Bowmanville MPP insists Ontario can be “excellent” environmental stewards despite new legislation

Shrinking the barriers to growth – from bureaucratic red tape to certain environmental assessments – is the rationale behind legislation introduced in the provincial Legislature this month that would see certain projects – including the controversial Highway 413/Bradford Bypass and the twinning of the Garden City Skyway – designated as ‘priorities.’

Durham MPP and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Todd McCarthy joined Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria at a news conference last week to unveil the Building Highways Faster Act and insisted the accelerated environmental assessment process for Highway 413 – a 52-kilometre road stretching through farmland in three regions between Highway 400 and the 401/407 interchange – will be taken seriously.

“I’m committed to a responsible process for the environmental assessment completion,” said McCarthy, adding that the province has plenty of studies to lean on. “We can do both. We can be excellent stewards of the environment while also getting people moving on the 400 series of highways and building critical infrastructure like Highway 413.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford – McCarthy’s boss – is also noted for his quote from last month about the environment and the impending legislation. “There’s hundreds of thousands of people stuck in their cars backed up from here to Timbuktu, and you’re worried about a grasshopper jumping across the highway.”

The Building Highways Faster Act would streamline utility relocations, accelerate access to property and property acquisitions and introduce new penalties for obstructing access for field investigations or damaging equipment. The legislation would also allow for around-the-clock, 24/7 construction on priority highway projects.

The bill, inspired by the success of the province’s decision in July to pay $73 million extra to green-light 24/7 repair work on the Gardiner Expressway, will allow shovels in the ground “as soon as possible” on Hwy 413.  “With the worst travel times in North America, gridlock in Ontario is at a tipping point, and we need to act now,” said Sarkaria.

The government also introduced the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act this week, which would exempt certain early works on Highway 413 that are near existing infrastructure and would have “minimal environmental impacts” from lengthy EAs “to get construction started without any more delay.”

The proposed legislation would also save drivers up to $72 million this decade by enshrining fee freezes for knowledge and road tests in legislation and ensuring faster and safer towing services by making the Tow Zone pilot project a permanent program.

The Province is also proposing to get involved in municipal bike lane decisions by requiring municipalities to receive approval from Queen’s Park before installing new bike lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic.