this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
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Toronto

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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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

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Olivia Chow has been abscent from this discussion since it started.

Chow says she can fix the "irritants" that residents in the area have flagged, including concerns about parking and taking away car lanes.

Bringing in provincial legislation to tackle those issues is "like using a big hammer to go after a fly," she said. CBC - Oct 11 '24

And as someone who actually cycles to her job, she has stonewalled CycleTO.

Stonewalled? cycleTO is rightly focusing on the provincial govt and they understand that DoFo is using this as a demonstration of the municipal powers he can yoink at any time, and they know Chow is pushing back against that. I don't know where you're getting your facts.

She’s going out of her way to not present herself as a cycling mayor for some reason.

The mayor, often seen using a bicycle and who ran on adding more bike infrastructure in her 2023 election campaign, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning this week that she's asked the premier to hit pause on potential new legislation for the moment.

"I've asked the premier to give me some time to work on it and I'm working on it flat out," she said. "I could show him that I could help mediate and find a solution that works for everyone."

"I'm trying to come up with a compromise that would re-open some car lanes but keep the bike lanes…so make the design work better," the mayor said. As for what that might look like, she didn't say.

Chow says she and a fellow councillor and city staff met with the Kingsway Business Improvement Area and local residents on Oct. 7 for multiple hours to discuss the issue.

....................................................... To anyone reading, the petition to the Provincial Government that CycleTo put together is here.