This bill is horrible! There…

This bill is horrible! There are so many things wrong with this bill, I hardly know where to start.

We are living in a climate emergency. We need to do everything we can to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and this bill does exactly the opposite, by speeding up building new highways and removing bike lanes.

Building new highways is such a massive waste of money and resources, and locks Ontario further into a car-dependent future. My spouse uses a car for work, and he cannot rely on public transit (he moves large amounts of equipment all over the province in order to do his job). My dad is physically disabled and often uses a car to get around (although he also bikes where there are safe routes). I am under no false illusions that we can do away with highways entirely. However building new highways will NOT make travel faster and easier - because of induced demand, it will have the opposite effect. We need to get more people out of cars and off highways, by investing in public transit, so that those who NEED to drive can do so.

The portion of this bill that deals with removing bike lanes is such a disgustingly transparent PR move. It has no basis in evidence, and will not accomplish the goals of reducing congestion or improving travel times. Instead it will only serve to put the lives of cyclists at risk - including my daughter who is 1 year old and travels in our cargo bike. I feel much more confident biking with her when we are in a protected bike lane, because of the amount of aggressive and distracted drivers in Toronto. But I'm not going to stop biking if this bill passes - without my own car, this is our main mode of transportation. Instead I will be forced to put our lives at risk, to do things like grocery shopping and visiting grandparents.

This bill also represents a massive overreach into municipal governance. Why does Premier Ford think that "Queen's Park doesn't know best" when it comes to accelerating building new housing in Ontario (https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/cities-cant-be-trusted-to-…), but suddenly he's the expert on bike lanes and traffic congestion?

I urge you to reject making my safety (along with my 1-year old daughter's safety) a pawn in a larger culture war. Riding a bike is not a left-right issue. In Toronto alone, SIX people have been killed riding their bikes so far this year–more than the previous three years combined. Bike lanes save lives. Not every trip will be bikeable, and not every person will choose to ride a bike. But let’s use evidence-based solutions to keep people moving across the province, and not take away the democratic voices of my municipal leaders and my community. Maybe someone can explain to the Premier about the difference between his uninformed opinions, and actual evidence!

"We have to do everything we can to make sure there’s never a death in the city. One death is way too many when it comes to bicycle riders. We have to make sure that they’re safe. You’re nervous when there’s no bike lanes. At least I was." That was the Premier back in 2017 on TVO's Political Blind Date.

I'm deeply sad although not at all surprised to find out this was just hot air, and that in fact the Premier is completely willing to gamble with the lives of cyclists to score a few cheap points.

UGH!