Ranting about the Election

No, this isn't a political rant. I won't mention parties, candidates, attack ads, or key issues. What's left to complain about? Voter apathy!

Ontario is holding a provincial election on Thursday. Today, two days before the big day, I overheard a 20-something male say to his 20-something female girlfriend, "the election is on Thursday, so I guess I won't vote. My home riding is up north. You'd think they'd choose an election day that is more convenient to those of us who travel". If there had been a wall to bang my head against when I heard this, the bruises on my forehead would be showing by now.

Let me be very clear: in Canada, voting is a simple and straight-forward process. The information about how to vote is easily accessible. Overcoming the general disinterest many people in this country show in the politics that affect them... well, that's tough to deal with, given the numerous contributing factors and systemic issues. But making the voting process as convenient as possible? That problem has been solved. True, we aren't voting over the internet from the comfort of our homes yet, but there are so many other ways to do it. It is simply unacceptable that someone would choose not to vote because it's inconvenient. What could our young friend have done to ensure his voice was heard?

• He could have voted in advance by mail from anywhere in the world (this works if you're a few hours away, across the country, or on the other side of the planet).

• If he prefers voting in person, he could have done so at an advanced poll when he was still at home. While these locations don't always open first thing in the morning, they remain open until well into the evening - you can come home from work, make dinner, take the kids to soccer, and still make it in time to vote!

• If he is too cool for snail mail, as so many 20-somethings are, and if he wasn't home at all during the ten days that the advanced polls were open (maybe he was a jet-setting executive in disguise), he could have voted at his local returning office anytime in the last four weeks. Four weeks!

Special circumstances have been accounted for, too: people who are temporarily hospitalized can vote because special ballot officers visited hospitals for three days last week. Even those who were staying in a hospital that was outside of their electoral district could vote, and patients could use their hospital bracelet as identification! Home visits have been arranged over the past four weeks for those with disabilities, those who are unable to read and write, and for those who for whom it is impossible or unreasonably difficult to get to their local returning office.

So Mr. 20-something, you with your able body, literacy skills, and good health: you don't get an excuse not to vote. Every day you probably spend hours on Facebook and Twitter - can't you spare twenty minutes to vote? Every weekend, you've got places to go and things to do on short notice - can't you plan a quick trip to the polling station with four weeks of advance warning? You live in a democratic country. You and your girlfriend have the right to vote - unlike millions around the world who don't. Your ballots won't be thrown out due to corruption. You have plenty of choices among the candidates, whether they represent the dominant parties or fringe interest groups, or even if they have registered as independent candidates. You live in the biggest city in Canada, with polling stations no more than a few blocks apart and nobody hanging around out front harassing or threatening you. There. Is. No. Excuse. Please start treating your right to vote like the privilege that is actually is.

Voter Apathy Party used under Creative Commons from Jessica Allan Schmidt (flickr).
Photo of ballot used under Creative Commons from Looking&Learning (flickr).
Voting poster used under Creative Commons from Infrogmation of New Orleans (flickr).

Everything Is Going to Be Okay!

On the first day after Rob Ford won the Toronto mayoral election, I spent the day in bed, curled up in the foetus position rocking back and forth, hoping this was just a nightmare I would wake up from. The next day - today - I awoke with a more hopeful outlook. After all, the greatest acts of heroism arise from the biggest challenges. And this is a big challenge. One that will no doubt inspire many of us to take action and fight for the progressive development this city and its residents deserve over the next four years and beyond.

I may have lost some of you. Toronto is not the centre of the universe, after all, and many municipal elections were held on Monday. So, a brief primer on Rob Ford if you've never heard of him before: you can think of him as Canada's Sarah Palin, only way more controversial, and interested in replacing light rail with subways, streetcars with buses, bikes with cars, and city councillors with... nobody... all the while claiming to respect taxpayers. Because apparently that's all we are. People who give him money to play with.

Toronto City Hall copyright Benson Kua (2008)

Back to being optimistic! Part of the reason I am feeling much more hopeful today is because the Toronto Environmental Alliance (TEA) has gotten the ball rolling by pointing out that a majority of the elected city councillors got A grades on their environmental report cards and are committed to key environmental priority actions. So until Mr. Ford gets around to kicking those councillors off the island (though city hall resembles more of a futuristic building from Star Trek than an island), they will oppose his radical plans.

But wait, there's more! I'm not usually one to endorse letter writing, but it's such a simple action that anyone can take that there is no reason not to give it a shot: TEA wants us to send a strong message to the new council that we expect the new councillors to make the environment a priority over the next four years, and they've set up a form on their website that will make the process really easy. Simply choose the ward you live in, then electronically send their version of the letter, or write your own. TEA will deliver all letters in person before the first council meeting in December. How simple is that? (If you don't live here, please consider forwarding the link to this post to anyone you know who resides in this city. Thanks!)

Meanwhile, I will do my best to share with you other options for creating a healthier city and keep you updated on any major decisions the new council makes that affect the environment.

The TTC: if you think the service is poor now, wait until it becomes privatized!

The citizens of Toronto will be electing a new mayor and dozens of city councillors on Monday, October 25th. It remains to be seen how many people will actually cast their ballot, considering many don't like the top three candidates, and recent polls show that up to 1/5th of residents are still undecided with only four days to go before the elections. I can't say I'm going to be happy with either of two front-runners as my new mayor, and I'm only half-kidding when I say I'll leave town if one in particular is voted in.

The purpose of this post is not to discuss the candidates' platforms, but rather to share with you what I have learned about a very central issue this year: public transit - public or private? Currently, more than 12,000 Torontonians have become members of the Public Transit Coalition, believing that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) must remain publicly owned and operated, with government oversight and accountability being critical to its success. They also feel that funding must come from all levels of government, and that the Transit City plan needs to go forward.

The TTC subway: imperfect but functional.

To educate Torontonians on the dangers of the privatization of transit systems, the Public Transit Coalition has created a TV ad and online video that show what went wrong in other large cities when that scenario played itself out. There are four issues:

1. Privatization does not necessarily save government money: transit systems are always subsidized by the government, even those controlled by private corporations. In fact, nearby York Region's system is private and required five times as many tax dollars per ride compared to the public TTC last year. The situation is even worse in Melbourne, with only two thirds as many riders as in Toronto but four times the cost to the public. To top it off, private corporations always pay higher interest rates than governments on loans for transit construction.
2. Privatization does not cause fares to drop: this has never happened and the opposite is often true, like in York Region, where despite such a great degree of subsidization the fares are actually higher than in Toronto. Another great example of how big of a myth this is comes from toll Highway 407, which cost 200% more to traverse four years after it was sold by the government than when it was still public. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation can't even put a stop to the fee increases, which should come as no surprise since they no longer own the road.
   
3. Privatization does not result in an overall improvement in service: with profit as their bottom line, private corporations tend to cut those services which are least profitable. In the case of transit, that means late night buses and routes to areas outside of the city core. Due to Toronto's relatively large number of suburban neighbourhoods, transit service cuts could be particularly harsh. I was stunned to learn that most bus riders in Melbourne essentially have 8 pm curfews on weeknights and can't go out at all on Sundays, when there is no service.
4. Privatization does not promote public accountability: although the government does not lose all authority over services once they are sold to private corporations, its ability to control the quality of the services diminishes. What's worse, even everyday people like you and I lose power: no matter who we vote for, private owners don't have to debate subsidies, fare prices, or profit margins in front of the officials we elect. Keep in mind that their main job is to line the pockets of their shareholders, not satisfy the service needs of the public.

Toronto's iconic red streetcars. Copyright wyliepoon (2009)

For more information about the campaign to keep the TTC public, check out the keepttcpublic website. To see the environmental report cards on the mayoral and council candidates, visit the Toronto Environmental Alliance site.

A billboard promoting the TTC's Transit City plan.