So What Will it be, Liberals? Top-Down or Bottom-Up?
By Gregory D. Morrow

Anyone who has followed Canadian politics over the past few years might have detected a slow shift in attitudes among voters, from top-down, one-size-fits-all processes and policies that have typically characterized our “good government” ethic, towards those that appeal to and, in many cases, are generated from bottom-up efforts led by local volunteers and activists.

These bottom-up, grassroots efforts reflect an emerging populism that is profoundly affecting Canadians’ expectations of government at all levels. While we easily locate conservativism on the right, fascism on the far right, liberalism on the left and communism on the far left, populism cannot be pegged to a particular location on the political spectrum. As Niall Ferguson once said, populism is a “bisexual ism”. It comes from both the left and right. And these grassroots efforts have successfully painted the Liberals as, on the left, handmaidens of “big business”, and on the right, handmaidens of the “elites”. While much of this is partisan rhetoric, it does underscore the degree to which Liberals are viewed as being disconnected from the grassroots. Indeed, Liberal success has typically come from mobilizing the elites, not the grassroots. But, as grassroots campaigns have matured (within a system that elects representatives locally), this populism is beginning to pay electoral dividends.

(more…)

Over the coming weeks, DemocraticSPACE will launch our coverage of the October 4, 2007 Ontario Election. As with our coverage of the 2006 Canadian Federal election, each of the 107 Ontario ridings will have its own page, where visitors can report on-the-ground happenings and offer their thoughts (feel free to report riding nominations as they happen). And, as per usual, we will provide riding-by-riding vote projections, based on our unique regional allocation model and the latest polling data.

The last 5 polls show the Liberals with an average of 38.4% support, following by the Progressive Conservatives at 36% and the NDP at 19.4%. Based on a simple riding-by-riding allocation (that is, unadjusted for regional variations), this has the Liberals leading with 51 seats, PC with 46 and the NDP with 10. [Note: edited to reflect the last 5 polls]

DOWNLOAD PDF	2 JUNE 2006
	LIB	PC	NDP	OTH
% SUPPORT	37.9%	36.1%	19.1%	6.9%
TOTAL SEATS	50	47	10	0
% OF SEATS	47%	44%	9%	0%

Cap-and-Trade Works; Carbon Taxes, Regulation and Voluntary Measures Do Not
By Gregory D. Morrow

It is imperative that Canada reduce its greenhouse gases, and given that 80% of the human production of said gases are due to CO2, that means first capping, then, second, reducing CO2 levels. Doing nothing — such as the Conservatives head-in-the-sand approach, or conversely, simply touting Kyoto targets without a credible plan to achieve them — will ensure that greenhouse gases continue to rise. And, therein lies the problem. We can all agree that reducing CO2 emissions is important (if you take the Tories on face value), but we disagree on how to do it. Typically, those on the left want to regulate emissions; those on the right want voluntary reductions. So far, neither approach has produced results.

But neither will Michael Ignatieff’s naive call for a carbon tax. And he should know better, based on what his adopted country — the U.S. — tried to do several years ago with its BTU tax. Bill Clinton tried a carbon tax and it didn’t get off the ground because of political opposition. Neither will Ignatieff’s carbon tax proposal. It’s dead on arrival. Already, you see the Conservatives pouncing on Ignatieff in parliament, likening it to the loathsome National Energy Program of 1980 (introduced by Pierre Trudeau). Ignatieff — already in hot water with the Liberal membership over his embrace of Stephen Harper’s sham Afghanistan vote — has done himself no favours by proposing such a controversial and untenable proposition as a carbon tax.

(more…)

Justice Denied: South Central L.A. Farm Destroyed
By Gregory D. Morrow

Another win for the white man in L.A. Yesterday, police evicted South Central L.A. farmers and destroyed the 14-acre community farm that has taken 15 years to build. Evictions were forcibly served and the crops were bulldozed with the aid of 250 LAPD officers in riot gear and 65 L.A. County sheriff deputies. A symbol of hope in one of the city’s most devastated communities, with a 99% non-white population, was flattened in a senseless act of destruction. Justice was denied here in L.A. yesterday.

(Javier Manzano/L.A. Times)

The farm has been the subject of court battles for years. The farm was part of a rebuilding process following the devastating 1992 Justice Riots that erupted following the acquittal of LAPD officers for beating Rodney King (which was caught on tape). Originally, in 1986, the city used eminent domain to take the land from owner Ralph Horowitz in order to build an incinerator. When community activists blocked the incinerator — arguing on environmental justice grounds – residents turned the city-owned land into a community garden with the approval of the city, so that low-income families could grow their own food. It may come as a surprise to many, but food security was a huge part of the 1992 Justice Riots — because of years of stigma and red-lining, South-Central L.A. did not have any grocery stores (only corner liquor stores whose produce was, shall we say, less than fresh). Combined with poor housing, high unemployment and years of police harassment, the Justice Riots were a tipping point for the African-American population that then dominated South-Central (today, it is largely Latino, but a sizeable African-American community still lives there). So, the farm represented a grassroots efforts to produce fresh local produce.

(more…)

Canadian Equalization is Not Just Math; It is Spatial Justice Based on Outcomes
By Gregory D. Morrow

Ken Boessenkool made a strong case in today’s Globe and Mail for making the Canadian Equalization program a simple “data in/data out” process (note: behind subscription wall, go to Google News to get around this). Boessenkool advocates simply feeding the numbers into a formula and whatever it spits out will determine which regions give and which regions receive. Paul Wells likewise supports the idea.

While I agree the process has become highly politicized, it is wrong to treat such a highly-charged issue like spatial justice — the fair distribution of benefits and burdens across space — like a math problem.

Reducing equalization to a simple math problem reflects a particularly unfortunate mindset of current thinking that believes universal standards applied universally will necessarily deliver equality and justice. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle warned of this false faith in scientific (episteme) and technical (techne) knowledge, and demanded that only through the application of phronesis (practical wisdom, or sometimes translated as common sense), could a society make judgments that were just and equitable — to create a society that ensured homonoia (correctly translated as “together-mindedness”).

(more…)

Liberals Must Narrow Field to Engage in Real Debate
By Gregory D. Morrow

If Liberals are going to sway the hearts and minds of Canadians, they are going to have to do better than they did yesterday in Winnipeg. The first Leadership Forum was an opportunity to get to know the candidates a bit better, but offered few new insights, policies or visions. The format didn’t help, nor did the large number of candidates. And the format was dictated because of the larger number of candidates.

While it may be unpopular to say so, the sooner this race narrows, the sooner there can be substantive debate about the future of the Liberal Party. An eleven-person “debate” is impossible. I think for this first round, it is fine to have a full slate of candidates — on the assumption that more candidates means more ideas (unfortunately, so far, that hasn’t happened). However, by the time the fall debates come around, this race should be down to 3-5 people who can then seriously debate the directions they would take the Liberal Party (note that the Federal election debates are four people, and even that many is a challenge to moderate).

(more…)

Let’s Put Terrorism Risks in Perspective, People
By Gregory D. Morrow

There is much consternation in Canada over the apprehension of 17 suspects on terrorism charges. There is talk of a “wake-up call” – as though we now need to worry about terrorism, where as last week we didn’t. 71% of Canadians think Canada will be attacked. And as Johan Goldberg says, Canada has paid the price for being nice.

Terrorist acts are vile and spineless actions against civilians done out of desperation by people whose political (or ideological) feelings are so strong that they abandon their conscience and respect for human life. But, it’s very very important (put on your best Paul Martin impersonation!) to keep it all in perspective, people.

First, we have talented and dedicated people whose job it is to identify risks, track them, and, when necessary, intervene. I have the utmost respect and confidence that Canadian, American, and for that matter worldwide counter-terrorist units are doing their job. They need the tools and funding necessary to do their job.

Second, the facts speak for themselves: international terrorism kills, on average (at least as recent history suggests) about 3,700 people each year worldwide.

(more…)

NDP Greener Homes Strategy Misses the Point
By Gregory D. Morrow

The NDP released Part 1 (“Greener Homes Strategy”) of its 5-part Green Agenda for Canada today. I applaud the NDP for making energy efficiency an issue at the Federal level. At this point, they are the only party seriously making noise on environmental issues in Ottawa, although that could change depending on the outcome of the Liberal leadership race. So far, the Conservatives have taken a page out of the Bush administration’s book — i.e. do nothing, and the Bloc Quebecois sold themselves out for a promise that Quebec would be taken care of “later”.

Unfortunately, the NDP plan isn’t very well thought out — and I say that as a progressive architect, urban designer, and urban planner who is very interested in promoting such a “Green Agenda for Canada”. Here is what the NDP proposes:

- Development of an advanced energy efficiency program to help make Canadian homes the most efficient in the world;
- Amendment of the National Building Code to legislate lower energy use in new homes;
- Making mandatory, in order to qualify for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Mortgage Insurance Program, proof of compliance with the new National Building Code’s energy efficiency provisions for new homes AND Establishing or enhancing other programs to assist Canadians in retrofitting older homes so as to meet the new energy standards;
- Requiring that all appliances and lighting sold in Canada meet the Energy Star standards; and
- Re-instatement of the EnerGuide program abolished by the Conservatives.

(more…)

Did Politics Motivate the Publicity Surrounding Canadian Terror Bust?
By Gregory D. Morrow

Something has been bothering me about this week’s terror bust made by CSIS, the RCMP and local police. Certainly, I’m bothered by young Muslim Canadians allowing themselves to be brainwashed by older angry “leaders” who pervert Islam in the name of hatred. And I’m bothered by the planned attacks on Canadian targets. But, I’m also bothered by the way this event has been so highly publicized.

There are two reasons for my concern: first, providing detailed briefings of how these youths were first discovered, tracked, and finally caught, seems to me to represent a breach of national security. It, in effect, broadcasts to other would-be criminals the tactics that CSIS, the RCMP, and local police use to disrupt crime. Far from detering crime, it merely refines their tactics — now, they know what to avoid doing.

But secondly, whenever police go out of their way to publicize the fruits of their labour, they usually do so for political purposes at the behest of political leaders. The classic example is the drug bust, often in response to a drug-related homocide. To show the people that they are “on top of” drug crime, the chief of police holds a press conference announcing, with a table full of drugs for the cameras (broadcasted on the evening news), that “we are fighting to keep our streets safe” or some such thing. Gang busts are similar. We saw this not long ago in Toronto, in the raid on the Jamestown gang, to publicize that we’re “getting tough on gangs”. Are these press conferences for the benefit of the criminals? Do they think they will suddenly stop doing what they are doing? No, such publicizing efforts are political — to show “the public” that the mayor is on top of the situation and to quell fears. Unfortunately, as we saw this week with the terror busts, such publicity doesn’t quell fears, it only confirms them.

(more…)

Surprise, Mr. Harper! Canadians are not Americans
By Gregory D. Morrow

This is a newsflash for Stephen Harper: Canadians are not Americans. A few months ago, such an obvious statement would have been ridiculous. However, the consistency with which Stephen Harper seems intent on fashioning his government with Republican strategies, demands something of a reality check.

That reality check was delivered today courtesy of a Decima Research poll that outlined Canadian opposition to Harper’s policies on Kyoto and Afghanistan. Harper has proceeded with the assumption that Canadians are just like Americans — that what works for George W. Bush will work for him. Consequently, Harper believed that Canadians would not mind scrapping Kyoto in favor of a me-first, er, Made-in-Canada, global warming policy (which we have not as yet seen, even while global warming funds have been withdrawn). He also believed that Canadians would rally behind his photo-ops in Afghanistan and his gallant attempt to rally patriotism behind the military. According the Decima poll, Harper was wrong.

(more…)