Ontario politics

The federal government’s decision this week to review the environmental impact of Ontario’s Highway 413 will slow down the project by several months at least. But long term, the controversial project’s future is unclear.

The new chair of Ontario’s Greenbelt Council, former environment minister Norm Sterling, has come under fire for voting against the creation of the protected area. Now, the Ontario Liberals are calling more of Sterling’s record into question, calling him “Ontario’s worst environment minister.”

Ontario’s Education Ministry outlined its financial and operational plans for the 2021-22 school year on Tuesday, telling school boards that pandemic-related funding for the second half of the year is not yet confirmed while requiring them to offer virtual classes for the whole year.

The RCMP are investigating whether Vaughan Working Families violated election financing law. The corporation behind the group is led by Michael DeGasperis, a prominent developer whose ties to Premier Doug Ford were highlighted in a recent National Observer/Torstar investigation.

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson decided to intervene on Ontario's Highway 413 Monday, a decision that throws the project's fate into question. But Wilkinson declined to step in on the Progressive Conservatives' other contentious highway proposal, the Bradford Bypass.

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is required to make a decision by Tuesday on whether Ottawa will take over environmental assessments for Ontario’s Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass. His choice could have major implications for the projects’ futures.

Norm Sterling ⁠— who oversaw cuts to the environment ministry’s budget that were later found to have contributed to what happened to the Walkerton E. coli outbreak ⁠— was a Progressive Conservative environment minister under the Mike Harris government.

By 2050, when the federal government has pledged to reach net-zero emissions, the planned highway could have created up to 17.4 million tonnes (or megatonnes) of greenhouse gases, according to a report from Environmental Defence.

Actions taken (or not taken) by those in charge of Ontario’s pandemic response have appeared to prioritize short-term economic activity over public health goals, writes Cathy Slavik, a PhD candidate in Health Geography at McMaster University.

The Ontario government has proposed repealing measures that made it easier to build new renewable energy projects. Critics say the changes would be a significant step backwards.

Residents are torn over a proposal to dig more aggregate out of the Niagara Escarpment on Mount Nemo near a haven for hikers and rock climbers.

Premiers in Alberta and Ontario have shunned science in favour of keeping the economy afloat — but resistance to the best advice of public health officials isn't going to end COVID-19, writes columnist Max Fawcett.

After a National Observer/Torstar investigation into the money, power and influence behind the controversial highway proposal, opposition parties at Queen’s Park called on the Ford government to kill the idea once and for all.

Public health authorities in Toronto have ordered the city's schools closed a day after the neighbouring Peel Region did so and as the provincial government prevaricates.

Peel Region’s schools will not reopen until at least April 18 as local public health authorities react to a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases.