RATM – continued

Or maybe I should just get on with my life and get a job that I can do to pay bills and get some more enjoyment out of life while working on small local political projects on the side and stop worrying about telling everyone my ideas about ‘the truth?’ I’ve seen a job posting in London that excites me – as a Client Relations type at a small web development firm that has a strong Corporate Social Responsibility angle. This would enable me to use my various communications and relationship building skills while also allowing me to work to build a better community here in London.

A job outside politics perhaps? Please. ☺

Rage Against the Machine

If you read previous posts, and better yet, if you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I suffer from a never-ending internal conflict of ideas. One reason I could never run for offices is that I am a flip-flopper. I do not do so easily though and one of my resentments of politicians comes from the fact that so many of them seem to be stuck in one mindset. If you’ve decided exactly where you stand – either far right or far left, I think there’s something highly flawed with your thinking.

I’m a political atheist – true social scientists know that theories can never be tested in a lab and therefore theory can’t be proven prior to implementation. Convictions are for criminals and maybe those politicians who have them are criminals.

I do tend to side with the little guy, the individual against the state but those freedoms must also have a natural limit to protect the state as a whole. To sum up my feelings, if you build walls around your community to keep out the poor, you limit your own freedoms and you can never really build walls high enough to keep everyone out anyone. It is the same paradox that we see in International Security.

However, I have my reservations due to constant thought and reflection. I think one way is right but as a believer in democracy I also feel that people have the right to disagree with me. I suppose I truly hope that through education and enlightenment people can come to the understanding that the benevolent state is the desirable state. I’ve rarely met truly deep thinkers on the right. Most often those I’ve met on the right aren’t very deep thinkers at all and bare some resentment of other people for some reason or another.

However, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say I didn’t hold some resentment myself. I resent people who place things and money above experience and the prosperity of others. I loathe hoarders of wealth. Sorry. I just do.

But I also feel that it’s true that wealth motivates people to a large degree. Whether that’s a result of our culture, advertising, society’s expectations, religious tradition, etc., is a deeper question. The fact is, in our Western culture people are generally motivated by self-interest rather than altruism. Perhaps that’s changing but I see as many young people who don’t seem to get it as I do old, at least on a sliding scale based on the general truism that people seem to become more conservative as they get older. Maybe that just goes with the cynicism of age?

Recently I seem to have gone back to the feelings and thoughts I had in my 20’s when I dropped out of University. I’m raging. I’m fighting. I’m reading Noam Chomsky and I’m not sure what lies ahead and whether I want to be part of the system that continues to ignore so many of our social ills. I know one thing for sure: I am angered by those who seem to not care about those less able to care for themselves. I don’t see eye-to-eye with those that believe less government or lower taxes is necessarily better. Perhaps that’s a result of some self-doubt that has crept into my thinking of late due to months of single-hood and unemployment.

Having worked in politics I also know that politics is the art of the possible. In our democratic society, government works on a consensus model. In Canada we have consensus on a seesaw whereas in Germany, Israel, Italy and so many other nations it works on an ongoing consensus model. Big business in North America though often seems unwilling to give up the reigns of power. I think that’s what so enrages conservatives about local government, which often is more in-touch with the day-to-day desires of citizens. The lack of party structure at City Halls means that Councillors are a bit more beholden to the desires of the people, rather than big lobby.

This is a bit of a rambling post I admit. I felt it necessary to put down some thoughts though in light of a conversation I’ve had on Twitter with a blogger who seems to have some similar leanings and thoughts – if less anger.

I guess what intrigues me most is that so many political scientists are ignored. I rarely met a hard-right professor at University and I attended one of the most right wing Universities in Canada. Economic professors are another question generally. However, that may simply be a result of their constant use of the phrase “all things being equal” which excludes any factor that doesn’t fit within a model. Political Science is somewhat more encompassing than economics since it factors in those things that are rarely equal – like people who can’t pay the ‘equilibrium’ price.

I am fairly academic it seems though my University marks, at least in the early years, probably would not reflect that. I often wonder though if that wasn’t a result of both my immaturity in the early years or the fact that I have too many of my own opinions or that I’m simply poor at writing essays and exams to a professors expectations. I imagine I’d do much better if I went back to University now simply due to a better understanding of myself, the system and my own abilities and interests. And maybe that’s where my future lies – with more big fat loans and debts and an uncertain future.

I guess what this blog post is about is my ongoing search for a sense of belonging, meaning and purpose. I’m Raging Against the Machine right now. I’ve seen too many good ideas passed up by political posturing. I’ve met too many people who don’t fit into the box that our society needs people to fit into. I’ve seen suffering. I’ve also seen too many stupid comments by people borne of ignorance, fear and hatred. I’ve lived in a time where the gap between rich and poor has grown to a size not seen since the Gilded Age of robber barons and corporate collusion.

Our country is at war and has been 8 years – my entire 30’s to date. We see lots of peace and prosperity around the world but we’ve also witnessed natural disasters that are being increasingly caused by global warming and/or enhanced in severity due to the poverty endured by those who are hit.

How do I make a difference? What is my purpose? Why am I here?

Tweeting Your Campaign

I've had a few thoughts as we get into Municipal silly season. David Plouffe’s book about Obama’s campaign has recently hit the shelves (I must get it as soon as possible as any campaign addict must.) President Obama’s campaign famously used social media, e-mails and text messages to motivate volunteers and ultimately to win the Presidency. However, from most of the news I recall seeing right after the 2008 Presidential election, one might not want to believe all the hype.

It’s certain that the Obama campaign used social media to energize volunteers and to coordinate the message. However polls appear to reveal when it came to Election Day many of the same voters came out as in previous elections. There was no mass movement of youth to the polls. Swing voters, tired of 8 years of Republican complacency, a drawn-out War on Terror and the lies that motivated it, apathy about John McCain and rejection of Sarah Palin by mainstream America are what in the end, gave Obama the victory. Many have said that a turnip could have won the election as the Democratic Candidate.

However, this is not to dismiss the role of social media in spreading the message of hope that accompanied President Obama’s campaign. Youth were clearly motivated to knock on doors. A cynical American public, disenfranchised from a government whose approval ratings are awful, often refuse to listen to those with the hope of youth in their eyes. However Obama may have over-reached in many of his concrete proposals for reform, of health care, of the tax-code, of the military’s don’t ask don’t tell policy, of the kind of capitalism that has created the largest economic divide since the Gilded Age, the campaign certainly used new media to get their message out.

Texts and e-mails sent from the campaign, many of which I received having signed up for them, constantly encouraged young Americans to take their country back. But there was also an important distinction that candidates and their campaign managers are wise to regard.

A tweet is a 140-character message broadcast to those that are following you. The Tweeting public, while large and growing, is clearly not the majority of people, nor the majority of motivated voters. That’s important to remember. It’s also important to note that most of the tweets from the Obama campaign, as well as the e-mails, led the recipient to a website with concrete policy positions spelled out in a fair degree of detail.

Looking at Toronto’s early municipal election campaign we can note a couple of divergent uses. While it’s early on, there are a number of early favoured candidates. Each have their own style and it’s interesting to note the differences.

Rocco Rossi appears to get it. George Smitherman is taking some time to eek out his positions but is certainly keeping us in the loop as to his daily activities. That’s good too. I feel for Sarah Thomson, who so far is the sole female candidate to have declared to run for Mayor. However, I have some criticism of her early tweeting. I’d include Stephen Feek but he appears unprepared; earlier this week he posted a link to his Twitter account where he announced that his campaign would start on February 1st. In Tweetspeak; Fail. Not a FTW (For the Win) move for someone with no name recognition. Candidates should be prepared to come out of the gate running the minute they announce they are running for Mayor, particularly those candidates that will not get mainstream coverage easily.

Giorgio Mammoliti has gotten some good press so far but that comes easily to a sitting City Councillor with a record of having lots to say, good or bad. His online profile is non-existent.

There are likely to be others. Other would-be candidates are either continuing a well-run and deep understanding of Twitter and Facebook – Adam Giambrone comes to mind here as a Councillor that has been using both mediums to his advantage for some time. I’d love to go on but to date that’s the limit of candidates using Twitter.

Speculation has it that Joe Pantalone and perhaps Shelley Carroll. Carroll is a sporadic Twitter user at best and while I love her as a person, she faces a tough challenge as Mayor Miller’s Budget Chief.

We have lots of talk so far about who will run and who won’t and only 11 declared candidates. That number will surely swell to 30-odd by September.

In such a wide-open race, which the media almost always narrows down to 2 front-runners, plus 3 second-tier candidates and 30-odd also-rans, the use of social media can be a powerful tool. But it also has its downfalls and shortcomings.

First, the 140-character message is much too short for anything other than bluster and rhetoric. If voters, even savvy online followers can’t dig deeper, the use of social media, in my opinion, can turn voters and potential advocates (Re-Tweeters) off.

Let’s first take the example of Sarah Thomson. Something tells me I may be discussing her campaign to a fairly high degree over the next few months. So let’s get one thing out of the way. I support more female representation in politics. However, just as no ‘gay’ candidate should be considered only on that basis, a woman candidate ought not to be considered simply because she is a female candidate. I think that’s playing a gender card that’s undeserved.

Today, one of her Tweets infuriated me to a degree. It said: “Reading city budget reports, blood boiling over the waste and audacity of our bureaucrats.” For a number of reasons I take issue with this Tweet.

First, there was no link to anything beyond that simple message. There was no link to the Budget report she was reading (they’re all available online.) Without any kind of context, the reader is supposed to just take at face value that there are reasons to be angry, that bureaucrats are audacious and waste taxpayer money. That’s easy enough to believe but is it true? No one likes taxes and everyone hates government waste and many assume that most tax dollars are wasted because there have been stories in the past about cases of waste. However, there have also been studies that show the City of Toronto is actually very efficiently run and simply faces a structural deficit.

So, this message is in essence an attempt to say – I’m angry as hell and I’m not going to take it any more. Why we’re supposed to be angry is not important, we just should be. Had there been some explanation of why Mrs. Thomson is angry, the rational reader might say, yes, you’ve uncovered some waste and audacity and I damn well agree with you. Instead, we’re left with populist rhetoric.

Mrs. Thomson doesn’t yet have a website – outside of her Woman’s Post blog (I’ll get to that in a minute) so there is no deeper explanation available. Is it waste because of unnecessary spending? Overstaffing? Inappropriate programming? Why? What is the waste? Is this a provincially mandated program or is it a discretionary program (the vast majority of City programs are provincially mandated.) If I don’t understand the underlying reasons why Ms. Thomson believes its waste or what in fact she believes at all. Where do you want to take our City? (I say our because other than the last 4 months, Toronto has been my home since 1998.)

I have not decided yet whom I will vote for but this kind of rhetoric turns me off. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Rob Ford constantly complains about City waste but rarely identifies any of it at Budget time.

If I look at Rocco Rossi’s use of Twitter and Facebook, I at least get a sense of where he’s heading. Rocco includes links to larger articles, asks readers to give feedback on his positions and has already put forward some concrete proposals.

Smitherman hasn’t said much of a concrete nature but I also know that he worked for Barbara Hall when she was Mayor of Toronto. I know he was frustrated during last year’s Municipal workers strike and organized litter clean-up events. He’s held office in Dalton McGuinty’s government and yes, he must dig out from under the eHealth scandal and shed the image of ‘Furious George.’ I’ve met George and he’s a nice guy. But he also gets stuff done and is the kind of personality needed for a Mayoral office in Toronto.

Similarly, Adam Giambrone is using Twitter and Facebook very well. We’ve always known where he is/was and he constantly posts about policy issues. While it tends to be light, his use of both mediums has always been democratic and open – lots of debate and even insults which are rarely removed. If you’re asking for openness and transparency, Adam pretty much puts it out there with his online presence.

I said I’d get back to Thomson’s use of her Woman’s Post page. My concern is that this corporate site is financially supported by Woman’s Post that Thomson (of that Thompson, the rich family) owns. As such, its use to promote her campaign amounts to a contravention of City Council’s ban on corporate donations to candidates. I believe this is a pretty clear, cut-and-dry case. There’s no mistaking it really – she has already suggested that people visit her site from her ThomsonforMayor Twitter account.

To be clear, I’d have the same issue if John Tory were running and using his radio talk show to promote his campaign. It’s wrong.

As a media outlet, I also worry that it serves as a sort of clearinghouse for information about her campaign. Another Twitter user has been promoting Thompson’s campaign during office hours. While the Account holder states she is independent, her website/office/media company is located in the offices of Woman’s Post. All of this gives one the feeling that corporate entities are having an influence on Mrs. Thompson’s campaign.

Epilogue

Since I wrote the above piece I’ve had a few thoughts and there have been a few developments. I also had an extended argument – I won’t call it debate or discussion since it wasn’t really – on Twitter.

First, the argument; I made the mistake of Tweeting that having met George Smitherman and finding him very pleasant, I didn’t understand the furious moniker but ‘isn’t it appropriate to be angry with bureaucrats.’ Perhaps I missed a story along the way but I think the Furious George is a result of great political messaging and branding by the Ontario Tories and that’s unfortunate – both for George and for the public debate about Toronto’s future. Rather than discussing the merits of his potential Mayoralty (and so far, there’s been scant detail from George) people are discussing a personality trait. We’re told its Mr. Happy versus Mr. Angry (Rossi.)

The argument consisted of the person I was arguing with setting up straw dogs. Rage isn’t appropriate – I never actually said anything about rage. I said he was a nice guy. I asked whether anger wasn’t appropriate. Some Torontonians are quite angry about how the City is being run. And remember I said bureaucrats. The person then introduced working with others. Bureaucrats must take direction from politicians – that’s fundamental to democracy. So while I agree that it’s important to be civil, anger can appropriately be expressed at bureaucrats, particularly when an elderly Toronto Community Housing resident is evicted then dies of an infection, for instance.

When people normally cite that it’s important to work with others and build consensus, they are generally referring to relations with other politicians. Having worked at City Hall and having seen many City Councillors in various situations, there are some instances that would make any rational person angry – stupid things said, mischaracterizations, abuse of City Staff, suggestions of impossible policy etc. I’m thinking of Francis Nunziata as an example. Politics creates winners and losers and it is naïve to suggest that a non-partisan approach can always be successful. The US Health Care debacle is an example. Sometimes you have to play hardball just to get a middle-of-the-road compromise achieved.

The Mega-City has created such a dysfunctional City that often compromise on friendly terms is simply unachievable. Policies favouring a dense urban core that allows for sustainable active transportation for instance, including bike lanes is heresy for some suburban Councillors whose residents are largely car dependent. Tax policies favouring efficient use of properties over ones that favour location will enrage some citizens and as a result, their representatives. That’s politics. By definition it is the struggle for power and hence, it involves a lot of passion.

The Straw Dog here was that the Mega-City should be separated. That’s not something I’d necessarily argue for but it comes with intrinsic political problems, just as Canadian federalism does with huge differences in interest between the Oil Patch and downtown Toronto. You must therefore accept that there will be some dysfunction on Council. I’d suggest that those who do not understand this either tour the Mega-City or spend a day speaking with people from different parts of the City. I asked the arguer what experience he had at City Hall – not as a put-down (which he took it to be) but to assess his level of understanding of the level and cause of the dysfunction.

For the record, City Hall has a Code of Conduct for the Mayor and Members of City Council. Staff must be treated professionally and cannot be threatened with job loss. However, there is no shortage (I believe the number was 19) of former high-ranking bureaucrats who have been fired or driven out due to philosophical differences with Mayor Miller. It is not appropriate to ‘rage’ but the expression of anger is totally appropriate in some circumstances.

He insulted me – saying that any ‘management trainee’ knows this. I said it was City Hall and not The Gap. I guess I touched a sensitive nerve there as he took that personally but my point was simply that we are dealing in some cases with lives, in all cases with Taxpayer money (which is limited) and not simply how a shirt has been folded. I don’t know the individual or where he works but insulting him was not my intention. You cannot tell me that people don’t get ‘called on the carpet’ at the highest level of a multi-billion dollar private sector corporation.

Enough with that argument.

Now. Back to Twitter. A new group has formed called @voteTO based on the discussions on Twitter. A question was posed as to whether or not such a group can change an election. I do not believe so. I posted on Facebook that it takes offline political action to reach the vast majority of people not on Twitter and that those people on Social Media generally share a point of view. In the end, people will vote based on their beliefs as to how the City of Toronto should be run. Given the way my argument unfolded above, I further doubt that this group will have much success, unless it gets actively involved in campaigns and in spreading its messages to the broader community. But I love being proven wrong.

There seems to me to be a growing number of people don't believe that people are fully entitled to their own views and opinions about how a City or government should be run. I find it generally to be left-minded people that are in this group though those on the extreme right can be equally dismissive. However, this group is young, urban, hip and socially conscious. They may very well be right. However, unless they actually get out and knock on doors, employ traditional campaign methods, they are unlikely to achieve widespread success - but that's just my opinion (validated by former Trudeau Staffer Patrick Gossage.)

Change is constant

So....Last time I posted (It's Alive) I believed I was heading back to Toronto to work for Mayoral Candidate Glen Murray. How a few months can change things.

I'm now most likely heading back to Toronto to work for Toronto Centre Liberal Candidate Glen Murray. Glen's a personal friend and mentor and also a big fan of mine (they're out there here and there, lol.) I'm very excited for the opportunity. Most likely there will be a job to follow at Queen's Park but of course that's also reliant on the voters in Toronto Centre electing Glen to the office of MPP. I'm confident that will be the case but politics is a crazy business. The NDP appointed candidate is a worthy opponent and a long-time Street-nurse and homeless advocate. That said, Glen's record of creating affordable housing in Winnipeg should reduce some of that impact.

In the meantime, I continue to blog, to enjoy my time with my mother and father as mom undergoes treatment for Colon Cancer, including surgery that is scheduled for January 19th. We're all praying for her and I thank everyone for their encouragement and friendship during this trying time.

As I prepare to go back to work in politics a number of thoughts occur to me. First, I'm less convinced of any policy position than ever before. I've never been one to cling to dogma, other than a belief that reason should come before passion but that one should have a passion for reason - hence why I've always thought of myself as a Trudeau Liberal. I believe in a strong public sector and a social safety net. However I also know that small business creates the bulk of jobs in our economy. Lastly, I know full well that work in politics is not about my views but about the views of those I work for.

I also prepare to return with a better understanding of the challenges that people in our society face. When I had lots of money, when I was married to a wealthy family, I became less in-touch with the part of me that believes in giving people a hand up in hard times. Sometimes that also means giving a hand-out. It was easy to not consider those who had less when I had everything. Now that I have to build everything back up from scratch and get out of serious debt, I hope to maintain a perspective that not everyone has it as easy as I do. If I can be unemployed for 10 months, then logically there are many, many people in our society who face difficulty finding meaningful work.

Having lost many of my possessions (or at least living with them in boxes) I also know that I need much less to be happy and that I must find happiness in life, rather than in things. And I also know that I have to be better with my money and get out of debt as quickly as possible. Clothes don't make the man, they just make him look better!

That's all for now. I look forward to getting back into the swing of things. I look forward to having a drive to get up earlier and go to work rather than sleeping far too late and staying up far too late. I look forward to getting together with so many of the people I've met online over the last few months, to getting off the couch more often than I did before moving back and basically, to rebuilding a life of excitement, culture, friends and family.

OK. That's it for now. Peace out!

It's Alive!!!

Okay.

So this blog died for a bit while I've been living in London, my hometown. I wrote a few blog posts there which you might want to check out to see my thoughts about London's Planning and Works Departments.

Now it appears that I will be moving back to Toronto to work on the Mayoral Campaign of Glen R Murray, should he decide to run. Glen's a fantastic and dynamic individual who I got to know during my work with Skymeter Corporation. He is a big believer in getting the consent of those who are active in the community as he sees community partnerships as a big part of making a successful City. Glen's the former Mayor of Winnipeg and current CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, a do-tank that works on Urban Issues in Canada and in developing nations.

Glen and I have hit it off quite well. He has seen me as someone who requires a big challenge and if you read previous blogs you may see what he has seen (without having read my blog which at times gets way too introspective.)

I'm happy to say that I have recovered from my momentary loss of self. I have been doing a ton of reading and self-improvement work - you can also check my 3rd blog (actually 4th) www.jppersonalwellness.blogspot.com .

Glen has very interesting ideas about what Toronto needs in order to grow out of the financial mess it finds itself in. He does not have any illusions about the difficult job that lays ahead of him and will challenge Torontonians to think bigger about their place in a growing Global City that must continue to attract and enable the Creative Class in order to thrive at the heart of Canada's economic success.

I am back. With a whole new lease on life, a sense of purpose that comes from within, not based on any outside expectations and a true sense of happiness!

NAMASTE!!!

Dead

This blog is now dead. Follow me at citythinkLondon if you are interested in similar City-focused issues but in a slightly more suburban context.

A crisis or an awakening?

So...most (all 3) of my followers, lol, will have seen me go through some interesting things of late. I'm not sure what it all means at the moment and I'm not exactly sure what is on the other end of it. I am, at a bit of a loss at the moment as to where my life is headed and what it all means, what I should be doing with my life and whether or not I'm truly happy with my life.

Let's back up. Waaaay back. Waaaay back. 15 years ago, (holy crap) in 1992/3, I started a 5-year stint at CHRW, Radio Western. I started volunteering around the station, as most new volunteers do but quickly found myself thrown into a show on Friday mornings from 7am to 10am. 3 Hours of morning drive-time and I had a pretty cool co-host for a while. The show was called the Break-a-Dawn show, owing to both the early start and to the then fairly recently released song by De La Soul, which became the theme.

I quickly grabbed the reigns from the original host and as I recall, within a few months the show was mine as he left for summer vacation. Can't even remember his name, damn. I wasn't totally on my own, new hosts would come in, trainees and it became a bit of an interesting rotating lineup of cohosts, some of whom would go on to host their own shows. James Rocci was Program Director under long-time Station Director Mario Circelli (still one of my best friends and mentors.) Eventually, I was given a prized Wednesday afternoon 3-6 slot and that started Mullethead's Revenge!

For almost 3 years, Sean Mayville and I would have a blast, play countless 2 and 3 minute songs, rarely interrupting sets to give out the names of what we'd played. I am pretty sure we developed a pretty loyal following of listeners and were able to present a couple of shows along the way - Trigger Happy/Lagwagon being a pretty cool one. We did some pretty wicked interviews too; New Bomb Turks, Judah Bauer from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (and 20 Miles), Face to Face, Ten Foot Pole and countless Canadian bands among others. Unfortunately because, I suppose I was a good interviewer and host, we would get some of the major label bands - I still remember making fun of Zuckerbaby! lol

It all culiminated with Warped Tour '98. CHRW was able to co-present the show or at least have a presence under the lame local Modern Rock station that had recently discovered Pop-punk (Blink 182 was in the line-up.) I was able to finagle a Press pass for me and a photographer's pass for my then fiance, now ex-wife Gillian who was just learning to take good photo's with a new SLR. I still have the best photos on my wall - Mike Ness of Social D, Fletcher from Pennywise, Joey Cape of Lagwagon, Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones...awesome black and whites.

At any rate and not to digress to far, it was my goal to enter the Music Industry using the connections I had developed at CHRW as Music and Promotions Director. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the Music industry was going through some pretty major changes and my lack of retail experience definitely didn't help my chances.

I took my time with University. I took 2 years off in the middle, just to live and experience life away from home, even if it was in my own hometown. Getting out of the house was a big step for me but also meant that I would be taking time off as I had no money (a common theme it appears.) I had a blast in those two years, prior to returning and completing my degree and taking the job at CHRW. I cooked in restaurants in the tri-bar area, for some reason never able to get a serving gig. I was a good cook though and restaurant managers are loathe to give up good cooks to the floor. Plus I had attitude (another common them.)

So...once I got the gig at RW, I quit the cooking gig and lived with Gillian who'd eventually become my fiance during our last year in London in '98. Prior to that though, I had lived a pretty meek existence. I have never been a saver, always a spender, something I come to quite naturally from my own family history. Gillian was from a wealthy family though and so..things got much better for me financially. I was also sucked-in. My ex Father-in-law was a highly successful Lawyer, negotiating Mining deals in Venezuela among other things. The hair-dying stopped, I studied hard, got better grades and decided it was time (at 26) to grow up! Oh what a mistake. I don't regret it, other than to say that I wonder if Gillian and I had taken more time whether we'd still be together or whether we would have avoided the marriage thing altogether. Bygones.

So we moved to Toronto in the fall of 98. In fact, we moved to Toronto the weekend before we got married. That was a pretty crazy summer but Jill was never one to wait for what she wanted. We had been sweethearts in High School, broken up, gone out during University, broken up again and then reunited when she moved back from McGill. It seemed the logical thing when getting back together to go ahead and get married. So on New Year's Eve, 1998, Gillian said "Let's get married this year." An hour later, in the square behind Centennial Hall, I got down on one knee and asked her. There was no ring because we didn't really feel we needed one. I hadn't asked her father for permission as I was a punk and didn't think I needed to. Nowadays I wonder about all these things. I do so without regret but I still wonder if things could have been different.

Once in Toronto, I worked at Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street until I got some work at Canuck Creations doing camera-work for classic animation line tests. It was very cool and I worked with friends who I'd met through their band, the Mercurymen. I screwed some stuff up along the way though and without going into details (I was working on computers though, hint, hint) I got into a bit of an embarrassing situation that I do regret to this day. I was immature, little town boy in the big City and things just started to get away from me. I wasn't a great husband.

I then got a gig at Toronto City Hall with a City Councillor through my friend Neil who remains a very good friend and someone I can always count on for support and friendship. Neil is salt-of-the-earth. I did very well at City Hall, finally finding a challenging job that rewarded me well and allowed me to grow as a political scientist and as an employable individual, or so I thought. I lasted 7 years in City politics before the attitudes of the public finally pushed me out. There really are far too many whiney Nimby's in this City and not enough who stand-up for the poor and/or tenants and for those who someday wish to own property.

After that and a struggle to find work, I eventually landed at Skymeter Corporation where I also enjoyed some pretty major growth, gaining new skills and learning under several mentors, Bern Grush and JD Hassan chief among those. I was sent all over North America to sell the concept of GPS-tolling as developed by Skymeter. The job was incredible, I met amazing and brilliant people, made new contacts and friends and learned a great deal about transportation. Unfortunately, in August 2008, at my own advice, I was laid-off due to slow market development and lack of funding for Skymeter's work elsewhere.

Since then I've bounced around and been in discussions with 3 different employers that just recently came crashing to a halt. I've pursued all 3, none have worked. I was offered a position in Maryland leading Sales and Marketing for another new technology firm but was precluded from taking the position by the arduous US Visa system. The third potential employer just went weird and I'm still lost as to why.

After months of talking, the CEO asked me "Why are you alive? What are you here to do?" This made it pretty clear that he didn't feel, after 3 separate invitations to apply/join his organization, that I was a good fit...or something? The disturbing part is that I would be very happy doing the work that we had discussed as it involved Skymeter - which matched my skills with my passions. Fuckin' 'Ell!

So...left with that...I said Fuck it and started to look for other work but at the same time, his question stung me. What am I here to do? Am I really happy? For a week and a half I have struggled with this question. I wonder if its too esoteric. I wonder if I shouldn't just ignore it and continue to search for a paying gig that will, well, pay the bills regardless of my happiness with the job. I can't afford this either - I'm about 2 weeks from personal bankruptcy and I'm living on borrowed time and borrowed money. So much that my personal debt is now higher than it's ever been - around 30 Grand in total.

So...I am lost. That's why I bleached my head again I think. I wanted to just give up for a week on the job hunt. I came home to London to sort things out. I'm behind an eight ball though, damned if I don't get a job and not sure how I'll ever move my stuff anywhere if I can't even pay my rent.

The question I now face is....Do I pursue gigs that my skills apply to and that can earn me some coin while I get sorted. Is it Toronto or should I move to London to be closer to family and perhaps to get back into some of the activities that made me happy and healthy in the past? Or do I just plug away? On a personal note, I am incredibly lonely in Toronto. I often cry. I love Toronto but wonder if like many relationships, it's just not meant to be? I also met a fabulous woman recently and was ready to dive head first into love. I was totally smitten. Then she called it off.

So now...what do I do? Do I keep the bleached head, which seems to make me very happy. Do I return to Toronto, shave the head, put my suit on and charge downtown looking for work. Do I go after any work? Do I hold-out for 'the right job' in the face of personal bankruptcy? I know only I can answer these questions but I really have no clue. Am I a regular joe who has over-achieved or a brilliant person who has under-achieved? Where do I find a partner? lol

I need help, advice, a mentor or 16 perhaps. Comments more than welcome! More on this whole process to follow but this is already a lengthy post and I'm fading fast.

City of Toronto Strike Strategy

Wait it out. In due time, enough money will be saved to pay for the benefits.

It may sound cynical but there really is no other logical explanation for what is happening in Toronto with the municipal workers' strike. Don't think for a minute that Mayor David Miller is standing on principle against a benefit that has become the target of widespread public derision. While those on the left would quickly argue that this is a symbol of 'a race to the bottom', I'd argue the City's position reflects a new global paradigm that has caught North American Unions stuck in their own concrete boots.

There really is no logical explanation for a 3-week strike against a left-wing led City Hall or for the City to take such a principled, centrist stand against the continuance of a policy that enables workers to collect up to 130 sick days for cash out upon retirement, the equivalent of a half-year's salary. Mayor David Miller is a Union boy. The Mayor has repeatedly said outrageous things like 'open shops kill workers.' So there is no real concerted effort to break the Union's will on this issue but merely a game being played to portray a Mayor hell-bent on doing the right, or 'right' thing, damned be the political consequence!

The City imposed a 4 percent tax increase on Toronto homeowners this year, around 2 percent higher than last year's rate of inflation and one percent higher than the Mayor's promise of 3 percent increases. This is at a time when the City is getting some long overdue uploading from the Province of Ontario for social programs and ancillary Health Care costs such as land ambulance services. When one adds the cost of an increased Welfare caseload due to the economic downturn, on top of the other impacts (less growth in assessments, less building permits) of a slowdown, the City must be hurting. Why is City Hall keeping so quiet in the face of what appears to be damaging negative reaction to this strike?

What is Mayor Miller hiding? An old colleague from the City of Toronto and I had a discussion earlier this year that there was something missing from the Budget puzzle this last year. The numbers simply didn't make sense to this former top bureaucrat. Given the upcoming cost, she speculated that we might be headed for high single-digit property tax increases in 2010, the year of the next election. Imagine a double-digit increase?

Another former colleague is baffled. The blood is in the water and the sharks are circling. To their credit, the Mayor's right-center opposition has allowed this strike to just be; nothing they could say would top the ugly drama of mounting, smelly garbage. The Mayor has been graced by luck that the hot summer that meteorologists were predicting has yet to arrive! There really is nothing that can be said either as the Mayor seems to have cooked his own goose, or had it cooked for him by Collective Agreements of the past and with other Unions.

David Miller and his team have learned the lessons of the 1991 recession and the way Unions repaid Bob Rae for his rational, sensible approach he took to reducing government spending in a downturn. The Unions deserted Bob Rae, stayed home in the next election and we got Mike Harris' big blue machine. So Miller is not about to drastically slash City work-forces or to take away benefits to avoid massive tax increases. It's much less painful to endure a strike, even a long one, than to face such a massive tax increase in an election year!

There can be no other explanation than that the Mayor is truly struggling to avoid what most certainly could be his undoing. The public demonstration that the Mayor is truly a tax-and-spender with former Mayoral Candidate, conservative business uber-god and all-around nice guy John Tory waiting in the wings could be Mayor Miller's fatal error.

But strike or settlement, it's a bleak time for the Mayor. The choice is to hold out today and by election time, people will have largely forgotten and perhaps a tax increase can be minimized to 6 percent or allow the benefit and keep business as usual and face a double-digit tax increase in 2010, where Miller will already most certainly face some tough opposition? If you were Don Wanagas, what would you do?

Bored of waiting

I'm over-tweeting. Replying to 3rd party comments on Facebook offering free advice on how to navigate City Hall and get information. I'm commenting on Twitter on nearly everything I see, whether invited or not...though figure if you're following me, you want to know?

I'm listening to the new NoFX and once again feeling like as hard as it is, speaking out, poking fun of society, even going as far as to suggest that I'd eat babies (that's really just to say something to a certain overly-sappy friend that I seem to have lost though not really just figuratively to adulthood) Fuck it. lol...I like swimming against the grain. I like challenging people's assumptions. Running uphill seems more natural.

I'm an intellectual snob but I'd never pretend to know everything and most often its simply fun to stir it up with those who pretend they do know everything. People who's perspective is contained to their own anal orifice...yep, you got your head up your ass! (not you if you're reading this since you clearly have an appreciation for the finer things in life!)

I poke fun of things so much though I'm not even sure where I stand. Ha. In fact, I'm not even sure of that last statement. Maybe I know exactly what I'm doing. Maybe I'm just a contrarian? Why doesn't spell check approve contrarian? I hate that - it's a word and I'm pretty damn sure I've spelled it right and used it correctly.

I am pretty confident that I am poised to get a new job with a specific employer at a place I'd really enjoy doing work that I'm passionate about. It's been on the table and in discussion for months and I took other offers since they were, well, offered. This job would be like playing in a sandbox I think. Remember...two significant 100 percent marks in my elementary school record...Australia and Transportation. I won't say which this is related to but throw a shrimp on the barbie (cause I'll be able to afford a Foster's!)

I'm thinking of pursuing creative writing. It's been said too often by too many people that everyone has a book in them. I'm not sure that's true of many people but I'm pretty sure I could pen something quite interesting, given the twists and turns of my own life. I'm also sure that penning some not-so-fictitious fiction would be quite therapeutic. Who knows...I might produce the equivalent of 10 monkeys typing for 10 days but on the other hand, it could simply be a fun process. At any rate, I do enjoy writing (when I have the patience and inspiration) so yeah, glad I worked that out.

Well there you go. The rest of my thoughts, as always, are scattered through Twitter and Facebook. Time for coffee I think.

Back on the unemployment line

Hey folks,

Just a quick update to my (3) loyal followers. I think I may now have the shortest career in multi-media history! My gig with H3B Media has not worked out. Chalk it up to tough times in the economy. Businesses looking to expand right now absolutely need a plan, something we lacked on both sides of the Atlantic.

Publishing a Trade Magazine isn't a science and so Thinking Highways found it easy, if hard work, to survive in the thriving, pre-meltdown economy. With shrinking advertising budgets and government funding now being directed to 'shovel-ready' projects, many transportation firms have not seen traditional advertising as a necessary expenditure. I'm sure, well, I know having talked to a number of them, that they are also nervous about the length of time that it may take for us to recover from the current economic crisis. Who can blame them either.

President Obama is being quite bleak about the future right now and to be sure, there are significant fundamental problems in the American economy that cannot be fixed overnight. With a health-care cost driven bankruptcy every 30 seconds in the US, these are not easy problems, nor is there consensus on how to best operate on the patient. Economists like Paul Krugman are urging more action while Republicans seem to want only to further deplete government resources with Tax Cuts and to allow natural market corrections by letting banks fail.

I do have two great opportunities right now and will hopefully have my pick of them by week's end.

So keep posted. I will not promise to blog more but will say that since I'm not being paid to work for anyone right now and have two good possibilities, I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time in front of my computer in the short-term.

Now the Pressure is on!

Well, another fine mess I've gotten myself into. With all my work, facebook, LinkedIn and now Twittering it seems I'm creating a very short leash for myself between my MacBook, my Crackerbarrelberry and well, me.

Lots of exciting news on the work front. I continue to reach out to new potential contributors and of course advertisers for Thinking Highways and Thinking Transit but seriously, who wants to sell advertising in this economy? That being said, that's how we pay the bills in the world of publishing and media.

While this is not a corporate blog, it seems my life is becoming one - little separation of work and personal. That's not entirely a bad thing since I would love to develop a fine reputation for myself in the world of Transportation. The more I learn about the Flattening of the World through technology, the more confident I feel in my ability to become part of the new middle. My skills have always been in communications (even if I'm a bit short with people sometimes) and in translating complex ideas and concepts into everyday language that the rest of us can understand! I've had a great few years learning more about technology, US politics and government and of course, Transportation.

Just wanted to do some jotting. That's all for now - aren't I being so much more diplomatic these days?

Now on Twitter!

For what it's worth, you can now follow my daily and sometimes minute-to-minute activities through my tweets on Twitter.com...For those of you (Mom) who may not be up to speed, Twitter is the newest, latest, greatest social networking tool (though Google has a new Twitter-style app with GPS-based location updates) that allow people to keep in touch in a brand new way.

Imagine you're out for a walk in a neighbourhood you aren't familiar with and you post a tweet or update to your page that you're out and about. What do you know but your best friend was there two weeks ago and knows a great restaurant. Perhaps through your network someone also knows a great art gallery and since you've also updated your Facebook page recently someone also lets you know that they are heading to the same hood if you'd like to grab a coffee.

That's just one of the potential ways that Twitter and other programs will change our world. Put all in the place of your hand too through a great share-ware program for your Blackberry that can be found at orangatame.com - check it out!

So...go to Twitter.com and you can view me at justincpeters .

Cheers Yo!

New Job, New Blog

Okay. Many of my loyal (3) followers maybe disappointed to hear this but I am going to be changing the tone of this blog significantly. The past has been filled with fun but snarky, cheeky, professionally unwise blogs. One information interview I had in November revealed this - that I needed to watch my tone.

SO....Thinking Highways North America~

The last work day of January, if you only work weekdays. It’s taken some time to get to my feet as the newly minted President of H3B Media. I’m having a bout with sleeplessness and learning the ropes and pitfalls of working from home – gosh the cat is cute and needs a pet and a cuddle just now.

The month has not been without significant progress on a number of fronts for H3B. While Luis recovers from a procedure (I don’t care what anyone says, size doesn’t matter THAT much) we wage on in our battle for world transportation media domination. The new website has launched www.thinkinghighways.com and looks fantastic though I’ve also heard it be described as very European. Actually that is both what attracts me to H3B and gives me rise to think that I can help North American-ize the magazine and online versions. I welcome thoughts in this regard from friends on this side of the Atlantic.

I’ve had a quick re-visit of my English-to-English translations, remembering that tyre is spelled as such, that a boot is a trunk, a bonnet a hood rather than a hat and that tea is now known better as splosh – and only includes those beverages that actually contain tea – sorry chamomile, you’re not tea, er, splosh.

TRB was extremely exciting this year. This was my third edition, which pales in comparison with those who were attending their 33rd or even 53rd! It was exciting first to be working the floor for a new company, one with a much easier business model that while pushing for change does not require change to be viable (if you know my last job, you know what I’m talking about.) It was exciting to be able to give away free schwag – a mark of the world of media. And it was exciting to discuss and ‘vision’ new ideas and partnerships to advance the world of intelligent transportation from thought through technology to public policy and implementation.

Work still needs to be done to get us running smoothly and that may take some time – bare with us as we grow. These are exciting times at H3B Media North America. Thinking Transit is occupying much of my time and attention though spreading the gospel of Thinking Highways is also of high importance.

Well, enough of this slacking. Back to work.

The new Cadillac "Barack" or the Ford Harper...a nerdy looking gas guzzler?

So...I have to comment - I've been rather silent, on the bailout of the North American Auto industry.

First, I need to place a number of qualifiers on what I am about to write.

Let me start by saying that I'm clearly confused about what it means to pro-rogue the House of Commons. Apparently, the Prime Minister can make whatever spending decisions he wants now without any agreement from the people elected to Parliament. This weekend the Tory government-in-hiding announced that it would match 20 percent of the amount given to the US parent companies of Chrysler and General Motors. Ford apparently doesn't need the money as badly.

Secondly, I definitely agree that something needed to be done given the importance of the industry to the North American economy. However I also think we need to build a bridge between slow auto sales caused by the current credit crunch and the mobility market of the future while trying to create new jobs in a new economy. Unfortunately we appear to be squandering what might be huge opportunities to turn crises into catalysts of change.

I am actually a bit baffled and mildly amused by the irony of the 'bail-out'. Chrysler is owned by a Private Equity firm Serberus (sp?) They have been unwilling to pump their own money into their own investment. I become very worried when politicians are making investments that the company's owners won't make! As I wrote in a previous blog about my hopes of a Belinda Stronach Liberal leadership campaign, I believe that the right thing to do is to ensure that GM and Ford survive while forcing Chrysler to be split up.

I'm not talking about the money either. Tony Clement was on CBC this morning talking about the need to reduce wages while also boasting of the Canadian auto assembler and parts maker's efficiency as the most productive in North America. Part of productivity of course is quality where Clement was critical of the Big 3s record. Unfortunately, these are not your father's Fords or GMs. North American manufacturers are now winning initial quality awards from JD Power and are building top-selling vehicles. They're even responding to market demand for fuel efficiency even if they are a bit late to join the party.

Here is my main concern. Our Highways, public transit systems, sidewalks and borders are crumbling due to mismanagement by public authorities and dis-investment in assets. Now government is going to loan money to an industry that constantly fights regulation while ensuring that money is loaned with regulation and oversight. Hmmm. Am I the only one wondering why the Tories, who supposedly believe in the free market now believe in market intervention.

At any rate, it is interesting to say the least that we seem to efficiently produce automobiles and the 'best parts in the world' while also having a bloated market in terms of wages. I don't think that auto workers should necessarily be paid as well as they are but I also don't agree with the roll-back of collectively bargained agreements. As partners in the industry the unions have a vested interest in ensuring that the North American industry survives. A rational individual must conclude that they will act in the long-term best interests of their members.

I am curious to see what happens in the coming weeks. Aside from being directly involved in the intersection of transportation and politics, pardon the pun, we are perhaps in the most precarious economic times since industrialization. There are so many questions to be answered.

Will extending new credit on top of bad credit make things better? Can government do the heavy work of both over-seeing the operation of private companies while ensuring the health of their own bank accounts? Can government invest in the private sector while not crowding-out private investment? Can government create new green jobs in a new green economy while propping-up the old order?

The US economy is already in the deep red, over-exposed to foreign debt and most likely still boasting of an over-capacity of low-to-mid wage and skilled labour. Right now we have an opportunity to create jobs building public transit systems. There are thousands of cars sitting on the docks in Long Beach California depreciating by the minute. How will putting money into the Big 2/3 change the fact that people on Main Street USA have over-extended their credit already and are losing jobs and real wages?

Infrastructure jobs take time to create. One doesn't just approve and build a nuclear power plant in a week. That takes at least 5 years. In fact, it would take at minimum 6 months for any infrastructure money to hit the ground so to speak and that money would likely go to backlogs and 'easy' repairs which most likely would create few new jobs.

We could get to work creating new jobs to address long-standing problems. For instance if we we know that there is a shortage of solar-panels, education/training programs could be started to fill the new jobs are created by investments made - yes, to the reward of those who have taken risk previously - and we could collectively start down the path to a post-carbon economy. I think President-elect Obama gets this. It remains to be seen what, if anything, Harper (or Ignatieff) will do with the opportunity of crisis.

At any rate, these are very interesting times. How we figure our way out of the systemic challenges that we have is beyond me. I do think it's misguided to hope that our politicians will do a better job running companies than they will running government but I love the irony that this is where we're heading! In accordance with the title of this blog, I really can't wait to see the new cars designed by the Progressive Conseratives. There's no way the Harper will be as cool as the Barack!

Notes from the Crisis

Well, Canadians will surely remember the last week for some time to come. If our 'Constitutional Crisis' does not inspire Canadians to think long and hard about the kind of electoral and governing system that we currently have and the kind that we desire and need, then our ability as a nation to survive the new global economy must certainly be questioned as well.

Peter Van Loan is on TV right now blabbing about their clear mandate. What a maroon! Then he keeps going back to the Liberal Party and their issues while Suhanna Marchant continues to ask her questions. Blabbermouth. I can't believe that a majority of Canadians want these bozos over a coalition of parties representing, well, a majority of Canadians. The polling that has been conducted must be flawed.

The Conservatives have injured unity in the country with their attacks on the Bloc. The Bloc is a Provincial-rights party as much if not more than they are a separatist party (hypocritically called a sovereigntist party in Quebec.)

The Conservatives are arrogant. They received a third of all votes cast. They did not win a majority of votes or seats. We don't vote for a President but if Canadians want to, then we should consider changing our system though I've already blogged about it.

PREDICTIONS!

Okay...I often believe that I called things even if they are rumours I've heard already so I'm going to start putting things in writing about what will happen in the future!

The US Congress will get Harper! Belinda Stronach will come back to lead the Liberal Party of Canada!

Here's my sneaking prediction! This one is admittedly a long-shot but those are often the wise shots - especially when you're down 3 points in the championship, as the Liberals are right now.

So, what am I talking about? Here goes....The US Congress will provide a bailout for 2 of the Big 3. Ford and GM will be helped while Chrysler will be either left to its own devices or taken over by the federal government in order to manage its break-up and sale, perhaps to the other two, though don't overlook some foreign maker like Indian company Tata Motors.

At any rate, Chrysler's failure or sale over the next few months, heck the lack of a bailout package for them undoubtedly would cause its near immediate, shall we say, adjustment? This will cause at best temporary plant closures and a reduction of up to 1/3rd of the auto sector in North America, I would guess. The ripple through the economy will be huge.

If that happens, or Congress does nothing, or Congress waits for Obama, or Bush bails out 2 of 3 the Automakers, then there will be a huge pile of complaint letters waiting for Steve when he gets back to his job after his 6 week sojourn. The irony of the coalition is that they wanted to act now but due to Harper's ego and the apparent ignorance of many Canadians, their action has inadvertently created a vacuum of economic leadership in our country. But I blame Harper, not the majority of members of the House of Commons.

IF this happens as I predict and jobs are lost in the auto manufacturing and parts supply industries, then Ontario's vote-rich 905 region will have boiling blood to welcome Tory MPs out trying to garner public opinion. If nothing else, Harper has gambled these people's future as much as he has his own in a high-stakes game of political maneuvering. They will ring the collective necks of conservatives if there is any significant downturn in the economic sector in the next 6 weeks which brings me to my next big point...

I read in the Globe and Mail this morning that many Liberals are chatting about the possibility of someone running for the leadership who is very strong on economic issues and is pro-business and that no one has really been talking about. The Liberal commenting went on to refer to 'her' considerations for running and to 'her' in several other instances. Who could that possibly be?

Here it is - the Liberals absolutely need to take back the 905. Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin's emergence in the US have recently generated huge support for women in politics in North America, Hockey Moms and centrist candidates. The rivalry between Rae and Ignatieff threatens to ruin the party at a time when it needs solidarity - in a classic Liberal way I am torn one day to the next. I lean to Rae's politics and beliefs while thinking Iggy is the better candidate for a centre-right Canadian electorate, particularly in the West.

Belinda came to the Liberals during the brief Paul Martin era. Stronach has run a national leadership campaign before. Many tories, particularly democracy and institution-respecting conservatives are upset with Harper and the conservatives and the lack of an action plan. Stronach would be incredibly popular in the 905 and in the West.

I truly believe that this will happen. Our second female Prime Minister and leader of the next Canadian coalition government will be Belinda Stronach. You heard it here first!

a draft OP-Ed re Technology Incubation and the Clean Tech Sector

Green Sector Needs more than Encouraging Words from Government

Economic Development officials the world-over are heavily in pursuit of the next ‘bio-tech’ sector to create new employment opportunities in their Cities. The 2008 version of bio-tech is the ‘Green’ or ‘Clean Tech’ Sector. Toronto Mayor David Miller has talked openly of his goal to brand Toronto as an ideal location for such businesses to locate.

Warning to Businesses! We talk a great game but when the rubber hits the road, expect little support beyond rhetoric and encouraging words.

How so?

First, let me state that Canadian governments have done an excellent job to lay the groundwork for technology innovation. While we can always do better, our Universities are creating dynamic, intelligent and innovative graduates in sciences, math and computer science. In Toronto, one has to look only as far as the MaRS building at College and University (its building program co-funded by all 3 levels of government and private contributions) to see that excellent facilities do exist to incubate and commercialize clean and green technologies.

So in that regard, we are well positioned for the creation of a clean tech sector. However, if incubation spaces exist only to help companies to get to a pre-revenue, pre-commercialization stage, then much of the money we invest in facilities such as MaRS will have been wasted. Not only are those public dollars wasted but further millions of dollars of private investment threaten to fail to generate returns to ‘Angel Investors’ and further reduce the effectiveness of government strategies to grow this sector. If Angel Investors and then Venture Capital begins to look elsewhere, the ‘Clean Tech’ strategy will be doomed.

So while our governments have created these great frameworks, bureaucrats are still left scratching their heads wondering how to position their jurisdiction as a leader in ‘Clean Tech’ development. So what is the problem? Why, with all the investment in education and innovation are we failing to create and attract companies with innovative technologies through incubation to implementation and commercialization? Policy alone cannot stimulate economic growth.

A colleague of mine from a small yet innovative MaRS-based company I work with recently attended a session hosted by Toronto’s Economic Development department. City officials were asking the important questions about how to help grow this sector. Responses from the private sector attendees were fairly succinct and based upon a few mutually shared experiences: “Working with the government is like banging your head against a wall.”

Similarly, I attended an Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference in Montreal where Transport Canada officials asked: “How can we help create new technology to solve our transportation problems.” My answer to the room was that the problem was not in innovation but in implementation. There are lots of great ideas but without public policy ‘labs’ to test technologies and demonstrate their potential, Canadian companies are often forced to shop the world for clients to be first-users and early adopters. In those instances, Canadian companies face protectionism and local advantage that we don’t enjoy at home.

Here is the problem as I see it. Politicians want a clean-air machine. They have, I believe, largely convinced themselves that if they just set up technology incubators and create the conditions for innovation, a magical climate-change reversing ‘pill’ will be invented that we can all take, go to sleep and wake up a week later to ask Dr. Gore if its all better. Unfortunately, such a solution may never come along and I’m a big believer in using the solutions that are at your disposal, even if they are new and untested.

The fact of the matter is, human behaviour and the systems that we have built to support our lifestyles are largely unsustainable and require significant change if we are to tackle carbon challenges such as climate change, smog and resource depletion. That means we all need to change. That we all need to change requires that government mandate those changes – volunteerism only goes so far when it involves economics.

Furthermore, great innovations come in leaps and bounds – not in baby steps or from tinkering around the edges. I’ll paraphrase two of Albert Einstein’s famous quotes that come to mind: “We cannot solve the problems of today with the same thinking that created them” and “if an idea is not absurd at the beginning it is unlikely to succeed.” I also think Steve Jobs makes a great point when he says “People don’t know what they want until you give it to them.”

So what is my point and how does this all weave itself together? Let me get back to that MaRS-based company that I work with. Toronto Star readers may recall Judy Steed’s fine work in 2007 for her ongoing ‘Business Challenge’ reports. Judy profiled Skymeter, whose innovative approach to GPS signal processing has enabled them to create a market-busting approach to road tolling. Forget traditional road tolls – Skymeter’s beauty is the ability to privately and even anonymously charge for roads when and where they are used. To simplify – it’s a smart meter that would collect Gas Taxes or Road Taxes in a similar fashion to how a Water meter determines your bill – based on actual use. Plus it’s also a parking meter that removes all the hassle of finding and paying for a parking space.

Skymeter is just one example. There are numerous other companies with fantastic new technologies, many of them developed in conjunction with our Universities and Centres of Excellence. Skymeter is receiving fantastic attention in Cities and countries where governments are seeking to marry innovation to public policy to tackle our toughest problems. For instance, the government of The Netherlands is very keen on Skymeter as a potential tool to implement a nation-wide Distance-based taxation system for vehicles and roads. However, all government buyers ask the same question: “Where is this being used?”

What then is the missing link between Innovation, incubation and the wonderland of commercialization and success? The most important ‘I’ word here is Implementation. Had Apple required government for the iPod to succeed, we’d still be having blue-ribbon panels to discuss the idea. Governments must find the courage to test, pilot, demonstrate and otherwise support the export development of technologies made in Canada. Until we do, we will create more Alexandar Graham Bells – people who have to go away to succeed only to have that success nationalized once they return. The 2.0 version of Bell’s work is RIM and Blackberry.

I am not for one minute suggesting that Premier McGuinty implement provincial road tolls or that David Miller stand-up where Metrolinx has failed to and force the issue of fair taxation of motorists. However, I am suggesting that governments need to identify ‘test beds’ and put money forward for pilots and demonstrations. For instance, how would charging Courier vehicles for every stop in the downtown core affect the issue of illegal stopping? The City has a problem and Skymeter has a possible solution where all others have failed. This is a win-win-win-win. Traffic solution for the City, pilot for a local company, exposure of innovative clean tech sector, rewards to private investors. What am I missing?

Until Government realizes that it must step up to the plate and that politicians must take some portion of the risk that private investors and entrepreneurs are taking to develop these solutions then they will be doing little more than printing documents with great stated-goals that are never ever met. Ultimately that will lead not only to the failure of our economy but to our failure as a society to deal with our most pressing problems.

If, as Mayor Miller has stated, Climate change is [his] generation’s greatest challenge, than doesn’t that require the boldest steps?

Ohhhhh Canada....or is it Cana-duh?

Good friends you'll know now of my disgust with some Canadians for their furor over the 'Crisis' in Ottawa. The worst part of this whole thing is that the boarish, bizarre reaction of Canadians has drowned-out what could have been a huge galvanizing point in Canadian History that created the conditions for the solution of so many of the problems we face! It is toothless selfishness that reacts angrily to a coalition of elected officials representing over 60 percent of voters acts to take over from a government to avoid a costly election while investing in our economy.

I'm so tired of the Conservative's negative view of government. They seek not to solve problems but to disarm government of the ability to solve them, then complain that government doesn't work. It's cynical. It's old. Why can't we marry the good ideas of conservatism, particularly the fiscal approach, with those of the left, like using economic tools to curb carbon emissons. Huh? We have?

I have been thinking a lot about what the overall message is of what has happened in Ottawa and how the public has reacted in general. Canadians have fallen into two camps of course but they're odd in their composition because some partisan types are caught up in their own brands. Lefties generally support what is going on with the coalition and will believe that Harper's prorogue (hate that word) is simply stalling to avoid defeat and ultiamately it is the weakest economic package he could possibly propose - who's interest is Steve serving? If the Liberals don't use that in the next election it will prove that they haven't fired the idiots currently handling their communications.

If you don't support what is happening, even if you accept that it is constitutional, and if you're rational you must accept its constitutional since we do have rule of law in Canada and the coalition could not be doing what it is doing or proposing if it werent' constitutional, then you must conclude that our system of government is broken. If you are rational. If you are rational but are angered that the party in government could be overthrown by a majority of members of the House of Commons without an election but using instead the current composition of members and consensus to present a viable alternative to the Governor General then you must come to the conclusion that our government is broken.

Either way, you must conclude that our government is broken. Our system of government does not result in governments that reflect the desires of the majority of Canadians. I say we either go Presidential with a two-party system and a system of primaries for the selection of local candidates with candidates representing either generally right-wing and generally left-wing and running in local ridings with a multitude of candidates able to run for President. The Prime Minister would run the legislature and would be the leader of the party with the most seats. Add a reformed senate for good measure and you have Canada's own Republican form of government.

Or if you are not so enamored with that but think that everyone's views should be counted so that we have clear winners and losers but so that a range of views are allowed to be at the table then you must both support subsidies to parties for the amount of votes they get and you must ultimately support Proportional Representation as our form of government. Throw in a reformed senate for good measure and you have a Euro-Canadian form of government. Oh - and you could have either a run-alone Presidential Candidate or you could have the leader of the party with the highest vote share. These systems often allow people to rank the candidates or at least to vote for and against certain candidates.

So if Harper does stay in after the New Year (presumably we'll have a hiatus achieving no economic stimulus) I think the Governor General should commit him solely to the pursuit of electoral reform. Otherwise he should get out of the way gracefully and realize that Canada has once again set history with the most peaceful coup d'etat in the history of the world!

Palin go away

Oh my god. It's now a week since Obama crushed McCain in the US general election (by relative terms.) I was hoping that talkin-loud-and-saying-nothing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would fade into history as a bizarre footnote.

Unfortunately, the media and Palin herself refuses to take the first step in displaying any modesty or in hinting at an ability to lose gracefully! Her basic understanding of the principles of democracy, capitalism and politics are sadly lacking. Progressive taxation sounds like socialism to her and Joe The Plumber.

Wolf Blitzer is interviewing her right now on CNN. It's pathetic. She's complaining about Obama, worrying about his association with William Ayres and using her patented keep talking without a breath until you get every talking point out style! Arrrggghhhh!

A viewer just asked via the web if, in accordance with something Palin had said prior to the election that "God's will was done on election day." She squirmed out of that one, "That's not really what I said..." I guess White Lies aren't a sin?

She's now offering advice to President-elect Obama about how and who he should form his cabinet. She's complaining that the questions are all slanted - this is a travesty if you've ever worked on politics. All she does is complain that she's constantly confronted by clarifications to her position or answers to what she believes. "Do you have any questions from anyone who voted for McCain?" Waaaaa...give me fluffy good press Wolf! No fair...

She made statements in this interview about her son being under the guidance of Obama as Commander in Chief. She may be the only person in America who thinks that Obama will put her child into harms way rather than removing him from it - something McCain surely would have done. Obama has also put forward solutions for the problems in Veterans Care and support for returning soldiers. She did express some faith in Obama but then she said something about her son "serving for all the right reasons." What? What are the wrong reasons for serving one's country?

These are the small things that indicate a person's intelligence. Examples of stupidity revealing phrases include Bush Malapropisms and the over-use of words such as like, also, too. Palin uses 'also'. And she throws out lines that bely her lack of intelligence. I'm not saying she's not a good mother or a good Governor. But the job of Governor is extremely different than that of President. There are far more menial tasks like plowing state highways and buying sand and salt for those roads. The President doesn't do such things.

McCain has shown nothing but class. He read the writing on the wall the weekend before and made fun of Palin on SNL and poked a bit at himself. McCain almost pulled it off due to his display of this strength of his character and the independence he has shown through his career - I believe his SNL appearance and his concession speech leave us with the memory of his career to date in tact.

Palin...Is going to be over-exposed and if she sticks around too long before educating herself about national economic issues, basic tenants of political theory, the system of checks and balances at the Federal level (for instance, knowing that the VP doesn't 'run' the Senate) and familiarizing herself with at least one Supreme Court decision she runs the greater risk of labeling/branding herself a dingbat. McCain has taken a nice rest, gone away from the cameras and tried to defuse the air from the election - showing a true understanding that the public wants a new body politic led by Obama.

Palin instead seems to believe she can run for 2012 starting today and mistakenly believes that this is the way to positively raise her profile. She's coming off as classless, unwilling to listen to voters, a sore loser, a complainer, a whiner and yes, an elitist - I don't agree with the electorate is never something you want to say as a losing politician. She is on her way to the electoral and historic trash heap...she needs to shut up and go back to Alaska and run her state well. If she's wise, she'd run for Senate at the next possible chance and aim to run for the Presidency in 2016, not 2012.

So..in the end, I hope she keeps it up! Keep talkin' Sarah! Stay in front of the cameras and whine away and offer Barack Obama unsolicited condescending advice. Palin is Idiocracy.

Testing of a new President

McCain says that Senator and VP-candidate Joe Biden said "Obama will be tested in the first six months." In fact, Biden was only partly right. Experts believe any new President will be tested, not just Obama. McCain as a war-mongerer is actually more likely to be tested. As Kennedy was tested, so too was W. How did that work out for you?

Make no mistake about it, McCain will continue the isolationist, go-it-alone policies of George W. Bush. That will produce a much weaker America than an America with truly willing coalitions. Further terrorist attacks under McCain for instance, would result in the same approach to retribution as in Iraq, further driving the American economy to the brink of total bankruptcy. This is the irony of the boosters who chant "U.S.A" at McCain rallies. Their vitriol and hyperbole are exactly the kind of fear-driven, reactionary response that those who seek to drive America into economic ruin are hoping for.

McCain continues this line saying that he has been tested. "I've sat in the cockpit of a fighter plane on the deck .... in the cuban missile crisis...I had a target...I know how close we've been and I've been tested." How? How was McCain tested in anyway in the Cuban Missile Crisis - he got in a plane? What decision did he have to make? To follow orders? Which leg to put in his jumpsuit first? I don't know how being a pilot, on the brink of total mutual assured destruction tested him. I'm sure it tested his nerve but no one questions his will - just his readiness to go to war. He's the one who says he's a fighter.

McCain continues to misquote Obama and spread fear about meeting with the leaders of sovereign, if antagonistic countries such as Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. First, I think it's a classic example of American arrogance to put pre-conditions on meetings. I also think its ridiculous of war-mongerers like McCain to suggest that not talking to your neighbour is a better way to deal with his fence being on your property. Venezuela is more likely to cut off oil to McCain than it would be to Obama. Cuba is more likely to be pulled out of its regime with support since it's worked everywhere else. Line-ups for Levi's jeans and Big Macs brought down Soviet communism, not the appeal of American-style health care! Iran was once a strong ally of the US and its likely a majority of the people would like to have a working relationship at worst.

Since he's an angry old man who likes to fight I suggest that it's apt to think that McCain would be the type to sneak out in the middle of the night to throw garbage back on his neighbours lawn rather than talk to his neighbour about his poor put-out practices.

I love the end of McCain's speeches too. "Stand up and fight. Stand up. We never hide from History, we make History." cough, cough...I'm angry. I'm really angry. Bring it on. We're right, you're wrong - always.

America can no longer bully the world. It can't afford to bully the world. The world also can't afford another decade of an isolationist America. Everyone impacted by US foreign policy ought to be able to cast a vote in US elections. The world could help them become number one again!

Palin an Energy Expert?

I'm watching Sarah Palin. I am so ready for this election to be over, for Obama to become President elect (knocking on wood) and for Sarah Palin to go away for at least 3 years.

I am a big fan of women in politics. I worked for a female City Councillor. She was not formally educated but displayed a clear ability to grasp complex issues and to understand the underlying philosophies of government. For instance, she would never call someone a 'socialist' lightly.

I love Hilary Clinton. I admire strong women conservatives like Peggy Noonan, Deborah Grey and there are others I'm sure - Belinda Stronach who is a blue Liberal or red tory, I'm not sure anyone ever really knew. I didn't agree with Kim Campbell but thought it was great that we had a woman Prime Minister and believe she got a rough ride. She at least understood the tenants of conservatism.

Sarah Palin's big credentials are that she is an Energy expert since she comes from Alaska. And yet, she continues to lie and mis-state facts about energy and Alaska's supply. Drill Baby Drill is the lamest chant - it's like saying, Magic baby Magic. T. Boone Pickens, the famous Texan Oilman has endorsed Obama's plan so it's not like Obama is just proposing conservation (which would be a great place to start.) Pickens says we cannot use Oil to get off of Oil and that we cannot wait, drilling is not an answer in and of itself.

I also think that if you are an expert in something, you should be able to at least pronounce the words that are used, such as Nuclear. I'm not a big opponent of Nuclear. I just don't think it makes a lot of economic sense, or at least it hasn't proven itself affordable anywhere in the world. Palin suggested that we teach our children about the importance of "Newk-u-lar power." Please don't give us another 4 years of that stupidity!

The McCain ticket has also made a big deal about Obama's answer to the "Manhattan Project" question - should government lead the effort to discover and implement new alternative energy supplies. McCain rightly believes (as does Obama) that the private sector is the better sector to pursue innovation. However, the R&D costs and eventual implementation costs of alternatives to Carbon-based fuels are so high that the Private Sector ought not to be solely responsible for their development. In other words, government research and resources are needed to support efforts to innovate and incubate new technologies. I believe that is Obama's intent - to financially support the development and implementation of alternatives.

Also remember that it was energy expert McCain who proposed a Gas Tax holiday. I will give credit where it is due and think it has been a mistake of the McCain/Palin team not to play on her great work at getting a pipeline approved. That is fantastic work and displays more than her rambling speeches ever could. Besides, rambling speeches expose what you don't know more than what you do also. ;-)

Americans have to accept a few truths. First, they have to accept that they are the biggest wasters of energy. Acknowledging the problem and recognizing you are powerless are the first steps to addiction recovery after-all. Secondly, they have to understand that the best way to curb mis-use is through economic incentives and dis-incentives. Prices send signals. Reducing energy costs will not discourage waste. The era of cheap energy is largely over. Actually, it was a myth anyway since we've deferred all of the environmental costs and hidden many health costs and created unsustainable systems.

Why, if the McCain ticket is so knowledgeable about government spending and energy have they made no reference to the impending crisis in Highway funding. The Highway Trust fund is nearly bankrupt, requires reauthorization and the Gas Tax has shown itself to be counter-productive and unsustainable as a revenue source. McCain knows Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters quite well since they are both from Arizona and Peters is former Arizona Secretary of Transportation. McCain has been oddly silent though so too has Obama. This is just one of the many areas where real issues aren't being discussed.

Now, Palin and McCain have been name-calling of late, using the term socialist to describe Obama's modest tax plan. Beyond being totally inaccurate, an insult to actual socialists and actually telling us more about McCain/Palin's own ignorance, it's quite hypocritical. The Obama campaign could easily call McCain a facist, since he's very militaristic, supported nationalizing banks and believes in the corporatism of 'Country First' while having a running mate who believes that Americans are Gods chosen people. But they of course are better than that and know that name calling is ultimately a sad comment on oneself more than it is on the target.

How is further subsidizing oil companies, Nuclear development companies and other energy providers not socialist or even facist? McCain, who's own party's President was charged with running the US economy, supported the bailout. Meanwhile, the Democrats, showing bi-partisan cooperation supported the President's plan since ultimately it is the President who is looked upon and appoints such luminaries as the Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Federal Reserve and others. So McCain has supported nationalizing banks, the most socialist measure ever and has excused that as an action needed to address a crisis.

I think that most people dislike intellectual dishonesty, hypocrisy and inconsistency. Unfortunately, those have all been the calling cards of the McCain/Palin ticket. Now we should care that some bald, angry, overweight, biggoted, self-centered moron from Ohio is endorsing Obama? Joe the liar supports McCain? Surprise surprise. He probably bought McCain's promise to reduce gas prices and reduce food costs at the same time. Wonder if he also has 'land' in Florida?

Lastly, if McCain is an energy expert and an economic expert and a supporter of anti-Climate Change actions, why has he not proposed something like cap-and-trade and/or carbon taxes? Guess that would be 'straight talk'?