I am disappointed that on…

I am disappointed that on Bill 212, the government is not being conservative. Instead of making prudent, thoughtful, evidence decisions in collaboration with local stakeholders to solve the very real problems that exist with congestion, it mostly reads like a political ploy.

Schedule 2/3:
The bill shouldn’t be providing an exemption from the Environmental Assessment Act. If there’s an issue with the act, update the act. Otherwise, follow the rules as they exist.

Similarly, the Building Highways faster project seems like another short term and short sighted solution to a long term problem. Highway 401 is the clear example of how building new highways or widening existing ones doesn’t solve congestion problems, even after decades of trying to do so. Alternative ways are needed to get people and goods to places they need to go. For example, building and expanding rail networks to shift the transportation burden of goods away from highways. This legislation just promises to make the existing problems worse and more expensive in the future.

Schedule 4:
There’s nothing in the bill that explains to me why the province should interfere or overwrite municipalities and local stakeholders on what are the best places or methods to put in bike lanes. The assumption that any effort “diminish the orderly movement of motor vehicle traffic” is automatically bad is equally flawed.

For example: What if a municipality want to reduce speeding in a school zone and by removing a traffic line and adding in a bicycle lane? What if a university wants to