Ottawa and Ontario announce deal to scrap Highway 413 impact assessment

Ontario and the federal government say they have reached a deal to drop an assessment of the province's Highway 413 project after the Federal Court ruled it can be set aside.

In a news release on Monday, officials said the provincial and federal governments have agreed to a "collaborative process to assess and manage the issues around federal species at risk throughout Ontario's planning of the project."

The new deal means the highway project can proceed without a full-fledged federal environmental assessment.

According to the release, the Federal Court has agreed to cancel the project's designation under the Impact Assessment Act. Both levels of government had filed a joint consent order with the court on March 20 that had asked the judge to discontinue the federal environment assessment for the project.

A memo of understanding has been signed between the Ontario transportation ministry and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to set up a joint working group in which federal and provincial officials "will recommend appropriate measures to minimize environmental impacts in areas of federal environmental jurisdiction," the province said in the release.

According to the province, the working group will use its "collective expertise" to protect the environment and ensure impacts to species at risk, such as the Western chorus frog and the red-headed woodpecker, and their critical habitats are considered before the project moves into a design stage.

The province added that its own environmental assessment process is "well underway" and it is committed to building projects that minimize environmental impacts.

"Both Canada and Ontario have robust and transparent regulatory regimes to ensure the environment is protected before major projects are developed," the release says.

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria hailed the agreement.

"This is a great day for Ontario and the people of this province," he said on Monday. "We finally have certainty to move forward with the Highway 413 project given the agreement that we have come to with the federal government."

Sarkaria said the province hopes to get working on the project within the next year. He said a federal environment assessment would have delayed the project by about five years.

"There's no time to waste," he said.

The proposed 52-kilometre Highway 413, which would connect York, Peel, and Halton regions, has been touted as part of the province's plan to fight gridlock and expand public transit, but opposition parties and environmental groups have said it would encourage sprawl into the protected Greenbelt, pave over prime farmland, and jeopardize the health of at-risk frog and fish species.

Green Party calls project 'environmental wrecking ball'

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a statement on Monday that it is "shameful" that the federal government has reached the agreement with the provincial government.

Stiles said the Doug Ford government "cannot be trusted to protect the environment" and the federal Liberal government is "simply rolling over."

"The Ford government still can't answer how many billions of taxpayer dollars they're spending on this project, or come clean about whose interests it serves," Stiles said.

In a statement on Monday, the Green Party of Ontario said the news is "disappointing" and it will keep fighting to stop the highway and will continue to propose housing solutions that protect farms, forests and wetlands from urban sprawl.

The Green Party called the project an "environmental wrecking ball."

"Highway 413 is a sprawl supercharger that will cost Ontarians at least $10 billion and pave over 2,000 acres of prime farmland — all to save commuters a few extra seconds. Once that land is gone, it's gone for good," Ontario Green MPP Aislinn Clancy said in the statement.

"By subsidizing tolls for trucks on Highway 407 instead, the Ford government could reduce congestion today and create $6 billion in savings."

New impact assessment law needed, group says

Phil Pothen, counsel for Environmental Defence, an advocacy group, said in a statement on Monday that there is an urgent need for the federal government to introduce and pass an updated Impact Assessment Act and to re-designate the highway for an assessment.

"The Ontario public's expectation is that Highway 413 will be re-designated fast enough to ensure that the provincial government does not have time to destroy key habitats or waterways during a gap in protections," Pothen said.

"If the federal government were to decide not to re-designate Highway 413 for an impact assessment, that would not be a consequence of today's court order — or this Memorandum of Understanding with the Ontario government," he added.

"Rather it would be a willing and reckless betrayal of everyone in Ontario who is experiencing unprecedented attacks on their communities by the provincial government and has trusted federal MPs to do their job and protect the environment rather than colluding with the province in its destruction."

Provincial oversight weak, environmentalists say

When a tentative deal on this issue was announced in late March, environmental groups and opposition parties were upset because they had pushed for a federal environmental review of the project in light of what they have alleged was weak provincial oversight.

The province had accused Ottawa of overreach when it marked the planned highway for a federal review under the act, and had asked the court to stop the federal government from applying the legislation to the 413 project.

Last fall, the Supreme Court of Canada found parts of the Impact Assessment Act to be unconstitutional, ruling it was written in a way that could allow the federal government to make decisions about projects wholly within provincial jurisdiction.

In a statement on Monday, federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said the agreement shows the two governments can work together while recognizing their shared jurisdiction on environmental protections.

"It also ensures federal interests will be maintained on the protection of species while offering Ontario, in light of the recent Supreme Court's decision, a greater level of clarity around the review process for the Highway 413 Project," the statement said.