We do not support Bill 212,…

We do not support Bill 212, which is being rushed through without adequate transparency, and that it is about much more than just Toronto bike lanes. The majority of this bill is about the expropriation of farmland, green areas and private property for Highway 413 and its concurrent broadband network that will be required for tolls to be added to the 413 in the near future. We object to this highway being constructed on sensitive lands in southern Ontario that need protecting, while privately owned Highway 407 is being demonstrably under-utilized after its early sale to private interests by the provincial government soon after its completion.

We also object to the obfuscation by the Ford government in trying to mask the greater impacts of this bill by pushing its public agenda of Toronto streets as too crowded by bike lanes that reduce street passages. The new and previously existing bike lanes are heavily used by non-polluting cyclist commuters and recreational users, day and night. Gridlock has been shown not to be solved by adding more lanes in either city or rural streets, but reduced lanes in city streets reduces the real hazards of speeding, traffic noise and unclocked speed racers who are increasingly killing other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians of all ages in all parts of the city.

This obfuscation by the Ford government must be brought into the light of day for the sake of all Ontario taxpayers and travellers in the greater Toronto area, whether by personal auto, truck, public transportation, motorcycle or bicycle, as well for the protection of our diminishing, non-renewable natural environment.

Do not pass Bill 212! Thank you for taking submissions from we, the taxpayers of Ontario.