Rally to stop 413 “encouraging,” says organizer

OUR READERS WRITE

Judging by the approximately 1,000 participants who attended the October 1 Harvest Ontario Walk to Stop Highway 413 at the Brampton Fair Grounds in Caledon, there is wide-spread opposition to the mega-highway, which would be both economically and environmentally ruinous.

That figure includes people who took part in protest walks in Halton Hills, the Nashville Conservation Tract, and the west side of Bolton near the proposed Highway 413 corridor, but chose not to attend the rally which was held later in the day.

Guess speakers at the rally included Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, New Democratic Party MPP Sandy Shaw, and Liberal MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon. It was encouraging that all three expressed a willingness to cooperate across party lines to defeat Highway 413.

The Harvest Ontario Walk was successful because numerous environmental and volunteer grassroots organizations worked together to achieve a common goal while having fun together in both physical activity of walking and biking and with music and song at the Fairgrounds.

Special thanks to those groups and to the individuals who contributed to the free raffle prize draw. They included guest speaker Dave Meslin, who donated a copy of his book TEARDOWN: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up; Caledon resident and author Nicola Ross who donated 10 of her hiking trail books, and Forester's Book Garden of Bolton which donated a copy of Ken Weber's Historic Hills.

In his speech, Meslin linked the fight to stop Highway 413 to the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway in the early 1970s. In was somewhat ironic, but appropriate, that the winner of the Historic Hills book was Toronto resident John Cummings, Chair of Friends of Cedarvale, a group dedicated to preserving and improving Cedarvale Park and Ravine. Neither would exist today had the Spadina Expressway been built.

The organizers would also like to thank Mount Wolfe Farm for setting up and staffing a “For Sale” produce stand, which was in keeping with the Harvest Ontario theme.

Lastly, we would like to thank the Caledon Citizen for its October 6 coverage of this important 

Susan Berry

Chair, HOW to Stop the 413