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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 18 ,2 02 1 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 WHO WE ARE Publisher Kelly Montague Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Halton Media General Manager Jason Pehora CONTACT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at theifp.ca Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncanadianchampion.com or call 905-234-1019. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT THEIFP.CA Halton Hills council is now getting huge support in fighting Highway 413. I opposed this "super- highway" years ago when the Liberals were in power. They held a three-member panel, which I spoke at in 2017. A year later it was killed, or so we thought. After taking office, the Ford government an- nounced it was resuming the highway project. This highway has more lives than a cat. Why are we opposed? This highway will pave over 2,000 acres of farm- land and 400 acres of pro- tected greenbelt land. This will not fix conges- tion. This will lead to more urban sprawl, as develop- ers will be building houses along the new route. Adding a highway is like Homer Simpson loos- ening his belt buckle at a buffet thinking he is not gaining weight. Estimates for the highway are from $6-10 billion dollars. I believe the pandemic will have profound chang- es to our lifestyles, that more people will work from home. Let's make a deal with the owners of the 407 Ex- press Toll Route -- which is underutilized as it is -- for dedicated truck routes. Let's invest in public tran- sit. Let's put money in ru- ral broadband so people can work from home and not get into their cars. Mississauga has now of- ficially opposed the high- way, thanks to a motion by Coun. Carolyn Parrish. Mayor Bonnie Crombie stated that "GTA west high- way will have a disastrous impact on the environment, encourage residential sprawl and increase our de- pendence on cars." Vaughan is now opposed, as are many GTA commuters, as is our MP Mike Chong. And MPP Ted Arnott is questioning it. We have to think beyond the present, and question where will our food sourc- es come from within the GTA? With climate change, who knows if we will be get- ting produce from the U.S. In my last column, I wrote about Coun. Jane Fo- gal's resolution to halt the plans to develop to 2051 dur- ing a pandemic without proper consultation. I am pleased to share with you Halton regional council unanimously sup- ported it. The province demands the municipalities have their plans by spring 2022. Rick Bonnette is the mayor of Halton Hills. Follow him on Twitter @RickBonnette1 and In- stagram @rick_bonnette1. HWY. 413 PROJECT MUST BE STOPPED 'SUPERHIGHWAY' THREATENS OUR FARMLAND AND GREENBELT, WRITES RICK BONNETTE RICK BONNETTE Column A squirrel looks for a snack in a bird feeder near a wooded area of Georgetown. Do you have a great local photo you'd like to share? Send it to sleblanc@metroland.com, along with a brief description. Tony Fortunato photo SNAPSHOT We need our health to live our life and our wealth to pay the bills. Last March, COVID-19 put a stranglehold on North America. The contagious virus spread through Canada and people got sick. Many others were fearful of the disease and our economy turned on a dime. While we were all fo- cused on health, our wealth took a hit. Early last year, the U.S. stock market was enjoying a prolonged period of con- tinued growth and cele- brating new all-time highs. Then in March 2020, the bottom fell out of the mar- ket. People panicked. Inves- tors sold in order to seek the safety of the sidelines and leave their money in cash. To add insult to injury, after many investors had sold, the stock market broke records for its speedy recovery. The past 12 months have been the most challenging time for most of us. We expect that we will re- cover, but there will be huge changes. It is not reasonable to think that we can experi- ence this dramatic a year without a major reset on how we live our lives. There are major political challenges ahead, including federal debt reduction and the financial inequity expe- rienced by those who have been financially devastated by the pandemic. We will argue and we will debate. We will shape our future together. Peter Watson is regis- tered with Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (ACPI) to provide investment advice. Investment products are provided by ACPI. ACPI is a member of the Invest- ment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACPI. Watson provides wealth management services through Watson Invest- ments. He can be reached at peter@watsoninvest- ments.com. HEALTH AND WEALTH UNDER SIEGE CHALLENGING TIMES AHEAD WHEN IT COMES TO OUR FINANCIAL WELL-BEING, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT THEIFP.CA