The shadow of the 413 has hovered over Angela Piscitelli鈥檚 life for the past decade, but now the Caledon resident fears what Doug Ford鈥檚 proposed legislation to fast-track the highway could mean for her future.
She said for the past few years she has become “imprisoned” in her half-century home, which sits in the path of the new 52-kilometre highway: unable to sell, unable to get a building permit to renovate it to meet the needs of her ill husband 鈥 unable to plan ahead.聽
Now she worries that Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, intended to speed up the construction of the 413, could put her in an even more precarious situation.聽
鈥淪eniors like us have been imprisoned for several years by the provincial government in homes that no longer meet our needs, and we have lost our freedom to sell our homes and been deprived of the value of our homes to make other arrangements,” the usually reserved Piscitelli said in a moving deputation before Caledon councillors this week..聽
“No one wants to buy land designated for a highway,鈥 she added. “We are running out of time,” she said later, in an interview with the Star.聽
She said she’s now also concerned about the day the expropriation notice will arrive. She will be expected to empty out her home of five decades and leave in just 90 days, as is required for expropriations.聽The new 413 legislation doesn’t allow landowners like her to petition a judge to delay that deadline.
鈥淐ould you do it?鈥 she said, when asked by councillors if she had the means to leave.
鈥淚magine a palliative senior living in his or her own home for 50 years being asked to vacate during his final days or months,鈥 Piscitelli told Tuesday’s meeting. 鈥淭hat senior could be me or my husband.”
She urged the councillors to ask the province to consider the “plight of seniors before the bill is passed. They need time to be able to prepare for such a stressful move, and such an enormous lifestyle change.鈥
Recent provincial legislation includes a streamlined environmental assessment and round-the-clock construction, but it will still take many years
Recent provincial legislation includes a streamlined environmental assessment and round-the-clock construction, but it will still take many years
After hearing Piscitelli’s story, Caledon councillors on the general committee voted unanimously to oppose the Ford government鈥檚 push to accelerate construction of the 413 under the Bill 212, which is expected to become law this month. Caledon council has聽long remained steadfast in its support for the highway project.
With almost half of the highway to be built in Caledon, Coun. Doug Maskell said he felt compelled to bring the motion forward after studying the proposed bill, which he called 鈥渁 significant attack on the rule of law” and “gross government overreach and intrusion.”聽
In a plea to his colleagues, Maskell said his motion was not opposed to the highway in itself, but the means being used to get there.
鈥淚鈥檓 asking you to vote against a proposed Highway 413 built across Caledon in the manner permitted by Bill 212,鈥 he told councillors.
Maskell said he sent his motion to other municipalities on the route of the highway, such as Halton Hills,聽Vaughan聽and Mississauga, which once opposed the 413 for environmental reasons, to take a stand against the way in which the province is now plowing ahead.聽 聽
鈥淲e all need to push back on this together,鈥 he told the Star.聽
In addition to expropriation changes, Maskell said Bill 212 will also significantly expedite the environmental assessment process for the highway. The new route would cut through the sensitive Greenbelt, at-risk species habitat and waterways, allow for 24/7 construction, enact hefty penalties on those who resist leaving their property, and allow officials to keep secret any information they choose around the highway building process.
鈥淗ow can we stand by while our residents 鈥 are put in peril?” he told councillors. “Why should the residents of Caledon and the voiceless be subject to an environmental review process that has never been used in Ontario鈥檚 history?鈥
But it was the deputation from Piscitelli, which appeared to move the councillors to take action.聽
鈥淩emember you too will be a senior one day, and ask yourselves, what would you do, how would you feel if your government treated you this way?鈥 Piscitelli told them.
At the meeting, Mayor Annette Groves said she 鈥渂elieves the province really dropped the ball” on Bill 212 given the lack of community consultation. She said she would send a letter to the province expressing councillors’ opposition to the legislation.
Dakota Brasier, the spokesperson for the Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria’s office said the “proposed accelerated process will build upon the considerable environmental studies and consultation efforts MTO has already undertaken to advance the project.”
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