I strongly object to the…

I strongly object to the proposal to remove bike lanes in Toronto, and to need the approval of the province to put in new bike lanes in the future. Canada has signed the Paris Accord, which requires a steep reduction in our carbon emissions. We are not going to get there as long as the province encourages people to keep driving when there are other less polluting forms of transit possible. We need people to find other ways to get around the city: public transit, walking, cycling. The Province's proposal will discourage people from cycling. The complaints over bike lanes are coming from people who do not recognize our collective responsibility to change our ways. No one will be thanking us when climate change causes impossibly hot summers, and our alibi is that people like their cars. We must live up to our international agreements.

I am a cyclist who uses the Bloor and Yonge bike lanes. Should they be torn out, you will make my life less secure. You will also be endangering the lives of the food delivery riders who are the majority of users of the Bloor bike lanes in afternoon rush hour. They will not go through the maze of residential streets parallel to Bloor. They will stay on Bloor and the other east-west corridors, being endangered by cars.

This is bad policy, and it should be stopped before it is law.