My concerns for Bill 212,…

Commentaire

My concerns for Bill 212, 2024 are as follows:
Schedule 1 Amendment to the Bill from 2021 which prioritizes expropriation of land along highways for broadband projects. Does this mean highways are being set up for internet connection and cameras to set up tolls? Will more tolled highways be sold to private owners at a discount like the previous Conservative government did to us?
Schedule 2 Expediting the construction of Highway 413, Bradford bypass, etc. Landowners will be kicked off land (possibly prime farmland) with no recourse unless you are a friend of conservative politicians in which case they will reroute the highway around your golf course.
Schedule 3 Construction and environmental process for highway 413--so it can be exempted from Environmental Assessment Act. This climate science denying government wants to speed construction of an unnecessary highway at the expense of the environment which will exacerbate floods and cause more habitat loss to species at risk. Prime farmland and natural habitat need to be protected hence the creation of the Greenbelt. I am not surprised seven Ontario youth are suing this government for its abysmal climate response considering the direct impact of climate change is worsening with each passing year.
Schedule 4 Bike lane approval. This government is adding more bureaucracy to Municipalities which should be encouraging active transportation so we can reduce the extremely inefficient and noisy automobile.
In conclusion this Bill will worsen gridlock. Every time roads are widened in any city no matter what country it is known that there is only temporary relief in congestion before it quickly fills up again. This well documented phenomena is called induced demand. Real world class cities like Tokyo, Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam etc. rely on well run and funded public transportation. What would these cities look like if all their citizens drove cars--they would look like the clogged up embarrassment that is the capital city of Ontario. Paving more land and taking away bike lanes will make gridlock worse by taking away options to go car free. Ramming through legislation to speed up the building of highway 413 will cause more environmental destruction as well as divert funds from other modes of transportation, namely public transit. It seems that the main purpose of highway 413 is to funnel our tax money into the pockets of strategically chosen developers, land owners and investors.