A provincial bill speeding through Ontario’s legislature is raising concerns from Mississaugas in the Credit First Nation because it would allow work to begin on Highway 413 before an Indigenous consultation is complete.

According to the province’s website, it has a duty to consult with Indigenous peoples when it is “considering” decisions or actions that may affect treaty rights.

But as part of the Department of Transportation’s Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, the province is allowing itself to begin what the bill calls “early work” on the construction of Highway 413 before a domestic consultation or environmental assessment is complete.

The provincial move is an attempt to bypass consultation in the eyes of Mark LaForme, outgoing head of the Department of Consultation for the Mississaugas of the Credit. He said this is not the first issue that has come up throughout the consultation.

“We never gave up the ability to make a living from these countries. We never gave up the water in our treaty countries,” LaForme said. “(Highway 413) will seriously impact and destroy the Mississaugas of the Credit Harvest Cultural Treaty and other Aboriginal rights on our treaty lands.”

Highway 413 would be a 52 kilometer highway connecting Peel, Halton and York, much of which falls within Mississauga’s Credit Treaty countries. In conjunction with these regions, LaForme said the highway would cut across wetlands, rivers, forests and farmland.

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

According to the bill currently being fast-tracked, “early works” include the construction of a levee in Halton, two bridges in Peel, plus fencing for Highway 413 and highway extensions that will connect to it.

Although the Ford government has been in consultation with the Mississaugas of the Credit since 2018, according to LaForme, he said there was not an opportunity to actually collaborate on the project.

“What we’re getting is a meeting with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, basically telling us what to do and asking us to comment,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation said the “proposed expedited process” will build on consultation efforts already undertaken and does not affect the province’s commitment to meaningful consultation.

“(The ministry) remains committed to meeting the obligation to consult, to accommodate Indigenous peoples, including the Mississaugas in the Credit First Nation,” Tanya Blazina said in an email. Blazina added the provincial government has been in contact with the First Nation about the project since 2007.

The province locks onto the project: advocates

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

“To be meaningful, it has to be transparent in the process that the outcome of the consultation is that the project does not go forward,” said Phil Pothen, program director of land use and land development for the Environmental Defense Agency.

Asked Thursday how the consultation exemption is fair to indigenous people, Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the province is 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’re moving forward with a lot of these law changes,” he told CBC Toronto, in response to a question during an unrelated media availability.

In April, the province announced that a task force had been formed between Ontario and the federal government to sort out the environmental issues with the project.

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

LaForme said the 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 part of that process.”

Environmental Defense has filed a request for a renewed federal impact assessment of the project.

The Canadian Impact Assessment Agency confirmed that it received a re-assessment request in late October.

In a statement, an agency spokesman said the Environment and Climate Change Minister’s decision on this request will be informed by science, Indigenous and social studies, and “potentially affected Indigenous communities.”