NDP, PCs accuse Liberals of flip-flopping on Highway 413 after comments by Brampton candidate in pair of TV appearances

BramptonGuardian.com
May 20, 2022

Are the Ontario Liberals for or against Highway 413?

The Ontario NDP Party and Progressive Conservatives are questioning the Liberals' promise to scrap the controversial highway in the wake of comments made by their Brampton East candidate Jannat Garewal in a pair of TV appearances where she said her party would “definitely build” the highway if elected.

The NDP provided a translation of the portion of Garewal’s interview with GTA News Media on May 11 in a recent release, where she appeared to contradict Del Duca and said her party would in fact build the 413. The interview clip is available on the outlet’s TikTok account.

In March, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca told reporters: “Ontario Liberals stopped this reckless project once and we will do it again.”

In the May 11 interview, the host referenced Del Duca’s earlier promise and asked Garewal: “What is the harm in building (the 413)?”

“There is no harm. Steven Del Duca was the transport minister of transportation in 2017-2018 and was also minister of economic development for some time. He doesn’t have any objections to building this highway,” Garewal replied.

“We will definitely build this highway, but we need to focus on education now,” she added.

Garewal backtracked on those comments when asked about them this week, telling the Brampton Guardian she, Del Duca and the Liberals remain committed to cancelling the highway’s construction. She also claimed her comments were misinterpreted due to her poor grasp of the Punjabi language and taken out of context by the NDP.

“I don’t know if anyone can tell through that video, but my Punjabi is not the best. I was really just trying, because of that show, I was trying to reach out the Punjabi constituents. It’s good to know that (the NDP) are stretching a lot for votes if they’re already picking on my broken Punjabi. They misconstrued it,” she said.

“We are against the 413,” Garewal said. “If you look at it, I do say we are prioritizing education and that’s why we’re not going through with it (and) we are scrapping the 413.”

The last election was decided by just 89 votes. How will Brampton Centre vote this time?

The Guardian confirmed the translation of her statements regarding the 413 provided by the NDP in their May 16 release was accurate.

However, Garewal again seemed to contradict her party's position on the highway during a TV appearance on Prime Asia TV for an English language debate posted to that organization's Facebook page on May 18

"I think the Liberal Party of Ontario and the Liberal leader Steven Del Duca knows that we need a university before we can start digging up a highway. Then, that way, people could actually use the 413, not just for truckers but for commuters from Caledon who want to go to a Brampton university," Garewal said.

The controversial highway, planned to run through York, Peel and Halton Regions, has become a major election issue and building it is a signature plank in the PC campaign platform. The NDP and Green Party have remained steadfastly against the 413, and despite Garewal's comments, Del Duca has previously promised his party would scrap it. 

"Even while Steven Del Duca continues to say no to Highway 413, this is now the second time this candidate has supported Highway 413. Why? Because she knows that drivers don’t want to be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic," read a release from the PCs on May 19.

The NDP are alleging Garewal’s comments suggest the Liberals don’t genuinely oppose the highway.

“Steven Del Duca says one thing to some audiences while he and his candidates say the opposite somewhere else. Del Duca can’t be trusted to fix the Conservatives’ deals for their buddies. He’s got backroom deals of his own. He needs to come clean with Ontarians,” said Essex NDP MPP Taras Natyshak in the NDP’s release.