Hello to the government…

Hello to the government workers of the province of Ontario.

I am an Ontario citizen here to say that I am against the need for Bill 212. Reasons why I say this are because we simply do not need to have this bill implemented in our provincial laws in the first place. Bike lanes, although not utilized as much in our province and in most cities, can and will be utilized by future generations that will live in our province.

They provide accessibility to those who wish to bike on the already built infrastructure, thereby letting people have the option to use something other than cars to travel; they can have barriers filled in with trees, plants, grass and other sorts of greenery; they make the streets with those combined barriers look much more nicer. One example of this success is the Bloor Street-Danforth Avenue corridor.

As a current resident of Toronto, I have personally witnessed the transformation of this one corridor, and how it went from cracked infrastructure and not so great traffic (I know traffic volumes are still not okay because we literally live in a city) and a not so aesthetically pleasing place, to a much more beautiful space filled with greenery and more open spaces for everybody.

I have also seen various people use these lanes to ride their bikes on to travel where they need to. And yes, that can also include food delivery workers from Uber, SkipTheDish, and DoorDash as some examples. We have even seen in other parts of the world on how this was benefiting everyone. Such as the Netherlands, Denmark, France. We even have some places in Canada that provide bike lanes, like Montreal, which is great for travelling in bike lanes or Vancouver.

We might not have a perfect set in stone bike lane path infrastructure set in our cities, but we have already started planting the seeds, and the need for more travelling through bikes will grow not just in the municipal level, but throughout our province.

We have seen bike infrastructure projects in cities other than Toronto, such as Ottawa, and soon Hamilton.

What Doug Ford is proposing is nothing more than pettiness from the fact that he lost the mayoral election for Toronto twice already. What he wants is nothing more than highways and roads to be the priority. And although it is already in this state of car infrastructure, and it’s not like we won’t need cars, roads or highways ever; we do need to consider as a society that not everyone can drive a car, some SHOULDN’T be on the road driving (experience from driving in Brampton and the 401), and some can’t afford to have a car as prices rise (and due to the fact that we live in one of the most expensive countries in the world).

In conclusion, we should not let the province decide what infrastructure cities, towns, townships and villages can build and what they cannot build. Cities are their own jurisdiction, and the province should not have power over what gets to be built in our local streets and areas. It will not be productive. People will protest the idea of that, whether it is right now, sooner in the future, or later on in the future. And plus, if we are REQUIRED to rip up the bike infrastructure on main roads such as Yonge Street, Bloor Street/Danforth Avenue and University Avenue, it will not only set us back decades, but it would also be costly to do so, as we have much more concerning issues to spend our taxes on, like building housing, new transit projects (even those POORLY managed, give us the Eglinton Crosstown, it’s been 13 years), providing new jobs for everybody, etc.

You can take my word or leave, whatever suits your agenda; but take note of this those that are currently in the Ontario Government.

If you agree with this bill, know that it will not only effect everyday people, but it will also effect you and your families for those who want to build beneficial infrastructure other than help expand the road.

Sincerely,

A very concerned Ontario citizen.