Bill 212, as it is written,…

Bill 212, as it is written, will not resolve the issues it claims to set out to fix. The only purpose it serves is to further worsen the problem while funneling taxpayer dollars into private pockets.

Bike lanes do not worsen traffic, and it has been shown time and again that removing them, as well as adding more highways, do nothing to actually solve traffic problems. All this does is worsen our overall reliance on cars, thereby increasing our pollution and climate issues. Not to mention the impact on greenbelt spaces that would be appropriated for this purpose as well.

It is blatantly irresponsible and a borderline hostile act to follow several parts of this proposal, especially attempting to make Highway 413 exempt from environmental impact assessments. Given the current state of our planet and rapidly worsening climate change, we should be increasing restrictions and more carefully assessing the environmental impact of new developments, not skirting those regulations to make a quick buck. The attempt to expand through the greenbelt has already been stopped once before, and this is a blatantly disrespectful attempt to continue the trend, hidden behind the removal of bike lanes.

In regards to bike lanes, myself and many others rely on them to get to and from work and other locations. Their removal would not lessen traffic. Speaking from experience both as a driver and a pedestrian, the easiest way to reduce traffic would be to actually make it more feasible to travel without a car. The majority of slowdowns during busy times in Toronto and the surrounding area are due to vehicles stopping in no parking/no standing areas for various reasons. People with blatant disregard for the rules of the road are a far larger issue, and removing the bike lanes will not fix that.

I will not disagree that congestion has become and remains a massive problem in our metropolitan areas. However, there are many possible solutions that are not as destructive to the environment or as hostile to pedestrians. We need to focus on less car-centric infrastructure, and fast, before we have nowhere left to go without having to be in a vehicle. I would like to see the province spend more time focusing on actual long-term solutions to these problems, instead of tearing up existing projects and wasting money on bandaid solutions that will ultimately only worsen things.