What’s Next After Bill 212 Passed?

Yesterday was a sad day for cyclists in Toronto, Ottawa, and across Ontario with the Ford government having passed the Third Reading of Bill 212. This bill would not only restrict where new bike lanes would be built, but also remove existing bike lanes on Bloor, Danforth, and University while preventing people from suing the government. This is despite over 24,000 signatures for Cycle Toronto’s petition and a broad base of opposition from planners to engineers, doctors, universities, organized labour, and several city councils including Toronto’s. Despite this major setback, the fight is not over and it’s time to put things into perspective.

Fight for Bikes at Queen’s Park and Yonge Street

Yesterday, over 1000 people gathered at Queen’s Park for the second “Fight for Bikes” protest two weeks after their highly successful début. It marked the third protest in a week against Bill 212 including Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance and Thursday’s delivery of two ghost bikes. Unlike other events which had feeder rides meet at a central location, this rally split into three rides along University, Bloor, and Yonge Streets.

Fight for Bikes Protest at Christie Pits

Earlier today, Zev and Eva – two University of Toronto students who started “Fight for Bikes” organized a protest against Bill 212 at Christie Pits Park. The turnout was incredible with some claiming there were at least 1,500 which would make it even larger than the September 23 rally at Queen’s Park!

November 2024 Ride to Brampton

The past few weeks have been pretty stressful. Not just for work, but also Doug Ford’s war on bikes via Bill 212 while Donald Trump being voted back to the White House didn’t help matters either. Given the need to use up some vacation days and blow off some steam, I took today off and used the morning to do an 85-kilometre bike ride to Brampton and back.