Parking taxes and road tolls: the politics of misdirection
I have an important announcement for all political parties – not every comment made by every individual opposition candidate can or should be used as a stand-in for opposition policy…
City of Toronto
The Power of the People
Despite our almost legendary passivity as a people, one small part of Canada is offering an example of what can happen when citizens shed the mantle of political disengagement that…
The Ford Gang Stays True To Form
Although I don't live in Toronto, it has become an object of fascination for me since the election of Mayor Rob and Doug Ford. Within their fiefdom resides a psychology…
Score Another One For Rick Salutin
Consistently able to 'think outside the box' of the current North American mindset, Rick Salutin, one of my favorite critical thinkers, has a column in today's Star well-worth perusal. Entitled…
Willful Ignorance in the Ford Administration
Toronto Mayors Rob and Doug Ford and their minions, like so many of the extreme right, tend not to let facts, reason, and data interfere with the purity of their…
Toronto mulls deep service cuts to begin meeting $774M budget shortfall
In the effort to reduce a budget shortfall of $774M in the City of Toronto, we may find that the city our forebears worked so hard to create will be…
These Pictures Tell A Real Story
Taken at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, these photos depict many of the tributes that have been written in chalk honouring the memory of Jack Layton.Recommend this Post
Hamilton Libraries: Something To Answer For
The other day I wrote a post called Hamilton's Vindication, with a link to a story detailing Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina's invitation to author Margaret Atwood to tour the Central…
The Ongoing Devolution of Toronto
Perhaps it stems from a sense of inadequacy, a measure of paranoia, or a recognition that when all is said or done, they are just not up to the job,…
Hamilton’s Vindication?
While long regarded as something of a provincial backwater vis-a-vis its 'world-class' cousin 70 kilometres down the highway, the City of Hamilton is surely feeling a measure of cultural vindication…
Christopher Hume’s Modest Proposal To The Ford Brothers
Although my right-wing friends seem to have neither an understanding nor an appreciation of irony (I'm lying - I don't have any right-wing friends), more centered people will enjoy The…
Torontonians beginning to realize you get what you pay For(d)
Running through the public and media discourse during and immediately after the ‘Historic Toronto Council Sleepover,’ as it will be etched forever in city lore, were two dominant threads that…
The Failure of Political Leadership – Part 2
The other day I wrote a brief post called The Failure of Political Leadership, inspired by what is quickly becoming a national embarrassment for the City of Toronto in its…
Unmediated Passion For Libraries – A Cure For Cynicism
I defy anyone to remain untouched after reading this story and watching the accompanying video in which 14-year-old Anika Tabovaradan makes a passionate plea to Mayor Rob Ford not to…
A Failure of Political Leasdership
It is perhaps to state the obvious in asserting that our elected officials rarely represent our interests very well. Examples, far too numerous to list, abound. Probably the most obvious…
Playing with Team Ford
“It is clear that there is a program to eliminate the public from our great city.” – Kim Fry, the 11th deputant during the Core Service Review at Toronto’s City…
Playing with Team Ford
“It is clear that there is a program to eliminate the public from our great city.”- Kim Fry, the 11th deputant during the Core Service Review at Toronto’s City Hall…
Playing with Team Ford
“It is clear that there is a program to eliminate the public from our great city.” – Kim Fry, the 11th deputant during the Core Service Review at Toronto’s City…
Playing with Team Ford
“It is clear that there is a program to eliminate the public from our great city.”- Kim Fry, the 11th deputant during the Core Service Review at Toronto’s City Hall…
The Barbarians’ Threat
Libraries have been a vital part of my life since I first learned to read. When I married and had children, my wife and I made sure to inculcate a…