Brampton city council to consider reversing itself on support for Highway 413

Brampton city council will vote on a motion Wednesday calling on the city to reverse its support of Highway 413 after months of trying and failing to get provincial support for its own development plans.

Council initially endorsed the controversial project, also called the GTA West Corridor, in 2019. But in 2020, the city released a report on a transit-oriented and green community concept called Heritage Heights, which has been in the works for years. Coun. Doug Whillans, who put forth the motion to "strongly oppose" Highway 413 in its entirety, says the Heritage Heights plan is incompatible with the Highway 413 project, according to the staff report

"I'm confident that this motion will go through on Wednesday. I'm just not sure how far it will go with the province," Whillans told CBC News.

The proposed highway would cost at least $6 billion and would follow a 59-kilometre route across the northwestern part of the GTA, linking the northern edge of Vaughan to where Mississauga, Brampton and Milton converge at the interchange of highways 401 and 407. Critics say the project would damage the environment and add to urban sprawl, but Premier Doug Ford's government says the highway will ease gridlock and cut commute times in a region that's growing fast.

Last year, Brampton requested that the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) work with the city to incorporate its proposal for an urban boulevard in the ongoing Highway 413 environmental assessment study, and asked for MTO support of Brampton's planning for Heritage Heights.

"From the landowners to our city staff, we were all generally okay with the way they proposed it if we can incorporate our boulevard but it doesn't seem like [the province wants] to work with us on that," Whillans said in an interview.

Mississauga, Markham and Vaughan have already declared their opposition to the project. 

"Now we're speaking against it … but I don't know what's going to happen there," Whilans added.

Divya Arora, a youth organizer for the David Suzuki Foundation and a Brampton resident, says she's relieved council is looking at reversing its support for Highway 413.

"I think Brampton is one of those communities that has had the privilege of sitting on the fence," said Arora. "When it came to the highway as a whole... I was unaware of what council's position [was]."

The foundation has been organizing for months to get the federal government to oppose the project, citing the need to protect Ontario's countryside, forests, farmland and species at risk. It says the highway would be a waste of funds that could be used for building public transit.

"It sends a really important message when a municipality that's as important and has multiple swing ridings like Brampton comes out against the highway," said Arora. "It sort of gets them thinking about what their voters really want."

However, Todd Letts, the CEO of the Brampton Board of Trade, says the highway is what a lot of Bramptonians want.

"I think the motion is premature, and I think it could be very damaging," said Letts.