I am a writing in my…

I am a writing in my capacity as a Staff Psychiatrist at the University Health Network to express my grave concerns with the contents of this act. I am a cyclist, pedestrian, and driver. I write this objection first and foremost thinking of my patients. For background, I am an Assertive Community Treatment Psychiatrist and provide outreach care to the hardest-to-treat, highest-health-care-utilizing mental health patients. My job, and one that I am good at, is helping keep people out of hospital, thereby saving the system the worst of mental health care costs. Without bike lanes, I could not do my job. By bike, I am able to see 4-6 more patients per day than if I had to rely on my car. My bike gives me the flexibility to reach people emergently when they are in crisis. Without bike lanes, I will be less safe in my job and also less effective and efficient.

Additionally, I have multiple wider concerns with Bill 212, which I will outline in three points below:

(1) This act represents the provincial government overreaching democratic mechanisms to interfere with municipal affairs as it pertains to the decision to oversee future bike lane installation in cities across on Ontario. The legislation outlined in this act, namely that bike lanes should not be installed where a lane of traffic might be lost, flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence that bike lanes save lives, have physical health benefits for the general population by promoting active transport, and have far-reaching health benefits by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (with the climate crisis being named as the largest health threat of the 21st century). By justifying the decision to stymie bike lanes on the basis of congestion concerns, the Ontario Government is laying bare that it values an increased travel time of between 2-5 minutes on roads like Bloor St. over the benefits to human health and human life. In my opinion, this is a horrifying position, and one that is not widely held among Ontarians (and certainly not amongst physicians as evidenced by the 120 signatories on an open letter to the government). Moreover, other jurisdictions, such as Copenhagen and New York City, that have expanded bike lane networks have found that over a period of just several years the bike lanes ultimately led to decreased congestion and travel times. Municipalities in Ontario need the opportunity to expand their networks to prove that this is a more sustainable healthier way to reduce congestion rather than preventing development or - worse - ripping up bike lanes which will result only in death and morbidity rather than long-term congestion gains.

(2) I am particularly against the Ontario government's decision to remove bike lanes in the City of Toronto without any input from the municipality. My vehement disagreement with this decision is in-part based on the safety and environmental concerns listed above (which obviously apply to the pre-existing bike lanes as well), but also on the fact that this type of action will:

(a) stifle the new ridership which has come with high-quality bike lane installation which have a public health benefit due to increased active transport/physical activity in our population and decreased air pollution AND

(b) cause worsening short-term congestion as the bike lanes are removed. AND

(c) mean that Ontarian tax dollars (estimates have ranged from 48-75 million dollars) will be spent destroying infrastructure when they could be servicing Ontarian's health and education for much high benefit yields. I will speak to health specifically given my position as a physician. For example, it has been widely publicized that many rural Ontarians cannot access health care - even health care as essential as emergency departments. It is completely unconscionable that the Ontario government would choose to spend Ontarians' hard-earned tax dollars making Toronto's congestion worse over helping to fund life-saving essential services across the province. 48 million dollars is a substantial enough sum to help with the worst of the health care crisis, whether it be used to train new family physicians, keep emergency department doors open longer, or provide high-quality mental health & addictions or elder care (both high priority areas). No one is "Saving Time" by waiting in overcrowded emergency departments unable to see a physician due to staffing shortages. By choosing to spend this sum on ripping out bike lanes once again shows that the Ontario government is not serious about it's population's health and has highly misplaced priorities.

(3) Finally, I object to this bill on the basis of its efforts to build Highway 413 without an environmental impact assessment. Highway 407 is built and underused. The government should spend its money wisely and rather than building new infrastructure come up with creative ways to utilitize existing infrastructure to Reduce Gridlock, Save Ontarians Time that does not decimate the important environmental resources of the province (namely, highly fertile farmlands and wetlands that will rescue us from catastrophic flooding). Moreover, by utilizing existing infrastructure, this government could have Ontarians saving time much more quickly than the multi-year time frame a major infrastructure development requires (even if some time is saved by bypassing an essential environmental impact assessment due to dubious legislative practices).

Thank you for reading my submission and I urge you to reconsider this piece of legislation immediately.