Couldn’t agree more, stupid is our our story to the end… AKIRA WATTS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT When we’re not actively engaged in killing each other, watching TV, or occupied in other such entertaining diversions, one of humanity’s favorite hobbies is imagining that we live in the end times, with
Continue readingTag: infrastructure
The Progressive Right: Policy Proposal 36 – Sustainable Infrastructure Investments ( #lib14 #lpc #cdnpoli #NoPickeringAirport )
There are a great number of prioritized policies up for debate at the 2014 Liberal Biennial Convention in Montreal. To go into each one, would need a month’s worth of blog posts. Readers of my blog will know that I have long advocated against the development of a new international
Continue readingThings Are Good: More Evidence That Streetcars and Light Rail Improve North American Cities
In Toronto there is a crack smoking mayor who believes that streetcars and light rail are an urban blight. The evidence that rail-based transit is an economic boom to cities in North America continues to grow and more cities on the continent are benefiting from political decision (not made while
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario to roll out Green Bonds in 2014
GO workers wait ahead of announcement from Ontario government about green bonds (Oct. 30, 2013) Ontario made a small splash in the financial world at the end of October when Premier Kathleen Wynne and two top cabinet ministers announced the province was set to become the first Canadian jurisdiction to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Jackson writes that Canada needs far more investment in infrastructure – rather than the austerity that’s constantly being prescribed by the Cons: The fiscal policy choice we face is often miscast as one between austerity to deal with public debt and short-term
Continue readingThings Are Good: Changing Car-Based Infrastructure for Walkable Communities
The suburbs are designed for cars as opposed to people and this is a problem that has surprising side effects from personal health issues to an increase in violent deaths. So how do we modify the suburbs to stop these side effects? In this TED talk, Jeff Speck explores what
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how P3 structures create a divergence of interest between short-sighted governments and the general public – and a few policy fixes to ensure we don’t lose value or accountability as a result of politically-motivated choices to use them. For further reading…– The Saskatchewan NDP introduced its P3 accountability
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Thomas Walkom notes that the Harper Cons’ latest EI cuts look to amplify the pain of unemployment in Ontario while serving the broader purpose of forcing workers to conclude their federal government doesn’t care if they go hungry: The great irony is that
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Types of Cyclist Change Thanks to Bike Sharing
Bixi is a bike sharing program that started in Montreal but the concept exists in cities around the world. In Montreal where there are more bicycle commuters every year,researchers at McGill University surveyed cyclists before and after Bixi began. They were able to identify the types of cyclists that ride
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On consistent rules
Bill Curry reports that many Canadian municipalities are wondering why Rob Ford has access to funding streams not available to anybody else: Ottawa’s $660-million gift to Toronto for a subway extension will come from a program that does not yet exist, leaving Canada’s other cities confused as to how they
Continue readingThings Are Good: Toronto Condo Developers Want More Bike Sharing, Less Focus on Cars
Despite repeated efforts by Toronto’s mayor to make transportation in the city worse, things are improving. Local condo developers are finding ways to build condo towers that don’t require more parking than the building needs (an archaic law in the city wants room for two cars for every bedroom built).
Continue readingThings Are Good: Green Roofs Assist in Flood Prevention
Yesterday Toronto got more rain in two hours than it normally does in a month which meant some serious flooding happened. This got me thinking of a program that Toronto (alleged crackhead) Mayor (busted for DUI) Rob (loves pollution) Ford (reads while driving) cancelled. The cancelled program promoted green roofs
Continue readingThings Are Good: Chicago Wants to be a World Class Bicycle City
Chicago politicians understand that people in their city commute sustainably via bicycles and that this is a great component to their transit planning. What’s more is that by building proper infrastructure for cyclists they can draw people to the city and show the world what the future looks like –
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Transport Quebec warns motorists: stay away from Turcot Interchange this weekend
It was built below specs and has been poorly maintained. Saving on maintenance costs in the first 3 decades created full time maintenance contracts that has cost, and will cost taxpayer’s, over 100′s of million of dollars to maintain a structure that is scheduled to be torn down. Somebody has
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Goverment Talking Corruption Free Turcot
To say I am behind the times on Turcot would be an understatement. Seems I have drifted into focusing a lot of my online attention into relaying the ongoing tragedy that is our federal government under Stephen Harper via Facebook and occasionally Twitter in recent years. Of course it is
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Michael Harris takes aim at Stephen Harper’s thugocracy: There is little that Stephen Harper has done that other prime ministers before him have not. But no one has used closure, time allocation, committee secrecy or omnibus legislation to a degree that renders Parliament
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul Krugman discusses how a myopic focus on slashing taxes and services figures to cheat future generations out of desperately-needed social structure: You don’t have to be a civil engineer to realize that America needs more and better infrastructure, but the latest “report
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: Alberta Liberal and Federal Liberal Cooperation? Lets Go.
I was talking to one of my friends around the the university the other day and I brought up Raj Sherman’s interview in the Calgary Herald on some form of cooperation between the two Liberal parties in Alberta. It was an off-hand comment and I didn’t really expect a conversation
Continue readingWalking Turcot Yards: Danielle Plamondon at Cafe Victoria in Verdun
Danielle Plamondon is one of the most respected, admired, and loved urban explorers on the planet. From the abandoned factories of Montreal and the rooftops of Europe, through the sewer systems of London and Paris, she has photographed these locations with a passionate eye and a creative energy that radiates
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how a narrow focus on balancing budgets misses the more important story as to how our elected officials manage public money. For further reading…– Paul Krugman makes a similar point with reference to happiness economics, while highlighting the particular value of stimulus within a depressed U.S. economy. –
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