‘It is not logical’: Hwy. 413 stalled for now, but questions on its impact on farmland, Greenbelt remain

Loss of greenbelt land for agricultural purposes will be detrimental to Ontario, say critics

yorkregion.com
Brian Capitao
May 23, 2023

The Highway 413 project remains a controversial topic in southern Ontario.

After being killed by the previous Liberal government, it was resurrected by Progressive Conservative Doug Ford during his first term as premier.

As the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) continues to experience growth, plans on how to deal with congestion have become paramount. By 2051, the population is now expected to grow to nearly 15 million.

So one such solution put forth by the current provincial government was to build the 52-kilometre highway from Halton region to Vaughan connecting to Highway 400.

But as the highway touches much of the greenbelt, it has fared much criticism from environmentalists and farmers alike.

“I think it’s something like 2,000 acres of our most productive farmland and 400 acres of our greenbelt to be cut through. With respect to farmland, there is an incredible concern with food supply,” said Michael DiMuccio, director at Stopthe413Now, the organization behind the Stop the 413 movement.

Organizations Stopthe413Now and affiliates like Environmental Defence have been outspoken on the matter.

Detractors believe the province is politically grandstanding by proffering up a new highway.

“The exact reason why we’re so frustrated with the Highway 413 process, because there has been what appears to be an extreme amount of political influence and a lack of evidence-based informed decision-making,” said Irene Ford, a local environmentalist in Vaughan.

Instead, they believe the funds going toward the 413, estimated to be roughly $8 billion in costs, should go toward making the toll express Hwy. 407 affordable, by subsidizing it and making sure it is used by more people.

“I’m stunned by the fact that if we’re looking for an east-west access, why would we stop at the 400? And yet the 407 provides perfect east-west access right across the city. So it’s not logical,” said DiMuccio.

However, unlike the Hwy. 407, the 413 freeway would not be tolled.

Currently, the Hwy. 413 project is in stasis. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has asked the province to put forth an environmental assessment to move ahead with the project, much to the chagrin of the Progressive Conservatives.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney has been quoted as saying she believes Guilbeault “will do anything” to stop the highway from being built.

Yet farmers and environmentalists across Ontario have made their concerns around losing the greenbelt’s arable land quite apparent.

According to the Ontario Farmland Trust, the province is losing 319 acres of farmland per day based on 2021 census data. And that’s without taking loss of greenbelt land into consideration.

The greenbelt is prime agricultural land in Ontario, according to Lana Goldberg, a spokesperson for Environmental Defence.

“It’s some of the most prime farmland in Ontario, which is all already being degraded, (and it’s) being degraded at an alarming rate,” said Goldberg.

According to a paper put out by the Greenbelt Foundation entitled, “Understanding how Greenbelt Agriculture Feeds the Regional Economy and Greenbelt Farmers,” the agri-food sector in the greenbelt provides an estimated $4.1 billion in gross domestic product and close to 59,000 jobs.

“The province continues to say that they support farming, but their decisions and their prioritization of highways and sprawling warehouses, and sprawl and sprawling residential homes would not suggest they would actually care about farms,” said Ford.

The project currently is in its second stage of environmental assessment.