cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/31516123
It’s happening, the worst mayor Toronto has ever had is removing three major recently completed bike lanes at tax payer expense. That’s right, Ontario tax payers are footing the bill for Ford to meddle in Toronto municipal infrastructure. This is of course to distract us from failing healthcare and education while appealing to his mostly car centric base.
There is a protest happening Wed. 23rd of October, please come out if you can. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/rally-ride-for-road-safety-tickets-1045417761667
Just so you know, this appears to be cover for some other goodies in the same bill:
- Ford’s turbo’ing past the environmental assessment for Highway 413
- He’s also bypassing the need to use (striking) civil engineers for the 413
The 413 will make his developer cronies a lot of money; everything else is identity politics garbage to get the bill through.
This is Greenbelt 2.0.
I’m guessing all the businesses on Bloor will be upset about this since there were substantial positive economic impacts when they put in that bike lane. https://tcat.ca/resources/bloor-street-economic-impact-studies/
Yep, cars speeding through don’t generate business. Doug Ford is just a giant douchbag
Surely the title should be “Ford is removing……”?
This is how media language choice helps people like Ford. When it’s buck a beer, they say the Ford Government, when they’re closing a hospital, it’s Ontario.
We see this this in American media too.
Perhaps the article title got updated, it calls out that these are Ford’s comments.
Bill 212 is in the Ontario government’s website and is open for comments. Let Doug know to keep his fat fingers off our bike lanes.
Dear Mr. Ford,
🖕
Regards,
Ontario
Since when does the Premier of Ontario get to decide what a municipal government does?
Since that’s how it works. The province has full control over cities.
However we haven’t had such a massive idiot trying to virtue signal like this as premier before.
Huh, interesting. I just looked it up to get more info, and this is kind of a bum deal that municipalities are “given” power by the province, so they just have to eat shit on getting it right or wrong, and then can potentially be overridden by a zealot like Ford anyways. Awful…
(from https://www.amo.on.ca/about-us/municipal-101)
Municipal Government
The powers of municipal governments are determined by the provincial government. Municipal governments in Ontario are responsible for providing many of the services within their local boundaries that you rely on daily such as:
- Airports
- Ambulance
- Animal Control and By-law Enforcement
- Arts and Culture
- Child Care
- Economic Development
- Fire Services
- Garbage Collection and Recycling
- Electric Utilities
- Library Services
- Long Term Care and Senior Housing
- Maintenance of Local Road Network
- Parks and Recreation
- Public Transit
- Planning New Community Developments and Enhancing Existing Neighbourhoods
- Police Services
- Property Assessment
- Provincial Offences Administration
- Public Health
- Side Walks
- Snow Removal
- Social Services
- Social Housing
- Storm Sewers
- Tax Collection
- Water and Sewage
Always municipalities only have the power they the province grants them.
So I should take the whole lane now when I ride there?
If the Bloor lanes get removed. I’m going to do that pool noodle thing for safe passing and take the lane every time.
Pool noodle thing? Like this?
Yup, that’s it. Take up as much space as I can.
Still much less than a car. And I mean, they chose to remove the bikes lanes, so how else are you gonna transport your pool noodle for your daily swim?
Exactly!!!
I don’t live anywhere near there, but unless it’s a horribly dangerous stroad, I would definitely take the lane to make my point every time
Yes. If possible, have a sign on the back of your bike or shirt that says “We need bike lanes.” or “Bike lanes reduce traffic congestion.”
This is Doug Ford placating to his base - the suburbanites and rural voters who cares about roads only for their cars.
DoFo in campaign mode is the slimiest.
He’s also straight up virtue signalling for the O&G industry. War On Cars and all that.
Wait…. Wasn’t his brother the mayor? The dead one?
Yes, and now Doug is super mayor of Toronto.
Sometimes I’m glad he doesn’t realize the rest of us exist, but I’d like a premier here for all of Ontario.
I wore my councilor an email saying: hey maybe our city should speak out about this bullshit, Guelph is writting a letter, we could do that?
He got me back with: we’re workshopping it; but letters are a bad idea, they piss of this government and then you just end up with random retribution.
So those are the clowns we have running the province.
Mobsters, not clowns.
OPC MPPs are exactly the kind of small-business douchebags that get really upset about any attempts to correct them.
Oh FFS. This timeline sucks.
