The Gods are busy; you fix it.
No doubt you have been reading many of these opinion pieces on how to fix this or that at Toronto city hall. We already know that those nincompoops at Queen’s…
Municipal politics
Let’s have ‘Whack-a-Mole’ voting.
Blame Chantal Hébert. The other day she described the voting reform question as a whack-a-mole game. It just keeps popping up and needs to get a whack. The only reason…
Kudos to Vancouver’s Kennedy Stewart.
It took guts. That was no walk in the park for a new democrat to give up his seat in parliament and challenge for the Vancouver mayoralty, as an independent.…
Voting for the future?
It has always been my observation that there are fewer ‘Come line’ bettors in municipal voting than ‘No line’ bettors. If you are not a craps player, I should explain…
My Vancouver Election Endorsements
Still wondering how to vote in next weekend’s Vancouver municipal elections? Wonder no more … Mayor: SYLVESTER, Shauna City Council: BOYLE, Christine (OneCity) FRY, Pete (GREEN) ROBERTS, Anne (COPE) SWANSON,…
My Vancouver Election Endorsements
Still wondering how to vote in next weekend’s Vancouver municipal elections? Wonder no more … Mayor: SYLVESTER, Shauna City Council: BOYLE, Christine (OneCity) FRY, Pete (GREEN) ROBERTS, Anne (COPE) SWANSON,…
Political and Rhetorical Privilege
“It’s perfectly possible for a man to lead a comfortable, indeed enviable life by any objective standard, yet be consumed with bitterness driven by status anxiety.” Dr. Paul Krugman in…
Dumb ideas for publicity.
The toughest challenge for municipal candidates is the problem of getting some decent publicity during the campaign. You sometimes get the feeling that all reporters hate you and you are…
In John Tory’s Toronto…
It was fascinating to read the Toronto Star municipal reporter’s opinion on the current mayoralty race in Toronto. It was as though he wanted to go backwards to gain ground…
Are facts inflammatory?
Inflammatory is the word I was told the Connection used this week in rejecting an ad by mayoral candidate John Trude*. That ad challenged some of the claims of one…
Municipal Government Vulnerability
Lost among the back-and-forth political battles between Ford and Toronto city council is that municipalities are not constitutionally protected as sovereign levels of government in Canada. As a federal state,…
Getting elected in Toronto.
The ‘Hey Rube’ at Toronto city hall is over, for now. Candidates for the 25 wards are busy candidating. The next big event will be municipal election day on October…
…Now, where were we?
It seems to me that we left off when premier Ford of Ontario pulled a rabbit out of his hat and told Toronto council hopefuls to stop running for 47…
Carpetbagger Brown.
In politics, the carpetbagger is a figure of derision. The person is considered an unscrupulous opportunist who is seeking to exploit some real or imagined opportunity among local voters. No…
The politician as huckster.
It is hard to estimate the times a politician has said to me: “What do you think of this great idea? In most cases—if part of the campaign team—I will…
Restoring democracy in Toronto.
If you are not being sued by the Ford government in Ontario, you might already be suing it or hoping to sue. What is of particular concern at the moment,…
Wise politicos choose their battles carefully.
Toronto council has made a bad move. They are, in effect, fighting ‘city hall.’ Because city hall for cities in Canada are the provincial and territorial governments. I am not…
Who says Dougie’s done?
Looking at the upcoming Toronto municipal election in October, you can end up with more questions than answers. The problem is premier Ford. This guy is not finished with his…
The Copenhagen Syndrome.
You have probably heard of the Stockholm Syndrome. The Copenhagen Syndrome is only different in that it is for people to learn to love bicycles–instead of the people keeping them…