Reacting Instead Of Responding

 

I'm sure I am not alone in choosing not to watch the extensive video detailing the murder of Tyre Nichols. Granted, I have seen snippets on the news, but the thought of an extended viewing of a man being beaten to death holds no appeal for me.

Yet his execution on the streets of Memphis has raised a number of questions, the race of his killers not the least of them. How could five black officers have used such a level of violence against a black man? And there is no simple answer, despite those who insist there is nothing wrong with the system, just 'bad apples' who have infiltrated it as a means of exercising their abhorrent tendencies.

Others have suggested that, being black, the officers' heinous behaviour sprang from a need to show that, despite their race, they were a "part of the team," that team being the blue brotherhood - you know, the team that regularly abuses its authority, especially when dealing with people of colour, and covers up their actions accordingly.

Relatedly, others have suggested the murder just underscores a violent systemic police culture crying out for radical reform. And it is this cause that is the thorniest to deal with. Many would prefer to react to the immediate problem instead of responding with long-term solutions.

In her column today, Shree Paradkar reflects on how little progress has been made since the graphic murder at the hands of police of George Floyd, largely due kto an institutional reluctance to address root causes of the violence.

Bernice King, the lawyer and activist daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., said, “It should not require another video of a Black human being dehumanized for anyone to understand that police brutality is an urgent, devastating issue.”

The other talking point, as if to lay doubt on the fact of anti-Blackness in policing is this: “But five of the officers who brutalized Nichols are Black!”

Surely, after all the conversations about systemic racism with the “racial reckoning” of 2020, this question is but a reflection of denialism? Why else the stubborn insistence that racism is solely about what lies in the hearts of individuals?

Historically, she says, many police forces were created to monitor slaves trying to escape and move Indigenous people off their land. That legacy must be considered in contemporary police abuses.

If the race of the officers involved is relevant, it is not to give an out to white cops. It is to show how systemic racism does not require the person enforcing it to be white.

“The slogan to come out of the previous uprising wasn’t ‘Defund white police;’ it was ‘Defund the police,’ observed writer and podcaster Victor Bradley on Twitter. “Because the people focused on this issue know it isn’t justice to diversify an institution designed to enforce social injustice.”

He also pointed to the long-existing media narrative of “white cop on Black man,” leading the public to believe that personal bias of white cops was the problem. “The system is extremely anti-Black and violent even when it’s functioning normally,” he said.

Since the murder of Floyd, there has only been some tinkering around the edges of policing. 

 Anti-racism committees were instituted. Workplace workshops were briefly the rage. Lots of trauma porn — hey Black people can you horrify us with your tales of terror? Can I get you a coffee? There were some new hires and promotions: white women and non-Black people of colour benefited, continuing a history of gaining from activism for Black people. And sure, some Black people benefited, too, with institutions of power holding them up as symbols of progress, the most valued being those most willing to go along. 

But nothing systemic has really changed, and Canadians have little reason to feel superior in this regard.

Far from having their wings clipped, police power has become more entrenched than before. No city in Canada cut its budget. On the contrary, they all increased it annually (at lower rates than before, if you’re looking for reasons to hope). Given how tight city finances are, to increase the police budget is to literally deprive another more needed service in the city.

The police are convenient symbols of power when we need them. For example, given the recent spate of violence on the TTC, frequently perpetrated by mentally ill street people, it is easy for  Mayor John Tory and the TTC to say they will ramp up police presence on the subways and streetcars, while the problems underlying that violence continue to fester beneath the surface. 

Reacting is much easier than truly responding. Real change takes time. And that will never happen until there is a real appetite for it amongst the powers that be. 

 

 

 

UPDATED: She Certainly Puts Them In Their Place

Recently I have seen some quite good videos posted by young people on TikTok (a platform I am not on) that were reposted on Twitter. It heartens me to see that political awareness and engagement is not yet extinct.

I'm not sure who the following young lady is, but both her tone and her commentary about the recent anti-Trudeau shenanigans in Hamilton where the Liberal Party held a three-day retreat is priceless. I am sure it will inflame the right-wing rabble:

H/t Ryan Sarai

UPDATE: The above is Lisab0923. You can access more of her videos on TikTok.

UPDATED: The Greenbelt Fight Is Far From Over

 

If we can place any credibility in the utterances of federal politicians, the fight to save Ontario's Greenbelt from the depredations of Doug Ford's developer cronies is far from over.

According to The Narwhal, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeaut has serious concerns, given the climate change crisis we are all confronting.

... he said Ontario’s push to develop Greenbelt land “flies in the face of everything we’re trying to do in terms of being better prepared for the impacts of climate change,” and Ottawa “will be looking at the potential use of federal tools to stop some of these projects.”

 “I think we’re being told that in order to provide housing to Canadians, we need to destroy nature. I profoundly reject that premise. I think this is a way of thinking from 50 or 60 years ago.”

It appears there are two ways whereby the federal government could impede Doug Ford's greed-driven legislation. One could stop the desecration of 

the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve east of Toronto, which is directly adjacent to Rouge Urban National Park. In December, Parks Canada warned Ontario that development on the agricultural preserve would violate an agreement between the two levels of government and likely cause “irreversible harm” to the park’s wildlife and ecosystems. 

Though it will likely be some time until developers firm up plans for construction on former Greenbelt land, one possible tool Guilbeault mentioned is species at risk legislation, which he can use to issue emergency orders to stop developments that would harm federally-protected species. Guilbeault did just that in Nov. 2021 when he halted work on a residential development in Longueuil, a Montreal suburb, due to threats to the habitat of the western chorus frog.

The other 

is the federal Impact Assessment Act, which the Justin Trudeau Liberals have already used to intervene on Highway 413, a controversial highway project planned to cut through the Greenbelt. The act doesn’t allow Guilbeault to unilaterally step in and halt a development — instead, citizens would need to make a request about a specific project, the Impact Assessment Agency would do an initial review and Guilbeault would decide if the federal government should give it another layer of oversight.

Guilbeaut also deplored 

that the province moved last fall to disempower conservation authorities, which oversee key watersheds, as part of Bill 23.

“I’m really saddened and shocked by what the Ontario government is doing to [the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority] and the people who invested years and years and years of efforts, time and money to advance conservation,” he said. “They can continue to be an incredible partner and we will continue to work to work with them.”

Will the growing scrutiny of the Ford government's machinations have positive results? Time will only tell, but the fact that both Ontario's auditor general and ethics commissioner  are conducting probes, and the OPP has started a preliminary investigation into the obvious criminality at work here suggests that public scrutiny, outrage and protest will not be going away anytime soon.

Something for the Ford cabal to ponder.

UPDATE: Apparently, Doug Ford is really disappointed that the feds are intruding on his 'jurisdiction'.

 

 

 

UPDATED: The Closing Of The American Mind

One could convincingly argue that the American mind has been closed for quite some time. Nonetheless, recent legislation in Florida ensures a tighter seal as it seeks to further limit the capacity for critical thinking.

School teachers in Florida’s Manatee county are removing books from their classrooms or physically covering them up after a new bill went into effect that prohibited material unless deemed appropriate by a librarian, or “certified media specialist”.

If a teacher is found in violation of these guidelines, they could face felony charges.

The new guidelines for the Florida law, known as HB 1467, outline the books be free of pornographic material, suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material, and appropriate for the grade level and age group.

The driving force behind this goosestep march toward ignorance is Florida's governor and presidential aspirant, Ron DeSantis,

whose administration says it is actively working to “protect parental rights”, which includes a prohibition on childhood education on gender, sexual orientation and critical race theory.

As part of his appeal to the party’s rightwing base DeSantis has sought to portray himself as a culture war warrior, cracking down on LGBTQ rights and taking conservative stances on the fight against Covid-19 and a host of other issues such as immigration.

This self-professed enemy of 'woke culture' has both enraged and instilled fear in educators.

The Manatee Education Association union president, Pat Barber, told local TV station Fox 13: “We have people who have spent their entire careers building their classroom libraries based on their professional and educational experience and understanding of the age of the children they teach.”

Barber added: “Now, their professional judgment and training are being substituted for the opinion of anyone who wishes to review and challenge the books. We’re focused on things that cause teachers to want to walk away from education because they can’t focus on their mission of educating children.”

Some teachers are even covering up their library books with paper.

Don Falls, a history teacher at Manatee high school, told the Herald-Tribune newspaper: “If you have a lot of books like I do, probably several hundred, it is not practical to run all of them through [the vetting process] so we have to cover them up.”

Far too many people prefer to live their lives in ignorance and denial of the world beyond their front lawn. Until now, teachers have been a bulwark against such darkness, but once again the political barbarians have breached the gates. 

There would seem to be few remaining defences.

UPDATE: Thanks to TB for providing this link that shows not everyone is willing to lie down in the face of DeSantis's repression.

And there is this from Rural:

 

 

 

 

A Memorable Scene From A Memorable film

This is not a political post; if you have viewed The Banshees of Inisherin, you will recall the following scene with the actor, Barry Keoghan:

He spent 7yrs in foster care, in 13 different foster homes. He got his first acting job answering an ad he saw in a shop window. He was given nothing, was meant to achieve nothing. Today - aged 30 - BARRY KEOGHAN was nominated for an Oscar.

H/t Michael Warburton

A Cautionary Tale

                                                                What, Me Worry?      

The 'braintrust' in the Doug Ford government has decided that the way out of our healthcare crisis is to offer more opportunities for privatized operations.

As the Ford government strategized ways to cut down on the COVID-19 surgical backlog, provincial health officials set aside a small pot of public funding for private hospitals and independent heath facilities, according to documents obtained by Global News.

A Ministry of Health presentation on the province’s surgical and diagnostic recovery reveals that the Ford government planned to increase the role of two private hospitals as part [of a] journey back to pre-pandemic levels.

The document said the two private hospitals — Don Mills Surgical Unit and Clearpoint Surgical Toronto — had been given $8 million over the past two years “to achieve over 3,300 additional surgeries.”

Another $5 million in public funds has been earmarked for 2,100 procedures at the private hospitals in the 2022-23 year, the slide said.

According to the Premier, there is really nothing to see here:

“I don’t even like the word private because it’s really not — I can assure you; no Ontarian will ever have to pay with a credit card, they will pay with their OHIP card,” the premier said, noting that independent health facilities would be called upon to take “the burden” off hospitals.

All of which ignores the fact that the pool of personnel for these private entities is the same as for public hospitals and clinics. Increase the former and you deplete the latter.

Not so, says Mr. Ford. But there is that pesky problem of his credibility. In light of the premier's betrayal of his 'solemn' promise not to open up the Greenbelt to development, what are we to make of this?

There will be “safeguards” to prevent an exodus of doctors and nurses from hospitals when Premier Doug Ford unveils a plan for them to do more surgeries at independent clinics in “their spare time,” a senior government official says.

And then there is this, er, testimony, culled from all of the people who allegedly whisper in Ford's ear but never share in the public arena:

“I’ll never forget I talked to a surgeon … and he said, ‘Doug, you know, my problem is I don’t have operating-room time.’ And he said his boss told him, ‘Just go golfing,’ instead of … finding another avenue, another operating room,’” the premier told reporters.

“And he says ‘I want to help people. I also want to earn more income.’” 

Privatization is the Ford government's ideology of choice. There is little, so the myth goes, that can't be solved with the right entrepreneurial spirit and pursuit of profit. Perhaps, however, the following, a sad story from the United States where privatized medicine is worshipped, can serve as a cautionary tale for those capable of sober reflection:

 

 

On A Wing And A Prayer

 

H/t MacKay

As one who will very soon be on a plane, I watched with great interest but low expectations yesterday's committee hearing into the fiasco of air travel over the Christmas holidays. My expectations were met.

While many of the airline chiefs chose to appear via Zoom (not exactly a ringing endorsement of their airlines' ability to deliver them to Ottawa), the overall message from all of them was yes, they did not meet the expectations of their customers and so sorry, but, you know, the weather and 'operational issues' got in the way. 

Not to be outdone by this anemic response, Canada's Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra, told the committee

he was being briefed multiple times a day by his staff as they spoke with Canada’s major airlines, whose executives also appeared to face questions from MPs over their handling of the disruptions.

Those executives and officials ... told the committee earlier Thursday they did not hear from Alghabra directly during the holiday season.

Clearly a man of action, Alghabra averred that he was involved all the way:

“The airlines and airports were not confused about my instructions or my feelings about what was happening, about my expectations.

“I want to tell you that our government is not hiding.”

Whatever those instructions, feelings and expectations were, they apparently forked no lightning in the offices of the airline executives. Likely they are aware of the fact that even though the government can levy fines of up to $25,000 (a mere pittance),

in the past five years just one carrier — WestJet, for 55 instances in late January 2022 — has been fined for not providing adequate compensation to passengers. The total penalty was $11,000.

WestJet was also fined $20,000 last year for multiple instances of failing to provide passengers a reason for delayed or cancelled flights in late December 2021 and early January 2022. Other airlines, including Air Canada and Flair, have been fined for the same violation in recent years.

That'll teach em', eh?

It seems unlikely that any further penalties will be assessed, as the transport minister urges people to file compensation claims under the Passenger Bill of Rights (you know, the one with enough loopholes, as one committee member said, to fly a 747 through). One of the problems with that 'solution', clearly an indication of the deference government is showing to the airlines, is the current backlog of 33,000 complaints, which will take at least 18 months to clear up.

“Why does this government treat the airlines with kid gloves?” NDP MP Taylor Bachrach asked Alghabra.

“We are not treating airlines with kid gloves,” the minister responded. “In fact we are looking at further strengthening the rules to ensure passengers are protected.”

Words, words words, as Hamlet famously said. But hey, perhaps the airlines have learned their lesson from this imbroglio. As the president of Sunwing, Len Corrado said,

“With all this said, the bottom line is we know we could have done better. When even one customer is let down by their experience with our airline. I consider that a failure,” he said.

“We’d like to reassure committee members and Canadians that we are committed to providing the quality of service experience they’ve come to expect from us over the last 20 years.”

I have the feeling that this will not be the last time Corrado and his ilk apologize for letting us down. But given this government and this minister's timidity, I guess we will have to be satisfied with that crumb from the corporate table.

 

 

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Promises Made, Promises Broken

It is no secret that post-election, Doug Ford has behaved like a thug high on amphetamines. Suddenly gone (or brutally betrayed) are the promises of new amity with unions, pending solutions to our health-care crises, and professed reverence for the sanctity of the Greenbelt. 

Might makes right seems to be the philosophy undergirding Doug and The Thugs.

In its Sunday editorial, The Toronto Star examines an administration devoid of integrity, suggesting the new year is the right time to correct the ship of state, a forlorn hope, in my view.

Having won the trust of Ontario voters on June 2, it seems the government set about on a deliberate campaign to abuse it.

Where to begin? Well, the Ford’s government attempts to bulldoze education workers is as good a place as any. It well captures the philosophy of the re-elected government.

Recall that the Ford government introduced back-to-work legislation to preempt job action by the workers, among the lowest paid employees in the school system. It then invoked the notwithstanding clause to bar any legal challenge.

That was provocative in the extreme, an irresponsible use of the notwithstanding clause to sweep away employment rights. The government did back down and withdraw the legislation. But it had shown its stripes.

Then came the housing debacle.

The plan to open up 7,400 acres of natural Greenbelt lands to build up to 50,000 homes has sparked widespread condemnation. The public anger came through loud and clear in the more than 29,000 comments filed during the consultation period. A summary underscores the strong support for continued protection of the Greenbelt and “broad opposition” to any changes.

But post-election, the voice of the people means nothing to this regime.

Such a chorus of objections would have given a more responsible government pause. But not this one, which bulled ahead with no change to its plan.

That opposition doesn’t take into account the other troublesome elements of the housing strategy, like undermining conservation authorities and eliminating development charges for some types of housing. Cities rely on these charges, paid by developers, to build infrastructure. While the province has promised that municipalities won’t suffer financially, that promise remains a work in progress.

All of which has served to distract us from another pressing issue.

It’s telling that the province’s zeal to build more housing has overshadowed what most Ontarians would rightly say is the real crisis in the province — health care. Children’s hospitals in particular have seen unprecedented crowding and postponed surgeries. 

Finally, there is the gifting of taxpayer money to build, of all things, a luxury spa at Ontario Place.

The proposal to give over waterfront land for a privately run spa — using public lands and public money — is a disgrace and should be stopped. As we have written, this waterfront space should remain entirely accessible for the public.

The editorial ends with a plea for the Ford Follies to end, to be replaced by responsible, mature leadership and governance. A tall order, one that I very much doubt this government is capable of, at least with its current lineup of arrogant incompetents.

And the next election is too far away to prevent the massive damage already well in progress.

 

 

 

Chaos In The House

As much as I might like to, I find it hard to completely ignore the dysfunction that defines American society in general and, currently, in particular, the House of Representatives. The naked venality of a man like Kevin McCarthy, so desperate for the Speaker's chair that he will contort himself in ways that most gymnasts would find impossible, is a sad spectacle to behold.

Fortunately to shed some very clear light on the mess is Politics Girl (originally from Canada), whose striking eyes and incisive mind pierce and explain the miasma currently enveloping the House.

The High Cost Of Serving Developers

Doug Ford has a lot to be happy about these days. His debt to developers is being rapidly repaid via his Bill 23, which will not only remove key parts of the Greenbelt for development but also relieve many of his friends' financial burdens paying development charges. 

The only problem is the largesse bestowed on them by Premier Doug means high costs for the rest of us, as Kofi Hope writes:

Currently, municipalities put a charge on most new developments (with some exceptions) to help fund the cost of infrastructure needed to serve those developments, such as roads, sewers and transit. The charges apply to each new unit built, and in Toronto an increase passed in 2022 raises them up to $137,000 for a new detached home.

The development industry has argued that these charges are a barrier to building new homes and to making housing more affordable. And some advocates have called for reducing these charges on specific types of housing that help with affordability.

Professor Matti Semiatyki of the Infrastructure Institute says that reducing or eliminating the charges developers pay will have real consequences.

 “Cities are expensive,” Siematyiki says. “All the things the city is raising money for with development charges are things they have to pay for… if developers or new owners don’t pay, someone else will pay, whether through property taxes or other ways.”

And this is the part of Bill 23 that has Ontario municipalities up in arms. It’s estimated that our already cash-strapped cities will lose $5 billion in revenue, and Mayor John Tory says the city could lose $230 million annually. 

The ramifications of waived developments fees are extensive.

 If municipalities lose the revenue of development charges, they’ll raise property taxes or user fees for things like garbage collection. These carrying costs all make it less affordable to own a home, and it doesn’t just affect homeowners. If owners of rental properties find their monthly costs going up, they will raise the rent for tenants. So even if the cost to buy a property in a city is, say, 15 per cent less, if you are paying thousands more each year to keep that property, has housing really become more affordable?

As well,

If municipalities believe they can’t recover the costs that are required for new developments, that could push them to resist new development proposals, meaning Bill 23 may add more conflict and delays to a process everyone agrees needs to move quicker.

And we have to remember, as they say, there is ultimately only one taxpayer.

 Whether government is providing grants to developers to build the type of housing we need, or waiving fees to incentivize housing builds, it means new costs (and costs for the state not private developers).

So in the end, no matter how one parses this, serving the interests of developers is working against the interests of municipalities and ultimately, of course, the taxpayer. 

The last time I checked, developers hardly needed state welfare. 

 

The Rogers-Shaw Merger - An UpDate

 

For someone who is appalled by the pending approval of the Rogers-Shaw merger (see my previous post), I will take whatever good news there is, no matter how slight.

Here it is:

The Competition Bureau says a Federal Court has issued an emergency stay temporarily suspending the Competition Tribunal’s dismissal of its case against Rogers Communications Inc.’s $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.

The federal agency says the suspension will remain in place until its application for a stay and an injunction is heard.

The injunction would block the deal from closing until the Bureau’s full appeal of the decision, rendered on Thursday, is heard.

The Tribunal said in its ruling that the merger was not likely to result in higher prices for wireless customers and that it was satisfied a plan to sell Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron was adequate to ensure competition isn’t substantially reduced.

The Bureau had sought to block the merger and in its appeal argues that the Tribunal acted outside of its jurisdiction in a “rush to judgment.”

If the Tribunal’s decision stands, the merger will only require the approval of federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to go ahead. Champagne said Saturday that he will wait until there is “clarity” in the ongoing legal process before issuing a decision.

The deal was originally scheduled to close by the end of the year, with a possible extension to Jan. 31.

While this is likely simply a small delay in the merger, some opposition is better than none, in my view.