Bring in the Technocrats

On June 11^th of this year I wrote a piece called the “Failure of Leadership” where I highlighted the intense failures of government at all three levels in my home region, province and country. Having strong opinions on matters it is not difficult to feel disappointed in our elected leaders, but I expect that. I feel as though I can separate my partisan and political differences and appreciate good governance when I see it. When I look at jurisdictions around the continent it seems like people, above all else, desire competence over ideology.

Let’s begin with the looming American elephant. For over a decade now it appears that the governing class of the United States is incapable of running the country it is sworn to serve. I should be more specific, the federal government. The articles I routinely read about successful mayors and governors in the United States definitely offers hope. Sadly these leaders operate with the hindrance, not support of their federal peers. It is a popular tact for other orders of government to beat up on each other, it also makes for fine politics, but it seems remarkably true. Mayors struggle to build their cities into globally competitive, attractive locations because of antiquated federal government policies around transit, or economic policies that hurt cities.

The American deficit/budget crisis is really not that complicated a problem. A combination of spending cuts and tax increases will be required to counter severe budget problems in the long-term. Many moderate, sensible political observers note this with great regularity, but the American ruling class exists in a political climate where it is unprofitable to take such actions. A “cuts only” tact that the Republican want to take might work, if they agreed to return to the early twentieth century roots and dramatically slash military spending. Democrats could delay cuts to social programs if they were willing to propose bold measures like a national sales tax.

This is not the reality the United States finds itself in. Therefore instead of measured, thoughtful compromise, or long-term plan, the Americans are dealing with a shut down government.

Things are not much better here in Canada. Because I am a sucker for punishment I have been following the grueling saga over the Scarborough subway/LRT. While I write about transit a lot, and it is a passion of mine, I am not an expert. However, people who are considered experts say that Scarborough would be best served by light rail. However, because of politicking by provincial parties, the Premier Kathleen Wynne (OLP – Don Valley West) and calamitous input from Toronto City Hall, a subway will be built (possibly). The proposed subway will serve less people, cost more money and take longer to build. Subways make for better politics and so there we are.

I imagine a great many people in the United States are very tired of their democratic government at the moment. It appears that our elected officials that supposedly speak for us increasingly represent narrow interests that unsurprisingly also serve themselves. If elected leaders are bad can anyone besides the voters be blamed? Perhaps it’s because politicians are ever only speaking to the ~50% who vote, or the under 25% who are paying attention (or will ever vote for them) at a given moment, but it certainly seems like we are getting less effective government.

In my moments of hopelessness I wonder if the public would be happier being served by technocrats. If the faceless bureaucrats, experts and intelligentsia just made decisions, accepted public feedback but never had to worry about elections would people be happier with government? If that were the case Toronto would probably have several fold more transit than it does today, and the United States would pass a budget annually, of that I am fairly confident.

During the heights of the Great Recession, when the West was feeling down on itself, eyes turned to countries like China that were accomplishing amazing things and using the economic crisis to spur recovery with incredibly projects. It helps that China is a totalitarian regime. We don't do many mega-projects like that anymore. The public won’t stand for them. As is oft quoted, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Is it citizens who are tired of democracy, and now politicians answer to the small number, such as myself, who are paying attention? The argument goes that public policy is too complicated to be carried out in mass media. Does a vote for one party in preference from another send any clear message? I think not.

I may be overly cynical at present as representative democratic governments from coast to coast to coast struggle. Competency, effective, predictable governance is critical to twenty-first century life and I worry how much the public at large cares about voting/participating to make it happen. If they don’t, well, bring in the technocrats. 

Worth Reading – October, 10, 2013

Francis Fukuyama wrote this week on the American government shutdown. Fukuyama, famous for his book The End of History points to the American constitution as the cause of the crisis.

On the other hand, Alison Loat of Samara Canada writes why a shutdown like the one in the U.S. is virtually impossible here in Canada. It’s a real “nuts and bolts” piece about comparing constitutions and how our system works (or doesn’t).

TVO’s Steve Paikin handicaps the race for Toronto’s mayoralty, and raises the question whether or not John Tory should seek the job. Paikin offers some interesting point, but I have serious doubts a candidate like Tory could cut through the noise of the 2014 election.

The Toronto Star had an editorial supporting a ranked ballot for the next mayoral election. This is an issue I have been thinking about a lot up here in the NWT because territorial elections mirror Ontario’s municipal elections.

The final boundaries for Ontario (and I believe the rest of Canada) are in. The maps and reports are available here. I haven’t had time to nerdily pour over every detail, but this definitely will shift our political landscape.

Devolution is a big story in the Canadian North. Devolution means the transfer of powers, authorities and responsibilities from the federal government down to the territories. This story from the CBC suggests that devolution may boost employment. 

The Cook Political Report offers a fascinating case study and analysis of the American political system.  It uses the example of the North Carolina 11^th Congressional District to illustrate a serious issue. A conservative Democrat was redistricted out and replaced by a moneyed Republican who is much more conservative. Many of the Republican congressmen are inexperienced politicians due to similar trends.

I have dozens of links in my “Worth Reading List”. Hopefully the long weekend gives me time to read and purge them. Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Review: Straphanger by Taras Grescoe

Over the summer I finally put aside some time and read Taras Grescoe’s Straphanger (2012). I say finally because it sat on my shelf for about a year while I spent my reading hours with my latest science fiction obsession or fantasy rabbit hole. Straphanger is neither of those things, which is why a review of it belongs on this blog.

Straphanger (Photo from Now Toronto)

Taras Grescoe begins with a simple premise, he is a straphanger, as are millions (or perhaps billions?) of others around the world. "Straphanger" refers to those who grip the plastic, metal, polymer or cloth ties hanging from bars or ceilings of our public transit vehicles and offer a huge number of people an affordable and effective way to move around our cities and regions. Grescoe explores the intersection of urban form, transportation and quality of life by visiting fourteen cities and offering case studies on public transit. Infused through the text is the argument that well-operated, well-considered transit can have tremendous social benefits to those it serves.

Grescoe’s quest is to find which city is doing transit the most effectively, and where the future of our urban environments might be going (or where we should be pushing them). It’s a remarkable survey of how the denizens of many of the great cities live their lives. The list includes places you’d expect: New York, Tokyo, Paris, Copenhagen, and Shanghai; and places that are perhaps less likely: Moscow, Montreal, Phoenix and Los Angeles are also held up, sometimes what to do and what to avoid.

Grescoe’s best work in the book is connecting urban form to transit and the emotional, social and romantic feelings associated with urban life. I have read drier texts about cities and transportation systems, Grescoe uses evocative writing and fascinating anecdotes from travel in these cities from the people who live there to bring the reader in. Perhaps it is because I myself have lived as a commuter that I can imagine the relative peaceful modernity of Los Angeles’ system, or that I have been squeezed into a subway car in Toronto, so the busyness of Moscow or Bogata’s transit systems are objectively imaginable. Everywhere Grescoe writes about it is clear that the landscape of the city is shaped by the transit system in use. Tokyo is a product of being built on rail networks, Phoenix the private automobile, and Copenhagen, now, the bicycle.

My biggest issue with the book as a whole is that Mr. Grescoe is clearly a trainophile or railfan. He loves trains. This wouldn’t normally be a problem, because my own bias causes me to favour them over the private automobile as well. However, he does emphasize them over other forms of transit, and in particular the bus. I found this particularly irritating given the position I have taken on this blog supporting bus transit and bus rapid transit. To be fair, Grescoe is not maligning buses, merely they come second in his preference for mass transit options, which is understandable in dense urban environments. I compiled a list of references to support this bias, but I feel now it would be ridiculous to highlight them. He does offer space to critics of transit in the book, and they are treated with sincere consideration. Their arguments though are picked apart, and with the possible exception of the Bus Riders’ Union of Los Angeles, their arguments are respectfully presented.

Three of the chapters focus on Canadian cities: Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver (though it shares its chapter with Portland, Oregon). This book offered an amazing insight into Toronto’s transit history, which I had not truly delved into. Grescoe, for interest's sake, lays the blame of Toronto’s transit stasis and the election of Mayor Rob Ford on amalgamation, which has greatly hindered development in Toronto.

As much as Grescoe’s book is a love letter to transit it is also a sonnet to human-scaled cities. His thesis is that the urban fabric should support human activities and the not automobiles. He makes a compelling case with fascinating stories of normal people around the world who live in their cities off transit. Straphanger definitely feels like a book where individuals find the environment that suits them, whether that means moving to a new country, city, or simply changing neighbourhoods to find the quality of life the desire. However, it definitely holds that cities’ transit systems come from the bones of their history. No system can be applied universally, instead the existing environment must find a transit system that matches it. An enjoyable read and definitely worth checking out if these topics interest you.

I hope you have enjoyed this book review. If you would like to see more reviews in the future please let me know as I have debated making this a semi-regular feature. 

Worth Reading – October 3, 2013

Now that I am living a grown-up life I find it much tougher to keep up with the news. I monitor the news for my job, but that most means northern papers and education stories I dig up. Regardless, I end up with a giant pile of links, and not much time to read them.

Speaking of work, the school board I work for worked with the Government of NWT and Aurora College to host the annual Trades Awareness Program. Here is a newspaper piece on it.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the biggest video games. It has a reach into popular culture more than the vast majority of its peers in the media. The New Yorker asked how evil games should allow us to be in response from some of the content from GTA V. It’s an interesting question given the interactive nature of video games as opposed to say film.

Stats can announced that Canadian population has exceeded 35 million people. 

Here is some Northwest Territories content. The GNWT has to wrestle with a big budget question. It is a problem few places on the continent have to deal with.

Former federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has a book about his experiences in democracy, in particular losing in politics. TheToronto Star ran an excerpt of his work. It appears to be a highly sincere and emotional examination of politics and political life in this country. I’ll probably end up putting it on my Christmas list.

Infrastructure may be one of our most important public policy areas that you cannot get anyone excited about. The Globe and Mail offers four ideas to make Canada a better place through infrastructure. 

Despite all the talk about the Scarborough subway the National Post says that the real issue is Toronto’s Downtown Relief Line. This is particularly true given that the Scarborough extension will likely add to the burden on the Yonge line.

Back home in Brampton, Ontario the construction/renovation of city hall is causing quite a bit of controversy. This has led to one city councillor to refer to the project as a “fiasco”. I’m glad to see my home hasn’t changed much in the intervening weeks.

As was true with the Dalton McGuinty’s prorogation of the legislature and scandalous avoidance of accountability, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (CPC – Calgary Southwest, AB) style of governing has also spread to Quebec. I appreciate a modest amount of irony in all of this.

I’m not sure how far to trust this, but apparently the Scarborough subway plan will be determined by the City of Toronto after securing funding from the federal and provincial governments.  If this actually an intended, coordinated strategy it would have been quite  a coup for Ford and his allies.

Greg Weston of CBC asks incredulously whether or not it is believable that the ever evolving Senate scandal left no paper trail. 

Politics in the North: Initial Impressions

Formal word is in, the Orange Tory blog is back in business. I am permitted to continue this project with the blessing of my employers, and certain reasonable restrictions.

Normally in my day-to-day encounters I do not talk to people about politics. It is my experience that it is wise to avoid discussing politics unless specifically invited to. Indeed, knowing me I could talk politics all day, so it is best if I keep silent until invited to express an opinion. However, when I do have conversations with the people I meet I try to get a sense of the political community I live in. I have come up with a few broad generalizations. I have no idea if it is supported by evidence, but these are some observations.

Like elsewhere in Canada, people up here are not particularly interested in formal party politics. I do not hear much mention of Prime Minister Harper (CPC – Calgary Southwest, AB) or Tom Mulcair (NDP – Outremont, QC) or Justin Trudeau (LPC – Papineau, QC). When news of the day is brought up people seem quite well informed. People tend to read the newspapers in the area and perhaps are better informed than peers elsewhere. I wonder if this is product of living in small towns.

Another observation I have made is that, while people may not be interested in formal politics, there is a great deal of passion about their communities. Citizens may not be fully aware that they are having “political” conversations, but they are definitely sharing ideas about policy at the local, territorial and federal level. Given the strong role of government in daily life here it makes sense that the communities are more aware of how their lives are impacted. Residents care about the fate of their hamlets/towns/cities. I wonder if this is an example of political cultures of small towns. Boosterism and pride are definite contributors to this. I’ve seen those factors in my hometown, but they seem much more widespread. Perhaps the fact that a place like Fort Smith and Hay River are so distant they must develop distinct identities and roles.

As for territorial politics. I must admit that I have a hard time understanding this aspect of my new home. In case you are unaware the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories is non-partisan. That means nineteen MLAs are elected without party affiliation. However, much like city politics back in Ontario that does not mean that people don’t understand their party affiliation. There are a lot of factions within the territory that do not easily break into right- and left-wing. In principle the government works by consensus, and the Premier has to build a cabinet from a small group of people that may not agree on every issue. Personality matters a lot here, but it definitely seems like politicians would have a hard time getting a big head here. They mingle in their communities with residents, and cannot hide from the public as other public officials do. They are also well-known, so they aren’t anonymous.

The trouble is that learning about politics here is a matter of learning the back story of individuals and political alliances, as opposed to a simple breakdown of ideology. It is definitely admirable, but makes it a bit daunting to tackle at first. Despite what I said about citizen interest, voter turnout here is worse than back in Ontario. In 2011 only 47% of residents voted for their MLA.

There are a lot of interesting and pressing issues here in the Northwest Territories that I hope to expand on in the future, but I will save that for a later post.

Worth Reading – September 26, 2013

Here are nine articles that have recently caught my attention.

I do not at all agree with the headline of this article. Maybe one day it’ll be borne out to be true, but in the interim it seems silly and counterproductive. From Probe International, smart roads could make mass transit obsolete. Pfft.

Still on transit, Atlantic Cities showcases the future of buses. Yes, I know buses aren’t cool, but I like transit stories.

Last transit article for the week, promise. An article explores the idea of fareless bus transit and the impact it might have on London, England. 

Fact: The British Columbia Legislature sits 36 of 579 days. How healthy is our democracy?

Another story of the central party and leadership interfering with a nomination contest. Diana Burke of Toronto is charging that irregularities blocked her from winning the nomination in Toronto Centre’s Liberal nomination. 

The National Post’s Steve Murray satirizes the Quebec Values Charter with other things that may be banned under its proscriptions. 

A reality check to parliamentary democracy romantics like me, Stephen Harper may be a control freak, but it is very unlikely that Prime Minister Trudeau or Prime Minister Mulcair would be substantially different. 

Martin Regg Cohn in the Toronto Star highlights how the bungling of the subway portfolio will only cost Ontarians more money, and more time and leave the GTHA with poorer transit in the interim. 

Interesting article, and definitely applicable to my life experience and current home. Children with a more diverse circle of friends feel safer in life. 

Getting Back to the Issues

I have been living in the Northwest Territories for over a month now, though that is sometimes a little difficult to believe. It is one of those things where it still feels distinctly strange and foreign to me, but I think of my apartment as home and increasingly think of my colleagues as an “us” or “we”, if you take my meaning.

The biggest hurdle to adapting to life in my adopted home is small town life. Why do businesses close at 5? It seems like if I want to do anything I have to take time off work to do it. It is my biggest objection at this time, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a while.

As for my blog, I think I can begin writing again on my usual topics. The official word from HR and my superior seems to indicate that with reasonable judgement I should be able to continue this project. There will be certain restrictions, of course. For the sake of my own professionalism I will not be commenting on education issues in the Northwest Territories (or most other places). The risk of conflict is simply too high. As for life in the Northwest Territories I hope to write about it, but I will be extra mindful of how my writing may be interpreted. You may have noticed the new disclaimer section of the blog. That should make it clear that this is entirely separate from my employer and the content is solely my responsibility.

I miss writing about politics, and I am worried I’m terribly rusty. Perhaps I’ll ease back into it with a piece I have been putting off for a few months. For those of you who have been checking in with my blog for personal accounts of my life in the North, I may try to work out a plan to continue that. However, most of my time is spent at work or in schools, and I cannot discuss those publicly in this forum, or share the photos I get.

So, The Orange Tory blog should return to form next Tuesday. Stay tuned!