September 2011
1 post
Simmer Down: Focus on Solutions
If you’ve ever lived in or visited Toronto, even for a short time, you’ve heard the heartbreaking ‘I was an engineer in my country’ stories. It may sound cliche or like some kind of urban legend, but we’ve all heard them. I’m talking doctors, pharmacists, engineers; people much smarter than me who deserve better from their newly chosen country.
In London, I know a...
February 2011
1 post
January 2011
2 posts
Mayor's Economic Council: Keep an Open Mind and...
I had the pleasure of attending the Mayor’s Economic Council on behalf of Emerging Leaders last Thursday. I’ve been asked by lots of folks for my opinion on the whole thing - so thought I’d share here and also hopefully engage ya’ll in the process. You can only cram so many people into the Lamplighter for coffee and pastries, so we were all asked by the Mayor to reach out...
December 2010
1 post
Don't play politics with water
Council will be debating at their Committee of the Whole meeting today whether or not to stick with a 20 year plan to finance much needed improvements to our water and sewer infrastructure, or to give Londoners a ‘taxcation’ in 2011 from water and waste water/treatment rates.
The rationale for freezing rates goes like this: the economy is terrible, people’s budgets are maxed...
October 2010
2 posts
Ignite London: full text of my talk
I gave an Ignite London talk on Tuesday night at the Aeolian Hall. It was a fantastic evening - lots of inspiring speakers. My mind has actually blanked out the entire 5 minutes that I was on stage, so I thought I’d post the full text of my comments in case I didn’t quite get them all out.
SHAKING UP THE 2014 MUNICIPAL ELECTION - The Time to Organize is Now
The Municipal Election...
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London Election Predictions (not endorsements)
I love the ‘fantasy council’ game that the good folks at Hack the Vote have put together. I know that I should be keeping my predictions to myself to increase my odds of winning, but thought I’d share anyway. (Quick rules of the game: You get 5 points if you pick the mayor, 3 points for correctly calling your own ward, and 1 point for every other correct ward.)
Keep in mind my...
August 2010
5 posts
Accountability and transparency motion: let the...
Just doing my regular Saturday morning scan of the upcoming Council agenda, and was very pleased to see a motion requesting that all local agencies, boards, and commissions that have councillors sitting on them post agendas, minutes, and meeting notices using the same standards as City Council - approving the motion would direct the city to politely request this action because it can’t...
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Insite: Another case of ideology trumping data
Apologies for my radio silence of late - work, illness, and plain old ‘enjoying the family’ have kept me from my keyboard. A few more busy days ahead, but promise to be more regular once September hits and the Municipal campaign heats up.
I have to break my self-imposed tumblr exile with a plea to ya’ll to read Paul Wells and John Geddes on the Insite safe injection site in...
Censi-Leak, and must read columns on the census
This census debate keeps heating up (never thought I’d write that phrase) after the CBC obtained documents that demonstrate the government tried to arm-twist Statistics Canada into signing off on a communications plan that essentially said that StatsCan, not the Government of Canada, pushed for the scrapping on the mandatory long-form. If you want a good laugh/cry, take a look at the MS...
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City of Edmonton: public involvement
Edmonton provides another Canadian example of a municipality using a citizen panel to help make decisions. The municipal council struck a citizen panel - drawing on 49 randomly selected citizens - to help make recommendations for its 2010-11 budget priorities.
Edmonton has a pretty extensive public involvement policy that sets rigorous standards for how the public is to be informed and...
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July 2010
14 posts
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I've been put in a mood
Just reading Free Press coverage of the Fontana presser from today - he promised to “lead by example” and ride the bus; he quickly managed to kill his transit credibility by saying that money earmarked for transit in the draft transportation master plan “scares the bejesus out of (him).” He also made a whole bunch of other traffic-flow related promises that likely...
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WatchYou may recall an earlier post about creating an “Assembly of 70” here in London - aka the Ignite Talk I never got a chance to give. My idea was largely based on my own experiences as a facilitator in public policy sessions, but also from the work of the Canadian Policy Research Networks.
My idea was/is kind of a loose, pie in the sky concept - so imagine my delight when I found a...
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London City Council: inside baseball zinger of the...
I’m working on a lengthy post on water rates but wanted write a quick post about decorum at the meeting last night - particularly during the water debate. It was quite a cordial debate for such a hot button issue, with most councillors providing remarks of substance. I’d even venture out on a limb and say it was a fruitful exchange of ideas, rather than a series of pre-canned, made...
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Census flap: future public policy driven by...
Like most Canadians, I’m a pretty moderate guy when it comes to public policy. I do carry a Liberal membership card, but that doesn’t define me. I tend to lean left of centre on lots of things, but I’m also pretty right of centre on others. I think I’m all over the map because I approach issues with an open mind; I want to know what the data show, seek out advice of...
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Progress: London Community Engagement Policy, and...
A very short entry today to give kudos to city staff for moving forward an issue that is near and dear to my heart: effective community engagement.
I’m particularly heartened by the objectives that have been set for the working group - in my opinion the group is starting from the right grounding, which is more than half the battle. I also agree that in exercises like this the...
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$16 billion deserves a robust debate in Parliament
I’m not against investing in the Canadian Forces in principle - but I also believe we shouldn’t spend a penny more than we absolutely need given that defence dollars could be spent on other pressing domestic priorities. It isn’t a pure zero sum game - a dollar spent on the military is a direct trade-off for other domestic issues - but it can sometimes feel that way. So at the...
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Census long-form: bad policy, even worse politics
There’s been lots of great commentary about why scrapping the census long-form is about the worst public policy decision since scrapping the Avrow Arrow, so I’m not going to go there. What interests me most about this issue is just how crappy the Conservative’s issues management folks (read: the political operatives in the shadows) have been on this file. I was just watching...
Giving Voice to London's Silent Majority
Life has intervened as they say, so I won’t be able to deliver my Ignite talk this evening. For all five of you that are dissapointed - my mamma taught me to be humble - here are my prepared remarks. Not the same, I know…but the best I can do in a pinch.
1. A very small minority of people affect political decision-making in London. They are the elected politicians, civic...
Ignite London: What have I gotten myself into? :)
I’ll be giving a 5 minute talk at a really cool upcoming event, Ignite London. The rules are 20 slides, 15 seconds per slide - should be interesting. Anyway, my blogging activity will be reduced over the next week as a I’ve got to write my talk, and synch it up with the slides…and then practice. I’m usually an ‘off the cuff wing-it’ kind of speaker, but that...
#darkTO compared to Blackout 2003: the social...
During the blackout of 2003 I was working in downtown Toronto. When the power went out, we knew nothing. I remember calling home to my partner Megan, and she mentioned that she’d heard from her parents that power was out along the eastern seaboard, but nobody really knew why. Speculation was rampant. We weren’t that far off from 9/11 and it wasn’t inconceivable that this...
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Wanted: that ‘vision thing’
I’m hoping that the upcoming municipal election is focused on vision, and not a disconnected set of retail promises that are only tangibly linked to the long-term success of London.
No Board of Control candidates means that our mayoral candidates will have more space during the election to present clear visions for the future. As the only official elected city-wide – compared to the mayor and...
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Reblog Hubert: Promises, Promises
Paul Hubert has a great post today - I think we all need to start applying our critical thinking skills to the promises we hear during the election this fall.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m working on Paul’s campaign team. But I wouldn’t shamelessly promote this post unless I thought you should read it!
Promises, Promises - Ward 8 Councillor Paul Hubert
On the cusp...
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Canada Day: Citizenship Resoultions
A big interest of mine is how governments can better engage with their citizens - basically, move closer to participatory democracy and away from traditional Western representative democracy. But the part I sometimes miss is that citizens also have a responsibility to engage with their government. It takes two to tango, and sometimes people can use the “my government isn’t...
June 2010
8 posts
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You can't make this stuff up.
It is bad enough potentially having the house you’ve lived in for 51 years expropriated - it is far worse finding out via a general notice in the mail for a public meeting. It is kind of like finding out that you’ve lost your job because the nameplate changer arrives at your office the day before your pink slip.
As reported by the Toronto Star, several families may have their...
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Challenge to Municipal Candidates: proactively...
First off, thanks for putting your name on the ballot. I really mean it. Second, how about you disclose your donors before election day?
Yes, yes you need to disclose names of donors who give over $100 once the whole messy election is over. Those disclosures are available to members of the public if they go into City Hall and ask for the information. But I’d really like to know...
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Call me insane, but I think the Leafs have a shot...
Einstein once opined that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” If he is to believed, that means I’m probably insane - me, and most of my family and a good chunk of the GTA, Golden Horseshoe, South-Western Ontario, and pockets of Sweden. About this time, usually coinciding with NHL Draft Weekend, it is like...
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London's mayoral race just got a wee bit hotter
Word is out today the London District Building & Construction Trades Council has thrown their 10,000 strong membership behind Joe Fontana. Now I’m not one to believe that union members blindly follow their leadership - despite popular mythology, to be in a union is not to be a mindless follower of the mothership - but this endorsement is still nothing to shrug at. I wouldn’t...
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Bureaucracy-speak and the English Language: City...
I have an admission to make: I read most Board of Control, Standing Committee, and Council meeting agendas, and I also read any attached reports that spark my interest. I do it partly for my job, but also because I enjoy it. I view it as recreational because I partly read the reports through the lens of my favourite essay of all time, George Orwell’s “Politics and the English...
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Building a 21st century Council Chambers
Once upon a time I, along with a group of other citizens and members of Council, thought long and hard about how our city should be governed. We made a whole whack of recommendations, and the Council has actually been pretty diligent at implementing many of them, albeit more slowly than some of us would have liked.
The Task Force was really overshadowed by the issue of Board of Control -...
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ChangeCamp London
I’m very energized after attending ChangeCamp London yesterday at Museum London. First off, the fact that about 100 people were willing to give up a Saturday in June to share their gripes, dreams, and plans about London is evidence that people care about this city, and want to be a part of making it a better place. This fact alone gave me goosebumps - it is very heartening to see so many...
In the beginning...
I was born and raised here in London, Ontario. After graduating from Oakridge Secondary School, I moved east down the 401 to attend Queen’s University at Kingston. I met my lovely partner in life, Megan, at Queen’s. We convocated in 2002 and moved to Toronto, and lived a big adventure for a little over five years. I first worked for a little non-profit called Meal Exchange, which...