Bow. James Bow.

(The picture on the right is entitled TTC Santa 3 and is by Roger Cullman. It is used in accordance to his Creative Commons license. This post has been crossposted to Transit Toronto and Metronauts)

It’s strange how the prospect of a plan to significantly improve and expand public transportation infrastructure in the Greater Toronto Area leaves me more discouraged than hopeful. But that’s the tone of the little voice that’s starting to speak at the back of my mind as I hear that Metrolinx, the regional agency set up by the McGuinty government to study the future transit needs of the GTA, is set to release a $55 billion plan chalk full of ambitious transit expansion proposals.

The problem is, this is the second grand plan to be released by the provincial player in two years. In July 2007, McGuinty shifted the political landscape with his ambitious MoveOntario 2020 proposal. This plan called for $17 billion in spending between 2008 and 2020 to build LRT lines, busways and subway extensions across the Greater Toronto Area and in Kitchener-Waterloo. The great advantage of the plan is that it implemented proposals that various cities had had on their books for a while. McGuinty promised that Queen’s Park would cover the municipal third of the capital cost, and it promised to fasttrack various environmental assessments to get shovels in the ground as soon as 2009.

MoveOntario 2020 promised to implement Toronto’s Transit City proposal whole-hog, to put LRT lines on — and, in some cases, beneath — Finch, Sheppard, Don Mills, Jane and Eglinton Avenues at a cost of at least $6 billion. The centrepiece of this plan was an LRT mini-subway on Eglinton Avenue between roughly Jane and Leslie. Featuring 90 metre platforms set between 500-800 metres apart, such a line could carry near subway loads, and certainly had the capacity to handle Eglinton’s projected crowds.

Along comes Metrolinx, whose draft $55 billion proposal argues that an underground LRT has insufficient capacity (an assertion I disagree with), and that a subway might be a better choice (an assertion I’m willing to entertain). There’s an odd proposal that the line could be a western extension of the Scarborough RT, but that’s simply ludicrous to my mind, since the Scarborough RT combines LRT capacity limitations with the high costs of subway construction. Either way, the result is a bit of a car-crash. The Eglinton LRT and subway proposals have met head on in the middle of a tight alleyway, and the drivers are now shouting at each other over who should have the right-of-way.

The debate over whether a subway or an LRT should go beneath Eglinton Avenue is a distraction to me. Either would be fine. Eglinton can support a subway, but an LRT can support Eglinton for less money. The questions we should be asking are, what can we afford to build, and what are we more likely to find funding to build? And, most importantly, what can we start building within the next two years?

The sum total of Metrolinx’s proposals are certainly tasty. If implemented, we get rapid transit of some form beneath Eglinton, we get an east-west subway through the downtown core. We get substantially improved GO train service, and even an extension of proposed Transit City LRT lines up Jane and Don Mills into York Region. We get light rail and bus rapid transit projects in York Region, Mississauga, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo. We get a new network that makes it much easier to get around the Greater Toronto Area without driving. That’s worth spending money on, in my opinion.

But the plan also costs $55 billion — a number that’s sure to inflate in the coming years. If we hope to build these things by, say, 2030, that’s an investment of $2.5 billion per year. Compare that to the less ambitious MoveOntario 2020, which called for $17 billion in total spending by 2020, or roughly $1 billion per year (although that number has also increased through inflation and the fact that the time frame has compressed). Worse, in both cases, bread-and-butter issues such as funding for replacement streetcars and buses remain unaddressed.

So while I would be delighted if we could implement Metrolinx’s draft proposals, I have to turn to the McGuinty government and the people behind Metrolinx and say, “show me the money.” Indeed, McGuinty needs to start showing us the money to prove that he has a commitment even to the projects of the less ambitious MoveOntario 2020 plan. And the clock is ticking.

The delight I took over the original MoveOntario proposal was on the assurance that these projects would be fasttracked — that the environmental assessments were largely done or could be quickly done, and the province only had to sign its chequebook to get shovels in the ground. Provincial and municipal politicians looked me in the eye and told me that we would see construction begin on certain projects before the next municipal elections in 2010. In 2007, my great hope was not that the next big development after the release of the MoveOntario 2020 study would be yet another study. Whatever plan we choose, I feel that we need to have shovels in the ground by 2010, or nothing will happen.

Proposals to increase public transit infrastructure in southern Ontario has, for the past twenty years, been little more than vapourware. In this period, politicians have come forward again and again to propose great and ambitious plans before elections, only to find themselves too short of money to implement those grand plans after they are elected. Instead, the plans are studied to death. Network 2011, Let’s Move — they’ve all been consigned to the dustbins of history, and unless concrete work is underway by the time politicians are running for re-election, then the promise to build these new lines simply becomes a recycled election promise, of something the politicians will do before the next time they face re-election. Or the time after that. Or the time after that.

And Ontarians simply cannot wait any longer.

Further Reading

• Steve Munro: Where Should Metrolinx Be Going? (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

P.S. Comments for this post are now closed, as the discussion is taking place on the Metronauts version of this article, here…

It has to be said.

You know, being seventeen and pregnant sucks. Being seventeen and pregnant in a small town’s high school really sucks. Now imagine having your condition advertised among 300 million Americans.

Forgive my language, but sometimes politics is just a sea of shit, isn’t it?

(Hat tip: Stageleft).

On Teenage Sexuality

If there is any benefit to be had from the sad revelation that Sarah Palin’s seventeen-year-old daughter is five months pregnant, perhaps it could be that it brings to the attention of more Americans of how prevalent the problem of teenage pregnancy can be. It can happen even to a governor’s daughter. It can happen even to a god-fearing family. It can happen even to a family that strongly advocates abstinence-only sex education. Perhaps even especially to a family that advocates abstinence-only sex education.

There has begun, at least, a debate in the blogosphere on the issue of teenage sexuality. One blogger, social conservative Suzanne of the Blg Blue Wave makes the following observation:

seventeen-year-olds have not finished growing. They’re still kids. Even the smart ones do stupid things. Most of them do, when their parents aren’t looking.

Abstinence cannot be purely a matter of individual will, especially the will of a seventeen-year-old.

The innocence of teenagers is one contributing factor to teenaged sex. They don’t know any better, they’re innocent.

Yes, they know what causes pregnancy, but teenagers are not always good at predicting the nature of the consequences of their actions. Magical thinking is part and parcel of the adolescent mindset. They plan their lives by excluding the possibility of bad things happening to them.

I know how liberals would respond to this: give them contraception.

(link)

The rest of her post repeats much of what she say about teenagers being unable to really control themselves, and the need of parents to take a more active role in the lives of these children. The latter part is a common sense statement, except for a couple of things. For one thing, she presumes that liberal parents don’t do this, which is, of course, bunkum. My parents are as liberal as you’ve ever seen, and they were deeply involved in my life as a teenager. And, for another, after chastising liberals for assuming that birth control wasn’t used in Palin’s case, Suzanne seems to work on the assumption that it was, either that, or she blithely overlooks the fact that Sarah Palin is no liberal.

And, finally, while chastising liberal parents for downplaying the potential consequences of sex, and avoiding taking more responsibility for their children’s actions — something that most liberals don’t do (my parents certainly gave me a curfew, and strict instructions on calling them, if I had to break it) — she offers very little in the way of concrete solutions other than, possibly, ‘lock up your daughters’.

As the father of two daughters, teenage sexuality has been something I have thought a lot about these past couple of years, even though their teenage years are a decade away. My two-and-a-half year old daughter is a spirited individual. It’s easy to flash forward to Vivian as a teenager and quake in fear over how those years are going to go. Vivian is outgoing and, more than that, she is fearless. She will cast herself off a cliff in total confidence that I will catch her, and I dare not miss. How will she throw herself into the world during her teenage years?

But, then, this is a quality I don’t ever want her to lose. I joke about taking up chainsaw sculpting in order to scare away prospective boyfriends, but if she chooses to love, I hope that she loves well, and if she chooses not to wait, then I hope that those moments are ones she looks back on fondly in later years, with no regrets.

And if that means that I have to deal with a teenage pregnancy instead, well… that’s when I roll up my sleeves, give my daughter all my love and support as a parent. Ultimately, there is little else that I can do.

And let’s not get too complacent about quieter Nora, either. Sometimes it’s the quiet ones who can really fool you.

So, what can I do before then? The best answer I can come up with, as the son of librarians, is to flood Vivian and Nora with information, and try to be as open as possible so that (cue laughter from parents of teenagers here) they can feel that they can confide in me, or ask me for help or love or support, no matter what the news. I’ll try to teach them that it’s better to wait but, failing that, I’ll point out where the condoms are, and tell them that if their boyfriends really loved them, they’d respect their wishes in wearing them, and if not, it’s time to walk away.

I believe that there should be no shame in sex. I’ll say it again: there should be no shame in sex. The act is the best way we know to make a baby, yes, but it is also a way for a loving couple to express that love to each other. Any two individuals who are of age, who are aware of and accept the potential responsibility of conception, should be allowed to make that expression to each other, without coercion, without fear, and without shame. Though marriage is a good place for it, I don’t see that it has to be limited to that institution.

Suzanne’s discussion about how to lower the number of teenage pregnancies has its heart in the right place, but it is wrong-headed. She suggests keeping closer tabs on your children, keeping them “innocent”, and while these are good ideas in and of themselves, they’ll likely not be effective all the time. Ms. Palin was an active mother, and intelligent woman, and passionate in her beliefs about sex and sexuality, and yet her daughter still ended up pregnant. It’s fair to suggest that we need to keep closer tabs on the lives of our teenagers, but it’s unreasonable to expect that we’ll ever control them.

Ultimately, the decisions are theirs, and while we cannot prevent them from making stupid decisions, we can still give them all the information they’ll need to make the right decision when the time comes — that they’ll wait for the right moment, or that they’ll use protection if they decide that now is the right moment — and we can keep giving and giving that information in the same manner that we keep giving and giving them love.

And ultimately, it’s love that is the best — and possibly the only — thing we can give our children. They may have to learn the hard way to take responsibility for their mistakes, but our duty as parents is to do our level-headed best to ensure that their mistakes don’t kill them, and don’t ruin their lives.

Thanks to Calgary Grit, I’ve learnt that the Green Party has achieved its long awaited breakthrough. Thanks to a decision by Vancouver independent MP Blair Wilson (formerly of the Liberals), they now have a seat in the House of Commons.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May is welcoming MP Blair Wilson to the Green Party as the first Green Member of Parliament in Canada.

Mr. Wilson, MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, will serve in the Green Party Shadow Cabinet.

(link)

I got a chuckle over that last line. As the sole MP, wouldn’t he be the Critic of Everything? Actually, he’s only the Green’s Immigration Critic.

Given all of the election talk going around, it seems unlikely that the Greens will be able to sit in that seat before parliament is dissolved. And, as I recall, there is some process and bureaucracy to go through before an MP is recognized as representing a particular party after crossing the floor. So whether the Greens get to show one seat in their column at the time of dissolution of parliament remains to be seen.

Blair Wilson, it must also be said, may be damaged goods. He was forced out of the Liberal Party under a cloud, although investigations by Elections Canada cleared him.

Still, the move will get the Greens some critical media attention in a circus currently dominated by Harper and Dion, and it may even get Elizabeth May a podium at the debates. Preston Manning was able to grab a spot during the 1993 campaign, despite Deborah Gray being the sum total of his party’s caucus at dissolution. But, again, with this late conversion, rather than Gray’s early by-election win, will this be enough for the television networks to make the space available? I guess only time will tell.

Further Reading

• The Globe and Mail’s report.

Tone Deaf Republicans

It gives me no joy or anything to note that Hurricane Gustav may play havoc with the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week (link courtesy Allyn Gibson). All of this is to be expected when watching a possible tragedy unfold on the Gulf Coast, though I note that had more care and attentiveness been taken three years ago, the Republicans might not be blanching so heavily about possible comparisons.

Some of the steps taken at the Republican convention seem appropriate. Cancelling Bush’s speech to the delegates on Monday seems sensible given that this is when the hurricane is likely to hit. And toning down the festivities is a given. A more sombre occasion would, if done carefully, allow the Republicans to skate through the process with an increased respect from Americans.

So, it seems a little odd that John McCain should consider this:

McCain made plans to travel to a threatened area of the Gulf Coast on Sunday, accompanied by his wife, Cindy, and running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. They planned to meet Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) in Jackson, Miss., aides said.

McCain was scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech Thursday but now may do so from the devastation zone if the storm hits the U.S. coast with the ferocity feared by forecasters.

(link)

Say what? This after Bush pulls firefighters off of duty during Katrina for a photo opportunity? Is he that tone deaf?

Then again, maybe he’s overcompensating…

(Update: 14:16): Further to my post above, somebody should remind John McCain that he is not the president yet. Unless he is travelling as part of a senatorial delegation sent by Washington to assess the damage, he is not helping.

Organizing such a speech is going to be busy work. It could well pull people off the line if he’s not careful. I understand the desire to do something in response to a potential disaster, but at this point the best thing McCain could do on Thursday is stay out of their hair.

I realize it won’t last, but I still think it was good of John McCain to air an advertisement congratulating Barack Obama on his nomination. It certainly raises the tenor of this election above the dirty politics we saw during the 2004 campaign. For now, anyway.

Here in Canada, it seems unlikely that we’ll be getting any sort of expressions of mutual respect going any which way anytime soon, and that’s unfortunate.

I watched the speech on CSPAN’s live feed, and it was excellent, though par for the course on what we’ve come to expect from Obama. The fact that my greatest fears weren’t realized — that this speech would fall short of previous expectations, and the fact that it was taking place on the 45th anniversary of King’s “I have a dream” speech (no pressure, eh?) — makes it a success, in my opinion. Again, why can’t Canada have a politician like him, right now?

I especially loved this bit:

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton’s Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She’s the one who taught me about hard work. She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she’s watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don’t know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

On John McCain’s Pick for VP

I’ll give McCain credit for picking a woman, governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his running mate. I was wondering if he’d do that, as a neat little tweak at Obama over the continued alienation of some Clinton supporters. However, while Ms. Palin seems a decent enough individual, I have to question if McCain really picked the best woman for the job.

Nunc Scio puts it best:

John McCain repeatedly attacks Barack Obama’s experience, suggesting the 47-year-old does not have the background required to lead. However, Obama has eleven years of experience as a State and US Senator, while Palin has only ten years experience as a mayor of a tiny town and less than two years experience as governor of the least-populous state in America. I guess experience isn’t that important after all.

Now, Palin does have experience. She started her career as a city councillor in 1992, but a first term governor of Alaska doesn’t quite compare in experience to a multi-term state senator from Illinois. I think of the fine women McCain could have nominated, who have a lot of political experience under their belt. Condoleeza Rice, for instance. The blog site Tech Crunch suggests former power CEOs Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman, who certainly have experience in running large organizations. Even Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has more experience. So why Palin?

It’s worth noting that, if elected, McCain will be 72 when he assumes the presidency, making the phrase “a heartbeat away” take on a whole new relevance. Given that McCain is statistically unlikely to survive his first term, it’s easy to see a situation where a first time governor and small town mayor that almost nobody had ever heard of gets elevated to the highest office of the land.

Yes, few people heard of Obama four years ago, but he does have enough legislative experience for me to take the leap of faith and say, “yes, he’s ready.” Can the same be said about Palin?

(P.S., from Wikipedia: “Palin was elected Governor of Alaska in 2006 on the theme of governmental reform, defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary and former Democratic Alaskan governor Tony Knowles in the general election. She gained attention for publicizing ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders.” So she is on brand, then, as a maverick reformer. That’s a point in her favour)

(P.P.S. Turns out, I’m not the only one worried about Palin’s lack of experience. Conservatives too are upset. This could be McCain’s version of Harriet Miers)

Maybe Air Canada Can Charge For Life Jackets

According to Cory Doctorow, Air Canada has given me another reason not to fly. To shave fuel costs, its planes on its cut-price airline Jazz will no longer offer life jackets.:

Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stuart said Thursday that Transport Canada regulations allow airlines to use flotation devices instead of life vests, provided the planes remain within 50 miles of shore.

Safety cards in the seat pockets of Jazz aircraft now direct passengers to use the seat cushions as flotation devices.

Stuart says Jazz is a transcontinental carrier that doesn’t fly over the ocean.

Jazz planes do fly over the Great Lakes and along the Eastern seaboard from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Boston, Massachusetts, and to New York.

(link)

The Mythbusters Create a Giant Ink-Jet Printer

Just watch this. Watch the whole thing. You’ll thank me.

(hat tip to Nunc Scio)