Doug Ford's PCs believe Highway 413 is a winning issue in next election
CBC
Premier Doug Ford's party is staking much of its re-election hopes on winning the votes of drivers in the Greater Toronto Area with a promise to forge ahead with the controversial Highway 413.
The proposed new highway would cost at least $6 billion and would cut a 59-kilometre arc across the northwestern part of the GTA, linking the northern edge of Vaughan to where Mississauga, Brampton and Milton converge, at the interchange of highways 401 and 407.
Top strategists with Ford's Progressive Conservatives believe the highway is a wedge issue that will help them hold on to crucial swing seats in York, Peel and Halton regions, since the New Democratic, Liberal and Green parties all oppose the project.
The party's internal polling finds the highway is popular in ridings in the 905, where commuters form a significant voting bloc, a senior PC official tells CBC News.
The official, who spoke about the party's internal research on condition of anonymity, says the polling also finds opposition to the highway comes predominantly from voters who would not consider voting PC in any circumstances.
Ford's Progressive Conservatives won 21 of the 24 seats in York, Peel and Halton regions in the last election. If the PCs hold on to the bulk of those ridings next June, it would be almost impossible for the opposition parties to find a path to defeating Ford elsewhere on Ontario's electoral map.
"We can't afford more backlogs on highways," Ford said Friday, describing the GTA's 400-series routes as congested and the 401 as a parking lot.
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