Mayoral debate: time to focus on the good?

I knew it would be painful to watch. The vacuous "youth-oriented" reporters with half a thought between them, the moderator who wasn't up to the job, questions that fell flat and answers that couldn't be heard as candidates hectored one another: Thank you CP24 for further dumbing down what might have been a useful exchange of ideas.

Pot shots, cheap shots, predictable and demeaning to all involved. Though we did get a preview of what a Toronto under Rob Ford might be like, what powers he's prepared to assume during the great fiscal dismantling, as he spoke of how he'd have asked the police chief to "move in" on protesters. It's black and white, he claimed, support for the cops or support for the demonstrators. Why he hasn't completely self-destructed is beyond me. His red-faced blustering, his reduction of the only female candidate to "nice lady", his heavy footed dance around the two full-time jobs he holds, and the two salaries. Tick tock tick tock, Mr. Ford.

George Smitherman has started to move, literally and figuratively, walking the streets of our city last week, appealing for votes, talking to real people, and that is all to the good. He can't refuse to participate in these ridiculous televised debates, but it's much better to see him on his own, he takes on more stature when he loses the ballast of the other candidates. He looks more like a real challenger for the office, maybe the only one in the field.

It might be useful for Smitherman to highlight some of the good that city hall does for its citizens, to counter the accusations of fiscal irresponsibility. There are, in the bureaucracy, some very intelligent, very effective people with great ideas, Rocco Rossi may concentrate on their salaries, but viewing some of the initiatives out there, some of the ways Toronto really makes a difference in the lives of its people, from public health to social services, would go a long way to renewing some faith in our local government.

Things like micro loans for youth: brilliant.

Poverty is such a huge problem in many neighbourhoods, encouraging local entrepreneurs is one way to ensure ways out. I have been part of a committee delivering a similar type program, one started by the sons of Dr. Reva Gerstein, who donated $10,000 a year for 10 years to psychiatric survivors with big ideas and empty pockets. Amounts from $500 to a few thousand have supported dozens and resulted in: foster parents for pets when people need to go to hospital, an on-line magazine for and by the poor, a documentary on emergency departments and their treatment of the mentally ill, even paid tuition for survivors wanting to continue their education.

Poverty is about lack of opportunity: given a chance, people really shine. So I hope that Smitherman will focus on the good that can be done, Ford and Rossi have enough to say on the bad.

About Pat Capponi

The G20: A woman's role...

There’s so much to say about the last few days.

I share some of Pat's feelings, and others. But I have been, for the most part, at a loss for words. I know, I know…this is really very unlike me.

Many have already spoken in the press about the nature of that Saturday march, how peaceful it was, how calm until….well, until everything went to hell in a handbasket. I was there during the march on Saturday, with my small little devoted cadre of trade unionists.

Dripping wet, cold, flags pasted to flagpoles…the very flagpoles we considered leaving home lest they be mistaken for potential weapons. And there were some moments where, save for the miserable weather, I could have sworn it was a Labour Day march… happy families marching with toddlers in tow, babies in strollers, teenagers with their arms draped over their parents. Happy by-standers waving at us. Samba bands, chinese drums.

Except for the rifles (rubber bullets, I was assured) trained on us down University Avenue.

And the riot gear.

And the general chill that swept over us when, while those rifles were staring us down, the Black Bloc came rushing past….

So, in many senses it wasn’t the ‘usual’ protest. And that’s certainly not how it ended up.

Amidst everything that has been said over the last few days, I came across Giorgio Mammoliti’s statement on the event, which made me shriek in laughter and horror and disbelief: "I applaud Police Chief Bill Blair and his entire staff for their tireless efforts to restore order to a city that has been cast under a dark cloud because of a small group of thugs that feel they can impose their will on us with destruction and chaos, and I am especially surprised to see the number of women involved in these demonstrations."

Ahem. Well, now here’s something I can sink my teeth into.

Er, Giorgio, where the hell have you been for the last century. Okay, that’s too easy… let’s just say the last forty years. Because I know you’ve been around, Giorgio. You were hard to miss on that elephant. Let me explain this to you. We women, we tend to have opinions.

I know, I know, we are often urged to keep them to ourselves. But strangely enough we still have them. They are often hard to suppress. Especially, like say when someone threatens a right that we have fought, yes fought to achieve and maintain for these many years.

Indeed, when women around the world who do not have that right actually die -- yes Giorgio they die -- trying to take control of their lives and those reproductive rights that they are denied. And that they would be denied these by OUR government.

Wow. That’s a real kick in the stomach, so to speak.

Oh, Giorgio, sorry if that violent reference offended your delicate sensibilities. Maybe they are just mad about things like, I don’t know, maybe oil spills, or the rights of temporary workers, or well us women we have lots of interests. Some of them might actually just want to fight for no particular reason, or cause harm to businesses, or do bad things generally, or lash out against authority, capitalism, what have you.

You’d be surprised. We're a complex bunch, us females. I don’t like the approach some take to these things, like breaking windows and hurling bottles.

I actually do believe there are better and more effective ways to express one’s opinions and influence others. But something really galls me about the notion that we should have stayed home, protected and quiet and hidden away, while these protests took place. Like when Senator Nancy Ruth told us to STFU. WTF?

Giorgio has a little something to learn about protests clearly, and the role of women, and well, just about everything else.

About Marit Stiles

The perfect G20 summit location

As the dust settles from the G20 summit in Toronto, a number of people have complained that Toronto was the wrong place to hold the summit meetings.

I disagree.

I can’t think of a better place to have held the G20 summit this year than in Toronto. Toronto is the economic heartland of Canada, and home to the Canadian banking sector: one of the largest employers in the country, and one of the principal reasons why our Canada did not fall into the same economic crisis that other G8 and G20 countries fell into during the recession . What better place to show Canada’s strength amongst its peers than to have the meetings in the financial capital of Canada.

It’s also important to note that the City of Toronto is partially responsible for the federal government’s decision to hold the summit in Toronto. For years, the Toronto government has been justifiably boasting its prowess to the federal and provincial government, constantly complaining that they are not treated like the mature city that they have become.

Take a look at any media release from the city and you will read in its tag line: “Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America.” If that is not a compelling missive for having the G20 here, I don’t know what is...

Other critics have complained that holding the meetings in the downtown core was just asking for the kind of violence and damage that we experienced.

I disagree.

The damage that occurred downtown was the result of a minority of misguided criminals who took advantage of legitimate peaceful protesters who were there for a cause that they believed in. Those peaceful protesters were able to get their message across without resorting to the violence and damage that some criminals decided to engage in.

As Canada Day fast approaches, this summit is one of the many reasons why I am proud to be Canadian: to live in a country that provides one of the strongest and stable economies in the world for individuals to pursue and achieve wealth. It is also a place where legitimate, peaceful protest is permitted and actually encouraged by our government.

About Dan Bordonali

If I had a billion dollars...

I’d buy your loooovvvveee….

Couldn’t help myself.

But seriously, as the G20 descends upon us, I think we are all emerging from our collective slumber, shaking our heads and thinking: how the hell did that happen?!

What would you do with a billion dollars? Could you think of a few better ways to spend the billion dollars that our great federal government (which I remind you does not have the support of the majority of the voters in our fine country) than on security and food, fake lakes and Muskoka chairs for reporters, and other odds and ends for a meeting that lasts a mere two days?

That’s -- let me get out my calculator -- $500-million a day. Wow. A nice chunk of change.

If I were to dream a little dream of a City – let’s say Toronto— and how it could be made more livable, where would I spend $1 billion?

This makes for a fun party game. I have tried it out on some friends over the last few days and here are some of the ideas they came up with (thank you friends):

- Put farmers market stands near subway and Go stops
- Spend it on bike lanes with actual barriers to cars.
- Put it into the construction of more affordable housing
- Continue the ecoEnergy home retrofit program
- Create more non-profit, public childcare spaces
- Send some kids who can’t afford to summer in Muskoka to Muskoka to swim in some real lakes

Or maybe George Smitherman could pay back the billion-something dollars lost in the e-health fiasco, and give a boost to Transit City. But don’t even think about letting him run it.

Okay, I’m feeling a little cheeky today. But what the hell.

The best I’ve heard yet is the Pantalone campaign’s response: The City could lend the money to the province so they could live up to their obligations on Transit City.

Clean and easy as a dip in an Ontario lake. A real one. I hear we have a few.

About Marit Stiles

Will someone catch us if we fall?

Fixing the transit mess, installing road tolls, creating bike lanes, are these really the top issues for our city?  When polls are done to identify our concerns, who creates the questions?  I suspect if the pollsters were closer to ground level, they might be surfacing other issues, especially those dealing with quality of life here in the big big city. 

You know how it is when you're having a bad day, when you're worried or grouchy from lack of sleep, or your job is driving you crazy and you think you can't stand one more instance of someone getting "on your last nerve", whether that's a store clerk or a fellow employee or yes, a TTC driver.

I think a lot of people in this city are on their "last nerve", and that has to do less with the issues identified above and more to do with worries and fears in this economic climate.  We're realizing that the social fabric we've come to count on is rapidly unraveling and that leaves us frightened for our sons and daughters who are struggling, parents who are aging, and jobs that are leaving.

We see that what we thought was a caring society in reality lets people fall so far they can never recover. It's hard to escape or ignore the evidence on our streets, our sidewalks, or in our public parks.  We're bombarded with charities demanding more and more, yet though we give, it seems as though nothing gets better.  So we're angry, and fearful, and fed up.

We want to keep our tax dollars rather than give them to people who we're sure waste them.We want to distance ourselves from the homeless, from the needy, because we have to believe they are not like us, they do not have the same work ethic, because, if they are like me and you, then me and you are in more trouble than we thought.

And we're already stressed to the heavens. 

None of us wants to feel as though we're absolutely on our own in this world. We want to be sure that if we fall, someone will notice, someone will be there, helping us to get back on our feet. We want to be able to breathe freely, throw off some of the heavy weight we're carrying on our shoulders and enjoy the best this city has to offer its residents. Hard to do when we trade in our idea of a vibrant caring community for a individualistic, Darwinian world.

About Pat Capponi

Toronto needs a volunteer strategy

It’s National Volunteer Week in Canada, an opportune time to ask ourselves where volunteering fits into our lives, and into the life of our city.

According to a 2007 report prepared by Statistics Canada, 12.5 million Canadian volunteers give more than two million hours of their time per year.

Despite this impressive statistic, the rate of volunteering is declining in Ontario (from 50 per cent in 2004 to 47 per cent in 2007). There are fewer willing to give of their time, energy, ideas, influence and/or money to good causes. This is concerning, given that volunteers are the lifeblood of many charitable organizations and deliver many vital social services.

Although it is recognized by the City that volunteers play an instrumental role within various Toronto communities, there isn’t a city-wide volunteer strategy in place to promote volunteerism, connect potential volunteers to suitable opportunities, nor celebrate and recognize their contributions (Toronto’s last set of Community Service Volunteer Awards were handed out in 2006).

Vancouver has extensive online resources for its citizens to learn how and where to volunteer, and Montrealers are offered a comprehensive guide to volunteer opportunities, as well as volunteer bureaus to consult throughout that city.

Why volunteer? Apart from the feel-good aspect of contributing to the community, there are real skills to be learned and networks to be built.

And there is interest in engaging. For example, in a recent survey, Business for the Arts found that young professionals expressed interest in learning about, and spending time, volunteering in the arts and culture sector. What’s missing is a guide to what volunteer opportunities are available.

For someone early in their career, volunteer opportunities offer the opportunity for skill development and learning. Often skills learned while volunteering can be applied to professional endeavours (I’ve found that to be particularly true).

For newcomers to Toronto, volunteer opportunities potentially offer social connection and the ability to build networks, thereby supporting professional aspirations, or fulfilling other needs of the volunteer.

In short, volunteering can offer citizens invaluable building blocks for future success. And our city is built for the better in the process. Toronto needs a volunteer strategy to harness our diverse talent and put it to (pro bono) work.

About Gillian Hewitt Smith

One step forward

It takes courageous actions like this for officials to earn the respect of residents. Bravo to the school board for putting a hold on school closures in Jane and Finch!

Your confidence in the democratic process and in the goodwill of residents will reap great rewards for the community.

And to all the courageous residents who have stepped out of your comfort zone and stood up for what you believed in despite the challenges to your personal and professional integrity, keep up the struggle, there is still hope.

About Rosemarie Powell

My city? Not so much if you're a landed immigrant

The discussion of allowing landed immigrants to vote during the municipal elections is nothing new. The Star covered it. David Miller is supportive of it. The Maytree foundation has a whole campaign based on this issue.

The reason I bring it up is because it is something that is close to me. A little over a month ago, I took one of the most important steps of my life: becoming a citizen of Canada. It was a powerful moment. I can now sing “O Canada” proudly as an accepted son of this great country. I can vote for all levels of the government, run as a candidate, apply for federal jobs and travel anywhere without being harassed by custom agents (most of the times).

And I am grateful for all of that, among the many other things.

My life as a resident of Toronto, though, is more or less the same. Except for the fact that -- for the first time ever -- I can participate fully in the upcoming municipal elections, my morning after the citizenship ceremony was the same as the ones of the last six years.

In no specific order, here are some highlights of my life since 2003 (the year I became a Landed Immigrant):

• Helped 25 youth get a unique summer employment experience in Toronto through my work
• Volunteered (4), attended and supported almost all of the major festivals that took place in the city
• Helped youth in the city become advocates for their health, rights and opportunities
• Became a 2010 DiverseCity Fellows member
• Organized and attended various rallies and actions (political, environmental, educational…)
• Helped organize cleanup events last year during the city workers’ strike and in 2008’s Earth Day
• Helped many newcomer immigrants, and other marginalized communities, become more included and engaged in their community
• Attended almost all Canada Day celebrations and picnics hosted by local dignitaries
• Helped raise funds for various charity drives and foundations
• Organized a major festival in Parkdale attended by over 600 people
• Enjoyed the wealth of restaurants, shops, cafes, galleries, parks … of Toronto
• Paid my taxes
• Etc, etc.

I hope this doesn’t come across as me showing off how awesome I am. We’ll cover that in some other post. Rather, it’s to show that I was offered all kinds of opportunities to be an engaged resident of this city. Not only that, but I was also active in many areas that helped sustain Toronto and make it a better, more vibrant city.

In the past six years, two municipal elections took place in which I couldn’t cast my vote. Since 2004, 7360 city bylaws were passed that affected my life as a Torontonian, all without me ever having a chance to voice my opinion in any meaningful way.

This year, I am fortunate enough to have a chance to finally say my piece and follow through on my responsibility of being a citizen. My dad won’t, even though he owns a house and is as active as I am in his community in Etobicoke. Neither will my friend who’s lived in Toronto for over five years. Neither will 263,000 other people like her. And if I didn’t get my citizenship this year, neither would I.

I am lucky in that my application was processed in six years. There are many who desperately want to be Canadian citizens whose papers will take much longer to get through, for various reasons, some of which that are beyond their control. For some, that letter inviting them to the citizenship ceremony will never arrive.

The history of progress is marked by the high points of people achieving the right to participate in that most cherished cornerstone of all democratic societies: voting. Women were allowed to vote in Canada 92 years ago. The Civil rights movement sparked a generation whose ideas and values are still resonant and reverberating today.

I don’t mean to say that the significance of those landmark moments then and this issue now is the same. But there are similarities in all three cases that are hard to ignore, namely that of exclusion and disparity of rights.

In an upcoming election where the same old tired complaints of voter apathy, disconnected wards and the lack of new faces among the political elites are loud and true, I can’t help but wonder if that would be mitigated by allowing the strong and active immigrant population to vote for changes that they deserve in the Toronto that they call home.

In the spirit of leadership, inclusion and a better Toronto for all, this is one step that is long overdue.

[Be sure to visit www.ivotetoronto.org for more info about this, and what you can do to help.]

About Gelek Badheytsang