Canadian senator disapproves of Toronto and its bike lanes

On August 23, the Government of Canada committed $1.5 billion dollars to projects in the province of Ontario including funding for bike infrastructure in Toronto and Ottawa. Toronto which approved the construction of bike lanes on Bloor Street between Avenue and Shaw Street with the project completed in August, and plans to invest millions of dollars over the coming years in cycling infrastructure improvement in the city has become the butt of criticism of Senator Nicole Eaton. The Conservative Senator was appointed to the position in 2009 by Stephen Harper and in 2015 was elected by her peers to become the Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate of Canada, making her the second-highest ranking member of the Upper House of Canada’s Parliament.

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However, Eaton appears to not be satisfied with the investments the province and the federal government has been making, especially in the city of Toronto which she called a “mess” and “third world”. Eaton criticized the cities decision to create bicycle lanes instead of using the money for park maintenance, road paving and fixing sidewalks because supposedly Toronto is only allowed picking one.

The senator’s decision to go as far as to call the state of the city “third world” compared to New York City, London and Paris was particularly curious. She was particularly critical in the cities decision to reduce Bloor Street to one lane of traffic in each direction between Ossington and Shaw in order to put in bike lanes to facilitate the movement of commuters from East to West in a busy part of the city. Her failure to note that in New York City a debate continues over extending a bike lane that already runs between Washington Square Park and Madison Square Park on Fifth Avenue is curious.

The senator adds a sarcastic comment on the fact that just like car drivers, cyclists too pay taxes and then says that she has never seen a bike rider obey traffic laws.

Eaton is perhaps best remembered for her comments in 2011 about how Canada’s national symbol. the beaver, is a “dentally defective rat“. She was elected to her position in recognition for her success as a Conservative fundraiser. Eaton does not seem to approve of Toronto’s bike lanes and even elaborated in  series of tweets on why they degrade the quality of the city.