Regarding bike lanes: Safe…

Regarding bike lanes:
Safe and interconnected cycling lanes are imperative in creating a diverse and equitable city. They allow for freedom of movement for a wide range of age groups and backgrounds and reduce the strain on motorways and the fight for parking in the city. Kids can safely cycle to a friend's house, people can cycle to work in the fresh air, grab groceries and do errands, deliver food and packages. Having choices in getting around ultimately reduces the strain on all forms of transportation, be it car, transit, and cycling.
Having only a short test period of these new bike lanes in not enough to properly assess the changes in behavior that comes with replacing a lane of traffic. When driving becomes INITIALLY inconvenient, eventually people that are able switch to a more convenient transport system (be is the TTC or cycling). Which in turn reduces car traffic and normalizes the system.
The key is that it's not all or nothing, not everyone is able to cycle just like not everyone has access to a car and a license. Having bike lanes along these major arteries is KEY to creating an easy to use and convenient bicycle network. (Previously I'd have to go x1.5 further to get to work and still need to cycle on dangerous roads, whereas now it is a much more direct route.)
And finally, this is a municipal issue, not a provincial issue. Having the provincial government involved would just adds red tape and bureaucracy and be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Regarding highways:
Multiple studies over decades (see "supporting links") show that adding lanes of highway only produces more traffic. If it's easier to drive then more people will, and therefore the congestion is ultimately the same. It is instead more effective to provide alternatives to car travel by providing *reliable* and *convenient* modes of public transit like trains, LRTs, etc as well as infrastructure like bicycle lanes. Of course, sometimes driving is the only option depending on where you're going and what you're carrying with you. In which case, if more people take the train or their bike, highways will be less congested with commuters going to the office and be open to the people that need them.
If it's easier to take the train to work, why *wouldn't* people use it?

Instead of building more highways, I'd instead suggest reacquiring the 407, infrastructure that already exists and is severely underutilized.

Canada is lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to high speed trains and interconnected networks of reliable and convenient transport. Train travel to BC is SLOWER than when it was first built over a century ago. In Germany, there is a train station in every small hamlet creating transportation equity between both rural and urban regions of the country.