Lost River Walk

from today's Star:

Ancient rivers, streams gone but not forgotten
North Toronto walk helps explain the vital role of underground waterways, investigates long-gone systems that served Huron tribe hundreds of years ago

More information, including a printable guide for this walk, can be found at the Thirsty City Walks website.

Reminder! AGM on Thursday

EGLINTON-LAWRENCE NDP

Provincial/Federal Riding Association

Annual General Meeting

Thursday, April 30, 2009                 

Registration: 7:00 pm

Meeting starts at 7:30 pm

Barbara Frum Library

20 Covington Road

North York

 

(just west of Bathurst and north of Lawrence)

We will be electing a new executive, including: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Financial Agent, Membership Officer, Youth Officer and Women's Representative. Any member in good standing is eligible to run.

At our meeting we will also be preparing for the NDP's national convention, to be held in Halifax,  August 14th to 16th 2009

 

We will be discussing policy resolutions and electing delegates to attend the convention.

---

Is there anything you would like to see discussed at this meeting? Are you interested in what happens there but can't make it out Thursday night? Feel free to send us an email or leave a comment!

Hope to see you there!

Jane's Walk

Urban guru Jane Jacobs was noted for remarking that the best way to get a feel for a neighbourhood and how it works was to get out there and walk around in it. The ever-growing numbers of "Jane's Walks" are offered in that spirit:

Jane's Walk is a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves.  Since it's inception in 2007, Jane's Walk has happened in twelve North American cities: Toronto, New York, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Halifax, Guelph, Charlottetown, Thornbury, and Salt Lake City. More partner cities and towns are being added in 2009 including Montreal, Regina, Boston, Chicago and New Orleans.

Jane's Walk honours the legacy and ideas of urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs who championed the interests of local residents and pedestrians over a car-centered approach to planning. Jane's Walk helps knit people together into a strong and resourceful community, instilling belonging and encouraging civic leadership.

All Jane's Walk tours are given and taken for free. These walks are led by anyone who has an interest in the neighbourhoods where they live, work or hang out. They are not always about architecture and heritage, and offer a more personal take on the local culture, the social history and the planning issues faced by the residents. Jane Jacobs believed strongly that local residents understood best how their neighbourhood works, and what is needed to strengthen and improve them. Jane's Walks are meant to be fun, engaged and participatory - everyone's got a story and they're usually keen to share it

This year there are over 90 taking place in Toronto on May 2nd and 3rd. Lots of them look very interesting! Looking at the map, it seems that two of them are in Eglinton-Lawrence:

Jungle Jaunt: Lawrence Heights is Not What You Think

• Students of Sir Sanford Fleming Academy
• Saturday, May 2, 2009
• 2:00pm
• Walk: 1.5 hours

Students of Sir Sanford Fleming speak to the paths, patterns and people of the Lawrence Heights community named 'Jungle'.  From community gardens, townhouse courtyards, waterparks, malls, shortcuts and secret hangouts, the student guides will open your eyes to the warm welcoming people who call this neighbourhood home. Performers and contributors frrom the award-winninng play "Jungle Baby", featured in this years Sears Drama Festival, will be on hand to reprise some of their provocative and engaging material about growing up here.

Lawrence West: The Stories of Lotherton

• Lotheron Community Residents
• Saturday, May 2, 2009
• 12:00pm
• Walk: 1 hour

Defined by high rise towers and wipe open spaces, Lotherton is a unique neighbourhood filled with a diverse and engaged community. The stories here speak of adaptation, from the rabbits and gophers that have made a home in the neighbourhood to the senior citizens who have begun climbing over a fence - complete with groceries in tow - to save a few minutes off their shopping commute! Come hear these and many other stories in this dynamic and exciting neighbourhood!

If you're a good walker, it looks like you could those both in back-to-back!

Canada's Quiet Bargain: The benefits of public spending

A thoughtful new report from the Canadian centre for Policy Alternatives people, asking the question: which is actually a better value, tax cuts, or paying taxes and getting services?

The Report

Our taxes fund a wide range of public services that help make Canada's quality of life better than many other nations.

In fact, middle-income Canadian families enjoy public services worth about $41,000— or 63% of their income.

Even households earning  $80,000–$90,000 a year enjoy public services benefits equivalent to about half of their income.

This study adds a dimension that has been missing to the public debate over taxes and public spending in Canada. It weighs the benefits of public services provided by federal, provincial, and municipal governments against the benefits of recent tax cuts. Click here to download the full report.

Find it here.

Toronto Environmental Alliance: Dig Conservation, Not Holes

A new report from TEA today, linking the destruction of precious greenbelt space to our ravenous need for the raw stuff of infrastructure, and asking if there is a more sustainable way:

Dig Conservation, Not Holes

Over the next 25 years, the GTA will need to renew its urban infrastructure. At the same time the GTA will need to house millions more new Ontarians. This will mean building new urban infrastructure to accommodate a larger population while trying to minimize development that destroys our remaining natural spaces. Aggregate will be required to meet these pressing needs.

The question GTA residents – in particular elected officials – need to ask themselves is whether they want this aggregate demand to be met by destroying precious ecologically-sensitive land and farmland, much of it in the Greenbelt?

• Read more

Annual General Meeting

Provincial/Federal Riding Association
Annual General Meeting

Thursday, April 30, 2009                 

Registration: 7:00 pm

Meeting starts at 7:30 pm

Barbara Frum Library

20 Covington Road

North York

(just west of Bathurst and north of Lawrence)

Guest speaker: TBA

We will be electing a new executive, including: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Financial Agent, Membership Officer, Youth Officer and Women's Representative. Any member in good standing is eligible to run.

At our meeting we will also be preparing for the NDP's national convention, to be held in Halifax,  August 14th to 16th 2009

We will be discussing policy resolutions and electing delegates to attend the convention.

Climate Justice - Celebrate Earth Day

Here's an Earth Day event being put on by the folks at Greenpeace:

 

April 14, 2009 Climate Justice - Climate Action! Celebrate Earth Day. Join us on April 22nd for an evening on solutions to climate change. Climate Justice Climate Action! When: Earth Day, Wednesday April 22, 2009 Where: Steel Hall, 25 Cecil St., Toronto Time: 7 to 9pm Who: Organized by Climate Action Network Canada, Greenpeace Canada, and the Toronto Climate Campaign. Support from the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the United Church of Canada is greatly appreciated. Admission: Free. All are welcome! Contact: RSVP to Montana Burgess The world needs urgent action now to prevent catastrophic climate change. Without effective action, people will suffer. Governments are negotiating an agreement to strengthen and extend the Kyoto Protocol. They need to be pushed into action. We need to stabilize the Earth's climate and preserve the right of all people to reach a dignified level of human development. Big Questions: In a world of extreme poverty and great wealth, what should Canada do? How can we get Canada to kick-start a clean energy revolution? The Speakers: Tom Athanasiou, director of EcoEquity; on ecology and social equity. He'll examine what a fair global climate change agreement means to Canada. Dave Martin, Greenpeace Climate & Energy Coordinator; on how Ontario's nuclear plans will block green energy and meaningful action on climate change. He'll use the new Canadian "Energy [R]evolution" to outline a clean energy strategy for Ontario. .
Take action  | Support Greenpeace

Greenpeace Canada - 33 Cecil St., Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1N1
(416) 597-8408 or 1-800-320-7183

Free Toronto premiere of Downstream

Free Toronto premiere of the oilsands documentary Downstream

Short listed for an Academy Award, Downstream is a short documentary about a Canadian doctor who raised concerns about the alarmingly high rates of rare cancers amongst Aboriginal peoples in Fort Chipewyan, downstream for Alberta's oilsands developments.

 

Tuesday, April 14^th, 9 pm

Innes College, 2 Sussex Ave at St. George Street

(Subway: go to St.George Station and walk south to Sussex)

 

 Panel Discussion

 Moderated by Olivia Chow, MP

 

Panelists include:

Jack Layton, MP, Toronto-Danforth

Christie Ferguson, Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaign Coordinator

Leslie Iwerks, Academy Award and Emmy Nominated Director

Philip Alberstat, Emmy-Award Winning Producer

Food for Thought – Toronto

 

As seats are limited, please RSVP to info@jacklayton.ca or call (416)405-8914

 

Book: The 21st Century Environmental Revolution

From: Pierre Champagne [mailto:director3@wavesofthefuture.net]
Subject: Positive Review for Canadian Book on Large-Scale Strategies for
the Environment

Many people in the NDP are likely to be interested in this book on structural strategies for the environment.  The approach outlined might give the NDP an edge over what other parties have to offer.

It has received a positive review from David McCorquodale, Co-chair of Green Pages, the US Green Party quarterly.

We would appreciate if you could circulate this press release to colleagues and members.  Posting it to websites, blogs, listserves, etc. would promote green issues and Canadian authors as would having the book in your local library.

Our website has a lot more information about the book.

Thanks.  Talk to us.

PRESS RELEASE
----------
New Book Investigates Structural Strategies for Global Warming the Environment.

Mark C. Henderson just published a book which looks into structural strategies for global warming and the environment. He argues that such approaches are more effective and less costly than cap-and-trade.

His book makes the case that certain economic changes could result in huge gains for the environment.  Working from a number of political and economic principles, Henderson develops a structural strategy which could address many environmental problems at very little
expense.

Excerpt from the review: "The book has convinced me that the ETS [the strategy proposed by Henderson] could be an immensely important tool for the environment...."
(David McCorquodale, Co-chair of Green Pages, the US Green Party quarterly).

The introduction, the full review, a table of contents, and more details are available at the publisher's website.

Henderson, Mark C.  (2008).  The 21st Century Environmental Revolution: A Comprehensive Strategy for Conservation, Global Warming, and the Environment.  Waves of the Future. ISBN 978-0-9809989-0-0 (0980998905).

The book is available through the publisher's website, some bookstores, and major online retailers.  See the website below for discounts, links, and details. Libraries can bring it in through their regular distribution channels (Blackwell, Cypher, Dawson, Coutts, etc.).

Waves of the Future is a Canadian publisher which focuses on global issues and the environment.

Contacts:
Pierre Champagne, Director
Waves of the Future
Email: See the "About Us" page at the website below.
Website: http://wavesofthefuture.net

Ways to Elect a Leader

From today's Star:

June 27 vote for Tory leader

[...]

The [Provincial Conservative Leadership] race will be decided using a one-member-one-vote system with Tories casting preferential ballots in all 107 Ontario ridings on June 21 and June 25.

Ballot boxes will be sealed and opened in Markham on June 27. Riding association presidents from the 107 constituencies will then read aloud the tabulated results in a move designed to give the event the excitement of a U.S. presidential nominating convention. "We want to be able to present the party in a way the public can tune in on TV or on a special website," said Zeise.

[...]

This is interesting in an academic, political junkie kind of way. Besides 'generating excitement', this will also create an interesting data set that will show the geographic breakdown of each candidate's support. From an academic perspective, it might then be interesting to map that against donations and so forth.

It's also an interesting experiment in openness. Does anyone think this would be a good idea on our side of the floor? What if there was an a breakdown from our convention how our leadership candidates did in each riding? Or a detailed breakdown of the union vs. membersip vote? (And speaking of openness, how much of that for the NDP leadership race will be publicly released? After some quick looking around, there is no detailed breakdown online at the ONDP website.)

I also wonder how this "reading aloud the tabulated results" will work if the convention goes to a second ballot. Or are they just counting on one, now that Mike Harris is busily putting all the ducks in a row?

Is there much precedent for what the PC's are doing in a leadership context before? From the viewpoint of a detached observer, it looks like an interesting experiment.

Events in Parkdale-High Park

Some upcoming events in Parkdale-High Park:

"Hearts & Minds"

Kudos to our friends over at the Parkdale-High Park NDP for putting together a really snazzy-looking and info-packed newsletter. I haven't had time to do more than flip through yet, but it looks like there's a lot of well-written stuff to digest here. Check it out!

Hearts & Minds - Issue 1

The Parkdale-High Park NDP Riding Association presents issue one of its new newsletter: Hearts & Minds.

Read it on the web at http://phpndp.ca/Issue1/ or download and read or print out the pdf.

Vote! (and other notes)

Just a reminder -- mail-in balloting is now complete, but you can still make your leadership vote online or by phone. You can vote up to 8 p.m. on Friday, after which there is a blackout period until the "live" voting begins at 3 p.m. Saturday.

If you vote before the blackout period, you will complete one preferential ballot for up to four choices; if you wait until Saturday, you will vote for one candidate on each ballot until there is a winner.

You need the PIN sent out with your voting package to be able to vote; if that has gone missing or you have any other problems, you can get assistance at 1-888-281-8683. You can also get more information here.

There will be a final debate between the leadership candidates on Friday night; it should be available live online at the ONDP website. Does anyone know if any television will be covering the vote live from the convention?

I hope that everyone from our riding attending the Convention has a good time!

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In other news, Linda & I went to the Metro NDP meeting last night. I'll pass along the minutes from that as they become available.

Local Interest

Two recent articles from The Star:

It's a Jungle in here

Students bring life on the street to stage


Pioneering Jewish group fading, victim of its success

Minutes and other updates

The minutes from this week's executive meeting are now online. Let me know if there are any questions or any corrections to be made.

Just a head's up: looking to the future, we will soon be gearing up for the Federal NDP Convention, set for August 14-16, 2009 in Halifax. At our next general meeting we will be debating resolutions, so if you want to change or update the party's policies, this is your chance! Similarly, it's time to start planning if you think you would like to go to Halifax as a delegate.

Meanwhile, check out these official NDP blogging tools. Any of them look interesting enough that I should try and set them up here?