Canada, a nation among the wealthiest in the world, cannot meet its daycare needs. The problem has grown to crisis proportions in the country’s largest cities. In Toronto there are only enough daycare spaces for about one in five of the city’s children.[1] In downtown
Continue readingAuthor: Joe Fantauzzi
Illuminated By Street Lamps: Liberty: Revealing J.S. Mill As A Visionary And J.J Rousseau As A Totalitarian
By Joe Fantauzzi @jjfantauzzi At the core of many modern democracies is the concept of freedom. Variations of the word “free” appear 27 times in the text of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[1] “Liberty” appears in the preamble of the Constitution of the United States.[2] But the nature of
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: In Brampton, Few Recorded Development Votes After Developers Contribute To Political War Chests
By Joe Fantauzzi@jjfantauzzi Key Findings: – The development industry is clearly engaged in the political process at Brampton City Hall. – 233 development companies and development-affiliated individuals were publicly disclosed to have contributed money to Brampton candidates in the 2010 municipal election. – Of those 233 developer donors, 48 were
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: ANALYSIS: The Slow Decline of The Liberal Party of Canada
By Joe Fantauzzi @jjfantauzzi The electoral fortunes of the Liberal Party of Canada, once routinely referred to as Canada’s “Natural Governing Party”[1] have been in precipitous decline for nearly a decade. Currently the third party in the House of Commons, until relatively recently the Liberals held significant federal majority governments and
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Canadian lobbyists. Who They Are and What They Do.
When the federal Lobbying Act came into force in 2008, Vic Toews, then the President of the Treasury Board, declared the legislation “increased accountability in Ottawa” and provided “a more open and transparent government for all Canadians.”[1] The law, Mr. Toews added, would give Canadians more information about who is
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: On Prorogation: A Solution To Hand The Power Back To The People
By Joe Fantauzzi jjfantauzzi@gmail.com | @jjfantauzzi When a minority federal government facing a confidence vote over a rejected economic update suspended Parliament in 2008, a constitutional expert told CBC News the move had set a “dangerous precedent.”[1] Several years later, when a minority government in Ontario used the same procedure,
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Another Totally Non-Partisan Survey About Toronto Politics
Today, word emerged that a self-described non-partisan Toronto taxpayers group has distributed a survey asking residents about Rob Ford, his conflict of interest case and the state of governance in Canada’s largest city. Terms including “NDP activists”, “union bosses” and “tax-and-spend socialism” were
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Je Me Souviens/I Remember Dec. 6, 1989
Geneviève Bergeron (1968-1989), civil engineering student Hélène Colgan (1966-1989), mechanical engineering student Nathalie Croteau (1966-1989), mechanical engineering student Barbara Daigneault (1967-1989), mechanical engineering student Anne-Marie Edward (1968-1989), chemical engineering student Maud Haviernick (1960-1989), materials engineering student Maryse Laganière (1964-1989), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique’s finance department Maryse Leclair (1966-1989),
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: POSITION ANALYSIS: A Scathing Indictment of Neoliberalism And The Privatized Delivery of Social Services in Canada
The increasingly privatized delivery of social services under neoliberal governments is arguably doing real damage to the Canadian welfare state. Discussions about neoliberalism, which as the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics points out emphasize deregulation and a diminished role for the state[1], are often closely linked with the rise of
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Why The Rob Ford Verdict Is Good For Canada
That Justice Charles Hackland found Mayor Rob Ford in violation of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and ordered him removed from office bodes well for a more progressive Canada. [ Read the full text of the decision here. Thanks to Torontoist for posting the document. ] For the past
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: ANALYSIS: Did Quebec’s Student Movement Divide The Left?
Photo: Chicoutimi/Wikimedia Commons Canadian politics can be loud in the streets as much as it can be quiet in the polling station. As the Canadian Press’ Benjamin Shingler stated in his story “Another battle on horizon for Quebec Students after election victory” (this story will be cited several times), when
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Employment Redistribution: The Case For A Bigger Bureaucracy
Let’s recap: Unemployment rates are stagnant. and Living in this country is much more expensive than, say, 30 years ago. Coins are property of the Royal Canadian Mint And with this as a backdrop, the federal and Ontario governments (see: page 8 of the linked paper on post-secondary education reform)
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: ‘Winners’ And Losers In Quebec Asbestos Mess
Photo: Vsmith/Wikipedia Support for Canadian chrysotile asbestos is dead. First point, this: Canada should have gotten out of the asbestos game a long time ago.All asbestos causes cancer. We won’t use it. And, we’ve been out of step with our European friends.But now, the inconvenient rub.With apparently no clear plan about
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Draft Chow 2014
Photograph by/Photo par Montrealais. UPDATE (Sept. 27, 2012) Olivia appears to be willing to consider the idea of running for mayor!At least, she’s not ruling it out! “We’ll see what happens down the road,” she said, when asked again by the Toronto Star if she is willing to run for
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Short-term Politicking Plagues Ontario’s 2012 Budget
Budgets don’t get passed during minority governments without negotiation. The government’s public suggestion that the New Democratic Party, the only party willing to consider not blocking the Liberal budget, is headed by someone who has a habit of breaking her word isn’t a good strategy to ensure said government survives
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Toronto Photo Gallery Mixes Artistic and Political
So, I’ve released ‘Toronto‘, a living gallery of photographs taken in Canada’s largest city. Frequently vibrant, at times dreamlike and often gritty, ‘Toronto’ captures the light, the dark and the places you may not often think of when the city’s name is mentioned. ‘Toronto’ is a unique and occasionally surreal
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Toronto: A Canvass
Toronto is a complex, beautiful city. So many different views of its diverse urban landscape have gained us refreshing insight time and time again. There is a cache of photographs and artwork that brim with hope, colour and sometimes, even pain. It’s here: toronto art (Full disclosure: I have added
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: A Treaure Trove of City Photographs
Check out Fine Art America’s City photos. Here’s the link: city photos Concrete, steel, brick. It’s all there.
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: ANALYSIS: The Fallacy of Toronto’s Urban vs. Suburban Paradigm
So, about a year has now passed since the line in Toronto’s sandbox was drawn. The urban/suburban debate is now running 24/7 — social media says so, anyhow. THE NEW TORONTO Indeed, if the tweets are to be believed, a cartoonish new Toronto has emerged: one scarily angry that
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: RIP Jack
Stolen by cancer. You will never be forgotten.
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