Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Two Toronto councillors show how to keep local democracy alive

It was the second Saturday in December, prime time for Christmas shopping. The Eaton Centre was jammed, the sidewalks crowded, the coffee shops packed. Grim, determined buyers jostled for advantage.

A kilometre and a half away at the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, the scene was quite different. Fifty residents of downtown Toronto were working their way through the city’s 2013 budget: asking questions, raising concerns, preparing to fight for the services they valued.

These folks were under as much time pressure as anyone else. Many had the added challenge of finding gifts they could afford on their meagre income. Yet they sacrificed an afternoon to come to a town hall meeting convened by city councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam and Pam McConnell (Toronto Centre-Rosedale).

The councillors knew their timing could scarcely have been worse. But they’d just received the draft budget on Friday. Public deputations began the following Monday.

Remarkably, the room was almost full. Even more remarkably, people listened as the councillors outlined the city’s complex financial plan. They asked sensible questions and didn’t interrupt or heckle answers they didn’t like.

No one pretended this is how democracy normally works. In fact, several participants worried aloud that too few Torontonians care about the city’s future to save the services that have made it liveable and humane. But they forged on.

Here are a few of their questions:

 • Why is the city selling publicly owned homes when there are 87,000 people on the waiting list?

 • Why can’t unspent money from the city’s capital budget ($15.3 billion) be shifted to the operating budget ($9.4 billion)?

 • Why do citizens have to make painful choices based on preliminary budget estimates, only to learn later that the city received a “windfall” of unexpected revenue? It happens every year, resulting in sizeable surpluses.

 • Why should citizens go to city hall and wait for hours to make a three-minute presentation to councillors who are barely paying attention? Their proposals are seldom taken seriously. Even when they are, bureaucrats never get around to implementing them.

There was surprisingly little rancour toward Mayor Rob Ford, although he had few supporters in the room. What troubled the participants more than his ethical lapses and legal woes was the prospect of spending $9 million on a new contest for mayor, should the court fail to overturn Ford’s conviction on conflict-of-interest charges. The outcome, they feared, was that Ford would run again and win.

McConnell and Wong-Tam parted ways on this issue. McConnell, a veteran councillor, believes a byelection would be worth the cost. Wong-Tam, who is serving her first term, would prefer to see council appoint an acting mayor to serve out his the rest of Ford’s mandate. Participants nodded as each explained her position.

But Ford’s fate was not a big concern. People had come to talk about their community’s needs and their suggestions.

Here are a few of them:

 • A car owner said he’d be happy to pay the $60 vehicle registration tax that Ford killed last year. Reinstating the levy would cost drivers the equivalent of one cup of coffee a week, he pointed out.

 • A tech-savvy professional explained how the city could save millions of dollars by allowing back-office workers to telecommute. Everyone in the room liked that idea. So did McConnell, who had never heard it discussed at city hall.

 • A blind resident proposed that every budgetary proposal be put to an accessibility test. Reductions in Wheel-Trans, for instance, leave Torontonians in wheelchairs trapped at home. Changes to roads and sidewalks can impede or endanger people with disabilities.

The three-hour session was sane, civil and productive — everything the melee at city hall isn’t; the government-imposed silence at Queen’s Park can’t be; and the partisan combat in Ottawa has all but extinguished. It’s nice to know it can still happen.

Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Carol Goar

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