‘Fascinating, infuriating’: Webinar explores Bradford bypass history and concerns about the future

Coalition warns proposed highway at foot of Lake Simcoe will 'totally destroy’ national historic site

Yorkregion.com
April 18, 2023
Kim Zarzour

You may have heard warnings from environmentalists about the Bradford Bypass plans to bisect Holland Marsh’s provincially significant wetlands.

But did you know historians and First Nations people are equally concerned?

They warn that the project will “totally destroy”’ one of the most significant cultural heritage sites in Ontario.

“Don’t Blast the Past” is a free public webinar set for April 18 evening that will shine a light on the rich history of the area known as the Lower Landing.

For hundreds of years, the area was a key meeting place and played a central role in early travel from Toronto to the Upper Great Lakes by Indigenous Peoples, explorers, fur traders and settlers.

The proposed 16.2-kilometre highway, connecting highways 400 and 404 just below Lake Simcoe’s Cook’s Bay, threatens to run right over this national historic site, archaeologists, historians, and Indigenous groups say.

“Don’t Blast the Past” is a webinar co-hosted by Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, Water is Life Coalition for Water Justice, Stop the Bradford Bypass and the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition.

A panel including First Nations, historian and marine archeologist will share more about this “history hiding in plain sight” and what can be done about it.