By: Pembina Institute | Press Release: OTTAWA — Clare Demerse, federal policy director at the Pembina Institute, made the following comments today following the release of the 2013 federal budget: “Jim Flaherty delivered his eighth budget at a time when the federal government’s track record on the environment and climate change is under heightened scrutiny, and
Continue readingTag: public transit
Driving The Porcelain Bus: Ontario Budget Attempts to Privatize Public Transit and other Public Services
From TTC Riders site: Just as we savour our victory in winning back four Light Rail Transit lines for Toronto, an even greater threat is presenting itself—two provincial government initiatives that may foster privatization of our public transit systems. They are: 1) Schedule 28 (The Government Services and Service Providers Act, 2012), which is a
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: A Green Industrial Revolution
Today the CCPA released a new big picture report by myself and student researcher Amanda Card calling for a Green Industrial Revolution. The report builds on work done for the BC-focused Climate Justice Project, bringing to bear a national analysis of green and not-so-green jobs. We take a close look
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: The Way to Toronto Heart is Public Transit!
A message to local Liberals, provincial Liberals and even federal Liberals. People want public transit funded! In a recent poll 74% of people in Toronto said that they would favor a 0.5% sales tax increase if it meant that the money would go to public transit in Toronto. With all
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Coward Rob Ford Leaves Chaos In His Wake
Today, Toronto mayor Rob Ford bolted and ran when he saw that he could not win the day. He left a fractured and confused City Hall in his wake. This mayor is finding by not working to gain a consensus, by not being willing to listen to reason, by not
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Toronto City Council Takes Over Governance From Lame Duck Mayor Ford
“The questions several councillors are now asking is, “Is this the new normal? Must we rescue every issue from the administration’s incompetence?”¹- The answer, of course, is, unfortunately YES. Before the election, when it looked like Ford would win, I was hoping that council would stop Ford’s nonsense from the
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Crippled General Laid Bare
That is the phrase Star columnist Royson James uses to describe Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Even if you live nowhere near the city, his analysis of power misused and abused makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in the mentality and tactics of the right-wing. Recommend this Post
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Councillors Voted To Deny Rapid Transit For Their Constituents
On Feb. 8, 2012, the majority of Toronto City Council voted to reaffirm most of the Transit City LRT plans. The vote was 25-18. Nine councillors voted no to the plan that would bring rapid transit to their wards. The Ford transit plan would only have brought rapid transit to
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Has Toronto’s Mayor Become Irrelevant?
Photo of Rob Ford by Tannis Toohey for The Toronto Star Yesterday, Toronto City Council took over the lead on transit planning in the city and voted to reaffirm most of the LRT lines outlined in the Transit City plan. Council voted 25-18 to reaffirm what was already a binding
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Universal Student Transit Pass
I have an opinion piece out on the City of Ottawa’s universal, student transit pass–also known as “the U-Pass.” Points raised in the op-ed include the following: -U-Pass programs exist for roughly 30 universities and colleges across Canada. -For a U-Pass program to be introduced, students typically must vote in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Tips on Recruiting International Students
It’s no secret that a major priority of Canadian universities is to recruit substantial numbers of international students, who in turn pay very high tuition fees once they arrive in Canada. Recent evidence suggests that insofar as Canadian universities want to continue doing so, they should work with senior levels of government to
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Future of Transit: Gondolas
The Gondola Project is all about bringing fast and cheap public transit to cities by using (what else?) gondolas! Some people may think that gondolas are only for ski resorts or tourists but there’s a lot of growing interest around the world in using gondolas as an alternative to light
Continue readingPublic transit blossoms in Calgary
When Calgary’s GoPlan, the blueprint for the city’s transportation development for the next 30 years, was created in the mid-1990s, it predicted that by 2024, 50 per cent of commuters would be using public transit to get downtown to work. Only 33 per c…
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Put a Train on the Champlain
The Harper government has promised to rebuild the Champlain Bridge of Montreal which is a very good move. The infrastructure of Montreal falling apart and that bridge is necessary to the transportation needs of the city. But, when infrastructure must b…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Ontario NDP Platform
Pollsters tell us that Ontario’s New Democrats may double their seat total in next month’s provincial election. It’s also entirely conceivable that they could be part of a coalition government at Queen’s Park. But what’s actually in the party’s election platform? One central feature of the NDP’s proposals is to implement a tax credit for companies that hire new workers. The tax […]
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Pigheadedness Makes us Uncomfortable
Every summer, the topic comes up: why don’t we have AC on Montreal’s public transit. The basic answer is that our pigheaded mayor, Gérald Tremblay insists that it’s too expensive and it decreases fuel efficiency, thereby harming the environment. Yet, …
Continue readingThe Happy Wanderer: Pigheadedness Makes us Uncomfortable
Every summer, the topic comes up: why don’t we have AC on Montreal’s public transit. The basic answer is that our pigheaded mayor, Gérald Tremblay insists that it’s too expensive and it decreases fuel efficiency, thereby harming the environment. Yet, …
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Noncommittal Rob Ford brushes off $130 million + $49 million wasted in cancelling Transit City
Metro – Ford deals death blow to Transit CityToronto must pay at least $49M to cancel LRT planI was waiting for more numbers to come in before posting this. So far, we have a waste, by Ford, of $179 million.From the Metro article:Ford was noncommittal …
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: The Rob Ford supporters never paid attention
Mapping Toronto’s Wellbeing – TorontoistOkay, first, no one is surprised that they didn’t and don’t pay attention.Here is a smoking gun of inattentiveness:Scroll down to “Overcrowded TTC Routes”. Notice that the most overcrowded public transit routes a…
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