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.

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 Library facilities. I suggested that Hamilton was enjoying a burgeoning reputation as a magnet for the arts, and that Toronto, its traditional rival down the road, was suffering a real loss of cachet thanks to the depredations being contemplated by the philistines at their City Hall (aka the Ford brothers and their wrecking crew). There was, in all honesty, an element of gloating to my post.

To be fair, Hamilton's hands are not entirely clean when it comes to its libraries. Yesterday, Spec civic affairs columnist Andrew Dreschel wrote a piece entitled Let’s make sure Atwood hears the full story, reminding people of the fact that the Picton branch, located in a poor area of Hamilton, was closed in 2009 to free up $140,000. To put the proposed Toronto closures into perspective, the article suggests the closing was justified, and did little harm to those affected.

In today's Spectator, there is an excellent rebuttal to that assertion by Hamilton reader Kathleen Moore. While I am providing a link to that rebuttal, due to the often ephemeral nature of online letters to the editor, I am also taking the liberty of reproducing her thoughtful response below:

Picton closure hurt a community

Re: Atwood should hear the Picton story (Column, Aug. 12)

I was a volunteer at the Picton Library branch and three generations of my immediate family frequented that branch. I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase “If you build it, they will come.” The opposite is true as well, “if you unbuild it, they will stop coming.”

I watched as the branch brought in fewer and fewer books, cut programs and then drastically cut hours of operation. Of course, visitors and borrowing rates fell. The library board had engineered its own excuse to close the branch.

This all occurred before the excellent exposure given by The Hamilton Spectator Code Red series.

It is difficult to believe that in this day and age there are people who are unaware that illiteracy leads to poverty, which then leads to ill health and early decline. All of these things take a great toll on our society as a whole.

One of the largest housing projects in the city is at Strachan and James Street North. It is full of single-parent families and immigrants. Many of them don’t speak English or speak it as a second language. These are the people who can least afford to access an alternative to a public library. These are the people who are already battling a system that seems determined to keep them down. These are the people who were most comfortable in the atmosphere of a neighbourhood branch library.

To close a library branch in an area of the city where it can do the most good is counterproductive, and in the long run costs all of us far more than keeping that one little branch open and offering literacy skills to those who need them the most.

I can’t help but feel this great sacrifice was made so funds could be used for the bright and shiny new branches that have been built in the “burbs.” Pretty is as pretty does, and yes, I’d love to sit and chat with Margaret Atwood about the real cost associated with our library system, and I would tell her that when the focus of “long-term strategic thinking” is the bottom line, and we look at our library system as a separate entity and independent business instead of as a basic societal necessity, we all pay a much greater price in the long run.

I was opposed, and am still opposed, to the closing of Picton Library Branch.

Kathleen Moore, Hamilton

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, but when those of the far right-wing take power, we are frequently witness to a type of unbridled glee that manifests itself in parades of intolerance, hyperbolic rhetoric, and vindictive behaviour.

That certainly appears to be what is happening in Toronto where Mayor Ford and his minions are having a field day in exacting revenge against those who ignored, scorned or rebuffed their agenda before the electorate believed their false campaign promises (no cuts, lower taxes, ending the gravy train) and put them in office.

There are people like Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, for example, who seems immune to the realization that each of his public utterances and actions invites ridicule from thinking people. There was, of course, his use of his video camera during the Dyke March to ensure no political messages were being conveyed. His discovery of an Israeli Apartheid placard emboldened him in his quest to defund Pride Toronto, totally ignoring what a financial boost the Toronto receives from their panoply of activities.

Recently, the good Councillor started a Facebook Page for his supporters, vowing to vet the site so that it is not infiltrated by “communists and layabouts.” A pity Joseph McCarthy has been gone these many years.

As well, he has a 'new plan' to rid Toronto of panhandlers, apparently through the elimination of all shelters, accompanied by either incarceration or hospitalization.

The latest insult to the thinking person is the fact that, under the direction of Mayor Ford, “the civic appointments committee is sweeping clean some boards, including the one overseeing libraries, with all members denied a chance at reappointment.”

To replace those individuals on these formerly arms-length boards, “Mayor Rob Ford’s office has taken an unprecedented interest in the process, even — according to witnesses — handing council allies a list of the citizen applicants, marked up with notes, during the short-listing.”

The other source of candidates for appointments? The Toronto Sun, that bastion of informed and balanced opinion whose readers are equally thoughtful. As reported in The Star,

City staff compiled and classified applications made in response to ads placed by the city in the Toronto Sun. The committee, dominated by Ford loyalists including Nunziata, the mayor’s councillor brother Doug and Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, winnowed the names to a short list last month.

A shame, isn't it, how political ambition and personal agendas are so often pursued at the expense of the greater good.

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 now that the barbarians have breached the gates of Toronto.

As reported in the Toronto Star, world-renowned Margaret Atwood (despite her apparent obscurity to the Ford clan), has received and accepted an invitation from Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina to visit and tour Hamilton's central library, an institution that recently underwent a multi-million dollar publically-funded renovation to better serve the people.

Responding to the insult hurled at her by Doug Ford, the Toronto mayor's brother (who said that if Atwood walked by, “I wouldn’t have a clue who she is” ) Mayor Bratina had this to say:

“We’re very proud of our Canadian cultural icons and regret that there was any question that Margaret Atwood’s stature might be dismissed in any way,” he said. “There’s a regrettable backwoods feeling to all this and it’s not right, it’s not true.”

Hamilton, which is quickly building a solid reputation for welcoming and supporting the arts as an important economic driver, is attracting a substantial number of artists from the Toronto area, both on the basis of cheap rents and land prices and an increasingly cosmopolitan attitude that only cities such as Toronto used to be able to lay claim to.

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 Star's Christopher Hume who, in today's paper, has a modest proposal for Toronto's mayor and his brother to raise revenue for the allegedly cash-starved world-class city.

Enjoy.

More Nonsense Out Of Toronto Thanks To Ford And His Minions

The lack of critical thinking skills in the public arena is a painful thing to watch. In a story from yesterday's Toronto Star entitled Despite warning, fire chief refuses to suggest cuts, the Toronto fire chief, Bill Stewart, opposes any cuts to his fire-fighting complement, warning that public safety would be jeopardized. The same kind of warning has been issued by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair in his efforts to protect his force.

I suspect Mayor Ford and his acolytes are delighted at these warnings which will enable them, if the public refuses to think critically, to make the kinds of cuts to programs that the Ford Brothers feel fall outside the mandate of city services, such as libraries, long-term-care homes, cultural grants, etc.

Said Ford's former chief of staff, Nick Kouvalis:

Torontonians face tough choices and they have to decide if it’s worth closing “a few” libraries to keep police and fire response times low, which in turn keeps down insurance premiums for businesses and homes.

“Do people want police and fire at standard or do they want (author) Margaret Atwood at their fingertips 24 hours a day,” said Kouvalis, a principal at Campaign Research who talks regularly with Ford.

“If they want Margaret Atwood they can order from amazon.com or take a subway to the library. It’s about tough choices and there’s no way the mayor is going to let insurance rates go up to save a few libraries or a few parks.”

By presenting the choices in these stark absolutist terms, Ford and his team are framing the debate in an artificial and high circumscribed way that ignores a range of other possibilities and conveniently overlooks the fact that he was elected mayor on a platform promising no service cuts, lower taxes, and the elimination of the 'gravy train'. In other words, he has no mandate for decimating services.

Until the people start exercising some critical thinking and demand accountability from lying and deceptive politicians, expect the abuses of democracy to continue.

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 choice of Rob Ford as mayor. Now quite openly betraying his promise not to gut services but only eliminate 'the gravy', he and his acolytes are considering all manner of service reductions which could affect, amongst others, library branches and hours, police services and transportation routes. That got me thinking about the current calibre of the people we elect, and without question, many of them are patently unfit to hold public office.

In theory, the people we elect are entrusted with representing our interests. Far too often, and I suppose I state the obvious here, they are instead pursuing their own lust for power and their own ideological agendas. Take, for example, those who are described as Ford allies on Toronto City Council. That they are allies of the mayor suggest that they support and take direction from him, either because they are ideologically aligned with his values or they enjoy or seek to enjoy the power conferred upon members of his executive committee, once more suggesting that the needs and interests of their constituents are, at best, a peripheral consideration.

And of course we see the same failure of politics playing out in the United States, where the ideological divide between the Republicans and the Democrats, and an extraordinarily partisan lust for power has brought that country to the brink of economic collapse, as epitomized in the current imbroglio over raising the debt ceiling. So ideologically opposed are the Republicans to even very modestly increasing taxes on the ultra wealthy that they are willing to sacrifice the struggling working and middle class, many of whom voted for them.

Is there a solution to this deficit of democracy afflicting the West? I don't know. But without question, some reforms are necessary before people completely lose faith and see democracy as simply a convenient label barely concealing some egregiously inconvenient truths.

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 cut library services in Toronto. As the spokesperson for a large segment of library patrons, both her arguments and her emotions should remind all policymakers that their decisions have impacts that go far beyond the fiscal.

A Failure of Political Leadership

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 prominent failure currently in the news is that of Rob Ford, who became the mayor of Toronto on the promise to cut the fat (he subject he appears to be intimately familiar with)) without touching essential services.

Of course, one could place most of the blame on the credulity of the voters who elected him, given given their apparent proclivity for magical thinking in accepting him at his word, but Toronto Star columnist Royson James has an interesting piece on how some people are reacting now that essential services such as libraries and municipal transportation are under serious consideration for cuts. Entitled Toronto wants its vote back, it is well-worth reading

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 love of reading in our children, and again, libraries were a vital part of that process. Even today, I will visit a library at least once a week to check out books, videos, etc.

For anyone who loves them and recognizes their immense community value, the threat of library closures is akin to waving the proverbial red flag in front of the bull. Therefore, the response to the barbarians who have breached the gates at Toronto City Hall is hardly surprising.

Yesterday, in an unseemly dispute with Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood over the prospect of closing libraries, Doug Ford, the Toronto mayor's brother and councillor representing Etobicoke North, said,

“Tell her to go run in the next election and get democratically elected,” the Etobicoke councillor said, adding as an example that it “wouldn't bother” his constituents if the Northern Elms library branch at Kipling Ave. and Rexdale Blvd. were closed.

One should be aware that the branch singled out by Ford serves a rather poor part of the Toronto populace that has a high proportion of immigrants. It is perhaps not surprising that the forces of the extreme right, as they are wont to do, are targeting that segment in its search for 'new efficiencies'.

In today's Star, patrons of that particular branch respond passionately to Mr. Ford's assertion.

Critical Thinking: Do We Get The Kind Of Political Leadership We Deserve?

In many ways, I suspect that we get exactly the kind of political representation that we deserve. A population that is either largely disengaged from the political process or lacking in fundamental critical thinking skills invites our elected representatives to treat us with disdain, safe in the knowledge that few will rouse themselves to object. The effects of this kind of passivity and lazy thinking are most evident when politicos are campaigning for our vote, making outrageous promises and guarantees that show how little they really think of us.

Take, for example, Rob Ford's successful bid to become the mayor of Toronto, based almost exclusively on the promise to “end the gravy train” that was, according to the mythology advanced by the true believers, sapping the Big Smoke of its monetary resources and bleeding the taxpayers dry. So, in a mass Pavlovian response, the people elected the big fellow, only to now learn that the putative rich diet of the metaphorical locomotive never existed.

In an excellent piece by Roy James in today's Star entitled Rob Ford's gravy train running on fumes, we learn that, after spending $350,000 on a consultant telling them things they already knew, the City spends most of its money on core services, nary a gravy boat in site (forgive me for mixing my metaphors):

As on many other files, the civic leader was missing in action. So, too, was the anticipated list of huge savings to be found in bloated departments. And the hit list of waste and gravy.

It turns out that if Ford is going to find “savings” from the city’s water, garbage and transportation departments he will have to convince city council to keep the blue box out of apartments and condos, reduce snow clearing, cut the grass and sweep the streets less often, and end fluoridation of Toronto’s drinking water — all politically explosive issues.

For that — and a list of nickel-and-dime, nip-and-tuck manoeuvres — Toronto could potentially, possibly, save up to $10 million to $15 million in departments that spend $1 billion, one-third of which comes from taxes.

City councillors didn’t need to pay a consultant $350,000 to tell them where to find those “savings.” Council considers them every year — and often recoils from implementing them.

The mayor has fed the general expectation that the consultants from KPMG would use their fresh eyes to uncover bushels of low-hanging fruit that nobody had identified before — the “gravy.”

They haven’t.

Can this reality actually come as a surprise to the voting public? I would like to say no, but sadly, for the aforementioned reasons, the answer has to be yes.

I hope you will take a few moments to read the entire article.