Rage Against the (Ford) Machine

All right, folks! The worst-case scenario for Toronto's cycling community has come upon us! On Tuesday, Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria announced cities will be required to get provincial approval to put in bike lanes which remove traffic lanes. Cities would also need to provide data about bike lanes installed over the past five years which could put large parts of Bloor-Danforth, University, and Yonge at risk. On Thursday, Premier Doug Ford said, "We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill”. This has been motivated in part to his own distaste for the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke which was the subject of last night's town hall hosted by Councillor Amber Morley. You can read Jun's report here.

Premier Doug Ford calling for the removal of the Bloor bike lanes in Etobicoke on October 31, 2023 (CPAC)

Having advocated for safe streets for more than a decade, I have never heard of an upper tier government (e.g. provincial, state, national) unilaterally blocking the right of municipalities to install bike lanes. It’s not entirely surprising either given Ford imposed its will on Ontario municipalities before including cutting the size of Toronto City Council in half during the 2018 election, banning ranked ballots, granting “strong mayor” powers to overrule council on matters deemed a “provincial priority”, and the record use of Minister's Zoning Orders to fast-track development. This move has been swiftly condemned by Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and countless road safety and urbanism advocates. Cycle Toronto launched their “I Love Bike Lanes” campaign last month which got almost 9000 signatures, while MPP Jessica Bell will be hosting a Rally and Ride for Road Safety on Wednesday, October 23 (5 PM) at Queen’s Park to coincide with the return of the provincial legislature on Monday.

Except for the pandemic year of 2020 which saw 30 kilometres of bike lanes installed, Toronto’s progress with bike lanes has left much to be desired. This limited progress would be stymied even further (and potentially even reversed) should the Ford government proceed with its dangerous anti bike lane legislation. This legislation would go against Toronto’s goals of eliminating traffic fatalities under Vision Zero and converting 75% of trips under five kilometres to walking, cycling, and transit by 2030. The legislation goes against the overwhelming research which showed bike lanes improve safety for all road users, increase cycling volumes, improve public health outcomes, and boost business activity. Not to mention, it goes against the trend of other cities around the world which have been expanding their active transportation networks.

The Bloor bike lane rally by The Kingsway in November 2023

The right to safe streets should never have become a partisan issue. Especially since road violence affects everyone regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, or political leanings. Back in September 2020, an EKOS Research poll showed 84% of Torontonians support building protected bike lanes, while Nanos Research found this month 54% of Canadians oppose restricting bike lane construction when traffic lanes are removed. Even so, a fair number of Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP’s shared the same messaging below this week blaming bike lanes for gridlock despite Doug Ford himself admitting bike lanes made him safer on TVO's Political Blind Date! It’s worth pointing out choosing between saving lives or saving minutes off people’s commutes is a false choice and voters must call out the Ford government on that. If the Ford government doesn’t back down soon, we must do everything we can to vote Ford out of office!

Unfortunately, such a task would not be easy. Especially since media reports have come forward about the Ford government planning to bribe Ontarians with $200 cheques for every man, woman, and child ahead of a possible early election next year. The Ford government did a similar trick before in 2022 by eliminating license plate renewal fees while voter turnout was at a record low at 43%. The consequences of this low voter turnout go beyond the recent anti bike lane legislation. Since the 2022 election, the Ford government tried to use the notwithstanding clause to ram through poverty wages on education workers (only to later back off), shut down the Ontario Science Centre without warning, and recently destroyed Ontario Place’s west island to make way for Therme’s mega-spa. There are lots of other examples of the Ford government’s disastrous policies, but we would be going on and on for a long time. 😉

Destruction at Ontario Place (via Ontario Place for All)

So what can we do about this dangerous legislation and massive jurisdiction overreach? There is a lot, but please chime in if there's more.

1. Sign and share Cycle Toronto’s “I Love Bike Lanes” petition if you haven’t already done so.
2. Attend Wednesday’s rally at Queen’s Park to show your support for safe streets.
3. E-mail your MPP and Premier Ford urging them to withdraw the legislation. Especially if your MPP is a Conservative.
4. If the legislation receives royal assent, we need to fight this legislation by all means necessary including suing the Ford government. While we can encourage our city councils to do this, we should also do our part by donating to a legal defence fund should one be created.
5. If we are to get rid of Doug Ford at the polls, we need to go beyond our social media bubbles and organize in Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, and the 905 suburbs outside of Toronto. Especially since those Toronto area suburbs are more often or not where elections are won or lost. Focusing on bikes alone will not do us many favours there, so we will need to focus on more inclusive language like “complete communities” and other issues that will resonate with that voter base.

This week's TTC Riders rally in support of federal transit funding at Bathurst station

For those who have fought for safe streets over the years, the need to persevere has become more urgent than ever and I can’t thank you enough for what you have done to get us to where we are today. This is a fight we can’t afford to fail as failure will mean losing much of what took us decades to accomplish and even more unnecessary traffic deaths when we already saw six cyclists killed this year.