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They are installing the eastern portion of the Adelaide/Richmond bike tracks. By the end of September (they didn't say which year and we are talking city of Toronto project management skills here) it will be possible to cycle safely across the southern part of downtown. This is about the most important addition that could be made to cycling infrastructure downtown and is terrific news.
Sep. 2nd, 2015
Election nerdery
Sep. 2nd, 2015 10:04 am Based on the latest riding by riding predictions by Eric Grénier in the upcoming federal election only 109 ridings out of 338 will produce an overall majority (50% plus of votes cast) for the winner. Only in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will even half the seats produce a clear winner. In the most hotly contested provinces; Ontario and BC, the picture is even less clear. Only 23/121 ridings in Ontario look likely to produce a majority and only 8/42 in BC. The case for some form of proportional voting system could hardly be clearer.
It's noseholding time
Sep. 2nd, 2015 10:39 am So there's a federal election on in Canada and, as usual, the offerings range from revolting to unappealing.
In the blue corner we have Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. They are socially conservative but not especially fiscally responsible. They are happy to throw money at their backers in the energy industry for example. What's really worrying is that they have spent a decade trying to unravel Canadian democracy and stifle. The list is long; partisan tampering with the voting system, attempted meddling with the Supreme Court, illegal appointments to the Senate, legislation that defines "terrorism" as anything the government says it is and more. There's also a fair bit of evidence to suggest that the PMO has been illegally interfering in criminal investigations. Mad, bad and dangerous. The only thing clear about this election is that they need to go.
In the red corner we have the latest Trudeau and the Liberals. The best that can be said about this lot is that they are not the Conservatives though they have voted for the government's anti-terror legislation and they are running the guy who headed up the G20 police assault as a candidate. One thing they aren't is "liberal" in any generally accepted sense of the word. I wouldn't rule out a coalition with the Conservatives if the numbers point that way and they well might. Since the NDP's position on Quebec is inconsistent with the only thing the Liberals are consistent about an NDP/Liberal hook up seems unlikely.
In the orange corner we have Thomas Mulcair and the NDP. Mulcair is a failed Quebec Liberal and a sort of Yvette Cooper like closet Tory. He's also quite authoritarian having shown himself willing to fire candidates who don't share his slavish devotion to Netanyahu. He's also making his numbers on the same "soft sovereignty" gambit as the one that carried Mulroney to power, once. Like all Quebec politicians he thinks the status of Quebec is far more important than it actually is. If he wins, and he may, he is going to face the same problem as Mulroney. he won't be able to deliver what he's promised Quebeckers (or what they think he's promised - not necessarily the same thing). If the NDP win this one expect them to be annihilated in 2020 unless they can push through electoral reform in the meantime.
What colour represents the Bloc? I neither know nor care. They are irrelevant in this election because Mulcair has picked their pocket. 2020 may be a different story.
And finally, in the green corner, Elizabeth May of the Greens. Electorally irrelevant except in her home riding of Hippy Central.
It sucks but I will vote, even if I need a super sized peg on my nose. It's my duty as a citizen and yours too if you can. My advice FWIW, vote NDP unless the Liberal has a better chance of keeping the Conservative out.
In the blue corner we have Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. They are socially conservative but not especially fiscally responsible. They are happy to throw money at their backers in the energy industry for example. What's really worrying is that they have spent a decade trying to unravel Canadian democracy and stifle. The list is long; partisan tampering with the voting system, attempted meddling with the Supreme Court, illegal appointments to the Senate, legislation that defines "terrorism" as anything the government says it is and more. There's also a fair bit of evidence to suggest that the PMO has been illegally interfering in criminal investigations. Mad, bad and dangerous. The only thing clear about this election is that they need to go.
In the red corner we have the latest Trudeau and the Liberals. The best that can be said about this lot is that they are not the Conservatives though they have voted for the government's anti-terror legislation and they are running the guy who headed up the G20 police assault as a candidate. One thing they aren't is "liberal" in any generally accepted sense of the word. I wouldn't rule out a coalition with the Conservatives if the numbers point that way and they well might. Since the NDP's position on Quebec is inconsistent with the only thing the Liberals are consistent about an NDP/Liberal hook up seems unlikely.
In the orange corner we have Thomas Mulcair and the NDP. Mulcair is a failed Quebec Liberal and a sort of Yvette Cooper like closet Tory. He's also quite authoritarian having shown himself willing to fire candidates who don't share his slavish devotion to Netanyahu. He's also making his numbers on the same "soft sovereignty" gambit as the one that carried Mulroney to power, once. Like all Quebec politicians he thinks the status of Quebec is far more important than it actually is. If he wins, and he may, he is going to face the same problem as Mulroney. he won't be able to deliver what he's promised Quebeckers (or what they think he's promised - not necessarily the same thing). If the NDP win this one expect them to be annihilated in 2020 unless they can push through electoral reform in the meantime.
What colour represents the Bloc? I neither know nor care. They are irrelevant in this election because Mulcair has picked their pocket. 2020 may be a different story.
And finally, in the green corner, Elizabeth May of the Greens. Electorally irrelevant except in her home riding of Hippy Central.
It sucks but I will vote, even if I need a super sized peg on my nose. It's my duty as a citizen and yours too if you can. My advice FWIW, vote NDP unless the Liberal has a better chance of keeping the Conservative out.
