As many of us living in…

As many of us living in Toronto, I have many concerns with the new Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act. Just to list a few:

Once again, the provincial government overstepping in municipal matters.

Once again, the provincial government bringing legislation that has no intention of resolving the issue at hand (as can be confirmed by any subject matter expert); it is only intended to win the votes of people across Ontario that live too far from our city to understand what we need here.

Cycling infrastructure is not the root of the problem, increasing car volumes is. The provisional government continues to meddle with the municipal development approval process to impose new development in areas lacking sufficient transit, which will just add more and more cars to the streets. Cycling infrastructure is being used as a smoke screen to cover deeper issues on how growth and mobility is planned in the region.

The provincial government current "new" need to approve bike infrastructure is a fallacy. Until February this year, the provincially-regulated Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (MCEA) process established the necessary steps that municipalities had to follow to prove the viability of cycling infrastructure. Then in February the provincial government introduced ERO number 019-7891 to delegitimize that process. So the Province had always had a say on how cycling infrastructure was approved, until they chose not to. It is disappointing if not suspicious that the Province removed a clearly articulated mechanism for technical decision making to now introduce a new mechanism that has no identified process whatsoever

Any policy that prioritizes the convenience of car drivers over the safety of all other street users is creating a two-tier society. Not everyone can drive a car, both due to ability and affordability reasons. The lives of all persons should always be more important than the travel time of some.