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.

Why I'm Running for Cycle Toronto's Board

Cycle Toronto’s Annual General Meeting is next Thursday, which also marks their 10th anniversary when they started as the Toronto Cyclists Union. This year’s AGM will give members the opportunity to elect four candidates to Cycle Toronto’s board of directors, reflect on the past year’s accomplishments (Hello, Bloor bike lanes!), and socialize (of course). I am pleased to announce I, Robert Zaichkowski, will be running for a board position along with nine other candidates (click here for bios). Not only would I like to explain why I am running, but also give you the chance to ask me questions on this blog, Twitter, or the Biking Toronto Facebook group.

Here's a brief profile I sent to Cycle Toronto.

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.