‘So little habitat left’: Biologist says environmental study ‘properly done’ would end Hwy. 413 bid

'Loss of habitat here will affect pollination by many species of butterflies and bees'

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 17, 2021
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Southern Ontario is already marred with habitat fragmentation -- a term used to describe the discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment, endangering wildlife.

However, if the proposed Hwy. 413 goes through, endangered species such as the fish named Redside dace and the shrinking-in-numbers monarchs, also key flying insects for pollination in the Greater Toronto Area, would face a far-worst predicament.

The highway and its corridor are expected to destroy a combined 5.95 km of forests, forcing more coyotes, for example, to make their presence in urban space. It would also destroy or partially destroy 75 wetlands, 28 of which are considered as provincially significant and critical to the ecological health of the Humber, Etobicoke and Credit River Watersheds.

These figures are from scientists, who previously called for a federal environmental assessment, currently underway.

But how would that happen in Vaughan?

Home to over 100 migratory songbirds, monarchs and of course the Redside dace, Vaughan's Nashville Conservation Reserve  won’t continue unscathed as it’s part of the Greenbelt and the most preferred route to turn Hwy. 413 into reality.

“This 900-hectare conservation area is one of the largest conservation areas in the GTA, so to bulldoze through it with the mega highway is not having the proper respect we need in terms of biodiversity,” said University of Guelph biologist Ryan Norris.

Norris, who previously garnered 59 signatures by his peer scientists calling for a federal EA, was joined by journalists including the Vaughan Citizen in Nashville to explain the highway's impact. The trip was also organized by Gideon Forman, climate change and transportation policy analyst, at The David Suzuki Foundation.

During the trip, Norris journeyed through the meadows of the conservation reserve in search of Monarchs, which he described as “poster butterfly of the butterflies.”

“They cross to the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and all three countries are really concerned about conserving that migratory phenomenon,” Norris said.

What's next? King, Vaughan now at odds with York Region over Hwy. 413

While monarchs - luckily - aren’t officially categorized as threatened species, these butterflies are down by more than 50 per cent between the winters of 2019 and 2020, tempting some environmental committees to slate them as such.

“Loss of habitat here will affect pollination by many species of butterflies and bees. And it's something we can't really afford to do in the GTA with so little habitat left,” he said.

The proposed highway is also “estimated to cross about 100 to 110 streams” from Hwy. 401 to Hwy. 400, deteriorating the watershed’s “water quality” and affecting other aquatic species. The highway is expected to connect the 401/407 interchange in Halton Hills with Vaughan’s Hwy. 400.

This fish likes to breed in “slow moving, cold water streams,” like the one found in Nashville's watershed, part of the eastern Humber river, the professor added. “It's much worse to affect something at the headwaters than at the base.”

When inquiring about the EA, Norris explained that he would be “happy” to speak with any scientist or biologist who would disagree with him because he doesn’t expect there would be any.

“If it’s done properly, I would have full confidence that the environmental assessment would flag a number of things and that would stop the development,” he said.

The revived Hwy. 413 bid was previously dismissed after a panel recommended alternatives and the use of technology to ease traffic gridlock. In the first quarter of this year, the highway also created a division in York Region.

Both Vaughan and King councils have withdrawn their support for the highway bid, but York Region council voted March 18 against a motion to rescind its support of the GTA West highway.

The proponents for the highway see it as necessary for the economy to ease traffic and accommodate a growing population.

Forman, however, urged for the need for more “compact development” alongside public transit to reduce driving.