Is this government for real?

October 15, 2024

QUEEN'S PARK — Ontario Greens Deputy Leader Aislinn Clancy released the following statement in response to the Ford government’s proposed legislation that would require municipalities to receive approval from the province before installing new bike lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic.

“This announcement is just a distraction from a government that doesn’t have a serious solution to deal with gridlock.

The ‘evidence’ this government has based this decision off of is one man’s security camera outside his bar in Etobicoke. Is that how they make decisions for this province now?

What about the mountains of evidence collected by municipalities and the province itself showing that bike infrastructure does not make traffic worse?

If we want to solve our traffic problems, we need to give people more choices – not take them away. More people biking, walking or taking public transit means more people not in cars and less gridlock. It means kids (like mine) can bike to school safely.

All the government is trying to do right now is distract from its horrible track record on everything from housing to healthcare to transit. This morning we learned that yet another LRT project – this time the Hurontario line in Mississauga – is mired in delays and legal battles.

What this province needs is a real plan to tackle gridlock by investing in public transit and infrastructure that makes it easier to get around, and by building communities that don’t require you to sit in gridlock for hours on end to get where you need to go. The Ford government clearly doesn’t have that plan.”

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