RANT – Doug Ford’s Third PC Majority Win

As was widely expected, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party secured its third straight majority last night. This is despite him being the least liked premier in the country and all the trouble he caused including the RCMP Greenbelt investigation, the destruction of Ontario Place for a mega spa nobody wants, the crumbling of our health and education systems, and the ripping out of Toronto’s bike lanes. And of course, those $200 pre-election bribe cheques. However, there is a lot more to rant about aside from the outcome itself.

Editorial cartoon via Theo Moudakis

Targeting Ridings to Vote Ford Out

With the passing of Bill 212 last week, it’s time to shift focus to getting rid of the Ford government at the polls while still pursuing direct actions such as last Friday’s well attended Critical Mass ride. MPP Joel Harden’s latest e-newsletter indicated the Ford government will be retaining their own contractors to remove 500 metres of the most western section of the Bloor Street bike lane – most likely within The Kingsway where opposition is strongest – and 400 metres of the Yonge Street bike lane by the end of this year. If we are to achieve electoral success, it’s worth identifying which ridings to target.

This November 2024 Critical Mass video by @hope2hope.bsky.social went viral on Bluesky

Holy Public Space Overload!

To call this week a public space overload would be a serious understatement. Not only has Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s plans for Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre been dominating the headlines, but next Wednesday’s Infrastructure & Environment Committee meeting will see the High Park Movement Strategy debated. If that wasn’t enough, the City of Toronto revealed their latest plans for Kensington Market yesterday which is a huge improvement over the previous proposal. Let’s take a look at where things stand with these three projects.

Ontario Place's West Island - Which Therme wants to use for their luxury spa

Will the Fourth Time be Mississauga’s Bloor Charm?

Back in March, there was a sense of momentum for getting bike lanes on Bloor in Mississauga. The third public meeting for the Bloor Street Integrated Project saw more than 100 people take part, while 80 to 100 people from Toronto and Mississauga rode along Bloor to show support for bike lanes on both sides of Etobicoke Creek. Given yet another public meeting was held on Tuesday, November 29 while I was on vacation in Morocco, it’s time to offer a quick recap of what had happened since March.

Alternative #5 was presented at the third public meeting for Bloor Street in March 2022

Keeping the 2022 Election Momentum Going

While John Tory’s re-election as Mayor was widely expected during last month’s municipal election, there were still some positive changes. Amber Morley defeated five-term councillor Mark Grimes in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, while the unfortunate death of Councillor Cynthia Lai (RIP) lead to Jamaal Myers getting elected in Scarborough North. On the road safety front, 12 candidates who signed onto the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition’s road safety calls to action were elected, while mayoral candidate Gil Penalosa presented lots of good policy platforms covering various sectors.

To help keep the 2022 election momentum going, I will discuss five of Penalosa’s policy platforms which road safety advocates are encouraged to keep fighting for.

The Gardiner Expressway ramps east of the Don Valley Parkway were removed last year

My List of 2022 Toronto Candidate Endorsements

Over the past several weeks, I have been working with the Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition (TCBC) to interview candidates for the purposes of endorsement, as well as ask them to sign onto our group’s three calls to action. Over 40 council candidates in 22 wards – plus two mayoral candidates – have signed on so far. We have since endorsed Gil Penalosa for Mayor and candidates in the following seven wards:

• Ward 2 (Etobicoke Centre) – Thomas Yanuziello
• Ward 3 (Etobicoke – Lakeshore) – Amber Morley
• Ward 5 (York South – Weston) – Chiara Padovani
• Ward 9 (Davenport) – Alejandra Bravo
• Ward 18 (Willowdale) – Markus O’Brien Fehr
• Ward 20 (Scarborough Southwest) – Kevin Rupasinghe
• Ward 23 (Scarborough North) – Jamaal Myers

In addition to these seven city council races, I would like to personally support candidates in additional wards, but will add a disclaimer they do not represent the views of TCBC.

Norm Di Pasquale's and Ausma Malik's joint campaign office in Kensington Market

#ActivismTO

On August 11, Dave Shellnut (a.k.a. The Biking Lawyer) and some other road safety advocates organized a ride for safe streets near High Park to protest the ticketing of cyclists there and other questionable actions by the Toronto Police. While I couldn’t make it at the time, over 800 people of all ages and abilities rode their bikes and managed to shut down the Bloor-Parkside intersection. With police continuing their ticketing operations on Shaw Street since then and have been caught rolling through stop signs, a follow up event was held yesterday called #ActivismTO which saw hundreds of people take part and started at Trinity Bellwoods Park.

dandyARCHIVE - Your 2018 Pre-Election Bike Plan Update

NOTE: This article originally appeared on Dandyhorse's website on September 13, 2018 and is being reposted here since it is no longer available.

Story by Robert Zaichkowski and Albert Koehl

With over three months left to the end of 2018, we already know that this year will be another heart-breaking one for many Toronto families. To date, 25 pedestrians and 4 cyclists have been killed, while many more families have to deal with life-altering injuries to their loved ones. The three memorial rides in June alone sparked renewed calls for a real network of bike lanes in the city. The response from City Hall has been disappointing; exacerbated by the failure to live up even to installing the infrastructure promised in the ten-year cycling plan passed in 2016. In fact, even if this year’s planned projects (see our table) are all completed --- never a sure thing in our city --- we will only be on pace to complete the plan by 2049 instead of 2025.

Bike lane ends sign at Poplar Plains (via Albert Koehl)

One Month with the Cargo Bike

Last month, we got our Muli Muskel cargo bike mainly to transport Mozzie and our groceries. The cargo bike has seen a fair bit of action since then with this past weekend’s cargo bike meetup being the most recent ride. It’s time to do a recap to demonstrate how life changing cargo bikes can be.

Active Transportation Asks for the 2021 Election

Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed what was long suspected. Canadians will go to the polls on Monday, September 20 at a time when a high number of eligible Canadians have gotten vaccinated, but a fourth COVID-19 wave is emerging thanks to the delta variant. Let’s look at what Canada’s political parties & candidates need to do to win the hearts & minds of those who walk or bike.

You can read Canada's active transportation strategy (cover photo above) at this link

Tearing Down the Democratic Process

Over the past twenty years, Dave Meslin has become one of Toronto’s leading city builders. You may recognize some of his projects such as Spacing, Dandyhorse, Cycle Toronto, RaBIT, Downtown De-Fence Project, and the Toronto Public Space Committee. His new book – Teardown – draws from those experiences and those from other political roles to help educate people on the obstacles of our political system and how to overcome them.

Your 2018 Ontario Election Cycling Primer

With the Ontario election 23 days away, transportation has once again become an election issue for many voters. While political party platforms are increasingly featuring cycling and other forms of active transportation, it remains overshadowed by public transit and other issues. Let’s look at what Ontario’s political parties have in store for people who bike.

Defining True Progressives

After almost ten years in power, the biggest question of this fall’s election is which party represents the true progressive alternative to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This resulted in the nastiest campaign to date in which political party leaders are calling each other out on their promises and determining what is true can be difficult. Even within parties, loyalties are being tested such as disgraced Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau calling for Harper’s defeat[1], Liberals leaving the party over anti-terror Bill C-51, and New Democrats criticizing leader Tom Mulcair’s positions on issues such as pipelines and Palestine.[2] For this blog post, I will discuss past Liberal and NDP records, as well as certain key campaign promises and accusations.

Lessons from Bill C-51

Last week, the final vote on the Harper government’s so-called “Anti-Terror” Bill C-51 passed in the House of Commons with Liberal support. The bill has now been sent to the Senate for debate prior to receiving royal assent. During the three months between the bill’s introduction and this moment, there have been several twists and turns which reveal three important lessons for Canadian politics.

Orange Wave Revisited

Almost four years ago today, the federal NDP under Jack Layton pulled off what was then unthinkable by forming the Official Opposition for the first time ever with 103 seats. With eight days until Albertans go to the polls, we are on the verge of witnessing something equally unexpected. The 44-year Progressive Conservative (PC) dynasty there could end thanks to an “orange chinook” from the NDP’s Rachel Notley.

Supporters of Jack Layton in Oshawa - May 1, 2011

Toronto Election Aftermath

Well well well! Last Monday’s election in Toronto was one for the record books! While my preferred mayoral candidate didn’t win, this municipal election exposed me to new roles, interesting sights, and many lessons. After recuperating for the past few days, it’s time to share these lessons.

Lessons from Canvassing in York West

Toronto’s municipal election is 30 days from today (October 27). There are the well-publicized mayoral races, but we also need to pay attention to the races for council and school trustee, given the mayor only has one vote in council. This is the first municipal election I have been involved with and it has been an eye opener in various ways. The mayoral race has been volatile with Olivia Chow losing her front runner status during the summer months and on the rebound again, John Tory being increasingly grilled over his SmartTrack transit plan, and Rob Ford withdrawing due to a cancer diagnosis while his brother Doug took his place. On a personal level, I have been asked to take on roles not encountered during previous political campaigns.

Is Cycling Becoming An Election Issue?

After decades of urban planning being primarily oriented towards automobiles in North America, various signs are pointing towards that model becoming obsolete.

1. When adjusted for population growth, driving in the United States peaked in 2005 and is currently at its lowest level in 20 years.[1]
2. Younger people are deferring or abandoning vehicle purchases for reasons ranging from the persisting difficulty in finding work to a preference for living in bike and transit friendly urban areas.
3. Cycling has increased in popularity to a point where cyclists now outnumber cars on College Street in Toronto.[2]

Elected officials are starting to take note with varying degrees of commitment. Does this mean cycling is finally getting heard as a legitimate election issue? Let’s explore what is being done at all three levels of government.

A bidirectional cycle track on Burrard Street (Vancouver)

Not Your Traditional New Democrat

Earlier today, over 30 “high profile” New Democrats sent an open letter to Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Andrea Horwath criticizing her populist policies and her opposition to the Liberals’ budget.[1] While I have had my reservations about Andrea Horwath – specifically her lack of proper communication on certain issues – to warrant her changes as a reason to give up on the NDP is taking things too far. For this blog post, I would like to describe how I ended up supporting the NDP and why Horwath’s new style is not as unorthodox as it appears.

Me with the late Jack Layton - May 1, 2011

Becoming Someone They Were Fighting Against

At one point does someone who constantly fought against a negative image becomes that very image? This description applies to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. While in opposition before the 2006 election, he called out the Liberals under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin for scandals involving the federal sponsorship program. He campaigned on transparency and accountability, which lead him to introduce the Accountability Act and the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer soon after taking office. Given these measures, one may think Harper would be on his way to cleaning up Ottawa.