Schreiner calls on Horwath and Del Duca to fully oppose Holland Marsh Highway

December 6, 2021

TORONTO — Please find the full open letter attached.

QUEEN’S PARK — Today, Ontario Green Leader Mike Schreiner penned an open letter to Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, calling on them to both fully oppose the Holland Marsh Highway (Bradford Bypass).

“We’re in a climate emergency and need to do everything possible to protect people, nature and water and crush climate pollution, not create more,” penned Schreiner. “I’m calling on you to join me in fully opposing the Holland Marsh Highway.”

The Holland Marsh Highway would:

• pump 87 million kilograms of climate pollution into the air each year
• slice right through the Greenbelt
• pave over 42 acres of the Holland Marsh, 96 acres of wildlife habitat and 25 acres of provincially significant wetlands
• contaminate groundwater and further pollute the already at-risk Lake Simcoe

“It’s clear that the Holland Marsh Highway is a bad idea,” Schreiner wrote.

Schreiner also pointed out that a plurality of local voters in the region are against the construction of the highway.

And last week, the Auditor General highlighted how decisions around highways in Ontario appear ‘disconnected from, or inconsistent with’ good land-use planning.

“Doug Ford’s pro-sprawl, anti-climate agenda is not what Ontario needs,” Schreiner stated.

A 2014 Ministry of Transportation report outlined multiple alternatives that would address local transportation needs and be far less environmentally damaging than the Holland Marsh Highway.

But despite this, the Ford government is plowing ahead with the project. And even took the recent step of issuing a Request for Proposals to design and build a bridge crossing as part of the highway.

“The future is at stake,” Schreiner concluded. “More highways means lower air quality, more polluted water and less nature to protect us from flooding and other climate-fuelled disasters. It’s about our kids and the future of this province.

“So will you join me and fully oppose the construction of the Holland Marsh Highway?”

Holland Marsh Highway – Open Letter

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