Bill 212 will not benefit…

Bill 212 will not benefit Ontarians, and it will not save them time.

- To reduce car congestion, we should be investing in alternate methods of transport - this is what will reduce the number of cars on the road, by giving people better alternatives. If we remove alternate methods of transport, then people have no choice but to drive, increasing the number of cars on the road. Adding more lanes and reducing alternate options just means more people will choose to drive, which actually increases congestion.

- The population of Toronto is continue to increase. There is a limit to how many car lanes we can add, so adding car lanes as a solution to congestion is also not a long term solution - as the population grows, if more of these people choose to drive, congestion will increase. We can prevent people from driving by investing in alternate forms of transit.

- The province should not be overreaching into decisions that should be made by municipalities. Municipalities are best placed to make decisions about their own locales - they have the resources and the local knowledge. The province does not have the resources to look into municipal matters, this will make getting anything done more inefficient, and more expensive, which is the opposite of how an effective government should run.

- Data shows bike lanes save lives. If we remove existing bike lanes, this will result in greater cyclist injuries and deaths. It doesn't make sense to have bikes and cars share a lane when they travel at very different speeds and are very different in their degree of vulnerability.

- Bike lanes are also an accessibility and equity issue. Many people cannot afford cars, and biking or transit are their only means of moving through the city. Without these forms of transport, we are cutting people off from moving through the city - or adding to the time it takes to move around - the opposite of the name of the bill.

- It is a waste of taxpayer money to remove existing, useful infrastructure. This could be better spent elsewhere - for example transit, if we want to help reduce congestion.

- Bill 212 removes any need for an environmental assessment. This is very concerning for the future of our environment, and again is not a future thinking policy.

- We also should not be allowing people to get kicked out of their homes for a highway, this is dangerous path to be going down.

Overall I cannot see any data or evidence to support Bill 212 being the right move for Ontarians, and I absolutely do not support this bill.