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Ontario is removing Bloor, Young and University bike lanes. (globalnews.ca)

submitted 1 week ago by tracer_ca@lemmy.ca to c/toronto@lemmy.ca

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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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[–] AnotherDirtyAnglo@lemmy.ca 35 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Uh, first, Doug Ford was never mayor. It was his shithead junkie brother.

Second, Ontario can order Toronto to remove them, but Toronto can refuse or take them to court. I doubt the MTO is going to send a crew into downtown Toronto -- it's not their turf.

Third, if Ontario contracts a third party to do the work, they'd be setting themselves up for getting named in a lawsuit.

This whole thing is a clusterfuck, and Thuggie needs to get a new hobby.

[–] tracer_ca@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Doug Ford was never mayor.

I think you missed my jab there. You're right he was never elected the mayor of Toronto, but as the Premier of Ontario, he has meddled in what would be Toronto municipal jurisdiction more than any premier before Mike Harris amalgamated Toronto. The joke in local politics has been "He's the worst mayor of Toronto ever" when he does stuff like this.

Second, Ontario can order Toronto to remove them, but Toronto can refuse or take them to court. I doubt the MTO is going to send a crew into downtown Toronto – it’s not their turf.

They can, but will they? Olivia Chow has been abscent from this discussion since it started. And as someone who actually cycles to her job, she has stonewalled CycleTO. She's going out of her way to not present herself as a cycling mayor for some reason.

Third, if Ontario contracts a third party to do the work, they’d be setting themselves up for getting named in a lawsuit.

He just has to legislate it away. There is no risk for him. And at worst, taxpayers will pay for it.

[–] StopTouchingYourPhone@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

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.

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

The premier is in practice the head of government of every municipality. Mayors have very little power. For one thing, they are just the face of council and have no more power than any other member of the municipal board. But more relevantly, municipalities and their councils only have advisory power. The province can disband a council, merge it into another one, or override any decision they make with their own decision instead.