Highway 413 work could start before Indigenous consultations end, prompting concerns

A provincial bill being fast-tracked through Ontario's legislature is drawing concern from Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, because it would allow work to begin on Highway 413 before an Indigenous consultation is completed.

According to the province's website, it has a duty to consult with Indigenous communities when it "contemplates" decisions or actions that might impact treaty rights.

But as part of the Ministry of Transportation's Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, the province is allowing itself to begin what the bill calls "early works" on the construction of Highway 413 before an Indigenous consultation or environmental assessment is completed. 

The provincial move is an effort to sidestep consultation in the eyes of Mark LaForme, outgoing director of the Department of Consultation for Mississaugas of the Credit. He said this is not the first issue that's come up throughout the consultation.

"We never gave up the opportunity to sustain ourselves from these lands. We never gave up the waters in our treaty lands," LaForme said. "[Highway 413] is going to severely impact and destroy Mississaugas of the Credit's harvesting cultural treaty and other Aboriginal rights on our treaty lands." 

Highway 413 would be a 52-kilometre highway that connects Peel, Halton and York, much of which falls within Mississaugas of the Credit treaty lands. In connecting those regions, LaForme said the highway would cut across wetlands, rivers, forests and agricultural lands.

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LaForme said that will lead to the pollution and destruction of fish habitats. All told, he says his office has determined that at least 29 species of wildlife will be harmed by the project. 

Per the bill currently being fast-tracked, "early works" include the construction of an embankment in Halton, two bridges in Peel, plus fencing for Highway 413 and extensions of highways that will connect to it.

Though the Ford government has been in consultation with Mississaugas of the Credit since 2018, according to LaForme, he said there wasn't an opportunity to actually work together collaboratively on the project.

"What we get is a meeting with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, who basically tell us what they're going to do and asks us to comment," he said. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation said the "proposed accelerated process" will build on consultation efforts that have already been undertaken and don't impact the province's commitment to a meaningful consultation.

"[The ministry] remains committed to fulfilling the duty to consult, to accommodate Indigenous communities, including Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation," Tanya Blazina said in an email. Blazina added that the provincial government has been in touch with the First Nation about the project since 2007.

Province locking itself in to project: advocates

The advocacy group Environmental Defence says the decision to move ahead before the consultation and environmental assessments are complete essentially locks the government into a decision that should be open to adjustment. 

"In order to be meaningful, it has to be open within the process that the result of the consultation is that the project does not go ahead," said Phil Pothen, the land use and land development program manager for Environmental Defence. 

Asked on Thursday how the consultation exemption is fair to Indigenous communities, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the province has been consulting on the project.

"We have a responsibility to build, we have a responsibility to get shovels in the ground, and that's why we are moving forward with many of these legislative changes," he told CBC Toronto, in response to a question during an unrelated media availability

In April, the province announced that a working group had been established between Ontario and the federal government to iron out environmental issues with the project. 

That came after Ottawa agreed to drop a federal impact assessment of the highway project — oversight environmental groups long advocated for, that the province called federal overreach. 

LaForme said Mississaugas of the Credit should have a seat at that table. 

"We had no input whatsoever into this memorandum of understanding," he said. "If we are talking about reconciliation and proper meaningful consultation, we would have been a part of that process."

Environmental Defence has filed a request for a renewed federal impact assessment on the project.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada confirmed it received a request for renewed assessment in late October.

In a statement, an agency spokesperson said the Minister of Environment and Climate Change's decision on that request will be informed by science, Indigenous and community knowledge, and "potentially affected Indigenous groups."