A quick thought on the whole Toronto library thing...

City councillor Kristyn Wong Tam tweeted this today: "Don't close or sell historic Yorkville library - serves over 42,000! "New library board proposes shutting 38 branches"http://bit.ly/siDa0B"

Again the library issue is at the forefront of Toronto municipal politics now that a new library board has proposed shutting down 38 branches and other cuts. I won't comment on all of these cuts since frankly, I don't know enough about them to sufficiently comment. I will say that closing 38 branches is a bold and worrying move. That is a lot of libraries and I would hope that their closure is not necessary as it is obviously not great news. I will, however, comment on the specific branch the city councillor references. I will also comment on the hysteria that has surrounded the very idea of the cuts. It was a humourously easy target when Rob Ford of all people suggested we don't need as many libraries. The response was an almost expected "Rob Ford hates literacy!" with a sprinkling of "What about the CHILDREN?!" It's been pretty entertaining for me since I generally enjoy seeing people take positions they can't possibly believe. The hysteria around these proposed cuts is disingenuous since these people can't possibly believe a child will never pick up a book if there's not a library on every corner.

Libraries are important. They've served a wonderful role in our communities for many, many years but no one can deny that role is changing. Here in Brampton, my local library recently went through a year-long multi-million dollar renovation and when it re-opened there were less books than when it closed. Library systems across the country and continent are slowly incorporating e-book rentals into their catalogue and one of your public library's best services are the databases they subscribe to that you can access for free with your library card number from the comfort of your own home. The way we receive information is simply much different than how it used to be.

And so having a library less than 150m apart from another library is nothing short of fucking ridiculous.
When you consider that one of the libraries is among the biggest and best in the country, with a collection of over 1.65 million items and the other has approximately 60,000 items, its very existence is laughable. In my short time living in Toronto, I lived in this neighbourhood and one of my first actions as a Torontonian was getting a library card and exploring my local branch. Needless to say, I never found the need to return.

So let's keep every library open forever and ever. Let's ignore changing circumstances, massive strides in technology, budget shortfalls and more for an apparent 42,000 people who can't walk 150 metres.

In a nutshell, why this provincial election SUCKS

"The only thing more comical than Hudak's denials that he is appealing to xenophobia is McGuinty's pious response. This, after all, is the leader who won the last election on the strength of a cunningly crafted, deftly executed anti-Muslim fear campaign. Thus was a Tory pledge to fund other religious schools the same as Catholic schools turned into a scheme to fund madrassas. As an example, here's McGuinty's opening statement from that year's debate. "When I travel the world on behalf of Ontarians, the first thing [people] say is why have I not seen on your television screens what I have seen on the streets of London, Germany, Paris, the Netherlands? Why is there not more strife, struggle and controversy?" Got that? STRIFE in the STREETS like in - oh, let's choose some places at random, shall we - LONDON, GERMANY, PARIS, THE NETHERLANDS. And his answer? "It's because we bring our kids together in the same classrooms." Because, of course, that was all in jeopardy now. That's how a minor adjustment to schools funding involving just 50,000 kids became the hysterical centrepiece of the Liberal campaign. Essentially McGuinty's message was: my opponent's education funding proposal would fill Ontario's streets with violent Muslims... Just like in - what were those place names, chosen at random, again? - London, Paris, Germany and the Netherlands. So basically this is a campaign between Tim "Foreign Workers!" Hudak and Dalton "Muslim Schools!" McGuinty. That's not to say there weren't legitimate criticisms to be made of Tory's schools policy, as there are of McGuinty's immigrant jobs program. But the tone, the proportion, and the degree of focus a campaign gives an issue tell you what's really going on, beneath the surface."

Andrew Coyne tweeted this a few days ago. Being that it was obviously a multi-part tweet, I couldn't share it that way. But I still felt a need to get people to read it somehow. I hate to raise such a typical criticism but our election choices this election are freaking awful. For the first time in my voting adult life, I can sympathize with people who say they're not planning to vote because it's pointless. Ugh.

Why students have a special advantage in strategic voting this election

I always find I'm in an odd place during election time. You see, people tend to naturally make friends with other people who have similar political leanings. Based on the vastly different social policies of different political parties, it just usually happens this way. So my Facebook feed has naturally been full of links to satirical websites about Stephen Harper or news articles about the NDP surging in the polls with messages of how happy this makes them. The bad part? We're all preaching to the choir.

Now as a pretty argumentative person, this doesn't work so much for me. I love to post this stuff as much as anyone else, but I live for the moment when someone posts a comment and disagrees with me. A challenge has now been made. And I must do my best to change their mind.

We can all complain about why on Earth anyone would vote Conservative. But the fact remains that a whooooole lot of people are and so to get the opportunity to talk to a real live Conservative and not try to fix them is just a waste.

However, I've pretty much given up on this opportunity presenting itself for this campaign. Which, 4 paragraphs later, brings me to the actual topic of this blog: something I can argue with my friends about for this election - strategic voting.

Strategic voting is not what it used to be in today's political climate and information age. Firstly, it no longer means "Vote Liberal so that the Conservatives don't win." Or at least not exclusively. With the NDP currently polling as high as tied with the Liberals, strategic voting is as important for the NDP in some ridings as it is for Liberals. And in today's information age, these things are easy to find out. Great websites like Swing 33 and Project Democracy have popped up during this campaign that use former election results, polling, and more to show the ridings where strategic voting could play a major role. But strategic voting can be even more...uhh... strategic than that.

Students living away from home have a special opportunity in this election. They can choose to vote in the riding they go to school in or their home riding. If you fall into this category, you should immediately be checking one of the above two websites. Personally, in 2008, I was living at the University of Toronto in probably the safest Liberal riding in the country, Toronto Centre. I had thought my home riding of Brampton-Springdale was also a very safe Liberal riding so decided to just vote my conscience in Toronto Centre. I was very wrong and the Conservatives missed out on Brampton-Springdale by only 773 votes (or 1.7%). In nearby Brampton West, they missed out by a mere 231 votes (or 0.4%). Things could easily not go so well this time around.

For my fellow left-wing/centrist students from Brampton, I urge you to walk the walk this election. It is not enough to post things to Facebook about how much you hate the Conservatives. It is not enough to agree with your friends who post similar things or to "Like" those posts. And due to our broken electoral process, in today's age to be an informed voter, it requires more than just understanding the parties' various platforms. You must also know your local candidates as well as their chances of actually being able to see through those platforms.

I implore you to look at the two ridings you have the privilege of voting in and decide which riding needs your vote the most. Students have a unique opportunity that not many other people have. Why not use it to help create the Canada you want?

A possible shift in Canadian politics

At the beginning of this 2011 election, I thought the NDP would take a hit due to what seemed like an increasing need for strategic voting on both sides of the aisle. But it's seeming now that the once-mighty Liberal party will no longer be the go-to they once were.

It used to be the case that somebody ascending to the Liberal leadership pretty much meant they were Prime Minister in waiting. In 2008 with Stephane Dion, it seemed as if the Liberals awful performance in that election was simply an anomaly. But with a new leader and 3 years since then, this is clearly not the case.

And yet Stephen Harper is hardly a popular leader. In this, his third election, it is very unlikely he'll be able to capture that majority. He's often criticized as being robotic but this almost works in his favour as he is neutral enough to be "the choice for now" while we seemingly wait for the Liberals to get their act together.

After 2008, there were some murmurs about a merging of the left in order to consolidate that support. But deep down, everyone kind of thought "That's ridiculous; it was just one bad election campaign."

Fast forward to today and due to just how much the Liberals are behind the Conservatives, it's evident that strategic voting probably won't even work. The very purpose of that strategy is to do the logical thing and choose one evil over the other. However, this only works if the two sides are fairly close in support. This is no longer the case. These people now realize "We're going to have a Conservative government anyways; I might as well vote my conscience."

This was more-or-less how the NDP were able to pick up 8 seats in 2008. While my question before was whether they are going to be able to keep those pick-ups, it's now whether they are able to increase on that number and begin a parliamentary shift. In the English debate last night, Michael Ignatieff did not show off his Harvard debating skills. On the contrary, Jack Layton, by almost all accounts, was wonderful. For the first time since he started saying he was "running for Prime Minister" a few years ago, I was able to take him seriously. And for the first time, when Iggy tried to keep the narrative at "This election is really between two choices" I considered that he could very well be wrong.

Let me be clear (to steal Stephen Harper's favourite phrase): the Liberals will surely do better than the NDP in this election. However, if the NDP is able to ride debate momentum and improve on their 37 seats, we could be looking at an NDP government, or at least official opposition, sooner than some people think.

My Friday Night, feat. Baci

As I sit here consuming an entire box of chocolates on a Friday night while watching Thursday night's NBC shows, I can't help but think that the folks over at Baci don't really know their market. For those who aren't familiar, Baci is the slightly less delicious Ferrero Rocher and each chocolate comes with a fortune-of-sorts in 5 languages. Here are mine:

Till I loved, I did not live enough

The night is silent and in its silence, dreams are hidden

To love a person is to learn a song that is in their hearts

What is a kiss? It is a pink exclamation mark in "I love you!"

I loved you at first sight. And you smile because you know it

The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer

Oh and I opened another box because I wanted just one more. I was greeted with this hilariously patronizing one that even I'm offended at: "Given the right chance, women are capable of anything." Thanks Baci.

Isn't chocolate supposed to be comforting?

Disembodied Hippie Head on Kirby Road

Since I've been posting about Kirby Road, Selina Degasperis and the legends that surround the two I've gotten a couple of hits every day from all across North America and elsewhere. It seems there is indeed consistent interest in this case and so I'm glad this blog can be an educational spot in people's research, even if it disproves some of the more exciting but exaggerated stories told elsewhere on the web. To those unknown visitors stopping by, feel free to leave a comment on what brought you here or any experiences you've had personally on this road.

Unfortunately, I don't have too much more to add now except for an interesting find by a friend of mine when she was looking for Selina's tombstone on Google Street View:

It appears to be a disembodied head of sorts... He may also be a hippie. Now Google Street View is known to have its glitches so this could of course be one of those unexplained glitches. But it certainly is odd and perhaps of note in some way.

The anniversary of Selina's birthday is coming up the 15th of this month. She would have been 33. I'm trying to plan an outing on this night. For kicks, I also plan to make a mixed CD with the top hits from the week she died. Clearly, I'm not very experienced in this whole ghost hunting thing. But if I was a ghost and someone visited me on my birthday while playing "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" and "Whoomp! (There It Is)"... I'd respond.