This proposal is overly…

This proposal is excessively heavy-handed, ungrounded in any apparent objective evidence or data, and an entirely unnecessary exercise in fixing something that, in addition to not being broken, is in fact working well. It is furthermore an unnecessary, infuriating and inexcusable intrusion by the province into the domain of municipalities that attempts to overturn the latter's careful planning, study and consultation for no other reason than the fact that the Premier has been angered by traffic on Bloor Street close to where he resides.

It is hard to understate the illegitimacy of formulating policy and legislation in the manner that this bill has been abruptly pulled together based on the Premier's personal priorities and pushed through the legislature with no consultation of evidence or stakeholders and with an exemption from the normal environmental review process. The approach being used does not align with Ontario's or Canada's democratic traditions or values. It will be a low and shameful moment for Ontario if the bill passes, and another depressing example of a bullying, intransigent government acting on its own angry prerogatives that have minimal connection with what Ontario citizens actually want or with how they should be served by their elected representatives.