The tree-hugging, car-hating, bike-riding, transit-loving contingent of our modest readership should join the 4,000 who have already signed the “petition-car” that is being rolled to the Legislature in Ontario via a parade on Earth Day. It carries the following message: “We the undersigned do hereby demand that not one more dollar go to promote, support, or perpetuate car culture. We want bike lanes, public transit and a train system. We want our public space back. We want local food, clean air, sustainable industry, a livable future for our children, and an end to oil wars. We want to dance in the street. We want a government that values life over money.”
The group’s formal petition asks the government of Ontario to redirect the tax-dollars spent on the auto industry towards expanding public transit, developing an integrated train system, and investing in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The petition also asks the government to begin the process of weaning our economy off the automobile industry by shifting Ontario’s labour force into sustainable transportation sectors. Lastly, the petition also calls for a ban on car advertising, as according to Streets are for People! co-founder Shamez Amlani, cars “contribute to resource depletion, corporate hegemony, perpetual war, and urban decay.” It’s truly an amazing concept for a petition that finally makes sense to us.