Ontario Liberals create secret panel on future of new highway 

TorontoSun.com
Aug. 17, 2016
By Anthony Furey

The Ontario Liberals have put together a secret panel of advisers to determine the future of a multibillion-dollar infrastructure project, the Sun has learned.

The names of the people assessing the Highway 413 project - also known as the GTA West corridor - won’t be revealed until after their review is complete and released. This will be done “in order to protect the integrity of the review,” Bob Nichols, senior media liaison officer for the Ministry of Transportation, explained via email.

This secrecy has left observers calling foul.

“In all my years in government and around government, I have never heard of a secret committee. Ever,” said Chris Stockwell, a former PC Ontario cabinet minister and current government relations consultant working on the issue. “It’s beyond bizarre.

“If we don’t know who’s making these recommendations, how do we know they’re not making them for their own gains and benefits?” Stockwell adds.

PC transportation critic Michael Harris is calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne to intervene and make the panel public.

“Kathleen Wynne talks a lot about open and transparent government, yet here’s an example that they’re anything but,” Harris, the MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga, said. He blames Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca for mishandling the file.

The government has been studying the highway - which would impact Vaughan, Milton, Brampton and other communities - since 2007. But, last December, Del Duca announced the government was suspending the process. He then announced the creation of the panel, but at that time didn’t disclose it would be secret.

“Panel members have the right depth and breadth of experience to ensure a thorough internal review of the GTA West Environmental Assessment,” Nichols wrote in his email. “Advisory panel members have significant expertise in the fields of urban, regional and transportation planning, environmental assessment and protection, and resource management within the Greater Golden Horseshoe.”

By contrast, the federal Liberals currently have panels or committees advising them on electoral reform, marijuana legislation and Supreme Court of Canada appointments. But the members of all these bodies are publicly known.

Since the GTA West corridor was first conceived, various municipalities, businesses and environmental groups have all voiced their support or concerns about the project. But now stakeholders will have no way to participate in this next, secretive, step.

“There are a lot of investment dollars waiting for this decision,” Stockwell says.

And they’ll continue to wait at least until the fall, when the secret panel’s report is expected to be released.