Ontario bill 60 a ‘top-down assault’ on local democracy, bike lane infrastructure, cycling advocate says

Before he became a husband, father and active community advocate, Rob Attrell spent his childhood in Calgary, where he grew up cycling through the city’s many integrated bicycle and pedestrian networks. From day one, it was his preferred method of transportation.

When he moved to Ottawa for university, he lived downtown and could easily walk or take public transit to attend classes at the University of Ottawa.

“I even skated on the canal to get around a few times,” Attrell recalls. “That was about 18 years ago and even then, downtown, I could get around pretty easily without a car.”

Attrell now lives in Orléans with his family and says he is trying to raise his three young children to see cycling as “a viable option” for getting around Ottawa, cycling across the Ottawa River to his job and taking kids for family bike rides with the help of a cargo bike. 

He’s also been actively involved in community advocacy and non-profit work with Bike Ottawa, the Convent Glen Orléans Wood (CGOW) Community Association, and he often delegates to city committees to advocate for improvements and expansions of the cycling infrastructure in Orléans.

He’s been advocating with City Hall and his city councillor, Laura Dudas, for extended networks or lanes. But then he heard about a piece of provincial legislation making its way through Queen’s Park, and that’s when he said he decided to get a bit louder.

Bill 60, the Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, has made the news due to its significant municipal proposals, including changes to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) and adjustments to developers’ planning tools and water and wastewater services. 

But what caught Attrell’s eye is how the provincial bill will impact Ottawa’s plans for bike lanes.