I am a citizen of Toronto…

I am a citizen of Toronto and strongly disagree with the Bill's contents in a number of ways:

1. I strongly disagree with any exemptions to the Environmental Assessment Act for activities related to the building of highways in Ontario. We have the Environmental Assessment Act for good reasons, and must safeguard our natural resources, especially in the Green Belt and surrounding areas that include environmentally significant regions and wetlands.

2. I strongly believe (and the data show) that increasing available modes of transportation is absolutely critical to addressing gridlock. The government should spend more time finishing mass transportation projects (like the Eglinton Crosstown) rather than building more highways that will simply fill up due to induced demand.

3. I strongly disagree with using provincial tax dollars to rip up existing bike lanes that municipal governments have approved, designed, and built after broad and quantitative assessment of usage and impact. The Ontario government should base their decisions on data, not ideology. Bike lanes keep people safe. As a cyclist, without bike lanes, I will slow down traffic by taking the full lane that I am allowed, to keep myself safe.

4. I strongly disagree with the Ontario government taking on the level of oversight and micromanagement of municipal bike lanes that this Bill entails. It is completely ridiculous. The Ontario government should have higher priorities than micromanaging municipal bike lanes. Finish mass transit, address the family doctor shortage, fund schools so that they can actually address the massive backlog in repairs for our aging schools.