highway 413

While no one explicitly told developers that Ontario planned to open up the protected Greenbelt for housing last year, the government telegraphed that message to builders through actions – and silence, the province's integrity commissioner found.

Ontario's election campaign began in earnest Wednesday with the party leaders promising to either build or cancel a planned highway that would cut through and serve key battleground areas.

A coalition of Ontario environmental groups is calling on provincial parties vying for power in the upcoming election to make it illegal to pave over the Greenbelt.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised to sink more than $25 billion into building highways over the next 10 years as the Progressive Conservative government tabled its budget Thursday.

Environmental groups and critics are condemning the Ontario government’s planned Greenbelt expansion for excluding environmentally sensitive areas including the Paris Galt Moraine and Carruthers Creek headwaters.

Seven organizations filed the lawsuit against Steven Guilbeault last week after twice requesting Ottawa intervene in the proposed 16.2-kilometre Bradford Bypass, which would connect Highway 400 to Highway 404 just south of Lake Simcoe.

The move follows the federal environment minister's denial of a request to reconsider the decision not to order a federal environmental assessment.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford doubled down on his support for another controversial Greater Toronto Area highway project that's mired in environmental concerns and uncertainty over its economic and social benefits.

The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers said it isn’t calling for the cancellation of the project, but has concerns about its environmental impact. The group also sounded alarms about a “lack of data and evidence” backing the proposal.

The proposed highway project north of Toronto would run through the Holland Marsh, a portion of the protected Greenbelt. Though it has had strong local support for years, two nearby councils are now expressing reluctance about supporting the plan.

The federal government’s decision this week to review the environmental impact of Ontario’s Highway 413 will slow down the project by several months at least. But long term, the controversial project’s future is unclear.

The RCMP are investigating whether Vaughan Working Families violated election financing law. The corporation behind the group is led by Michael DeGasperis, a prominent developer whose ties to Premier Doug Ford were highlighted in a recent National Observer/Torstar investigation.

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson decided to intervene on Ontario's Highway 413 Monday, a decision that throws the project's fate into question. But Wilkinson declined to step in on the Progressive Conservatives' other contentious highway proposal, the Bradford Bypass.

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is required to make a decision by Tuesday on whether Ottawa will take over environmental assessments for Ontario’s Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass. His choice could have major implications for the projects’ futures.

By 2050, when the federal government has pledged to reach net-zero emissions, the planned highway could have created up to 17.4 million tonnes (or megatonnes) of greenhouse gases, according to a report from Environmental Defence.