This bill is a clear…

This bill is a clear overstep of the provincial government impeding on the responsibility of the municipalities in Ontario. Transit within cities are primarily managed by and meant for the people who reside within those cities. These local bike routes and forms of transportation should only be managed by the municipality themselves. The provincial government can provide funding for these projects, just as the federal government provides funding to the provinces for certain issues, but the municipalities are the ones who know what is needed within their city or not. The provincial can focus on larger forms of transportation, such as connecting cities to each other using busses, trains, etc. but bike lanes are not an issue they should be spending any time with as the MPPs do not know enough about each individual city to determine their needs in this regard.

Secondly the idea to remove the Toronto bike lanes as proposed in the bill is an unneeded and harmful decision. That not only wastes taxpayers money, it also will not reduce gridlock in the slightest. Over 8% of daily commutes use these lanes already and they are still very new, that number is expected to rise significantly. Encourage people to use bikes is not only helpful towards the environment, it also increases the public’s own wellbeing as exercise is extremely important and something many people should be encouraged to do. The Ford government has also said that emergency vehicles would have a hard time with these lanes, albeit they didn’t provide any actual proof of first responders saying these things, but these lanes are full width, separated lanes that first responders can also drive on. It is far easier to ask a bunch of cyclists to move out of the way for an emergency than it is to get a bunch of cars to move especially during times of heavy traffic.

I am fully opposed to this bill. It is a waste of tax payer money to remove brand new bike lanes that are being used. It also does more harm than good in relation to traffic, the health of the public and the environment. Along with this the lines between provincial and municipal issues become blurred as the Ford government is trying to abuse their power and take control of an issue that is not suppose to be a provincial government issue.