Bill 212

So in a fit of pettiness, the Government of Ontario is set to wrap up bike-lanes in a 50-foot-ball of red tape to prevent their construction. I asked on Bluesky what was the best way to complain - if there was a petition I should sign or something. Craig Burley recommended I send a fax of all things. It's got a good chance of being physical media in their space, and won't just be in a slushpile of emails they ignore, or forgettable names on a petition. So I wrote up the letters for the Premier and the Minister of Transportation at lunch on Tuesday and faxed them from my local UPS store. Also emailed them for good measure.

They're not my best writing but I was kind of in a rush.

The bodies of the letters are attached below.

First, to Premier Ford

The Honourable Premier of Ontario Doug Ford
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1

Dear Premier,

I am a father of three who lives in Hamilton. I am a regular cycling commuter (yes, even in winter), from a family of cyclists, and have taught and equipped my children to use their bikes for travel as well. When my kids were younger, a bike-trailer is how I got them to school and to their daycare. I hope this conveys that this is not about recreation - this is me living my life. My interest is about protecting my children and being able to care for them.

The bike-lanes that enable this were carved out of existing roadways, and so they would be covered under Bill 212. The new Keddy Access Trail lane (named for a kindergarten teacher and cyclist killed in a hit-and-run) allows me to get up the escarpment to my doctor’s office instead of having to take a taxi. Each of these lanes were a battle in Hamilton’s city council to obtain - adding new red tape to this process will likely push such improvements out of reach, which harms the safety and freedom of myself and my children.

And speaking of red tape, I’m not one who opposes this change on democratic grounds - I truly believe the province should overrule the municipal governments on some matters, as is your right. But when I worry about my kids, it’s not whether they’ll be able to travel fast-enough in their cars, but whether they’ll be able to have homes of their own. Their own views reflect this - they are worried about ever being able to move out in our broken housing market, but getting my oldest to show any interest in obtaining his driver’s license has been like pulling teeth.

The Housing Affordability Task Force emphatically told the province what to do to fix the housing crisis, explaining which municipal rules and processes need to be overridden top-down to get homes built… and yet instead of that critical cost-of-living crisis, you’re focusing on bike lanes of all things? The tiny handful of HATF recommendations that were embraced have been scaled back to almost nothing, and the remaining lion’s share are completely unapplied. Where are the as-of-right intensification rules? Where is shutting down the ability of busybodies to block the construction of critically needed homes? Are there not enough people living in tents already?

To be blunt: Why do we see this power and enthusiasm spent on removing a nuisance from your commute, instead of fixing life-ruining problems?

Thanks for your time,

Martin Zarate

Second, to Transportation Minister Sarkaria

The Honourable Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria

Ministry of Transportation

5th Floor

777 Bay St.

Toronto, ON M7A 1Z8

Dear Minister,

I am a father of three who lives in Hamilton. I am a regular cycling commuter (yes, even in winter), from a family of cyclists, and have taught and equipped my children to use their bikes for travel as well. When my kids were younger, a bike-trailer is how I got them to school and to their daycare. My kids used these bike lanes to get to summer day-camp programs.I hope this conveys that this is not about recreation - this is my family living our lives. My interest is about protecting my children and being able to care for them.

The bike-lanes that enable this life were carved out of existing roadways, and so they would be covered under Bill 212. The new Keddy Access Trail lane (named for a kindergarten teacher and cyclist killed in a hit-and-run) allows me to get up the escarpment to my doctor’s office instead of having to take a taxi. Each of these lanes were a battle in Hamilton’s city council to obtain - adding new red tape to this process will likely push such improvements out of reach, which harms the safety and freedom of myself and my children.

And speaking of red tape, I’m not one who opposes this change on democratic grounds - I truly believe the province should overrule the municipal governments on some matters, as is your right. But when I worry about my kids, it’s not whether they’ll be able to travel fast-enough in their cars, but whether they’ll be able to have homes of their own. Their own views reflect this - they are worried about ever being able to move out in our broken housing market, but getting my oldest to show any interest in obtaining his driver’s licence has been like pulling teeth.

Surely the Ministry could be focusing on other things? All over Ontario we’ve watched critical public transit projects get bogged down in over a dozen years of delays. Why does an LRT line take a decade when destroying active transit apparently takes a few days? Where is this excitement and motivation on those matters? To me, this sounds like a problem of priorities in the Ministry of Transportation.

The Ministry of Transportation could be making Ontario healthier, greener, safer, and easier to get around. Instead, bill 212 proposes to do the exact opposite. I hope you’ll reconsider this plan, it is literally a matter of life-and-death for my family.

Thanks for your time,

Martin Zarate

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