I was perusing the usual collage of semi-news, trivia, and fluff on CollingwoodToday recently and noticed a poll at the bottom asking “How old are you?” It piqued my interest enough to add my vote. I’m always interested in demographics and statistics, and am curious about changing media engagement, especially
Continue readingTag: Civic Engagement
Scripturient: Collingwood Needs a Communications Director and Plan
Yesterday, the Town of Collingwood sent out an email trying to rationalize the town’s budget and tax increase. That release underscores in so many ways why townhall desperately needs both a person and a plan to oversee and guide its communications. And this is coming from someone who also believes
Continue readingScripturient: Why is Collingwood So Secretive About its Salt Use?
Road salt is a huge concern in Ontario for its destructive effects on the environment and the infrastructure. Progressive municipalities across the province have been exploring alternatives for years, cutting back, looking for safer ways to manage winter roads and sidewalks. But Collingwood? Try typing “salt management plan” into the
Continue readingScripturient: Council’s First Year, Part 4
The final piece in the series in CollingwoodToday begins with an egregious error: “Collingwood’s Town Council, elected one year ago on Oct. 24, 2022, is celebrating their first year in office as a group.” Council’s first year in office began with their inauguration on Nov. 15, 2022. Before that, they
Continue readingScripturient: Council’s First Year Continued Part 3
The third part of the series in Collingwood Today asked members of council what “surprises they’ve experienced so far in their terms.” As a former councillor, I appreciate how stepping into the role for the first time is a bit of a shock; it takes a while to learn everything,
Continue readingScripturient: The Worst Plan for the Terminals
The proposal for a 24-storey waterfront tower with condos, sticking like the proverbial sore thumb above the skyline, well higher than any building permitted by the town’s height bylaw, simply doesn’t fit. And, frankly, it’s big-city ugly. Boxy. Style-less. Drab. Collingwood deserves better. This is our historic waterfront, after all,
Continue readingScripturient: The Challenge of Citizen Engagement
I recently read a good opinion piece in The Meaford Independent, titled, The Challenge of Remaining Informed & Engaged in Municipal Governance in Our Busy Modern World, In it, editor Stephen Vance opines about the difficulties of engaging the public in municipal issues and government. It’s refreshing to see an
Continue readingTrashy's World: Show up. Dive in. Persevere.
Last night, President Obama eloquently expressed one of the wonderful things about being in a democracy (or at least as close to a democracy as we will achieve). We are free to engage. We are free to participate. Yes, by all means, if something rankles you or angers you, or you think that you can
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Who is sponsoring Canada’s Democracy Week? Elections Canada, of course
Are you like millions of Canadians outraged by Prime Minister Stephen Harper‘s relentless assault on our democratic institutions, traditions and values? Maybe you’re wondering if the Harper can really be stopped? This week (September 15-22) is the week to do find answers. And do something about Canada’s ailing democracy. It’s Democracy Week (September
Continue readingIn defence of 14-year-old girls
So it was that MP Charlie Angus, the NDP’s self-appointed guardian of civility, has declared that Twitter has “turned us all into 14-year-olds in a cafeteria” where “[e]verybody gets to be a Grade 9 girl.” Yesterday’s context, of course, was Patrick Brazeau’s calling reporter Jen Ditchburn a “bitch” because she
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Federal Budget 2012 Cuts: Statement from Katimavik
It is with extreme disappointment that we learned today that the Government has decided to end its funding commitment to Katimavik. Today’s announcement comes as a surprise, since we are entering the third year of a funding agreement whose terms … Continue reading →
Continue reading@AntoniaZ, @SusannaKelley, @marcusbgee, and the Rob Ford ascendancy | #TOpoli
Wonderful thing, the Tweeter. Keeps things lively, and keeps you on your toes.So apparently there’s some question over what I wrote about the Globe’s ideologically reliable urban affairs curmudgeon and his role in helping propel Mayor Stupid into the C…
Continue readingAnother day, another embarrassing eruption from Mt. Ford | #TOpoli
Honestly, where do you begin?First, Mayor Stupid’s dismissing all the folks who spoke at last month’s city hall all-nighter as left-wing, NDP, special-interest types trying to protect their free money. No surprise there, really. It’s not as if the guy’…
Continue reading@cityslikr on Team Ford’s bullshit, and our complicity therein | #TOpoli
Which Lie Do You Buy? « All Fired Up In The Big SmokeA lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.– Winston ChurchillSo over at his place, @cityslikr’s on about the fact that politicians have an uneasy relati…
Continue readingKate’s royal ass cheek: #sunmedia triumphs again, @davidakin makes sure we all know about it
Sad, isn’t it. When this is what occupies our imaginations and dominates public discourse, is it any wonder that so many people don’t bother to take the responsibilities of citizenship seriously? Look at the energy it’s consuming, for Chrissakes.  …
Continue readingThe capacity for critical thought – how do we build it?
Just as we wind down the first half of 2011 in preparation for Canada Day, three disparate blog posts are jumping out at me:At Sixth Estate, Government of Canada Issues Statement Opposing the AlphabetAt Politics and its Discontents, Sun News …
Continue reading@thekeenanwire, #TOpoli and that whole ‘deserve’ thing, redux
Go and read this piece from Ed Keenan in The Grid.
He’s right of course, and you don’t need a master’s degree in public administration to know that public services cost money. And you don’t need cheap childish gimmicks, either.
The troublesome part i…
Continue readingThe Roundhouse: Volunteerism as a Tax Strategy?
The idea of rewarding volunteer hours with a tax break has been bruited around recently, and has caught my attention for a couple of reasons. The first issue with this as an incentive to volunteerism of course is that the incentive has nothing to do wi…
Continue readingThe Roundhouse: Volunteerism as a Tax Strategy?
The idea of rewarding volunteer hours with a tax break has been bruited around recently, and has caught my attention for a couple of reasons. The first issue with this as an incentive to volunteerism of course is that the incentive has nothing to do with the reasons Albertans volunteer
Continue readingThe Roundhouse: Volunteerism as a Tax Strategy?
The idea of rewarding volunteer hours with a tax break has been bruited around recently, and has caught my attention for a couple of reasons. The first issue with this as an incentive to volunteerism of course is that the incentive has nothing to do with the reasons Albertans volunteer
Continue reading