I moved to Canada in 1998…

I moved to Canada in 1998 from The Netherlands. As you are aware, it's a strong cycling society there. The cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands started to improve in the 70's as lots of deathly accident occurred. These were caused by an increase of cars, an underdeveloped cycling infrastructure while having a lot of cyclists. They tackled the issue then to improve the safety for cyclists and respect the cycling commuters! We are talking 50 years ago!!! Lots has changed in the cycling infrastructure there since then, in a very positive way.

In the last 20 years I have seen a very positive development in the cycling infrastructure in Ottawa. Not perfect, but a lot of hard and dedicated work has been done. Something I am proud of and appreciate the immense efforts.
Especially in times where we need to reduce the use of cars to reduce carbon emissions, we should encourage people to cycle in a safe environment. This will also have a long term effect for peoples fitness by improving peoples health and might very well reduce the need for expensive medical care.

Bill 212 comes as a shock. It is taking many steps backward. It's incomprehensible and another step towards creating an unwelcome increasing car using society. It's showing a totally wrong example how we should fully focus on improving our environment and continue to guarantee safety for cyclists. Pushing this bill is a disdain to the cycling community in Ontario. This includes cycling commuters and recreational cyclists. It's shameful and extremely disappointing and will create more traffic victims.
I appreciate your time.