Residents gather in Bolton to take action against Highway 413

By Rob Paul

On Saturday, concerned residents in communities surrounding the proposed routes of Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass gathered to raise awareness about the negative impacts the highways will have on the communities and the environment.

The day of action, organized by Environmental Defence, leaned on the rallying cry of “Greenbelt NOT Asphalt” to continue to pressure the Government of Ontario to cancel the highways for the sake of protecting the Greenbelt.

Although Premier Doug Ford just recently doubled down at an announcement in Caledon on the Province's desire to move forward with the highways and invest billions of dollars, the day of action had been planned for weeks. 

Environmental Defence has been a leading voice in the fight against the highways, citing the unnecessary costs, environmental damage, and lack of long-term fix as reasons to doubt the highways will change anything.

“If built, Highway 413 would run from the Highway 401/407 interchange in Halton to Highway 400 in Vaughan. The highway would pave over farms, forests, wetlands and 400 acres of the Greenbelt and cost Ontario taxpayers upwards of $6 to $10 billion. Highway 413 would also add over 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, at a time when cutting emissions is more urgent than ever,” stated Environmental Defence.

“The Bradford Bypass would cost $1.5 to $2.2 billion and run between Highways 400 and 404 through the heart of the Greenbelt's Holland Marsh Wetland in the headwaters of Lake Simcoe. The highway would pave over the habitat of several endangered species, increase greenhouse gas emissions, add more salt pollution to Lake Simcoe and contaminate private wells of homes along the route.”

The four locations that gathered residents to participate in the day of action were Bolton, Holland Landing, King City, and Mississauga. 

“Communities along the proposed route for the 413 and Bradford Bypass are saying ‘no' to paving over their natural environments, Greenbelt, and productive farmland,” said Keith Brooks, Programs Director, Environmental Defence. “Ontarians are saying no to creating more car-dependent communities and spending billions on these highways that will enrich a few wealthy developers at the expense of the rest of the province. These highways will not help with congestion, but they will cause irreversible damage to our environment and climate. We will stand with the local communities opposing these destructive projects to the end.”

Caledon resident and environmental activist Dan O'Reilly was the organizer of the day of action in downtown Bolton that saw around 100 people show up to the King and Queen Street intersection to voice their displeasures with the highway.

“Highway 413 will cut the Town of Caledon in two, facilitating sprawling warehouse and housing developments,” said O'Reilly. “It will be Caledon's version of the Berlin Wall—only a whole lot longer. Unlike the Berlin Wall, it will never be torn down once built.” 

Among those in attendance were Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, 2021 Dufferin-Caledon Green federal candidate Jenni Le Forestier, Caledon Councillor Ian Sinclair, and plenty of residents who are concerned about what will happen if the highway is built.

“Highway 413 is an ill-conceived solution for traffic congestion that is based on old and biased information, aimed to use desperately scarce taxpayer dollars to financially benefit a select group of landowners and special interest groups,” said Vaughan resident Irene Ford. “Proceeding with Highway 413 will see the unnecessary destruction of some of the GTA's most pristine and sensitive environmental lands when various experts have provided more cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions for addressing current and future transportation needs. In a world of increasing climate and financial crisis we need our political leaders to have the courage to think and act differently.” 

O'Reilly said he was happy to see such a strong turnout, more than tripling the previous day of action's numbers, and he's hopeful larger gatherings will come down the road to continue to bring attention to the cause.

“It was more than I expected, you're never quite sure what kind of response you're going to get—we had about 30 show up at our day of action in the summer,” said O'Reilly. “People just showed up, took a sign, and we had all four corners of the intersection staffed.

“Mike Schreiner told us to touch base with him about maybe organizing a rally in Queen's Park, that's a possibility and there was someone from Orangeville who was interested in having a protest in Orangeville. It's worth pursuing more rallies, particularly the Queen's Park rally because it would gain a lot of traction.”

After seeing Mayor Allan Thompson at Ford's announcement in Caledon last week, O'Reilly and his fellow residents who oppose the highway want to hear from Council on why they want the highway. 

“I don't know why Mayor Thompson hasn't grasped the concept that most people here oppose the highway,” said O'Reilly. “I don't know why he's standing with Doug Ford and hitching his wagon to Doug Ford. Since the Mayor has come out so forcibly for the highway, I don't think we're going to change his mind, or the majority of Council—Council Sinclair is opposed and was there. It's very important to have at least some of Council on our side.”

During his announcement in Caledon, Ford was asked pointblank his thoughts on the residents in the areas the highways will go protesting them and implied it was only those from Toronto who are against it. O'Reilly says that's not the case in Bolton.

“There were people from different areas, but there were a lot of people from Bolton there,” O'Reilly said. “It wasn't all—to use Doug Ford's words—downtown Toronto elitists that were there to oppose the highway. Ford's statement (about it not being the people in the communities the highway will go) was garbage. It's important to continue to show it's the residents who don't want it.”

As for the reasons Ford has stated the highway is needed, O'Reilly and those who oppose point to the shortsightedness of negatively impacting the environment for a quick fix that won't last.

“He's just using 1950s talk,” said O'Reilly. “Ok, in the short-term it will create jobs, but that will be a limited short-term gain. Why don't we focus on other ways to create construction then instead with more rapid transit. The thing about the GO train coming to Bolton is that won't even be coming until about 2051. And the argument about the highway relieving congestion is also short-term. It will initially, but it will be used more and more and if public and accessible transit are not available, well, then more people will use the highway. 

“Plus, there's the landowners along the proposed route and they'll pressure to have more housing and warehouses and then a few years from now it will be just as congested as any other highway. It reflects an outdated planning model that promotes sprawl where everybody has to get in their car and drive everywhere.”