What Does it Take to Protect Fish in this Province? The tale of the Bradford Bypass

The Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition and Forbid Roads Over Greenspaces (“the coalition”) have been advocating for the protection of Lake Simcoe, its fish and at risk species, and natural areas in the path of the proposed Bradford Bypass for three years. Our story shines a light on how little is being done to protect Ontario’s fish and natural areas. 

The Issue

The Bradford Bypass was first conceived in the 1970’s to connect highways 400 and 404, north of Bradford. As planned today, it would destroy 32 hectares of wildlife habitat impacting the East and West Holland rivers. There are 34 fish species in the proposed area. 

The environmental assessment (EA) was approved in 2002 with conditions, but Ontario waived those when they overhauled Ontario’s EA system in 2022, and then exempted the Bypass from the new rules in the same year.

So Many Letters, So Little Action

The coalition wrote a total of 18 letters to ministries and officials with a recent focus on fish to the following departments and regulatory bodies:

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO):

• To argue that the proponents should not be granted permission to permanently destroy fish habitat for “early works” (an underpass) under Yonge Street. DFO granted permission with a “letter of advice”. This occurred well ahead of any detailed design drawings for the project, therefore allowing construction to begin piecemeal, without an evaluation of the entire project. 

In the response to a formal petition to the federal government in 2022, we learned that the DFO has never denied a permit or failed to provide a letter of advice for projects that could harm, alter, destroy, or disrupt fish habitat, or for species at risk, in either the Lake Simcoe or Nottawasaga watersheds, from 2001 to 2022.

Spills Ontario:

• To highlight the state of the East Holland River, which exceeds chronic salt pollution levels all year round. We were referred to a federal official who says they will monitor the river’s salt levels this winter.

AECOM, a consulting firm:

• AECOM was hired by the province to be the Bradford Bypass team. We reached out with specific questions about their fisheries studies. Neither the Bypass team nor the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario answered any questions.

The DFO, again:

• To share all of the coalition’s concerns about the fisheries studies, salt, water quality, and broader impacts to fish in this ecosystem. DFO’s response was that they would look at Ontario’s fisheries studies if the provincial government asked them to.

Who’s Listening?

Groups like ours, opposing the Bradford Bypass, engaged hundreds of people at eight protests, got 12,000 signatures on petitions, and got seven municipal resolutions asking for more to be done to protect Lake Simcoe. We wrote eighteen letters to three levels of government. No one, except the person taking a water sample later this winter, has offered to do anything at all. The only action taken so far was from MP Leah Taylor Roy (Oak Ridges), who read a supportive Bypass petition in the House of Commons this fall. 

Ineffective implementation of existing environmental legislation, by both the provincial and federal governments, is deeply troubling in the face of the biodiversity loss and climate crises. We need stronger environmental protections and government transparency and accountability for such large projects that clearly demonstrates how taxpayer money is improving economic, environmental and social outcomes. 

To learn more about this issue, what you can do, and find a more detailed timeline of the Bradford Bypass, please visit our website: rescuelakesimcoe.org/bbp.

Claire Malcolmson is the Executive Director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition. She has worked and volunteered on Lake Simcoe issues since 2001 and was a ten-year member and ultimately Chair of the provincial Lake Simcoe Coordinating Committee. She has a Masters Degree in Integrated Watershed Planning from York U.