To pass Bill 212 would be to…

To pass Bill 212 would be to legislate the same unethical and development-driven goals seen in the sitting government's attempt to destroy the Greenbelt. The "Progressive" Conservative party touts this act as the solution to Toronto's bronze metal in the worlds most gridlocked cities. However, it could not be more transparent that the outrageous oversight of bike lanes is a distraction from the other 4 profit-seeking schedules contained herein.

Eric Miller, the Director of the University of Toronto's Transportation Research institute has referred to this bill as "a development play". It is unacceptable that we are exploring solutions that any undergraduate student pursuing a civil engineering or social sciences degree at one of our province's criminally underfunded public higher education institutions could tell you just how damaging this "investment" will be.

The broadband easements described in schedule 1 clearly imply the planned use of tolls on proposed highways. This is already a barrier to entry for the 407, a highway that many Ontarians would benefit from using but cannot afford. It's laughable that this "fiscally responsible" government eliminated widely accepted sources of income for the province to maintain our roads only to resort to methodology that exploits the working class who are forced to use car-centric infrastructure.

Schedule 2 gives an unprecedented right to the Ministry of Transportation to take property away from the working class who live in lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods bordering on highways. Countless examples of expropriating land in such neighbourhoods across North America disproportionately affects marginalized communities. Expropriation should be reserved for projects like Berlin's housing expropriation from private corporations for the purpose of providing affordable housing to the city's majority renter population.

Schedule 3 is an abomination in the environmental protection of Ontario's delicate wetland ecosystems and productive farmland. Unfettered sprawl has reduced wildlife habitats to the detriment of them and us. It is the recipe for the spread of zoonotic diseases and ecological disaster. Car-centric infrastructure is detrimental to our communities when there are better alternatives like high-speed rail and other accessible, affordable public transit solutions.

It took 14 years to complete the 407 and it was privatized before it was completed. The 413 is a bypass of a bypass! Building more highways does NOT reduce traffic and, instead, creates induced demand. The only people who stand to gain from this highway are developers and corporate land investors. It is a sick and twisted ploy to waste taxpayer dollars on lining the pockets of the capitalist elite instead of improving the material conditions of constituents.

Schedule 4 is a transparent distraction to shield the rest of this act from public scrutiny.

Schedule 5 is, perhaps, the only good part of this bill. As a female-presenting person, I feel unsafe at the idea of predatory tow truck companies (including those backed by local mafia in and around the Hamilton area) preying on me in my time of greatest need.

The capitalist and oligarchical elite in the Conservative Party should be laughed at for proposing such a transparent attempt to placate developers who were denied access to protected areas in the Greenbelt. I refuse to stand for the absurdity and cruelty of their corporatist policies that have an immediate benefit to them and them alone while ignoring the deleterious effects it will have on future generations of Ontarians.

What alternatives are there, they may ask? Invest. In. Public. Transit. Moving more people from point A to point B with less space is surprisingly effective at reducing gridlock!