I am appalled that the…

Commentaire

I am appalled that the Government of Ontario has chosen this path of ignoring responsibility to providing more safe multi-modal transportation options to people who cannot afford to drive regularly, or who want to move minimize their environmental impact, or who just want a healthy and fun way to stay active.

I'm appalled because bicycling as an option for travel has been on a positive trend for the last 19 years or so since municipalities have decided to make it a priority to build more bike lanes across cities in Ontario. The data that the government has used to justify this action is backward looking and ignores the trend that cycling has been progressively more popular, and moreover it ignores the fact that to get more people cycling and out of cars they need to continue to build more cycling infrastructure.

I'm particularly concerned as I think about the futures of the cities we want to have in Ontario going forward . We want it to be easier to build cycling infrastructure for cities not harder, because as populations in cities continue to grow with more immigration, we need less people in cars. More and better biking lanes will be a key part of helping us do this.

We also need to make sure Ontario does its part to help Canada and the world meet its net zero environmental goals by 2050. Putting Bill 212 in place will do enormous harm by giving people fewer options in the future to choose environmentally friendly transportation, and will only make reducing our dependence on fossil fuels more difficult, which we need to do now if we have any chance of salvaging a liveable world for future generations.