The Editor,
With the passage of Bill 60, the province has asserted unprecedented control over local transportation decisions. Municipalities are now banned from removing even a single lane of traffic to create a bike lane, no matter the local context, no matter what a community decides is safest, and no matter what long-term planning says is needed.
This is a direct attack on local decision-making. Our councils are elected to shape our streets, our safety, and our future. They know their communities far better than Queen’s Park ever will. Bill 60 takes that responsibility away and hands it to a provincial government that has shown time and again that it puts cars ahead of people. We’ve seen this pattern in the rollbacks of environmental protections, the weakening of conservation authorities, the Greenbelt scandal, and the steady chipping away at climate and sustainability policies. This bill is more of the same.
It also raises real safety concerns. Without proper bike infrastructure, people biking — including kids, seniors, newcomers, and workers who rely on a bike as their main way of getting around — are put in harm’s way. We already know what happens when a city has no safe network: near-misses, collisions, and people simply giving up because it doesn’t feel worth the risk.
Not everyone can afford a car. Not everyone wants one. People still deserve safe, reliable ways to move around their own community.
Cornwall has been working hard to make walking and cycling practical options. We’ve been planning for an active transportation network that connects neighbourhoods, reduces emissions, and gives people real choices. Bill 60 now freezes that progress. It locks in yesterday’s priorities at the very moment we need to be looking ahead.
City council should speak out. Other municipalities are already raising the alarm, and Cornwall should join them. Although the bill has passed, it is not too late for municipalities to register their opposition and work together to push for changes.
This legislation undermines our ability to plan for safety, sustainability, and the well-being of our residents. Council needs to make it clear that local communities, not Doug Ford’s office, should decide what their own streets look like.
I urge council to issue a formal statement opposing Bill 60 and to call on the province to repeal its bike lane restrictions.
Our streets belong to the people who live here. We should be the ones who shape them.
Mélanie Ayotte, Cornwall
L’article Our streets belong to the people; Cornwall should oppose Bill 60 est apparu en premier sur Cornwall Seaway News.
