Premier Doug Ford is fighting the ‘war on cars’

Ford government to restrict new bike lanes in bid to ease gridlock, Sept. 20
Premier Doug Ford has done nothing more than reveal his general lack of knowledge or understanding and his bias toward prioritizing motorist convenience over vulnerable road user safety. Any infrastructure which prioritizes motorist convenience over vulnerable user safety should be held as a crime against the citizenry. I’m willing to bet that infrastructure design always plays a significant and critical role in the death of a pedestrian or cyclist. 
Peter Lehman, Waterloo, Ont.
So, Premier Doug Ford wants to forbid cities to build bike lanes if they take away a lane of car traffic. No surprise! Former mayor Rob Ford, his brother, insisted there was a “war on cars.” The Fords don’t care about people who don’t own cars. Does Doug Ford think that cyclists and bikes will disappear without bike lanes? Nope. We’ll clog up the streets and slow traffic. Would drivers rather have me in bike lanes, where they don’t have to worry about hitting me, or sharing the car lanes, slowing them down and competing with them for space? 
Elizabeth Block, Toronto
Nowhere have I seen any mention of the disabled community and what all this means to them. Getting into the city if you require transit with supports is an excruciating journey. We need door to door public transit. Bike lanes are potential death traps because of the many cyclists who blow through intersections without dismounting and walking their bike through the intersection. If you require the use of a service dog, sidewalks are a nightmare. People either crash into you or your dog because they’re not paying attention. Many of us drive modified vehicles using hand controls with side or back ramps. However, parking is practically non-existent. Street parking has been lost to bike lanes. Surface lots don’t have wide enough disabled spaces for side ramps to extend. So please have a think about how adding more bike lanes impacts infrastructure required for those with disabilities.
Lilian Hulme-Smith, Richmond Hill
The Rogers way suggests no Toronto team president is safe: Feschuk, Sept. 21
The insatiable appetite of Edward Rogers to control the sports scene in Toronto has taken another step. Rogers’ domination of the sports market in the city is evident with his recent purchase of Bell’s investment in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.7 billion. Already having Rogers Center, Sportsnet and Blue Jays in hand, Rogers will own the majority of the Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Argonauts and Toronto FC soccer club. That just leaves MLSE chair Larry Tanenbaum with his 20 per cent and five per cent owned by OMERS, a Canadian pension fund. It’s only time before all of Toronto’s sports teams are neglected the way the Jays have been. It’s all about Rogers’ bottom line and no more. What this city lacks is a sports-minded organization, not a profit-obsessed corporation that doesn’t know a hockey puck from a catcher’s mitt, and could care less.
Gary Megaffin, Kitchener, Ont.
Should Ontario students learn how to sew? To change a tire? The Ford government wants your opinion, Sept. 9
I totally disagree with the letters that say teaching of life skills at school is useless. If not for home economics class, I would never have learned to operate a sewing machine. My mother did not own one. Being taught this skill, as well as cooking, has been immensely important in my life. Maybe it’s the era I grew up in but these skills totally had a positive impact on my life and have saved me a lot of money in clothing repairs over the years.
Marla Switzer, Thornhill
Poilievre poisoned Canadians against the most effective tool we have for fighting climate change, Sept. 17
This article is one of the very few over the years of the so-called “carbon tax” that even comes close to the truth. Over 200 global economists agree that carbon pricing is the best way to reduce the burning of fossil fuels contributing to climate change. The media has been generally quiet on the fact that the rebate component of the tax leaves most households better off financially, leaving Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre free rein to spread misinformation about the tax. Poilievre carrying on about it for years makes one worry about what else he has in store for Canada if he becomes prime minister. 
Jim Griffin, Markdale, Ont.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre compares the effect of carbon pricing to an economic “nuclear winter.” He ignores the undeniable fact that carbon pollution is already producing “nuclear summers” in our country. Think of the economic (and human) costs of catastrophic forest fires, heat domes, droughts and flooding. To avoid these devastating effects of climate change, Canada and other countries must immediately implement measures to reduce carbon pollution. The federal Liberals’ carbon pricing policy has been shown to be a very effective carbon reduction policy (granted, the policy can and should be better communicated).
Jeffrey Levitt, Toronto
Closing safe injection sites without alternative supports in place is another example that the little guy does not matter to the provincial Conservatives. As with dismantling encampments, it is as if the government’s solution is to remove something it finds embarrassing or inconvenient instead of finding a solution. It’s an important reminder of the stakes of the upcoming federal election; I worry about universal health care if the federal Conservatives are elected.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is no good but a Conservative would be much worse. It would seem that the only safe option in the coming election is a minority government; then at least the damage can be minimized. 
Rick Lockman, Orillia, Ont.