I am writing to express my…

I am writing to express my disappointment with the province’s proposal to remove bike lanes from the City of Toronto and I urge the province to retract the proposal or otherwise amend it to the benefit of Torontonians.

1. The province ought not interfere with municipal policies

While municipalities are creatures of the province, the reality is that municipalities are much more involved in local matters and understand local needs better than the province.

Assuming that the assertions of the ministry are true, the people that support the removal of these bike lanes should voice their concerns with the City, and the province should not interfere with these local matters, especially in a unilateral matter.

Being a democratic society, the Mayor of the City of Toronto also gets more votes during a municipal election than the Premier of Ontario does during a provincial election. In other words, the Mayor and her policies ought to be respected out of democratic principles.

2. Proposal is not based on data

The proposal has not identified or provided any data that supports the idea that the removal of one lane of traffic in specific areas is directly correlated with increased congestion.

The City has stated that they are willing to share their data and studies with the province and I urge the province to make decisions based on actual data.

There is also no information on whether the province considered any alternative solutions. If such options were considered, there is no information on why they were not adopted.

3. Proposal doesn’t consider the Ontario government’s own Made-in-Ontario Environmental plan

The province has committed to “Improve air quality in communities by creating unique solutions to their individual challenges“ in the Made-in-Ontario Environmental plan.

The proposal makes no reference to how this is considered.

On face value, encouraging people to continue driving, as opposed to having more attractive alternatives to transportation, seems contrary to the Government’s own environmental plan. Further, given that this decision is unilateral without the City’s input, it’s difficult to see how the province is “work in partnership with municipalities”.

4. Proposed bill creates unnecessary red tape

The proposed plan introduces another layer of approval where the Ministry of Transportation reviews municipal proposals. This provincial government was a strong proponent to reduce red tape and to speed up approval processes.

Ironically, the same government is proposing to increase red tape for a policy that has no data backing. This also signals a sign of distrust between the province and the municipalities. We should be working together and not against each other.

Overall, if the proposal was based on data and was accomplished with good faith discussions with the municipalities, I would have had no concerns. However, as it stands this is clearly not the case.

In sum, I ask the province will retract or amend the bill so that Ministry of Transpiration can review the data that the City provides before a final decision is made.