I am opposed to the…

I am opposed to the provincial government having the authority to decide whether there can be bike lanes on municipal roads.

We elect municipal governments to make decisions about municipal roads. They know the local context because they consult data and the local population when planning municipal transportation networks.

We also elect municipal governments to make decisions about how to spend municipal revenues. Municipal governments pay for the construction and maintenance of municipal roads, and 78% of the revenue they do it with is from municipal sources.

This bill scapegoats a visible minority group for traffic congestion, a problem with many causes.

The intention seems to be to distract attention from issues over which the provincial government already has authority and is failing miserably. Health care is a provincial responsibility, for example, and there are 2.5 million people in Ontario without a family doctor. Similarly, housing is a provincial responsibility, and people are living in tents across the province because of a lack of affordable rental housing.

Withdraw this misleading, bigoted, anti-democratic bill.