Please cease these stop-gap…

Please cease these stop-gap tactics and start thinking about an actual sustainable future for this province. Countless studies have proven that creating more roads and highways does not reduce traffic congestion. It just encourages “induced demand.” Making driving easier and quicker (initially), by adding lanes or highways or reconfiguring intersections, you encourage more people to use cars, until it reaches capacity and then you are back at square one again (see Los Angeles.)

Not EVERYone can get around by car. It is just not possible to accommodate every citizen in a single occupancy car. We don’t have the space! Bill 212 is so transparently short-sighted and detrimental to future prosperity.

Not only is spending $50 million to rip up bike lanes a massive waste of money, but it will endanger the lives of cyclists while also making traffic and climate pollution even worse.

Imagine if that money went to hiring frontline healthcare workers and family doctors, building affordable homes, hiring education staff, and improving the services we all rely on in our communities?

We need investments that truly support sustainable, alternative travel options across Ontario. Not wasteful highways and additional barriers to green municipal planning iniaitiatives. Please stop these shortsighted smoke-and-mirror tactics to distract the public from the real issues. And STOP conveniently changing the rules to suit your own political goals. It’s blatantly corrupt and history will not be kind. Environmental assessments are required for a reason and are required for ALL projects.

I’m asking you to reverse course on Bill 212. Support the construction of MORE bike lanes and cancel Highway 413 once and for all. If we don’t come up with sustainable options soon, we won’t have anywhere to go. Period.