The Federation of Urban…

The Federation of Urban Neighbourhoods (Ontario) Inc. (FUN) represents many residents’ associations in Ontario’s cities. FUN believes that sustainable urban regions are characterized by environmental balance, fiscal viability, infrastructure investment, and social renewal.

FUN has serious concerns with the proposal to exempt the GTA West highway from a full and thorough environmental assessment, and instead move to a streamlined assessment. This highway requires a thorough and complete environmental assessment to determine its true impacts. It is also irresponsible to proceed with “early works” before the environmental assessment is complete.

Our concerns can be summarized as follows:
1. The highway will destroy important green spaces and prime farmland.
2. Evidence shows that commuters will see little to no benefit from this
highway.
3. The GTA West Highway would be a significant cost to taxpayers.
4. People who live along the highway route will suffer health impacts.
5. Building Highway 413 will mean more greenhouse gas emissions from
vehicles as traffic increases to fill the available space.
6. The Province should consider alternatives to the GTA West Highway.
7. The pandemic has drastically changed our commuting patterns.

FUN therefore recommends that the proposed regulation to shorten the environmental assessment process be withdrawn. This position is consistent with our earlier submission in Sept. 2019 regarding the EA process (see attachment)