Comment from member of the public submitted via email (Ethan Rivest)

To Impact Assessment Agency of Canada,

Two proposed new 400-series highways in Ontario, the 413 “GTA West” and the Bradford Bypass represent significant risks of irreversible environmental damage within federal jurisdiction, including harm to fish habitat, federal species at risk, and dozens of significant wetlands, forests and important ecosystems.
The Ontario government has proposed significantly weakening the provincial environmental assessment process for both projects. Without a proper environmental assessment from the federal government, we may never fully know the extent of these impacts until it’s too late.
Both of these controversial highways have generated public concern over many years. Thousands of Ontarians have already written to the province asking them to reconsider the dangerous and unnecessary GTA West proposal, and the Bradford Bypass proposal has remained contested despite being dormant for over two decades.
These highways would increase vehicle traffic at a time when the federal government has pledged to cut carbon emissions from transportation. The current assessment process ignores the climate change impacts of 100,000+ vehicle journeys per day these highways would add to Ontario’s roads.
The federal government can and should designate these highway projects for a federal environmental assessment. If the Ontario government won’t protect our environment, the federal government needs to step in now.

Yours truly,

Ethan Rivest <Personal information removed>