincial elections, taking the lazy way by passing laws that allow bypassing of environmental protections is not the way to get things done the right way. Any aspects of the aforementioned project (Highway 413) that is at odds with the Environmental Assessment Act needs to be thoroughly studied & modified according to those scientific studies in order to match our laws & regulations that protect the environment.

As time passes, we need to look at strengthening our environmental protections regulations, not weakening them by poking holes in them whenever politically expedient. Here, the word "exemption" seems like a politically appropriate way of saying "disregarding & bypassing important environmental protection laws".