Gun violence is male violence
As I went to bed last night I wondered about the colour of the shooter’s skin, and what that would mean for how we labeled his actions and what we…
Chris Tindal
Remembering Rob Ford
There were moments during Rob Ford’s time as mayor of Toronto when I hated him. I mean real, deep, I’m-not-proud-of-it actual hatred. And whenever I sank into one of those…
Some quick thoughts on Toronto Centre by-election results
Overall, Wells’s first rule — that “for any given situation, Canadian politics will tend toward the least exciting possible outcome” — held up. This is the result you might have…
George Tindal, in his 95th year
George Tindal dedicates a garden — near the 6th green of the Brockville Country Club golf course — to the memory of his wife Ruth in July 2012. George W.…
A climate negotiator’s tearful plea
The world’s most poor and vulnerable nations experience climate change as a present reality, while we tend to talk about it as a future abstraction. They’re already suffering, but can’t…
Mandatory Minimum Accidentally Applied to Powerful White Man
Many political observers in the Canadian province of Ontario are calling for a change to the law after a mandatory minimum penalty was accidentally applied to a powerful white man.…
The one option left in Don Bosco’s playbook
When things go wrong, those with the least power usually suffer the most. Football players at the bottom of a pileup have the most weight pressing down on them, and…
New boundaries could turn a safe Liberal seat into one apiece for the NDP and Conservatives
Toronto Centre’s poll-by-poll results from the 41st General Election. The current riding leans right in the north, left in the south, and is surrounded by strong NDP ridings to the…
Michael Bryant’s failure to relate to the public
The morning after Darcy Allan Sheppard died, Michael Bryant emerged from police custody wearing a clean change of clothes and headed straight for the waiting microphones. In the hours since…
The Big Idea that The Grid DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE
I’m honoured to have been included in The Grid’s 34 Big Ideas To Make Toronto Better issue. However, the big idea I originally submitted to them was just TOO CONTROVERSIAL…
Rob Ford’s behavior does matter, and it diminishes us all
When Rob Ford was accused of being drunk and belligerent at a Leafs game and asking a stranger if he wanted his wife to “get raped and shot,” he lied…
Rob Ford word cloud
This morning The Globe and Mail published an opinion piece by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in which he lays out his case for subways, parking taxes, families and exciting new…
Jonathan Kay and Toronto Life: What’s the point?
I have no idea what point Jonathan Kay and the editors of Toronto Life were trying to make with their “almost rich” feature. The package takes a look at what…
Maybe we should have let Ford win
As the 2014 Toronto municipal election campaign wound down to a close, opponents of the mayor wondered what went wrong. Once again they had underestimated Rob Ford, the big guy…
Who is Andrew Frank?
Andrew Frank, who on Monday was fired from ForestEthics for going public with accusations that someone in the PMO labeled the organization an “Enemy of the Government of Canada” and…
Becoming an MP
During the ill-fated campaign to introduce MMP voting in Ontario, critics often argued that one of the biggest problems with MMP was that it would allow parties to choose candidates,…
The state of the Green Party of Canada
On the occasion of the best electoral result in the history of the Green Party of Canada, it’s important to take a few minutes to examine where the party has…
10 reasons political candidates shouldn’t use Twitter #elxn41 #CDNpoli #etc
I was reluctant to join Twitter at first, but now I really love it. It turns out that the reasons people think they’re going to hate Twitter don’t reflect the…
Dear politicians: You’ve made yourselves fungible commodities
On Monday The Current broadcast what they called a “voters roundtable,” a discussion with three voters focused on the question “do government scandals matter?” For anyone who considers themselves an…
The results
The results are in, and while they’re not what we hoped for, we should be proud of what we’ve accomplished. Last night I spoke with five other Ward 27 candidates…