Ontario Greens lead latest day of action against proposed Highway 413

By Zachary Roman

Those in opposition to the proposed Highway 413 are continuing their fight against it.

Candidates in Caledon's October 24 municipal election used a recent Green Party of Ontario rally against the proposed Highway 413 to show where they stand on the issue.

The rally, which was attended by Green Party leader and MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner, was held on October 16 in Bolton. 

At the rally, Green Party politicians and supporters, as well as Caledon municipal election candidates, spoke to the crowd in attendance about their desire to have farmland instead of freeways in Caledon. Following the speeches, groups of people went door knocking in Bolton and Palgrave to collect signatures on a petition against the highway.

“Thank you to the fantastic candidates who are standing up for the people… I will continue to say we need farmland, not freeways,” said Schreiner in his speech. “One of the things that infuriates me when I hear the government talk about opposition to this highway, they say, ‘Oh, it's just a bunch of woke Downtown Toronto elites.' Well, I'm sorry, I just heard some fantastic speeches. I don't think any of them were from woke Downtown Toronto elites. [They were all from] people who live here in Caledon, who care about Caledon and who want to protect the farmland that feeds us.”

Schreiner went on to say it also angers him when the Ford government says the 413 will help truckers. Schreiner said his dad ran a trucking company, and that if the government actually wanted to help truckers, it could do so right away by removing tolls on the 407 for truckers.

Schreiner said the one thing that can stop the proposed Highway 413 is people power and that's what he said he was seeing at the rally. 

Annette Groves, who's running to be Caledon's next mayor, is against the 413 and said she attended the rally to show her support for protecting and preserving Caledon's farmland.

Groves said the 413 will not help Caledon residents and that it's a “developer's highway.”

“We don't want to turn Caledon into another suburban municipality like the municipalities to the south,” said Groves. “Why would we want to pave over thousands and thousands of acres of farmland?”

Ramat Gill, who is running for Regional Councillor, Wards 1, 2 and 3, said it was important for him to attend last Sunday's rally because Caledon's green spaces need to be protected. Gill said it's critical for Caledon to have sustainable and responsible growth.

“I'm… going keep fighting for the preservation of our green spaces in Caledon… make sure that we are not paving over any more farmland, that we're not starting up any more aggregate operations,” said Gill.

In an interview, Schreiner said it was important for him to come to Caledon for a rally because the 413 is the biggest threat to farmland in all of Ontario. He said his goal was to show that people in Caledon are against the 413, as well as to show support to candidates who have “had the courage to stand up and speak out for people.”

“I think [the candidates are] people who want to protect their community,” said Schreiner. “This highway is a direct threat to the quality of life in Caledon in terms of our food and farming economy (and) the great green space that people move to Caledon to enjoy.”