tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56940492089206052024-03-13T12:52:30.614-07:00Erich the GreenErich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.comBlogger325125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-32035688827820939252017-04-08T12:53:00.000-07:002017-04-08T12:56:04.288-07:00Thinking inside the (Good Food) Box<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lately there’s been a lot of ink spilled about the high cost
of living, like the <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/search/label/Game%20of%20Shells">cost of electricity</a> and <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/02/13/city-council-approves-2017-budget">municipal tax and water increases</a>.
Since none of those are things we can immediately address at the household
level, we need to look for other ways to save, particularly if we are
struggling to put food on the table in the face of rising food prices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXECZ3868LnB7SwzYL4BZ86W-5PSHI2WmEVsoyVUKAN4TwK_EH6ms8ztfZaNyXSYKpmcsuxxvUDOxBJZWfnN34KnCyAKpsuB5P-M8BunP1Nr-9t_hqyECYra0XwvtqzxN2wlWNo18EBSo/s1600/produce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXECZ3868LnB7SwzYL4BZ86W-5PSHI2WmEVsoyVUKAN4TwK_EH6ms8ztfZaNyXSYKpmcsuxxvUDOxBJZWfnN34KnCyAKpsuB5P-M8BunP1Nr-9t_hqyECYra0XwvtqzxN2wlWNo18EBSo/s400/produce.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Luckily, Barrie has a program which does just that, by
providing a deep discount on a box of fresh produce every month. Called the
<a href="http://www.barriegoodfoodbox.com/">Good Food Box</a>, this no-membership food-buying club runs in many cities and in
Barrie is administered by a collaboration of local organizations led by the
<a href="http://cmhastarttalking.ca/">Canadian Mental Health Association</a>, who know that food is a key contributor to
physical and mental health. And under the <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/04/12/simcoe-branch-of-canadian-mental-health-association-getting-boost-for-food-program">Urban Pantry Project</a>, a partnership
between the Good Food Box and FruitShare Barrie funded with a grant from the
<a href="http://www.otf.ca/">Ontario Trillium Foundation</a>, Barrie’s Good Food Box has grown and expanded
considerably over the past year, and may now be just what you need to ease your
grocery budget woes and boost your healthy diet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All you do is order and pay for your box by the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Wednesday of the month, and then pick it up on the 3<sup>rd</sup> Wednesday.
There are now 4 pickup locations for your convenience: <a href="http://bfmc.org/">Barrie Free Methodist Church</a> from 11:30 am – 4:30 pm, <a href="http://www.barrie.ca/City%20Hall/Pages/City%20Hall.aspx">City Hall Rotunda</a> from 12 – 4, <a href="http://www.georgiancollege.ca/">Georgian College</a>
from 2 - 5, and <a href="http://www.barrie.ca/Living/RecreationFacilities/Community-Centres/Pages/HollyCommunityCentre.aspx">Holly Rec Centre</a> from 5 – 7 pm. Hopefully one of these times
and locations works for you. You can order and pay online, or order in person
and pay cash at the CMHA, <a href="http://www.bchc.ca/">Barrie Community Health Centre</a>, or Barrie Free
Methodist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You have two choices of box: the small for $12 (for 1-2
people) or the family-size for $17. A typical small box includes 5 pounds of
potatoes, 2 pounds each onions, carrots & parsnips, 3 pounds of apples, 4
oranges, and a cabbage. The large box doubles the potatoes & oranges, adds
more apples, and throws in 2 pounds of beets. Contents vary month-to-month and
come from <a href="http://giffens.ca/">Giffen Orchards</a>, who ensure high quality fresh produce mainly sourced
in Ontario and as local as seasonally possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Barrie Good Food Box is a non-profit program run with the
support of community volunteers who sort and pack the boxes and distribute them
at the 4 pickup sites. Buying in bulk and passing along the savings means you
get more for your food dollar. The price has not risen for several years and
will continue to stay stable so you can plan your food budget with confidence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To order, to find handy recipes, or see the calendar of
upcoming Box days and other events, visit <a href="http://barriegoodfoodbox.com/">BarrieGoodFoodBox.com</a>. Or if you’d
like to volunteer or have questions, visit <a href="http://facebook.com/Barrie.Good.Food.Box">Facebook.com/Barrie.Good.Food.Box</a> or
call 705-791-BGFB (2432). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Urban Pantry Project will soon wrap up its successful
first year, and is planning to apply for longer-term funding to further expand
Barrie’s local food security measures beyond the two current projects with
possible initiatives like community gardens, fleet farming, indoor gardens, or
other innovative projects. A special <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/lets-get-growing-tickets-33027631535">Let’s Get Growing event</a> on April 12 will
explore new ideas and start planning their integration. If you have a passion
to contribute to a food-related project and would like to take part in this
event, email </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:UrbanPantryProject@gmail.com">UrbanPantryProject@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> for an invitation. With citizens
like you, Barrie can become a food paradise!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published in the Barrie Examiner as Root Issues: <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/03/29/good-food-box-program-continues-to-expand-in-barrie">Good Food Box program continues to expand in Barrie</a></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the boards of Living Green and the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-34548836381381412122017-04-08T12:35:00.000-07:002017-04-08T12:55:19.536-07:00Green electric plans are great<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>(One of the 4-part series "<a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/search/label/Game%20of%20Shells">Game of Shells</a>" about the electricity plans of Ontario's 4 major political parties)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Over the past decade or more, Ontario’s electricity prices
have steadily risen. Once a bastion of too-cheap electricity, far below
national or world averages, Ontario’s prices are now more in line with global
rates, which has been painful for a population long accustomed to receiving
subsidized electricity for a relative pittance. Because old habits are hard to
break with infrastructure already in place, we seems stuck with paying the bill
whatever it is, causing cries to turn back the clock and lower rates again. If
only it were so simple!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course this creates huge political pressure, so both the
<a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-fair-hydro-plan">Liberal government</a> and the <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ontariondp/pages/1645/attachments/original/1488201638/FINAL_NDP_Hydro_Announcement_(14).pdf?1488201638">NDP opposition</a> party have advanced plans to lower
bills and the PC opposition has <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/03/03/brown-said-tory-plan-will-affect-everyone">promised their own plan soon</a>. However, none of
these plans seem to do much to truly lower the real cost of providing
electricity; all they do is push it off to future generations, or move it from
the power bill to the tax bill, still leaving us (or our children) to pay, in
what I’ve called “The Game of Shells”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What it comes down to is that there are only 3 real ways to
reduce electricity prices: produce electricity at lower cost, buy it from other
places for lower prices, or simply use less of it. Cancelling existing
commitments, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_power_plant_scandal">as we learned with gas plants</a>, is either impossible or horribly
expensive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We can’t just wave a magic wand and make cheaper power:
climate pressures mean we must shift off the old “cheap” fossil fuels like coal
and natural gas or pay a premium for carbon emissions. Nuclear brands itself as
an affordable “carbon free” source but always <a href="http://www.cleanairalliance.org/overbudget/">costs far more than expected</a> and
provides <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/looking-to-lower-ontario-power-rates-start-with-pickering-where-550-billion-will-be-wastefully-spent">less power than promised</a>, years behind schedule. A big part of today’s
high costs cover vast nuclear power overruns from the past. Large-scale new
hydro is challenging, while wind, solar, and small hydro are becoming more
affordable but present challenges in matching supply and demand which require
better management or new power storage facilities. The best we can do in this
area is avoid committing to costly new nukes and curtail expensive
refurbishment or life-extension operations at existing plants, instead allowing
them to retire on schedule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4QhyphenhyphenuAX6ZputAZeUFnk3f_H1r-5siAIGr64E_hqNIhbvclebgQFpBtlgGH8dikW07Hb3V_iltsUD-MZASzCxdEIXezDoQM0YGBPpUQFPZbmfRfbYN9U5CgrzL_LZxfFXnR0qEaNIOs0/s1600/green+bulb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4QhyphenhyphenuAX6ZputAZeUFnk3f_H1r-5siAIGr64E_hqNIhbvclebgQFpBtlgGH8dikW07Hb3V_iltsUD-MZASzCxdEIXezDoQM0YGBPpUQFPZbmfRfbYN9U5CgrzL_LZxfFXnR0qEaNIOs0/s320/green+bulb.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Glowing object reported hovering over writer's head</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the other hand, there is a huge opportunity for us to use
more <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3091882/ontario-hydro-rates-buying-quebec-power-cost/">clean, cheap hydro from Quebec</a>. Not only is this a better deal than
pouring more money down our own nuclear pit, it also lets us balance peaks and
valleys of renewable generation by “banking” power behind large hydro dams,
essentially storing surplus renewable energy until needed. There are <a href="https://hydrostor.ca/">other technologies we can implement within Ontario</a> allowing us to store energy
between when it is produced and when we need it, narrowing the expensive
supply-demand gap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The most important and reliable way to reduce power bills
will always be to use less to begin with. No matter the price, the less you
use, the less you pay! While government and opposition plans feature some
meagre conservation measures, we need a major commitment of resources to
upgrading our business and household technology so we can more efficiently use
electricity, or draw more of it at times of low demand, which will reduce
overall costs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Luckily there is another opposition party which has long promoted
solutions like this, and on Sunday you can be a part of that conversation.
<a href="https://gpo.ca/team/mike-schreiner-3">Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner</a> will be in the region this Sunday,
April 9, ready to listen to your ideas and share his on how we can truly lower
electricity costs, not just move them around. He’ll be at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/138758676652333/">Innisfil Public Library Lakeshore Branch’s Community Room</a> from 1:30 – 2:30, then at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1956371751253280/">Grilled Cheese Social Eatery at 53 Dunlop St. E. in Barrie at 6</a>. You are welcome to
attend either (or both) of these events and discuss concrete actions to lower
Ontario’s electricity costs. Take this chance to be proactive and seize the
(electrical) power in your own hands!<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published in the Barrie Examiner as Root Issues: <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/04/05/greener-electricity-plans-out-there-we-can-tap-into">Greener electricity plans out there we can tap into</a> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the boards of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-55163723017090878362017-03-11T20:45:00.001-08:002017-03-11T20:45:35.691-08:00Minister Against Democratic Reform, the sequel<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Years ago I wrote a series of <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/search/label/minister%20against%20portfolio">“Minister Against Portfolio”columns</a>, because while a cabinet minister is theoretically appointed to champion
a particular area of society, it seemed that under the anti-government Harper
administration, many cabinet members were hostile to the mandate of their own
ministry, whether it was <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2010/02/ministers-against-portfolio-part-1.html">environment</a>, <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2010/04/ministers-against-portfolio-part-4.html">finance</a>, <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2010/04/ministers-against-portfolio-part-5.html">agriculture</a>, or <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2010/02/ministers-against-portfolio-part-3.html">justice</a>. (I planned
to write about the Minister Against Women but that seat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Guergis">kept</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rona_Ambrose#Minister_responsible_for_the_Status_of_Women">being</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellie_Leitch#Minister_of_Labour_and_Minister_for_the_Status_of_Women">vacated</a> and treated as a secondary portfolio for other ministers.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-i0JNH2SjPlvjbGlLfJ5ml6slkYUgDtKJdZ70aHEUOY-Z-VFcafhohbMdIiLLXyTbxCizHYG2S4o9AB8iTOUuRP81Om2Yo7xftijE61HiC9ymULwuUYThCCuHMdZNXt-Hv68wO2iZMU0/s1600/1297927165153_ORIGINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-i0JNH2SjPlvjbGlLfJ5ml6slkYUgDtKJdZ70aHEUOY-Z-VFcafhohbMdIiLLXyTbxCizHYG2S4o9AB8iTOUuRP81Om2Yo7xftijE61HiC9ymULwuUYThCCuHMdZNXt-Hv68wO2iZMU0/s320/1297927165153_ORIGINAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barrie residents holding government to account</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, with the change in power, I thought the series
finished. Little did I realize appointing a minister to retard rather than
achieve progress was also in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s toolbox. This
government is now on its second Minister Against Democratic Reform. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I guess this was telegraphed when Trudeau formally renamed it
the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Democratic_Institutions">Ministry of Democratic Institutions</a>, taking “reform” right out of the name.
(Not that having it in the name led to any actual reforms under Stephen Harper).
Nevertheless, Minister Maryam Monsef’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151114012739/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-democratic-institutions-mandate-letter">original mandate</a> included steps toward
electoral reform, a key 2015 Liberal election plank. This was so important it
was even included in the <a href="http://speech.gc.ca/en/content/making-real-change-happen">Speech from the Throne</a>. Trudeau promised 2015 would be
the last election held under first-past-the-post voting <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/02/01/Trudeau-Called-Liar/">over 1,800 times</a>: on
the campaign trail, in office, and of course in the aforementioned Throne
Speech. Which means through his volte-face on this issue, he makes not only
himself but <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/full-comment/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com%2Ffull-comment%2Fandrew-coyne-its-not-the-liberals-fault-for-lying-about-electoral-reform-its-yours-for-believing-them">his party</a> and our Queen into liars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But back to the Minister. Although it <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151114012739/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-democratic-institutions-mandate-letter">was in her mandate</a> to
establish a committee to consult on electoral reform, it seemed that having
done so, Monsef did her best to undermine and sabotage that committee. Delay in
set-up plus a very tight reporting schedule made the committee’s task
challenging, yet they were troopers and held an <a href="http://www.parl.gc.ca/Committees/en/ERRE/Meetings">amazing number of hearings</a> in a
rather short time, hearing from hundreds of experts and thousands of citizens
all over our great nation. Having gone above and beyond, however, and even
having reached a consensus recommendation between the Conservative, NDP, and
Green parties (and when was the last time that happened?) their work was
spurned and even <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/12/01/maryam-monsef-math-equation-electoral-reform_n_13358776.html">mocked in the House</a> by the Minister. Which I guess we should
have expected, given that the holdouts on the committee itself <a href="https://www.pressprogress.ca/liberals_recommend_doing_the_complete_opposite_of_everything_they_promised_on_electoral_reform">were the Liberal MPs</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Which brings us to the new Minister Against Democratic
Reform, Karina Gould. From the start, I had misgivings. In an early interview,
she said every vote counts because “<a href="http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/podcasts/metromorning_20170112_76497.mp3">We literally count them 1, 2, 3, 4 up to the majority that wins</a>,” showing a breathtaking ignorance of the difference
between a majority (what the Liberals have in Parliament) and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plurality_(voting)">plurality</a> (the
less-than-majority vote which gave them those seats). Only a minority of MPs
ever win on a majority of votes, a serious flaw of our existing system. This
dismal portent proved all too true when <a href="http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-democratic-institutions-mandate-letter">Gould’s mandate</a> was released, clearly
<a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/02/01/Trudeau-Called-Liar/">stating the falsehood</a> that no consensus on electoral reform has emerged. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Because the reality is this: in the largest consultative
process in Canadian parliamentary history, a strong consensus of experts and
regular citizens called for a more proportional system (PR). A survey completed
by more than a third of a million people said they want <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/democratic-institutions/services/reports/mydemocracyca-online-digital-consultation-engagement-platform.html#a311">multi-party</a> <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/democratic-institutions/services/reports/mydemocracyca-online-digital-consultation-engagement-platform.html#a313">coalition governments</a>, a feature of PR. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The more recent assertion that reform would <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-cites-leitch-electoral-reform/article33978880/">somehow empower extremists</a> is even more counter-factual, but more on that will have to wait for
a future column. For now, the take-away is this: the Trudeau government seems
no less willing than their predecessors to appoint Ministers whose job is to
sabotage their portfolio, not advance it. To quote America’s Tweeter-in-Chief:
SAD. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/02/16/minister-against-democratic-reform-the-sequel">Root Issues column</a> in the Barrie Examiner.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a> boards.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-84877135967995404712016-09-17T18:59:00.001-07:002016-09-17T18:59:28.786-07:00Improving politics: less money, more representation<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Less than four months ago, <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2016/07/electoral-reforms-look-promising.html">I wrote about</a> ways our election
systems were improving. Back then, progress at both provincial and federal fronts
was good, but I noted some key drawbacks. Amazingly enough, over the course of
an exciting summer, both of those problems were addressed and we are now on an
even stronger track to improvement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcIHc_Ee_rqfV14gLdisGH8ZeaLaEp0Thaz8XDCYFR41GNXAPsNzmzEm8locoJJEPk8PsJSc6U8pFm1eRLSspeDB2qN7HiFvKYB2dDLWfPk3aVo9TW0vtNVEjN96Rc9YbKzqnwYuf7G38/s1600/Money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcIHc_Ee_rqfV14gLdisGH8ZeaLaEp0Thaz8XDCYFR41GNXAPsNzmzEm8locoJJEPk8PsJSc6U8pFm1eRLSspeDB2qN7HiFvKYB2dDLWfPk3aVo9TW0vtNVEjN96Rc9YbKzqnwYuf7G38/s400/Money.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the provincial level, reforms to election finance have
leapt beyond what was first floated. The current super-high contribution limits
exceed $15,000 per party per donor, double that in an election year. $30,000
can buy a lot of political influence! Reforms floated in the spring would have
cut that down to $7,750, still too much. But a <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/ghl/en/2016/09/new-proposed-election-finances-statute-law-amendment-act.html">recently-announced amendment</a> has
cut that in half, and further proposes banning MPPs, candidates, and party
leaders from political fundraising events. It also includes <a href="http://looniepolitics.com/democratize-political-donations-across-canada/">per-vote funding for parties</a> and for local riding associations, one of the fairest ways to
replace our current wealth-based fundraising model. This new funding is set to
diminish and be re-evaluated after 5 years, but I expect it will be maintained
and even increased, as people see the benefit of politics funded by votes instead
of by big cheques from deep-pocked donors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the federal level, things are also progressing well.
Rather than wait late into their mandate to act on their “last election under
first-past-the-post” promise (an error the McGuinty government made a decade
ago, dooming Ontario’s electoral reform hopes), the Liberal government has <a href="http://www.fairvote.ca/fvc-erre-submissions_appx_5_er_timetable/">set things in motion</a> rapidly. The last time I wrote on this issue, I was critical
of them for addressing our distorted election results by creating a distorted
electoral reform committee, with a Liberal majority that could outvote all the
other participants, even though Canadian voters gave over 60% of their support
to other parties. But a month after I wrote, the government saw the error of
their ways and organized the committee to reflect the preferences expressed by
your votes last fall, still with more Liberals but with <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wherry-electoral-reform-committee-1.3643701">no single party holding a majority</a>. This means whatever the committee recommends will have to pass
muster with at least two of the parties in the House, and hopefully have the
support of most or all of them. This radically lessens the chance that the
Liberals will try to force through a ranked ballot or instant runoff system, a
fairly minor tweak that would give them a major advantage in future elections.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After spending the summer consulting with experts on all
aspects of voting systems, the committee has entered a phase of wider public
consultation with Canadian citizens. Several town halls have been or are being
held in our area to discuss electoral reform, with results forwarded to the
committee for consideration. You can also make your views known online at the
ERRE website. By <a href="http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=e&Mode=1&Parl=0&Ses=0&DocId=8406489">the end of November</a> the House will receive their report and start
drafting a bill to present next year, in time to make changes before the next
election in 2019. As democracies around the world have been <a href="http://www.fairvote.ca/fvc-ERRE-submissions_appx_3_most-like-PR/">moving to more proportional</a> systems, and since the significant failings identified in our own
system lie largely with results not proportionally reflecting voter preference,
it is fairly likely that some kind of proportionality will be added to our
current system of local representation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">All in all, 2016 may well go down in history as the summer
when Canada’s and Ontario’s electoral and political finance systems made great
strides toward fairness and better representation. After more than a decade of
pushing for these kinds of improvements, I couldn’t be happier to see them
finally coming to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/09/14/electoral-system-improving">Electoral system improving</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the boards of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-73085833689484905322016-08-18T11:10:00.004-07:002016-08-18T11:11:40.477-07:00Still time to add The Sassafras Crossing to your summer reading list<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recently a friend handed me a copy of his <a href="https://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=erithegre-20&o=15&p=8&l=as1&asins=0692706186&IS1=1&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&lt1=_top&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=FFFFFF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr">recently-published first novel</a>, and I promised to review it here. But as I started reading it, I
realized my promise might be harder to keep than I first expected. You see, I
have <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/search/label/books">reviewed several books</a> in this column in the past, but all of them were
non-fiction. I like to read about history, politics, science, and social
movements. When I read fiction, I usually head for the genres, what many might
consider escapism. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, action/suspense, political
satire, comedy, mystery, even alternate history share my bookshelf. But what my
friend wrote doesn’t fall into any of these genres; as far as I can tell, it’s
just fiction. So I didn’t know how to approach it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.lindrithdavies.com/by-way-of-introduction/">Lindrith (Lindy) Davies</a> usually writes about economic justice
and the fairer, more sustainable society we could have if we funded government
with land and resource rents, instead of taxing our wages and productivity. He
also teaches courses on the topic and edits the related <i><a href="http://www.georgistjournal.org/">Georgist Journal</a></i>. But this is his first foray into writing fiction,
as much as it was mine into reading it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc5qUlQrcqUh5cpLZvIlPYmvdFuCXtQYPB1OAYELbwBb7lqF9ZPUEnaZ7poVxE8m8ydNxXb7P-O_CeryYDGhr1p8APRulfTLj4Hu-6QhJXEHpueLFSN9Bl7eFrJRgePjMVTkm8LjSUD68/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc5qUlQrcqUh5cpLZvIlPYmvdFuCXtQYPB1OAYELbwBb7lqF9ZPUEnaZ7poVxE8m8ydNxXb7P-O_CeryYDGhr1p8APRulfTLj4Hu-6QhJXEHpueLFSN9Bl7eFrJRgePjMVTkm8LjSUD68/s400/bridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At first, I couldn’t immediately relate to characters who
were just regular people, or understand where the narrative was heading. But as
pages turned and I dug into the story, I grew truly curious about how or if
they would connect or come into conflict. The novel, <a href="http://www.lindrithdavies.com/"><i>The</i> <i>Sassafras Crossing</i></a>,
covers about a year in the lives of several young people who are somewhat
adrift, post-college but pre-career, trying to find their place in the world.
With their unexpressed ambitions and reluctance to dive into the corporate rat
race, their semi-dependence on parents while working minimum wage service jobs,
they evoke the so-called “millennials” many love to mock today. But this realistic
tale set in the early 1980s clearly demonstrates that this so-called new
phenomenon of an indeterminate or even shiftless period in the lives of young
adults is nothing new. What really matters is the opportunities for fulfillment
society ultimately offers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another compelling side to this story is the struggle of some
of the characters to find their place in a world where their sexuality is not
recognized or condoned. While this is still often a challenge today, it was
even more so 30 years ago, yet people then were just as likely as now to find
themselves not fitting into society’s heterosexual norms. How this plays out
for various characters, or even that it is an issue for them, is something that
is only gradually exposed and explored through the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The lift bridge whose action provides the title is itself a
character in the story. This antique yet still-functioning engineering feat facing
replacement by a more convenient, newer-style span is both a setting for much
of the story and a metaphor for the ways our world is a constant weaving of old
into new. In the intersection of road and river, the cars that drive across
whose movement is interrupted to allow pleasure craft to navigate the channel
below, the need for expert human operators to mediate these conflicting uses,
we find metaphors for many of the life changes and decisions negotiated by
human characters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile, the story also weaves in a mix of musical styles
and cultures, attitudes about work and family, the tug-of-war between
succeeding in the rat race or chasing your personal dreams, and the way these
decisions may be re-evaluated and reconfigured at later stages in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you enjoy reading fiction, I expect you will enjoy this
novel, while if, like me, you aren’t usually a fiction reader, this is an
excellent place to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Published as my Root Issued column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/08/17/a-foray-into-fiction">A Foray into Fiction</a>".</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a
director of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-42098443498077389032016-08-17T12:30:00.001-07:002016-08-17T12:30:13.114-07:00The real reason the Tigers roared<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Michael Den Tandt <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/michael-den-tandt-liberals-should-look-to-taiwan-for-proof-of-free-trades-power">recently opined</a> that Canada’s government
should heed the example of Taiwan and the other Asian Tigers’ rapid economic
growth, by freeing up trade and pushing through new pipelines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In some respects, he is right, we should copy some of the
economic policies the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Asian_Tigers">Four Tigers</a> rode to success. But he misconstrues what
those policies really were.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, one key aspect to their early growth was
authoritarian governments, run by generals or former generals who engineered
their election as “president”. As he <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/michael-den-tandt-international-court-ruling-against-china-makes-canadas-highwire-act-even-more-treacherous">noted in another column</a> the same week,
Taiwan only began holding free elections in 1996; I add Korea elected its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Young-sam">first non-general President</a> around the same time, while Hong Kong has never known
truly free elections, and Singapore has been dominated by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Action_Party">same party</a> for
the past 57 years, with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Kuan_Yew">same President</a> for 31. Various studies have concluded
authoritarian governance played a key role in accelerating economic growth. I
expect most Canadians would not rush to give up our democratic freedoms for a
few more dollars or jobs, and one consequence of this democracy is that major
projects like pipelines must earn their social license by proving their
environmental and other bona fides before approval.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8nDOvX46qGkm_OrG_HsAelXAP5eZ1CGrbP6RNwj1OQQINs0MBUyNtusA6oEsvVONdyvczf4_PFVd9bXEj_R_GQJ-nwitDNPOd7wyUtBliJtKoPvAf7bHnGoh17X0mLxOKQP9MjKgncA/s1600/TIGER-logo-630x298.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8nDOvX46qGkm_OrG_HsAelXAP5eZ1CGrbP6RNwj1OQQINs0MBUyNtusA6oEsvVONdyvczf4_PFVd9bXEj_R_GQJ-nwitDNPOd7wyUtBliJtKoPvAf7bHnGoh17X0mLxOKQP9MjKgncA/s320/TIGER-logo-630x298.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asian "tigers" grew due to land value taxation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Besides that, though, Den Tandt praises the merits of
“capitalism” and thus seems to believe the secret to their success is a
pro-economic, laissez-faire, low-tax approach. However, this is a bit of a
mis-read. It is true these economies mostly had low tax rates on income, profit,
and sales. However, they all balanced that with a higher tax on land, as well
as instituting land reforms to discourage or break up the large land holdings
of rich families and make affordable parcels of land available to farmers or
homeowners. It is this key approach that sets the Asian Tigers apart from most
Western economies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You see, the founders of the Republic of China, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen">Sun Yat Sen</a>
and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek">General Chiang Kai-shek</a>, understood that a fair and just economy is based
on using value <a href="https://www.land.moi.gov.tw/enhtml/content.asp?cid=353">created by nature and the community</a> to fund government. They did
this by fully <a href="http://www.urbantoolsconsult.org/blog/2012/02/22/Taiwan-to-reform-property-values-will-help-revenue-and-tax-transparency-.aspx">taxing the value of land</a> and any increase in land value. Nature
creates land, and the presence of a growing community gives it value; this
value is either returned to the community, or else pocketed by private land
owners who managed to call “dibs” on it. If the community collects that rent to
fund government services, then confiscatory taxes on wages, income, profit or
trade aren’t necessary. But if private owners keep the benefit of land values,
then government has no choice but to seek other revenue sources: you and your
business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The benefits of <a href="http://www.landvaluetax.org/what-is-lvt/">land value taxation</a> are many. It is fair,
because it only taxes what people take or use for themselves, instead of taxing
what they produce for the community. Instead of a value-added tax that punishes
enterprise, it serves as a “value-subtracted tax” discouraging waste, hoarding,
or living off land and resource rents. People are free to keep what they make
for themselves, while passing back to government the wealth created by nature
or the community. In this way, land stays in private hands for optimal use, while
land values are shared fairly by all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So yes, Canada could learn about successful economic growth from
the Asian Tigers; not through authoritarianism or low taxes, but by replacing
unfair taxes on wages or added value with fair taxes on land, resources,
government-granted privileges and monopolies. With the dead weight of poor
taxation removed, our economy would be free to grow in a fair, efficient and ecologically-sound
direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/07/20/poor-taxation-needs-to-be-removed-in-order-to-let-economy-grow">Poor taxation needs to be removed in order to let economy grow</a>".</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the boards of <a href="http://www.livinggreen.info/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-57463978804072484912016-07-18T22:31:00.000-07:002016-07-18T22:31:19.769-07:00FruitShare program only scratching the surface<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>“The most natural food is fruit”</i> – Anonymous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You may not realize it, but our city is full of farmers, and
you may be one of them! The number one urban crop is fruit, particularly
apples, and you’d be amazed by the amount of apples that grow in our backyards.
<a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/search/label/FruitShare">FruitShare</a> has managed to pick as many as 5,000 pounds in a single season, and
we’re just scratching the surface. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXK1_gqikEBXOsdmrGAxN4YUi28CXIaHzhI6hcNTSEa_z79kGcmBCyfjJ3gbpwyqsdzEhUwoZb8SDzGZLRHaOqoQw54nYz4oMRh5jqw6ZhG3E5a9H3NhrR_Ion1frMJxwMS9BQXe7Om5Y/s1600/13689836_637718536380671_660370851_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXK1_gqikEBXOsdmrGAxN4YUi28CXIaHzhI6hcNTSEa_z79kGcmBCyfjJ3gbpwyqsdzEhUwoZb8SDzGZLRHaOqoQw54nYz4oMRh5jqw6ZhG3E5a9H3NhrR_Ion1frMJxwMS9BQXe7Om5Y/s320/13689836_637718536380671_660370851_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ever-growing FruitShare team<br />is on the job!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The whole FruitShare team is so excited to be working with
our amazing volunteers and tree owners this summer; we know from experience
everyone will find it a rewarding experience. Though we are not picking a lot
of fruit right now, we are working to get ready for what we anticipate will be
a busy season. We want to keep you updated on our planning and preparation
activities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>We need more fruit tree owners. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Several tree owners from last year have reported that their
trees did not fare well this spring: very few blossoms if any and bleak
possibilities of fruit on those trees. But every back yard is its own
micro-climate and local ecology; in past years, while some trees did poorly,
others thrived. Please consider whether you have friends, family, or neighbors
with fruit trees that just need to know about our program so that they can get
involved. The Barrie community has hundreds of trees that yet could be a
valuable source of fresh, local, healthy food for those who need it.
Registration for tree owners is simple and straight forward at our website <a href="http://www.fruitsharebarrie.ca/">www.FruitShareBarrie.ca</a>.
You can easily sell them on the benefits: we clean up all the fallen fruit,
clear as much of the ripe fruit from the tree as we can reach, and have
a special deal with a professional arborist who will provide free advice and
discounted help improving their trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This harvest season, we are going to have 'designated pick days'.
Our hope is that this will help to make our planning more efficient, and allow
both tree owners and volunteer pickers the ability to anticipate when their
efforts might be needed. For this summer/fall we are going to make Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Thursdays our pick days, and will plan tree harvests on these
days. We always work to give as much notice as possible before the pick date
for everyone’s convenience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Volunteers can also register at <a href="http://www.fruitsharebarrie.ca/">www.FruitShareBarrie.ca</a> and
communicate what days they would prefer to pick on. From there, we will plan to
have 'teams' of volunteers designated to these specific days. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you like face-to-face contact, we invite you come meet us
at the <a href="http://barriefarmersmarket.ca/">Barrie Farmers’ Market</a>, this Saturday, July 16th! We are bringing a
table display and bushel-baskets full of energy, and will be sharing information
about the Barrie FruitShare program to the patrons there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We wish to thank the community for all the support and work to
make this program great. We could not do it without you! And with your help, we
can “rescue” even more fruit this year. Our goal is to see not a single tree go
unpicked, not a bushel of food wasted, and you can help us meet that goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/07/14/fruitshare-program-only-scratching-the-surface">Root Issues column</a> in the Barrie Examiner.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the boards of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-41991073380325295852016-07-17T13:03:00.000-07:002016-07-17T13:03:28.158-07:00Northern Protocol makes a big bang on the local scene<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These days news about the economy often seems pretty dreary.
With companies offshoring many jobs to places with lower wages or standards, and
those that remain being “rightsized” away, it feels like no-one can get a
decent salary anymore. Yet some businesses overcome this trend, and demonstrate
that innovation is truly the key to success and prosperity, and sometimes a
local business leads the way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXXrwumF-aBG4C_5zK7-yxDRceGSxU6PcUVuFmeZLvkrBURlQqO4yaJw3YlEUt_wOgA3Su28H7qiUPhjOrUWzhT_9hGcewCqYCpWhS9siTSCeNMjM8Wk7Qb5eHDWvEZqtK_ZOvN2u148/s1600/Weston+by+Wanzel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXXrwumF-aBG4C_5zK7-yxDRceGSxU6PcUVuFmeZLvkrBURlQqO4yaJw3YlEUt_wOgA3Su28H7qiUPhjOrUWzhT_9hGcewCqYCpWhS9siTSCeNMjM8Wk7Qb5eHDWvEZqtK_ZOvN2u148/s320/Weston+by+Wanzel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reaching the top of the computer service industry.<br /><i>Photo: Mark Wanzel</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Such is the case with <a href="https://www.npinc.ca/">Northern Protocol</a>. Founded by Aaron
Weston <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2012/07/20/aaron-weston-has-the-power-to-believe-in-others">almost 20 years ago</a> as a one-man jack-of-all-computer-trades outfit, since
2007 this Barrie operation has grown exponentially. That was the year Aaron
decided to turn his part-time home-based occupation into a serious concern. A
forward-looking landlord offered Weston 6-months rent-free in a vacant office
space at <a href="http://www.mmcorp.ca/listing.php?id=65">Bayfield & Ferris</a> and the gamble paid off, not only succeeding and
paying rent but within 3 years upgrading to double the space. Now with fully-operational
satellite offices in <a href="https://www.npinc.ca/bringing-computer-service-stayner/">Stayner</a> and Alliston, and a total payroll of over a dozen
full-timers, Northern Protocol has vaulted past their competitors and is on the
verge of possible franchising.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But what innovation led to this success? It isn’t some better
way to <a href="https://www.npinc.ca/computer-repair-barrie/personal-computer-service/virus-removal-barrie/">remove viruses</a>, maintain and <a href="https://www.npinc.ca/computer-repair-barrie/personal-computer-service/computer-tune-up-barrie/">clean up</a> cloggy old systems, recover lost
data, or <a href="https://www.npinc.ca/computer-repair-barrie/personal-computer-service/data-backup/">backup and reload</a>, all services available for PC or Mac at flat rates.
It isn’t because NP’s employees have special technical skills other support
firms don’t, although they certainly don’t lack talent. And it’s certainly not
a colourfully-wrapped compact car with the cheeky promise of <a href="http://smartsonsite.com/">smart</a> <a href="https://nerdsonsite.ca/about-us/service-areas/barrie-computer-support/">nerds</a> attending
your site. No, the innovation has been in the style and quality of service
provided.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I discovered this quite by accident, feeling unsatisfied with
the service from another <a href="http://www.drlogick.com/">local computer doctor</a>. After paying to have my problem
diagnosed, then paying again to fix it, my computer came home and within the
week the original problem recurred, despite my depleted wallet. Then I
encountered, either on the radio or their billboard, Northern Protocol’s trademarked
promise “<a href="https://www.npinc.ca/company/we-fix-it-or-its-free/">We fix it or it’s free</a>”. It struck me like a beam from the heavens: that’s
what I need, never again paying to “fix” my computer even if it wasn’t fixed. I
got that, and more. My home-business laptop frozen, I was in quite a pickle,
with work coming in on a 48-hour turnaround. I brought it to NP on a Saturday
morning, then spent the rest of the day on family activities. Sleeping in
Sunday morning, I was awoken by Weston himself, delivering my computer which he
had fixed the night before, with no special delivery or rush charge! The
problem was actually fixed and my work reputation was saved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir4A8vKZ5RxaBF89y23ycRAKsCYpkICZHNiq0Da_YM7OSCplEmlZ7BfIsYgbUoSW0K4ECQcrE6AhiT1StqTRZjNBcOWz7KHwkvAM5Oeh7E3DAWLGZ2VKcnjisdvDseo4cZdoxiFqHM_m4/s1600/Weston+angle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir4A8vKZ5RxaBF89y23ycRAKsCYpkICZHNiq0Da_YM7OSCplEmlZ7BfIsYgbUoSW0K4ECQcrE6AhiT1StqTRZjNBcOWz7KHwkvAM5Oeh7E3DAWLGZ2VKcnjisdvDseo4cZdoxiFqHM_m4/s320/Weston+angle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new angle on computer repair.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like many computer repair shops, you can bring in your
machine or they can work at your location on an hourly basis. But the added
value is free pick-up or drop-off from your home in the Barrie area, which gets
you the lower in-shop rates without having to drag your equipment back and
forth. You can also trust NP to recommend or sell you new equipment,
off-the-shelf or <a href="https://www.npinc.ca/computer-sales-barrie/custom-computers/">customized to your specs</a>, as they only carry or endorse
quality brands you can rely on to do what you need. And with a responsive
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WeFixITorItsFree/">Facebook page</a>, you can get helpful updates or have your own queries addressed
by real people, not faceless bots. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a quintessentially Barrie tale. Our community is very
supportive to small and growing businesses, and you may have read elsewhere of
Aaron’s personal streets-to-entrepreneur story. It’s a love that’s returned,
through NP’s support for the <a href="http://www.busbycentre.ca/">David Busby Street Centre</a>, Salvation Army
<a href="https://centraleastontario.cioc.ca/record/BAR2871">adopt-a-family</a>, <a href="http://copedogs.org/">COPE Dogs</a> and the <a href="http://barriejazzbluesfest.com/">Jazz & Blues festival</a>. So next time
economic news gets you down, think about thriving, innovative local businesses
like Northern Protocol and take heart!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie and Innisfil Examiners as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/06/22/some-local-businesses-are-very-innovative">Some local businesses are very innovative</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins serves
on the board of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>. </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-48008827514302374042016-07-08T20:40:00.001-07:002016-07-08T20:40:27.868-07:00Electoral reforms look promising<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is an exciting time for those who want to improve how we
fund or vote for political parties. Both the federal and provincial governments
are initiating processes for much-needed reforms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9pMNDs4002EFVJXMjErWLua02EMS-cq9TUuZlxfRMqr5mrRzdvFtBVEsxaZygg4LKQnZ5ORjEsesWopH_2wHM_CL5XrEwqjlpFiM8IViHHdEANQw8x-j3ZWnbD7EW1Zi29_B8285Lp8/s1600/elections-feature.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9pMNDs4002EFVJXMjErWLua02EMS-cq9TUuZlxfRMqr5mrRzdvFtBVEsxaZygg4LKQnZ5ORjEsesWopH_2wHM_CL5XrEwqjlpFiM8IViHHdEANQw8x-j3ZWnbD7EW1Zi29_B8285Lp8/s320/elections-feature.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the national level, one of the Liberal government’s
<a href="https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/electoral-reform/">election promises</a> was that 2015 would be the last federal election held under
the antiquated “first-past-the-post” (FPP) system. They were joined in pledges
for electoral reform by the <a href="http://www.ndp.ca/news/ndp-and-fair-vote-canada-stand-electoral-reform">NDP</a> and <a href="https://www.greenparty.ca/en/democratic-reform">Green Party</a>, which together means that
almost two-thirds of voters chose a party with electoral reform and ending FPP
in the election platform. Therefore, so long as the proposed reforms meet the
approval of the elected members from those three parties, the change will have
sufficient legitimacy to be implemented in time for the 2019 election, without
requiring a referendum or any other such impediment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Which only makes sense; we’ve never before needed a
<a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/2742293/electoral-reform-referendum-impossible-under-current-rules-ex-chief-electoral-officer/">referendum</a> to make our electoral system more fair, in line with the evolving
social and political conscience of Canadian society. We <a href="http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/franchise/">extended the vote</a> to
women, Canada’s indigenous peoples, and other ethnic groups who had not
previously been allowed to vote (Catholics, Chinese, Japanese) without a
referendum, and surely extending the vote from the minority of land-owning
white Protestant men to all adult citizens was a far more wide-reaching reform.
Voters clearly indicated last fall, in surveys and at the ballot box, that they
felt our current system does not adequately grant a fair and equal vote, so
it’s time to fix that, without undue delay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately, the governing Liberal party has created a
committee to draft this legislation which has a <a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2016/05/10/liberals-reveal-details-of-electoral-reform-committee/">majority of Liberal members</a>,
meaning they have the power to push through a reform which no other party
supports. And in their promise to “make every vote count”, they have even taken
the extreme step of having the Green Party and Bloc on the committee, but as
non-voting members! The gall is almost breathtaking. *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, I still hold out some hope that the consultation
process will convince the government that only a proper reform to a system
incorporating proportional representation, and having the support of parties
representing the majority of voters, can fulfill their election pledge. Fingers
crossed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN71MWT-MY9ReYMW0BamH3dYy-r-wClvXTCIqnX2qi6jluopmCIhnWcErx5rQ6G_utAPb1zw0MXQJ0mBDou2acenUTgrqtzSUhcWdB0PiBWSJPCKmY8b6tH7hzy7bS8vrtM4_TJHOhztc/s1600/1govt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN71MWT-MY9ReYMW0BamH3dYy-r-wClvXTCIqnX2qi6jluopmCIhnWcErx5rQ6G_utAPb1zw0MXQJ0mBDou2acenUTgrqtzSUhcWdB0PiBWSJPCKmY8b6tH7hzy7bS8vrtM4_TJHOhztc/s320/1govt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile, at the provincial level, the reforms at hand
relate to political funding. There has been widespread and totally justified
complaint about the way it seems that individuals and corporations with deep
pockets can buy enhanced access to our elected officials, including the Premier
and her Cabinet, but also Opposition leaders and parties. Responding to this
outcry, the Premier has pledged reforms to be in place before the next
election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In this process, the Premier isn’t forming an all-party
committee but at least has been open to consultation and input from <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/04/12/2-per-vote-subsidy-for-parties-looms-as-ontarios-political-fundraising-reform-takes-shape.html">other party leaders</a>, including the electorally mature but currently seatless Green Party.
For what seem like petty partisan reasons, the <a href="http://www.680news.com/2016/05/17/ontario-tightens-political-fundraising-rules-bans-corporate-union-donations/">NDP chose to forgo</a> this opportunity,
but since the Greens have the most developed electoral finance reform policy
base, there was no vacuum of good advice.<br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-proposes-political-fundraising-bill-with-ban-on-corporate-union-donations-1.3585863">Measures announced so far</a> will bar corporate and union
contributions altogether. Sadly, the proposed individual contribution limit of
$7500 is <a href="http://www.680news.com/2016/05/17/ontario-tightens-political-fundraising-rules-bans-corporate-union-donations/">still too high</a>, and restrictions on party spending aren’t sufficient.
But one key reform is to replace the forgone corporate/union money with
per-vote funding. This system, <a href="http://democracywatch.ca/20160411-how-to-reform-political-finance-across-canada-democratically/">already present in other jurisdictions</a> like
Nova Scotia and Quebec and formerly in place federally, is the fairest way to
apportion spending money between political parties. It allows every voter an
equal amount of subsidy to direct to the party of their preference, regardless
of their personal finances and without direct cost to them. What’s best is that
this per-vote subsidy will actually cost the taxpayer less than the existing
tax rebates on the contributions being phased out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So although we’ll have to pay careful attention to this
process to make sure the results are fair to all, there is at least reason for
optimism on the electoral reform front.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">* <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wherry-electoral-reform-committee-1.3643701">This has changed</a> since this column was originally published.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/05/18/feeling-positive-about-electoral-reform-root-issues">Feeling positive about electoral reform</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
a director of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-36810312343571520742016-07-08T19:24:00.002-07:002016-07-08T19:24:56.108-07:00Barrie's Food Forest continues to grow<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Regular readers of this column will know that one of Barrie’s
greatest good-news stories is <a href="http://fruitsharebarrie.ca/">FruitShare</a>, the organization I helped found 3
years ago to rescue surplus fruit from the many apple, pear, plumb, and cherry
trees growing in the yards of Barrie residents. This initiative sends teams of
volunteer pickers to pick the crop and clean up the fallen fruit, then divide
the harvest between themselves, the tree owner, and a social agency like the
<a href="http://www.barriefoodbank.org/">Barrie Food Bank</a>. So far, over 5 tons (10,000 pounds) has been rescued and
distributed, over half of that in 2015 alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2IItuaRwbCP7xkc5b11w3SSIcYmtsPhW8qkH7hs4d5JczBy-5SEEUcKrF29V2Y2lcoZiazGXGrLwKIG2RMmP3-BgLw0uIoXANpW_Yu1Gr0n4H2JCRP-GnRP_Mo5aE2VuFuAzbo9SveI/s1600/fruits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC2IItuaRwbCP7xkc5b11w3SSIcYmtsPhW8qkH7hs4d5JczBy-5SEEUcKrF29V2Y2lcoZiazGXGrLwKIG2RMmP3-BgLw0uIoXANpW_Yu1Gr0n4H2JCRP-GnRP_Mo5aE2VuFuAzbo9SveI/s320/fruits.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, you may also have read about our other, long-term
project: <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2014/08/a-forest-of-free-food-for-all.html">Barrie’s Food Forest</a>. This isn’t one specific location, but rather an
approach to making fresh, local, organic fruit available to anyone without
charge, by planting hardy locally-adapted fruit trees in parks and other public
lands. Like Barrie’s backyard fruit trees, these public mini-orchards will
increase Barrie’s tree canopy and provide ecological services to bees and other
pollinators and natural species that share our city. But they will also be
available for citizens to help themselves to healthy, tasty fruit, free for the
picking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So far, a dozen trees have already been planted north of
downtown, and thanks to a “Carrot Cache” grant from <a href="https://thebigcarrot.ca/home/">The Big Carrot</a> organic
co-op in Toronto, fifty more will be planted this Saturday in Barrie’s west
end. Planting locations aren’t publicized until the trees have matured enough
to withstand picking, but as the Food Forest matures in coming years, we will
be posting and sharing locations with free, ripe fruit around Barrie, including
near you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In recognition of this goal and our work towards it, the
<a href="http://www.barrierotary.com/">Rotary Club of Barrie</a> recently presented FruitShare the <a href="http://yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oid=592041">Charlie Wilson</a>
Environmental Award, given each year in recognition of exceptional promotion
and commitment to the environment. Over his six decades as a Rotarian, <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2012/04/03/former-barrie-alderman-environmentally-friendly">Charlie spearheaded</a> many environmentally-friendly initiatives, including the <a href="http://www.barrierotary.com/SitePage/tree-planting">planting of trees</a> in public spaces along the lakeshore and streets across Barrie, so
this award clearly embodies his spirit. A project of Living Green in
partnership with <a href="https://www.transitionbarrie.org/">Transition Barrie</a> and the <a href="http://www.simcoemuskokahealth.org/Home.aspx">Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit</a>,
FruitShare continues to expand the fruit-tree resource for our citizens and
ecology and thrives on this kind of community recognition and support.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Speaking of support, there are many ways you can get involved
with such a worthy project. Every year, we need people with fruit trees to
contact us and let us pick their harvest. We need people to volunteer as
pickers, and as “ShareBosses”, our pick supervisors. We also need
administrative and financial support. Get in touch if you are interested in any
of these forms of involvement, and sign up at <a href="http://fruitsharebarrie.ca/">FruitShareBarrie.ca</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Each of our Food Forest locations represents a naming
opportunity for a local business sponsor – would you like to have free fruit
growing in your name? If so, then contact us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And a special, unique opportunity to get out and help comes
this Saturday, May 14, from 1 – 4 pm, as we plant our latest 50 fruit trees to
expand our Food Forest. If you’d like to come out and help, email </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:FruitShare.Barrie@gmail.com">FruitShare.Barrie@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> and we’ll tell you the exact location. Dress for the
weather, including appropriate footwear, and bring your own shovel &
bucket, if you can. Together we can grow Barrie’s healthy future!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/05/11/food-program-taking-root-root-issues">Food program taking root</a>"</span></i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice-president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a> and a founder of
<a href="http://fruitsharebarrie.ca/">FruitShare Barrie</a>.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-47819682917148337312016-07-05T18:29:00.000-07:002016-07-05T18:29:17.920-07:00The (non) Future of Pipelines<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlbVecgQmrKPAqTP-q7qjdZBgVFir6GNgUVR_xhwGAXNfRFkvWkSEgXLpogyLHSomxa3odvj4KN-9NpiI-AnRGSPzpEECyFq6NPqrSGfsmVqfvjC-rmcg6EfNNm1e8fSX5T23BtltDps/s1600/pipelines+vanishing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlbVecgQmrKPAqTP-q7qjdZBgVFir6GNgUVR_xhwGAXNfRFkvWkSEgXLpogyLHSomxa3odvj4KN-9NpiI-AnRGSPzpEECyFq6NPqrSGfsmVqfvjC-rmcg6EfNNm1e8fSX5T23BtltDps/s640/pipelines+vanishing.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pipelines will soon reach their vanishing point</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Despite last year’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference">Paris climate conference</a> clearly
demonstrating most <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/paris/index_en.htm">nations are committed</a> to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
from burning fossil fuels, some in Canada still <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/05/31/while-canada-dithers-world-shops-elsewhere">insist our economic future rests on building new pipelines</a>, primarily to get oil and gas from the
Athabaska sands to tidewater for export. Yet many reports now show pipelines
are not only unnecessary, but will be an economic albatross around our necks if
we do actually build them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First, let’s sweep aside a few of the false arguments. One is
that new pipelines will make Canada become energy-independent by replacing
eastern provinces’ oil imports with domestic supply. This simply isn’t true, as
the destination for proposed pipelines isn’t Canadian refineries to turn
bitumen into gasoline, but rather deep ocean ports where bitumen can be loaded
onto tankers for export. And let’s not fall into the silly trap that pipelines
are safer than rail as a way to ship energy. When it comes to bitumen, <a href="http://theamericanenergynews.com/markham-on-energy/7076">rail is actually safer</a>; tanks of thick, viscous bitumen are not a risk for explosion,
fire, or even significant leaks. Taking that same bitumen and diluting it with
<a href="http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/03/05/Diluted-Bitumen/">toxic fluids</a> to make “dilbit” flow through pipelines is, however, a serious
risk, as this dilbit is a <a href="http://insideclimatenews.org/news/09122015/unique-hazards-tar-sands-oil-spills-dilbit-diluted-bitumen-confirmed-national-academies-of-science-kalamazoo-river-enbridge">far more harmful liquid</a> if (when) it leaks or spills. Of course the silliest argument is that
our economy will shut down without new pipelines. Is there some problem with
the existing ones that get oil and gas to our homes, businesses, and factories
now? Are they all about to fail or shut down? That’s news to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But ignoring those red herrings, and even if we ignore our
own responsibility to reduce, rather than increase, carbon emissions, dollars
and cents argue against the viability of new pipe. For new pipelines to ever
pay for themselves, much less turn a profit, they need a corresponding
expansion of Alberta bitumen extraction. Putting aside that Alberta’s <a href="http://thetyee.ca/News/2016/06/02/Pro-Pipeline-Fantasies-Knocked-Down/">own greenhouse gas cap promise</a> won’t let this happen, <a href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/era-of-oil-nearing-its-end-381414191.html">the money isn’t there</a>. Oil must
be over $68, even towards $100, to fund the infrastructure to pry oil out of
sand. Yet they likely won’t rise above that any time soon. The Saudis, who pump
oil freely, have seen this coming and are having a fire sale, liquidating as
fast as they can to prepare for the post-oil economy of their “<a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/en/special-reports/saudi-vision-2030/2016/04/25/Saudi-Arabia-to-announce-Vision-2030-today.html">Vision 2030</a>”.
Meanwhile, cheap oil and gas from US fracking will keep prices down, regardless
of Saudis actions. Without money to expand tar sands operations, there’s nothing
to send through new pipes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And that’s looking at oil alone. The other elephant in the
room is the rise in supply, and drop in cost, of renewable energy. Solar
technology is improving at a similar rate as microprocessors, with costs
dropping steadily as demand increases. Wind is already one of the cheapest new
power sources around, while improvements to storage tech are making all clean
and renewable sources more competitive. There is <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/canada-super-power-oil-decline-renewables-policy-horizons-1.3601400">widespread agreement</a> that
electricity is becoming the dominant global energy, supplanting fossil fuels.
As this trend continues, investment in electricity infrastructure is a good
bet, while investment in pipelines or fossil extraction is a long shot at best.
Even in the auto market, the growth of electric cars in the market is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-ev-oil-crisis/">set to be exponential</a>, and by the 2020s buying a new gas vehicle will be like buying a
black-and-white TV in the 70s. Affordable long-range electric cars are the
colour TV of the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So all in all, anyone who still insists that new pipelines
are a wise investment, or necessary for Canada’s economic future, simply isn’t
paying attention to all the key economic indicators and risks, and shouldn’t be
trusted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/06/29/new-pipelines-not-wise-investments">New pipelines are not a very wise investment</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
serves on the board of <a href="http://www.livinggreenbarrie.com/">Living Green</a> and the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-57636820757662404442016-06-06T21:22:00.000-07:002016-06-06T21:22:41.423-07:00Family link with ink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3Q6YZThuZhITpRJmPvWIBc_pqHSsUJkgh43sPhwfhmpfwUekuuGJqMsRPvs0ZMtExj8YydIoNULwyoEKOP7JyzFG4ROYEN6gAYDFRQdVVBqfYPVJMpMb5g47PTfIBG4evZVh8tHdWGk/s1600/newsprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_3Q6YZThuZhITpRJmPvWIBc_pqHSsUJkgh43sPhwfhmpfwUekuuGJqMsRPvs0ZMtExj8YydIoNULwyoEKOP7JyzFG4ROYEN6gAYDFRQdVVBqfYPVJMpMb5g47PTfIBG4evZVh8tHdWGk/s320/newsprint.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My family has a multi-generational relationship with newsprint.
If you are reading this, you may have realized I write a (mostly) weekly <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/author/erich-jacoby-hawkins">column</a>
in our local daily paper-of-record, which I also post as a blog – usually the
same or next day, sometimes a bit later. (If you’re reading this online – how
was your summer?) I’m not paid for it, but I get to write what I feel is
important or overlooked, without being assigned topics or edited (much). But
this is just the culmination of what turns out to have been a long, close
relationship with print news. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It all started when I was perhaps 11 years old, delivering
the <a href="http://www.orangeville.com/orangeville-on/">local news-and-shopper</a> to about a dozen blocks of my hometown thrice a week.
A couple of years later, I moved to the big leagues, delivering a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/">national daily</a> 7 days a week. What I now can’t believe is that I used to deliver it in
the morning before going to school! (People who know me now will declare that
I’m lying, but that’s how I remember it.) The paper at hand, I also began
reading the news at that young age, perhaps sparking my later interest in local
and national politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As a teen, paper routes gave way to more lucrative
after-school jobs. But attending the <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/">University of Waterloo</a>, I soon enough
found myself volunteering to proofread, write, and eventually co-edit the fortnightly
faculty student publication <a href="http://mathnews.uwaterloo.ca/"><i>math</i>NEWS</a>
(our name explained by the humorous yet true slogan “the paper with a little
math, and even less news”), a post I held for several years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Even though my days as a reporter and editor were pretty mild,
other than some tussles over content deemed too shocking by the powers-that-be,
I nonetheless developed a feeling of kinship to news media, such that the most moving
monument I ever visited was a monument <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoDkHgUaAeceKpBDaOLZBXgJJ5Ij7F7GUOZT3BAfCIiYLBQdEoHcgpojOKifzjDiw4KIZqsWfSUZsFvLbjFsVWXSgejQuVZXMv4A9tOuftJ4q3PSm9jJqTfP7DnO1s0tLiPf4dyH9sQ/s1600/DSC_0181_2_3.jpg">honouring war correspondents</a> killed in the
Korean War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moving to Barrie, I came full circle. With two home-based flex-time
part-time jobs, I took on delivering the <a href="http://www.simcoe.com/barrie-on/">local shopper</a> on my street as a way to
get some exercise, some pocket money, and meet the new neighbours. For some
reason I quit after a year – probably when the Christmas season turned every
paper into phone book and the job lost its shine. A few years later I was back,
yet on the pages instead of carrying them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But now my daughter is carrying on this family tradition. Not
as a writer, not yet, although her photograph has graced the pages reporting on
many community events. No, she’s taken up the mantle of delivering the weekly
shopper, a job that’s changed somewhat since I put down the bag. Back then,
there were just a dozen or so flyers, and I went out thrice a week. Now it only
runs once a week, but the inserts often number 40 or more. So while it seems
print media is shrinking, at least in the news aspect, with fewer or thinner
editions, the amount of print advertising remains or grows. As a result, every
Thursday wee Brianna gamely delivers over twice her weight in newsprint. At 3
pounds per paper, I’m at least glad Barrie has a good recycling program, and
people use it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And since I help her with the huge task of pre-assembling the
papers, I get to educate her on the magic of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_rock">classic music</a>, because I control
the stereo. But the real education is in the responsibility of employment,
which she takes very seriously, out there in any weather and subcontracting her
own substitutes during family vacations. Will she follow in my footsteps and
end up with her own byline in print? Will print newspapers still exist? It’s
hard to say, but given her strong, informed opinions and willingness to share,
it’s not impossible to imagine. Perhaps someday this column, like delivering
the paper, will become a family tradition, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/04/27/family-tradition-wrapped-in-newsprint-root-issues">Family tradition wrapped in newsprint</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice-president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a> and a founder of
<a href="http://fruitsharebarrie.ca/">FruitShare Barrie</a>.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-14567718134408754432016-04-26T10:52:00.001-07:002016-04-26T10:52:44.455-07:00FruitShare and Good Food Box cross-pollinate a Trillium<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As spring belatedly arrives, thoughts turn to the fruits of
nature: vegetables from our gardens, berries from the bushes, the wonderful
bounty growing all around us. But for many, access to fresh fruit and veggies
is precarious at best. Luckily, some local programs address food insecurity:
the <a href="http://www.barriefoodbank.org/">Barrie Food Bank</a> (more on this in a future column), the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/barrie.good.food.box">Barrie Good Food Box</a>, and <a href="http://fruitsharebarrie.ca/">FruitShare Barrie</a>. The latter two will be joining forces this year in
a new collaborative venture, named (for now) the Urban Pantry Project, supported
by new funds from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZYzJIOwPveCD_j1mEIH1p_jQGRmXMRQ3WW683CD7YFwgJniFPsH7VVsKW5xV89d3RQEGxVlLaCQG1h3NWTYDeEnCP7ieGxzfNc7C_mBEi9QTXE4Az4rKI2ZJrqS0Vl4fq2DTs7qwOX4/s1600/good-food-box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixZYzJIOwPveCD_j1mEIH1p_jQGRmXMRQ3WW683CD7YFwgJniFPsH7VVsKW5xV89d3RQEGxVlLaCQG1h3NWTYDeEnCP7ieGxzfNc7C_mBEi9QTXE4Az4rKI2ZJrqS0Vl4fq2DTs7qwOX4/s320/good-food-box.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have written of FruitShare <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/search?q=fruitshare">before</a>, so you’ll recall it sends
teams of volunteer pickers to glean the fruit from homeowners’ backyard trees and
share it between the owner, the pickers, and social agencies like the Food
Bank. The Good Food Box is a bulk-buy cooperative, allowing many people to pool
their money for fresh produce at wholesale prices. People sign up for the $12
small box or $17 large box and then each month, the program shops and fills the
boxes with fresh fruit and vegetables at a significant discount from retail cost.
Both programs make a healthy diet more affordable and accessible for families
struggling to put food on the table among other bills and expenses, but are open
to anyone who wants to hook into the local food movement, regardless of income.
Participation from across the community makes it work, and nothing brings your
family more joy than fresh, local, healthy food!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While these programs have been successful, they were both in
need of a boost. You see, both the Good Food Box and FruitShare are run mainly
by volunteers, with minimal paid staff. Yet both need significant oversight, a
secure location for storing equipment and distributing food, and access to a
truck for site visits and collecting and distributing food. However, neither
was large enough to provide any of these for itself, and neither needed any of
these full-time. But what if they were to share?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Out of that idea came the Urban Pantry Project, a proposal
that has now received a first-year “seed money” grant of <a href="http://www.otf.ca/canadian-mental-health-association-simcoe-county-branch">$66,800 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation</a>. Announced this Tuesday by Barrie <a href="http://annhoggarth.onmpp.ca/">MPP Ann Hoggarth</a> and
<a href="http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/about/bio.shtml">Michael Coteau</a>, Ontario’s Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (and
Trillium), this grant will put both projects on solid footing with a shared
coordinator, truck, and depot, hopefully expanding over time to several depots bringing
food resources, and hope, directly into more Barrie neighbourhoods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This stable funding and staffing means both programs will be
able to expand in scope. FruitShare will provide seminars and discounts on care
for fruit trees, including pruning, and continue to plant Barrie’s “Food
Forest”, fruit-bearing trees in parks or other public spaces. Together, the
projects will offer workshops on food preparation and preserving, where people
can re-learn the lost arts of cooking from scratch or canning jams and sauces. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This grant will also bring greater visibility. FruitShare is
still seeking local business sponsors to help with program costs, and now is
the perfect opportunity for enterprising businesspeople to get their brand a
prominent position in our media and promotional materials. (Yes, that’s a big
hint). The public, the media, and the government all love projects like
FruitShare and the Good Food Box, so this is your chance to get in on the
ground floor and show the community that your business cares about food
security. Contact </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:FruitShare.Barrie@gmail.com">FruitShare.Barrie@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> to find out more about sponsorship,
volunteering, or having your fruit picked for you; to sign up for the Good Food
Box email </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="mailto:BarrieGoodFoodBox@gmail.com">BarrieGoodFoodBox@gmail.com</a></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/04/13/food-security-given-a-boost">Food security given a boost</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice-president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a> and a founder of
<a href="http://fruitsharebarrie.ca/">FruitShare Barrie</a>.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-88206772662082919422016-04-20T19:40:00.000-07:002016-04-20T19:40:28.988-07:00My Two Cents on Political Finance<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The latest political scandal is <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/kathleen-wynne-political-fundraising-1.3517290">high-priced political fundraisers</a> held by Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal Party, where deep-pocketed
investors and cash-flush companies pay thousands of dollars to spend an evening
with the top decision-makers. Most other parties haven’t said much about this,
either, since they, too, depend on multi-thousand-dollar contributions from the
usual suspects: the rich, corporations, and unions. Only <a href="https://gpo.ca/fundraising-reform-proposal">the Green Party has notably stood apart</a>, having advocated for years for a total ban on corporate
& union contributions and a reduction in the individual maximum
contribution limit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSY-Dd5YF_q1ZuPr8cyRAK9wVhGLuzzpocmdtJyd3fZXguwc8qqVWj4geodSyVYVzcgPYqhKR3HmdUVOB1NTQI2GAe2JWyzPHqEk2l3dmk4F39OrtmLGmat8_VEMe5BROjbBHfbSJDeVg/s1600/Monopolistic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSY-Dd5YF_q1ZuPr8cyRAK9wVhGLuzzpocmdtJyd3fZXguwc8qqVWj4geodSyVYVzcgPYqhKR3HmdUVOB1NTQI2GAe2JWyzPHqEk2l3dmk4F39OrtmLGmat8_VEMe5BROjbBHfbSJDeVg/s320/Monopolistic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So saith Uncle Pennybags!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This goes for the municipal level, too, where <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/03/developer-donations-influence-local-election-outcomes-study-finds.html">studies show</a>
corporations and developers provide the lion’s share of campaign contributions,
while mayors and councillors are mainly funded with money from outside their
own jurisdictions. Although some cities have <a href="http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/bylaws/2009/law1177.pdf">ruled out</a> some classes of
contributions, and some candidates (like our own Mayor <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/04/07/barrie-councillors-could-vote-on-banning-election-donations-from-corporations-and-unions">Jeff Lehman</a>) pledge not
to accept developer money, what is truly needed is a comprehensive reform, not
just a patchwork of local or personal measures. Otherwise, nothing contradicts
a clear picture of democracy for sale to the highest bidder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But getting the big money interests out of politics solves
one problem at the risk of creating another. If parties can’t accept big
cheques, they will need to get a lot of little ones instead. Yet with fewer
than one in 500 people willing to give more than $100 to a political candidate,
there are limits to this revenue. Starving parties of money isn’t a good idea,
either, because presenting a clear, researched platform to the public in a way
they will take notice isn’t cheap. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Inexpensive tools like email or social media are handy, but
they work by connecting to contacts you already have, or to people willing to
pay attention to political posts (if their ad blockers aren’t engaged). They
can’t reach those who aren’t already engaged. Distributing literature and
putting up signs are still crucial elements of campaigning. In their absence,
as those with a small budget and ecological conscience have found with
online-only “virtual campaigns”, means most voters will never even know you
exist or learn your positions. In fact, without election signs and a heavy
amount of mass advertising by parties, a shockingly large percent of the
electorate won’t even realize there’s an election on, much less who the parties
or candidates are. Political apathy can’t simply be ignored; campaigns must
push back with costly in-your-face tactics. So if Mr. Moneybags can’t help,
what shall we do instead?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One clear answer is <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/04/12/2-per-vote-subsidy-for-parties-looms-as-ontarios-political-fundraising-reform-takes-shape.html">per-vote funding</a> for political parties.
This used to be in place federally, replacing big cheques when contribution
limits were first tightened in 2004. Since then, <a href="http://www.hilltimes.com/2016/04/11/how-to-democratize-political-finance-systems-across-canada/55986">half of our provinces</a> have
also adopted some form of per-vote funding. Arguments that this is an
unwarranted taxpayer subsidy are completely disingenuous, as they come from
parties benefitting from rich public subsidies through contribution tax credits
and election spending rebates. Those are actually the subsidies that should have
been reduced, since they favour big-spending parties or those with
deep-pocketed supporters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And since per-vote funding won’t work municipally, where
candidates don’t represent parties, we also need a shift from generous donor
tax credits to public matching, like in Quebec where the first $20,000 raised
per candidate, and $200,000 per party, receives matching funds. This would help
even the playing field between larger, more established parties and newer,
smaller ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most importantly, <a href="http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2016/week15/Wednesday/16041307.htm">reforms like this</a> must be implemented soon,
definitely before the next municipal and provincial elections, so that we will
never again have an election cycle dominated by big corporate, union, or
developer interests.</span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/04/06/reforms-needed-to-discourage-elections-from-being-dominated-by-corporations-unions-or-developers">Reforms needed to discourage elections from being dominated by corporations, unions, or developers</a>"</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>. </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-91241765760875090282016-04-18T16:46:00.000-07:002016-04-18T16:48:36.231-07:00My old friend Technology: why have you forsaken me?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I grew up as a nerd, usually with a better handle on
digital technology than my elders, sometimes even a resource to peers. Sadly,
that era has passed; now I find technology more frustrating as time passes, or
as I age.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4f7YFIsvcXpxynImfriBZyEDBih2i4dN5wMNDcGU50LYOJSPLkRBvSOQWyZ6raO-R_BhgdMhuC0Y2ufReYur-P97I8MoAoYc4h5ppFchD1lV9fe7_lEnAlkriX_-B2sBOCyo2oAW64ps/s1600/saturday-salon-overwhelmed-by-technology-8954_175x175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4f7YFIsvcXpxynImfriBZyEDBih2i4dN5wMNDcGU50LYOJSPLkRBvSOQWyZ6raO-R_BhgdMhuC0Y2ufReYur-P97I8MoAoYc4h5ppFchD1lV9fe7_lEnAlkriX_-B2sBOCyo2oAW64ps/s1600/saturday-salon-overwhelmed-by-technology-8954_175x175.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The first big issue is my lack of a smart phone.
Self-employed and working from home, with wifi at my desk and lap, I really
can’t justify the expense of a data plan. Unlike some, I don’t have an employer
to pay it for me; theoretically I could write it off as a business expense, but
that’s still not free. So it peeves me to no end that, in this modern world,
most handy new software tools exist as “apps” for phones rather than software for
real computers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Except I do put apps on my computer, to help family.
My daughter saved birthday, Christmas, and allowance money to buy an older iPod
we then discovered can’t handle the current version of iOS most apps need. If
she’s lucky, the app she wants run an older version, but only if I first visit
the AppStore from my computer and “get” the app there. So now I have an
AppStore account, but even this work-around tragically only works around half
the time, earning my endless enmity for all things Apple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">My other daughter has a tablet originally obtained for
educational games like <a href="http://kizi.com/videos/plants-vs-zombies?ch=663&CreativeID=57912832111&Placement=&Category=&KW=_cat%3Akizi.com&gclid=COnokdGsmcwCFQEJaQodydgJcQ">Plants vs. Zombies</a> or <a href="https://minecraft.net/">Minecraft</a>. Instead, she spends
every online moment watching videos of other people playing games, a pastime
her parents find incomprehensible and annoying. Worse, she has taken to
watching videos during car rides, which we discovered halfway to Grandma’s
Easter dinner had rapidly burned through the data allowance of <a href="http://www.chevrolet.com/culture/article/4g-lte.html">our car’s wifi</a>,
preventing me from working online on long drives, the whole reason we had the
plan!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://library.barrie.ca/">Barrie’s Public Library</a> is on the bleeding edge of new
tech. They only had a <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0307887448/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=330641&creativeASIN=0307887448&linkCode=as2&tag=erithegre-20">recent bestseller</a> I really wanted in electronic formats.
I don’t own an e-reader and don’t enjoy lengthy reads on a computer screen, but
with an old mp3 player gathering dust I consented to “signing out” the
book-on-tape version (read by Wil Wheaton). Easier said than done. The first
file to arrive was EPUB, apparently an e-book. I downloaded and installed
software to “read” it, only to find all I had was a 33-page sample! So then I
had to sign up for, download and install <a href="https://www.overdrive.com/">OverDrive</a> to access the actual recording,
which turned out to be 15 hours long! With the sound file now in my computer, I
connected my mp3 player for something to enjoy on my daily walks. Surprise!
Even with the files on my device and playable from it through my laptop, the
mp3 player itself can’t “see” the files unless I install them with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SonicStage">Sony’s special software</a>. After 45 minutes of installation and a full system reboot, then
a 20-minute Google search to overcome a known bug, and another 10 minutes to re-transfer,
I finally have a listenable book in my pocket. Now all I need are better
headphones to block traffic noise. At this point I suspect I could have read
the hardcover in less time than it took to find, install, and use all the
software to download it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Meanwhile, the smartphone world continues to insult my
cheap burner cellphone (mainly for emergencies) by forcing me to constantly send
or receive text messages using a horribly unhelpful interface. I suspect it’s
all a plot to enslave me to the smart phone data plan rip-off… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/03/30/tech-world-tough-to-navigate">Tech world tough to navigate</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>. </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-5098147562955450762016-03-16T20:30:00.000-07:002016-03-16T20:30:04.011-07:00Religion and Politics, oh my.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They say to avoid discussing religion and politics. Well, I’m
not afraid to write about politics, and now and then address religion,
especially when they intersect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These days, religion seems very political, unfortunately for
mostly negative reasons. Media pays much attention to the influence of radical
Islam in some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant">terrorist movements</a>, or as inspiration to <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/03/16/north-york-military-stabbing-suspect-faces-nine-charges.html">lone lunatics</a>. Sadly,
this fear spills over to the wider mass of non-violent Muslims desiring nothing
more than to live their lives in peace, who see their religion not as a call to
dominate those of other faiths, but merely a path to connect with a higher
power. It worsens when members of a competing faith, such as Christianity, try
to assert religious superiority not only in spiritual realms but in the
domestic political arena, with policies such as shunning our duties toward
<a href="http://www.bccatholic.ca/canadian/5859-canada-makes-no-special-provisions-for-syrian-christians-facing-genocide">refugees fleeing violence</a>, or trying to ban all Muslims from entry, as
suggested by a leading American <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/republicans/12052760/republican-debate-donald-trump-las-vegas.html">presidential candidate</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSF-q0rE3yfPuqHpxW8WNs_xs-I42bWMZeFDsH3m3JCyRzF6FaMO3CHsO0nZb4LFaUSVwNNJAtqpGbP-v83L5idRzQiTESr0o5Agd7hdce95Ibm-d854VaO8kqEWZ5bZbH7C_jspTUxTA/s1600/Crucifixion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSF-q0rE3yfPuqHpxW8WNs_xs-I42bWMZeFDsH3m3JCyRzF6FaMO3CHsO0nZb4LFaUSVwNNJAtqpGbP-v83L5idRzQiTESr0o5Agd7hdce95Ibm-d854VaO8kqEWZ5bZbH7C_jspTUxTA/s320/Crucifixion.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2 class=" meta-field photo-desc " id="yui_3_16_0_1_1458185001985_1776" style="background-color: #f3f5f6; clear: both; color: #212124; font-family: 'Proxima Nova', 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; min-height: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; text-align: start;">
Once on the cross, more than enough.<br />
But your crucifixion goes on today<br />
In killings, rapes, and war devastation,<br />
Innocent ones maimed and abused,<br />
Martyred ones speaking out for justice,<br />
Brave ones protecting the defenseless,<br />
All those men and women who die<br />
Working tirelessly for the good of others.<br />
When will your crucifixion end?<br />
Not until everyone is a person of love<br />
<i>Today:</i> I live as a person of love<br /> © Joyce Rupp in "Fragments of Your Ancient Name", Sorin Books</h2>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Therefore, it is encouraging that local Christians, working
together through Simcoe County KAIROS, embrace their faith in an inclusive
rather than exclusive manner. This Easter will mark Barrie’s third annual Good
Friday <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/244885222513066/">Ecumenical Walk for Justice</a>. Beginning and ending (with soup & bun) at
City Hall 1 – 2:30 pm on March 25, marchers will visit many “stations of the
cross” in Barrie, each relating to the struggles of dealing with poverty,
homelessness, or marginalization. Some places are where the vulnerable risk
feeling voiceless or oppressed, such as City Hall, a police station, or the
courthouse/jail, while others are places they receive support, like the <a href="http://www.busbycentre.ca/">David Busby Street Centre</a>, <a href="http://elizabethfrysociety.com/">Elizabeth Fry Society</a>, or a church participating in the
<a href="http://barrieoutofthecold.org/">Out of the Cold</a> program. I am encouraged that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Catcher">Spirit Catcher</a> is one of the stations,
recognizing our First Nations and their faiths which faced great repression
over the centuries. At each station, the walk will emphasize ways that “Christ
is crucified today”, relating scriptural accounts to modern-day social injustices
Christ would speak to, were He among us now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet while some use faith to justify compassion and others to
justify hatred, there are also those who feel people can be ethical, moral and
compassionate without faith, relying instead on reason. Known as Humanists, they
can be good without God. The <a href="http://www.cohumanists.ca/">Central Ontario Humanists Association</a> (COHA) has
spearheaded a great opportunity to learn more about that concept with “#GodDebate:
Does God Exist?” at 7 pm on March 30. Respectfully debating on the “No” side will
be COHA’s president Shawn Conroy, while arguing God’s existence will be the
Rev. William Haughton of <a href="http://collierunited.ca/">Collier Street United Church</a>, which is hosting the event
(thus giving God the home-field advantage). This isn’t a knockdown
winner-take-all fight, no-one will be crowned winner; instead, it will be an
opportunity for people of traditional or eclectic faiths, or no faith at all,
to explore, share and discuss their own ideas and those of others. Visit event
site </span><a href="http://bit.ly/GodDebate2016"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">http://bit.ly/GodDebate2016</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> to submit questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While I am not a believer, and don’t think scripture is
divinely inspired, much less infallible, I do believe that great moral writings
persist through history when they offer enduring insight on the human
condition, whether that be <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2011/12/give-gift-of-time-this-holiday-season.html">the plight of the homeless</a> or how to show <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2015/09/what-would-jesus-do-about-syria.html">compassion toward refugees</a> from another land. With that in mind, I look forward to both of
these upcoming faith-based local events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/03/16/faith-based-events-will-spark-talk-root-issues">Faith-based events will spark talk</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">R<span id="goog_208122327"></span>obert Schalkenbach Foundation</a><span id="goog_208122328"></span>. </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-68149222149438783722016-03-10T18:57:00.000-08:002016-03-10T18:57:32.408-08:00Ontario Liberals mess up Green policies again<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlxP8NV0sFsphncIbYjv8s2ap3hLwd9FGIAcM5Y-NamdhlnRhYdXmwBQrl45inoaNmIvDnjHXr9t_FSnOIXeEWmZGstH_tzuEs59Yg_Z-hpA10eRJ-mPqqH8v8T9MzI-rD-JX6F9IX3k/s1600/environmental-policy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlxP8NV0sFsphncIbYjv8s2ap3hLwd9FGIAcM5Y-NamdhlnRhYdXmwBQrl45inoaNmIvDnjHXr9t_FSnOIXeEWmZGstH_tzuEs59Yg_Z-hpA10eRJ-mPqqH8v8T9MzI-rD-JX6F9IX3k/s320/environmental-policy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green legislation from other parties <br />is never quite as good as promised.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s great when governments finally do the right thing, yet
frustrating when they try but screw it up. Over a decade of Green Party policy,
I’ve seen many Green ideas migrate into the platforms of other parties and even
enacted by governments, who rarely carry it through the way Greens would.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For example, the Ontario Liberal government started out with
the best way to increase the use of clean renewable energy like solar, wind and
biogas: a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed-in_tariff">feed-in tariff</a>. Basically, it guarantees that producers of clean
energy can sell their product at a reasonable markup, which gets individuals
and businesses the necessary start-up financing. It’s nothing unique to
renewables, of course; nuclear, gas, and other electric producers also get
guaranteed rates. By extending this mechanism to renewables, the playing field
is levelled. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unfortunately, the McGuinty government screwed this up a few
ways. At the smallest level, they keep adding more and more restrictions on the
<a href="http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/">microFIT program</a>: they limit the size of a solar installation to <a href="http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/solar-photovoltaic-pv">10 kilowatts</a>,
they <a href="http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/microfit-program-resources/revised-faqs#i4">won’t allow</a> installation on a second property, whether it’s a business,
cottage, or rental house, and farmers with panels on poles or
frames, instead of existing farmhouses or barns, get lower prices. It’s like they can’t decide if
more solar production is a good thing to foster, or a bad thing to restrict! At
the mega-level, they gave initial preference to major corporate producers,
including a <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/658399/ontario-samsung-deal-slashed-by-3-7-billion/">multi-billion dollar deal with Samsung</a>. Only many years later did
they partially address this through <a href="https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2012/opa-announces-revised-fit-program">preferential opportunities</a> for local
community co-ops, which should have been the norm in the first place. The end
result of these blunders was to unfairly stain the whole idea of renewable
energy among the public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Similar problems are recurring around carbon pricing. As most
environmentalists and just about every economist will tell you, the best way to
reduce climate destabilizing greenhouse gas emissions is putting a price on
carbon pollution, so reduction becomes part of every economic decision at the
business, institutional, or family level. Even Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown
now <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/2559705/ontario-progressive-conservatives-unveil-new-logo-under-new-leader-patrick-brown/">endorses that approach</a>. Yet as he notes, but as our Premier Kathleen Wynne
seems to have missed, the best carbon price is revenue neutral, returning all
monies paid to pollute back to the economy through a tax shift or a dividend.
Although a carbon tax can be a “<a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2016/02/24/gas-prices-to-rise-with-ontario-cap-and-trade">price on everything</a>” (although not on many things
that are carbon neutral), it can also fund a “tax cut on everything” or a poverty-fighting
rebate to everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">British Columbia showed the way; their <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/b-c-s-carbon-tax-shift-works">carbon tax shift</a>
reduced pollution while economic growth continued without financial pain.
Ontario and the rest of Canada should follow suit. Instead, though, Ontario is
setting up a <a href="https://www.barrietoday.com/columns/provincial-affairs-with-martin-regg-cohn/provincial-affairs-our-love-hate-relationship-with-global-warming-204002?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook">cap-and-trade carbon regime</a>. Experience in other parts of the
world predict this system will be complex, expensive, and hand unearned profits
to the traditional polluters who got us into this mess in the first place,
because <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-cap-and-trade-1.3464507">they get free or discounted credits to use or sell</a>. And as far as we
can tell, the revenue will mainly be used to balance the budget, with <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/03/03/ontarios-cap-and-trade-regime-off-to-a-shaky-start.html">some of it directed</a> to emission-reducing projects like transit or efficiency. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By making the carbon price a burden on the economy, instead
of a boost to innovation and efficiency, the government besmirches climate
action like it did renewable energy. And with a federal Liberal government that
<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-says-carbon-pricing-should-be-left-to-provinces-1.2927889">seems unwilling</a> to provide any better direction (<a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=599498">2008’s Green Tax Shift</a> plan apparently
wholly forgotten), it looks like the best we can hope for on climate policy is
half-measures and unnecessary pain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/03/09/pain-associated-with-climate-policy">Pain associated with climate policy</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-69113020093310250052016-02-29T19:24:00.001-08:002016-03-16T20:30:34.444-07:00Milking the 2% contribution<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6xz049xd1jce_y9hWksEoGw6gXePF_lrSG6BFcy5PNk3ibqx2Bxi8wVka63vScgU4subBtNcEfo1QKVgJcs3DrNcvrPA_hDLBzU_Cw5Q-OHnCwtFZaAABQh6Vqjsc0_NDBb1NLEXeWQ/s1600/Canadian+jet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy6xz049xd1jce_y9hWksEoGw6gXePF_lrSG6BFcy5PNk3ibqx2Bxi8wVka63vScgU4subBtNcEfo1QKVgJcs3DrNcvrPA_hDLBzU_Cw5Q-OHnCwtFZaAABQh6Vqjsc0_NDBb1NLEXeWQ/s640/Canadian+jet.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes our CF-18 bombers are really in tents.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When is 2% a thing, and when is it not? The right-wing media
in Canada can’t seem to agree; while the rest of us happily accept 2% milk as
real milk, pundits seem to either exalt or dismiss Canada’s 2% contribution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the war of words over the war we are waging against our
atmosphere, <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/14/keystone-and-the-big-lie">Sun</a> and <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=c7bb1f82-14f7-4ae5-9c6a-9dc2306affee&p=1">Post</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/668523545253830657">columnists</a> have consistently dismissed Canada’s role
as insignificant: we only contribute 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite the fact that we are only .5% of the world’s population and are thus
polluting at 4 times the global rate, our “small contribution” is their
justification to deny the influence we might have by cleaning up our act. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet this week, it turns out that our 2% contribution is a
significant factor in another air war: bombing raids on terror group <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant">Daesh</a> (not
their self-styled title of “Islamic state”, as they neither represent a
religion nor deserve statehood). Canada’s six CF-18 fighter jets comprised a
whole <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/war-isis-canada-end-air-strikes-against-daesh-iraq-syria-22-february-1542678">2% of the air strikes</a>; if, as we have been told for years, 2% isn’t
enough to matter, then how is it such a wanton act to withdraw from this
campaign? If the point is that our participation is more symbolic than
numerical, that doing our part matters more than how big our part is, why
doesn’t this same logic apply to other dire global threats, like climate
change? It would seem that 2%, statistically 4 times our share of population,
is either punching over our weight or it isn’t, in both cases.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So let’s assume that our role matters, in both ways. We must
then ask whether our actions can truly improve things or are just futile. While those
pundits have argued that climate action is a waste of our effort and instead
urge us to boost a tar sands industry that itself is <a href="http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/climatesnapshot/tar-secret-2-what-percentage-canadas-gdp-comes-tar-sands">less than 2% of Canada’s GDP</a>, they insist we will be judged by the world on our contribution (or not) of
2% of the bombing raids going on over Iraq and Syria. While they are patently
wrong on the first point, I must agree they are right on the second, yet that
leads me to support the opposite policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You see, Canada <i>should </i>play our role in international
military actions, when the mission is both legal and just. We luckily stayed
out of the illegal invasion of Iraq, which created the failed state that
spawned Daesh. We shamefully took part in the illegal war in Libya, moving
beyond protecting civilians and instead <a href="http://elizabethmaymp.ca/military-action-libya">taking sides in a civil war</a>, leading to
another failed state providing <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/isis-rises-in-libya?currentPage=all">support and weapons to Daesh</a>. Now we are part of
a bombing campaign that has <a href="http://airwars.org/civilian-casualty-claims/">killed over 1300 civilians</a> in Iraq and Syria,
deaths which are a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-february-22-2016-1.3458144/former-isis-hostage-nicolas-h%C3%A9nin-says-western-bombing-only-helps-islamic-state-1.3458183">key recruiting tool for Daesh</a> to refill their ranks and
raise funds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Are we taking the side of brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad, who
only a few years ago we condemned for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/16/syria-assad-regime-is-weaponising-chlorine-us-congress-to-hear">using chemical weapons against his own citizens</a>, who is now <a href="https://openparliament.ca/debates/2016/2/23/elizabeth-may-1/">propped up by Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia</a>? He has already
murdered more Syrians than Daesh ever has. Or are we siding with the Kurds, who
have reportedly been <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11676808/Syrian-rebels-accuse-Kurdish-forces-of-ethnic-cleansing-of-Sunni-Arabs.html">ethnically cleansing</a> the areas they capture from Daesh, to
expand their own land base? Or with our NATO ally Turkey, whose interest in the
area seems mainly to <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-concerns-grow-over-turkish-bombardment-of-kurdish-separatists-1439422676">suppress the Kurds</a> rather than Daesh? As Russia’s
contribution to the bombing campaign <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/11020140/russia-syria-bombing-maps">destroys hospitals and schools</a>, how could
our own role be clear to the victims on the ground? All they will know is that
foreign jets are bringing death from above, and <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canada-airstrike-iraq-civilian-death-allegations-1.3331882">Canada is part of that campaign</a>. Or were – our 2%, significant or not, was in the wrong place and has
been rightfully withdrawn. We can find better ways to address conflict and
terror than by fanning the flames of someone else’s sectarian violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/02/24/the-are-better-ways-to-address-conflict-and-terror">There are better ways to battle conflict and terror</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>. </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-79001760035813938502016-02-25T21:23:00.000-08:002016-02-25T21:35:25.107-08:00Comical nostalgia: force for progress or stagnation?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAh8ooDkFKsdYT5-m2JYk8yA2l-dbY3pdSMuUBJ5Rr9YzV0cA84JxAqKWJz71TWUo7wQJ03woJhIdL0TsdmqvxRtXk2AwncPMYifPrtOdY_BFMdmEO2MBnkA40UXbK_7oV4RuBgnt25ZQ/s1600/Comicflage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAh8ooDkFKsdYT5-m2JYk8yA2l-dbY3pdSMuUBJ5Rr9YzV0cA84JxAqKWJz71TWUo7wQJ03woJhIdL0TsdmqvxRtXk2AwncPMYifPrtOdY_BFMdmEO2MBnkA40UXbK_7oV4RuBgnt25ZQ/s640/Comicflage.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Perhaps you might find yourself in the comics section</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nostalgia can be a powerful force, for good or for ill.
Sometimes it can boost a new project, while other times it sucks up all the
oxygen and stifles innovation. In today’s comics we see examples of both situations.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Turn to the comics page in this paper and you’ll find 4 daily
strips. Three are fresh and new, while the fourth, <a href="http://www.fborfw.com/">For Better or for Worse</a>, is a re-run. Created by Collingwood native <a href="http://www.fborfw.com/behind_the_scenes/lynn/">Lynn Johnston</a>, this strip was a
ground-breaking pioneer in many ways during its original 30-year run. Drawing humourous
insight from realistic situations of everyday life, it was and remains one of
few strips whose characters aged in real time, going from toddler to adult
before our eyes. While most days brought a smile or a giggle, the strip didn’t
shy away from handling some very serious topics like divorce, youth <a href="http://www.fborfw.com/features/lawrence/">coming out</a>,
or the <a href="http://catalog.fborfw.com/indexstoryline.php?q=Farley%27s%20Death">heroic death</a> of a beloved family pet. I would never want to diminish the
amazing things accomplished by Johnston’s true-to-life characters and their
family-next-door storylines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, this strip had its day and should have retired when
Johnston stopped creating it. Instead, it plods on in repeat. The storylines,
fresh when first penned, are now as hopelessly dated as the plotlines of
Three’s Company or Family Ties. Stories of a mother and housewife working
outside the home, people living together out of wedlock, or a woman getting
impatient with her beau and considering popping the question he never gets
around to, just aren’t cutting edge anymore, and to have them re-played today
only diminishes the power they had in their original context. What’s more, by
taking up 25% of the real estate on the comics page, FBoFW crowds out the
opportunity for newer, younger artists make a living expressing their own ideas
in a tough business. It’s time for this strip to retire before its glory is
forever tarnished, and let a new cartoonist take her place on the printed page,
before the medium itself implodes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Contrast that with the case of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Canuck">Captain Canuck</a>. This Maple
Leaf-draped superhero who had his original 15-issue run from 1975 – 1981, with
a few short re-appearances or re-interpretations over ensuing decades, is now
back full force with three ongoing comic book series. One is a completely new modern
day re-envisioning of the character, another continues the original storyline, while
the third is a reprint of the original 15 issues. But even the reprints are
updated, with new covers by current artists and all-new stories occupying the
back 5 pages where the originals featured other, less memorable characters.
Published by <a href="http://chapterhouse.ca/">Chapterhouse</a>, it’s the flagship for a stable of totally new titles
and <a href="http://chapterhouse.ca/pitifulhumanlizard.html">characters</a>, providing great opportunities for talented up-and-coming
writers and artists. In this way, nostalgia can propel new creativity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Whether your tastes tend to old stalwarts or new styles, if
you have kids, report card time is a great opportunity to encourage reading
through the <a href="http://www.bigbbarrie.com/reportcards/">Free Comics for A’s</a> promotion at <a href="http://www.bigbcomics.com/contact/big-b-barrie/">Big B Comics</a>. Bring in an official
K to 12 report card and for each subject area with an A, get a comic from the
back issue bins for free! Even if they didn’t do so well this term, Big B sends
kids home with something great to read, starting them down the path to the
nostalgia of tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/02/17/comics-can-helps-kids-appreciate-reading">Comics can help kids appreciate reading</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-26708868572688947252016-02-14T18:59:00.000-08:002016-02-14T18:59:52.694-08:00Our Piece of Train Going Off the Rails would be Crazy<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfdO6ed6XbFKb_oqWDSLcbNl12JnwJtnOlyMrIFwyG65ZOdrfZaevC2Wmckf77HEYIDZZMfTtoYuAzcrTjfHoFoi7ewWtJBa5-kxohyt0rzYSmLNhaaxJ0Sasezhy5obVEYtDtvqO-BU/s1600/small-red-train-enters-tunnel-in-the-mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKfdO6ed6XbFKb_oqWDSLcbNl12JnwJtnOlyMrIFwyG65ZOdrfZaevC2Wmckf77HEYIDZZMfTtoYuAzcrTjfHoFoi7ewWtJBa5-kxohyt0rzYSmLNhaaxJ0Sasezhy5obVEYtDtvqO-BU/s320/small-red-train-enters-tunnel-in-the-mountain.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Railways symbolize many things in our culture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Railways play a large role in our civilization. Historically,
a rail line made Canada’s confederation 149 years ago possible and durable. Trains
loom large in popular culture, as a setting for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_on_the_Orient_Express">murder mysteries</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081617/">thrillers</a>, <a href="http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/6-of-the-worlds-most-romantic-train-rides">romances</a>,
even a symbol of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Monorail_System">fantastical future cities</a>. At the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_to_Restore_Sanity_and/or_Fear">Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear</a> in
Washington, DC in 2010, I watched two of the major guests, <a href="http://www.ozzy.com/us/home">Ozzy Osbourne</a> and
<a href="http://catstevens.com/">Yusuf Islam</a> (Cat Stevens), <a href="https://youtu.be/XB8gH0C-6SY">perform a mash-up</a> of their respective chart-topping
hits “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Train">Crazy Train</a>” and “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Train">Peace Train</a>”. Despite coming from wildly different
music genres and different decades, both wistful songs about a war-free future
use trains as a metaphor for society moving forward together.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGb2Xc3HZaphNFsbO8DwM2klNRnLzrRPqD7xo0rvDLk8c7JZvIlYgwF1CgqOD7m7Aqs0CDL3lssnN9qB8DHz-fyGjqwcduzYNF4hb6bRQGauMAtRdhDIJaX6bclMO89ofc7lj78ORAb0/s1600/yusufozzy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGb2Xc3HZaphNFsbO8DwM2klNRnLzrRPqD7xo0rvDLk8c7JZvIlYgwF1CgqOD7m7Aqs0CDL3lssnN9qB8DHz-fyGjqwcduzYNF4hb6bRQGauMAtRdhDIJaX6bclMO89ofc7lj78ORAb0/s320/yusufozzy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two singers, one crazy peace train.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For a young child in <a href="http://www.smithsfalls.ca/">eastern Ontario</a>, the train was a convenient
way for me to visit grandparents in Toronto or Montreal. Two decades later, my
wife and I honeymooned by rail across Canada, Vancouver to Halifax, thanks to my
mother’s gift of a VIA pass. Through wide coach windows we viewed amazing sights
like the Rockies’ <a href="https://youtu.be/rr5_WheVLzU">Pyramid Falls</a>, and Quebec City’s night skyline while refueling
at Lévis across the St. Lawrence. At the time, the main passenger line passed
through Barrie but did not stop here, but we gazed upon the old, run-down
Allandale station as we rolled around Kempenfelt Bay and south to Toronto.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFW3ipWsqwAc9ISNmHIPmF9PfhzvgfebTZ-zl0dqj8nc7osbiGJIF6m3Z0ZIzC3d7pl6acM1pkrZpDazBZyYyBSnAj8FLJfHdrWPALCYnVC19IqdohaxpaWHDJEZ7ynXbRML8lF0Nx4s/s1600/79_-_Qu%25C3%25A9bec_-_Juin_2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFW3ipWsqwAc9ISNmHIPmF9PfhzvgfebTZ-zl0dqj8nc7osbiGJIF6m3Z0ZIzC3d7pl6acM1pkrZpDazBZyYyBSnAj8FLJfHdrWPALCYnVC19IqdohaxpaWHDJEZ7ynXbRML8lF0Nx4s/s640/79_-_Qu%25C3%25A9bec_-_Juin_2009.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An amazing view from the train refeulling yard in <span style="line-height: 18.4px; text-align: start;">Lévis</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rail also has economic significance, as the most
energy-efficient way to ship freight or people across land, requiring far less space
and energy than roads. Due to our society’s massive open and hidden road subsidies,
rail travel and freight don’t seem as price competitive as they should, but
there are still instances where they win out; on a level playing field, they
win hands-down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sadly, rail struggles to survive in our car- and
truck-obsessed society; every step forward brings a step back. While big cities
add subways or <a href="http://rapidtransit.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/">LRT for transit</a>, historic lines linking small communities are
decommissioned or torn up.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-XZoXTjTyLMdnwulrBkBJZBg5mtF2__FBquSwC9Qbc1XafDrQ39A1LgrTGTtUB82rsYKbQnl5w8k78V_iCYBxyuQR_l65WY6wOOWb4Nv95bqfe9aynJtxOJXLjseue3gis_5FRhOL6M/s1600/ion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-XZoXTjTyLMdnwulrBkBJZBg5mtF2__FBquSwC9Qbc1XafDrQ39A1LgrTGTtUB82rsYKbQnl5w8k78V_iCYBxyuQR_l65WY6wOOWb4Nv95bqfe9aynJtxOJXLjseue3gis_5FRhOL6M/s320/ion.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soon KW's riders will fly on the Ion.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When CPR dropped the line running up through Barrie to parts
north, Barrie’s council made the stunningly uncharacteristic forward-looking
decision to purchase the tracks between Newmarket and Utopia (Collingwood owning
the track from there). Somehow the automobile-serving, sprawl-happy council of
the day found the wisdom, funds and courage to <a href="http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/2009/04/08/county-rail-plans-on-track">preserve the tracks</a> in the hope
of future restoration of passenger rail and to give our industrial lands advantageous
rail freight access. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The passenger dream came true; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrie_line">GO trains returned</a> in 2007 and
keep expanding, bringing trains back to Allandale and moving ever-increasing
numbers of people off our crowded roadways and into comfortable coach seats, with talk of <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/02/10/residents-in-barrie-urged-to-attend-meetings-to-see-how-go-train-service-will-change">electrifying the line</a> in the next decade.
But the freight side has not fared so well, to the point that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrie_Collingwood_Railway#Decommissioning_of_Collingwood_Portion_of_Line">Collingwood decommissioned their branch</a> in 2011 (although parts of it seem open to <a href="http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/2016/02/09/colingwood-council-inks-rail-deal">temporary use</a>) and Barrie now <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/02/03/councillors--may-derail-barrie-collingwood-railway-due-to-rising-costs">faces questions</a> about how to
finance the lines connecting our industrial lands, crucial wealth creators, to
rail freight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It will be a horrible shame if Council can’t find a way to
keep these tracks viable. There is no question, in a world committed to
sustainability and reversing climate change, that we must become a nation based
on <a href="http://www.cca-acc.com/en/information/202-en/main-menu/information-cat/968-elizabeth-may">walkable communities linked by rail transit</a>, with personal vehicle use a distant
second choice. Getting there will be swifter, smoother and cheaper if we re-use
existing historical infrastructure instead of starting all over. Given where we
must go, it would indeed be crazy for our piece of train to go off the rails
now.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issued column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/02/10/not-the-time-derail-our-railways-root-issues">Not the time to derail our railways</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>. </span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-39336152916789972802016-01-28T20:14:00.000-08:002016-01-28T20:14:16.294-08:00Laurentian shows Paris is about all of us<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The recent <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/future/index_en.htm">Paris international climate agreement</a> has drawn
cheers and jeers. On the jeering side are of course <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2015/12/12/climate-summit-was-pure-theatre">climate deniers</a> of all
sorts, asserting climate change either isn’t happening or isn’t caused by us so
we shouldn’t be making any climate agreements or taking any related actions.
But as I <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2016/01/2016s-climate-of-change.html">pointed out earlier</a>, this line of reasoning is nothing but stubborn
ignorance, so let’s set that aside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Other jeers come either from those who either feel the
agreement is too weak, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/12/james-hansen-climate-change-paris-talks-fraud">lacking binding mechanisms</a> to enforce reductions or
having targets that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/opinion/falling-short-on-climate-in-paris.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all">won’t reduce emissions enough</a> even if met, or from those
who feel the targets are too ambitious and it will <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/2015/12/12/paris-deal-a-fraud">hamstring our economies</a> if
we try to reach them. Luckily, both can be refuted by the same line of evidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Basically, vast reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are
possible, as soon as we make a real effort to achieve them. And while national
or global targets may seem unreachable, if each actor takes care of their own
piece of the puzzle, it all comes together. There is a role for every
individual, family, business, institution, town or city. When each of us pledges
to meet a target and make a sincere effort, our combined efforts will add up to
a solution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGuLhI6onLkLCQ57nrGvYRRgFPnyX5loQwiTL_NCOngeqhzaBJ_r2NLNKpc_E69DgvxPL8MGog0OrHKNmu11rjH13_iV9bachDiIN0X-1-T336b0DBB5Qn_qJ9MhyphenhyphenF1O2Fbnzm1-U_tc/s1600/Paris-pledge-16x9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDGuLhI6onLkLCQ57nrGvYRRgFPnyX5loQwiTL_NCOngeqhzaBJ_r2NLNKpc_E69DgvxPL8MGog0OrHKNmu11rjH13_iV9bachDiIN0X-1-T336b0DBB5Qn_qJ9MhyphenhyphenF1O2Fbnzm1-U_tc/s320/Paris-pledge-16x9.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hereby pledge...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One example: <a href="https://laurentian.ca/">Laurentian University</a>, which <a href="http://www.georgiancollege.ca/academics/academic-areas/university-partnership-centre/">has programs</a> at
Barrie’s Georgian College. On December 16<sup>th</sup> of last year, the <a href="http://www.parispledgeforaction.org/">Paris Pledge for Action</a> was released, and on December 22<sup>nd</sup>, Laurentian
became the first university in Ontario, one of the first in Canada, and one of
the first 1000 organizations worldwide to <a href="https://laurentian.ca/news/laurentian-university-signs-paris-pledge-action-0">sign this commitment</a> to work to
reduce emissions immediately and meet or surpass the goals of the Paris
Agreement. If every other educational institute or board does the same, an
entire sector will be working on these goals, and other sectors can and will
follow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Laurentian was quick to sign because they are already working
to reduce GHG in many ways. Just a couple of years ago they hired their first
<a href="https://laurentian.ca/news/laurentian-names-first-manager-energy-and-sustainability">Manager of Energy and Sustainability</a> and since then she has been sparking
initiatives across campus to save energy, reduce waste, and boost
sustainability. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Because provincial regulation mandates all post-secondary
institutions track energy use, Laurentian has existing baseline measures as
they create and work toward reduction targets building-by-building and
campus-wide, and can benchmark against other Ontario institutions which must meet
the same reporting standards. Hence universities compete to earn kudos (and
save money) cutting energy use and related emissions. It also puts them in good
stead as the province brings in a new carbon pricing cap-and-trade regime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While initiatives are voluntary, making them popular and
widely accessible achieves significant reductions. Examples include regular
forums with rotating themes allowing all stakeholders to come together to
explore challenges and ideas and share best practices. Laurentian partners with
groups like the <a href="http://www.rainbowroutes.com/">Rainbow Routes</a> trails association, <a href="http://www.rethinkgreen.ca/eat_local_sudbury">reThink Green / Eat Local</a>,
and the <a href="http://commuterchallenge.ca/">Commuter Challenge</a>; some professors make any student caught with
disposable bottled water bring cookies for the whole class. Campus residences
collect and redistribute furniture or other useful items left behind by graduating
students, instead of throwing it all out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ideas and programs are broadcast via campus email and
newspapers, forums, bulletins, news releases, student groups, and <a href="https://twitter.com/sustainableLU">Twitter</a>. And
beyond their local achievements, the university also contributes globally with
research & technology, providing tools for others to reduce GHG. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If one institution can do all that, reducing GHG while having
fun and saving money, imagine what can be done if we each sign our own Paris
Pledge. Before you know it, we’ll reach and blow past the non-binding Paris
targets and find that surpassing them and getting to where we really need to go
is easier, cheaper and less painful than we’d ever expected. Just like
Laurentian’s example, let’s stop arguing if it can or should be done and get on
with doing it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/27/climate-change-action-needed-now">Climate change action needed now</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-35275080671278340022016-01-20T20:55:00.001-08:002016-01-20T20:55:51.668-08:00Sledders coast to victory<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s nice when I can write a good-news story about local
government, so I won’t pass up on this story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrnyL70fEHnGLtsW0KnpFNfU361Ve833OxPnGodqnEAHY6CMjsc5srAl-xeuBd6U1KZSXrUUTF0uhcBPp9rwc43EOeKEv6x2vDB0Uk5553Rl4rukkHR57Odg9elvaDRzyYo9y-77YPo0/s1600/sledders+rule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrnyL70fEHnGLtsW0KnpFNfU361Ve833OxPnGodqnEAHY6CMjsc5srAl-xeuBd6U1KZSXrUUTF0uhcBPp9rwc43EOeKEv6x2vDB0Uk5553Rl4rukkHR57Odg9elvaDRzyYo9y-77YPo0/s320/sledders+rule.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoy the winter, kids!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While some people chafe at rules and think government just
wants to control and dominate us, I tend to look at the rationale behind rules
and find that even if the rule doesn’t come out right, the motivation behind it
is usually for our own good. And that’s the case behind sledding bans. On the
one hand, they are meant to prevent injury, for the good of the citizens who
might otherwise get injured. On the other, they are meant to protect taxpayers
from having to fund huge liability awards, as was the case in Hamilton when the
City <a href="http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/4146991-dreschel-taxpayers-in-for-900k-toboggan-ride/">had to pay $900,000</a>, out of public funds, to cover a tobogganing injury in
a city park. A figure like that makes not only that city, but others in the
province, sit up and take notice. Some go as far as to enact bylaws banning
tobogganing on public land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So it was that the City of Barrie, wanting to avoid similar
claims, put up signs at various times and locations to warn against sledding. Their
concern makes perfect sense. The only problem was the wording used, which took
the form “The City DOES NOT PERMIT…” Now, in literal terms, this is correct, in
that the city does not issue sledding permits: you don’t get a toboggan license
like you would get a dog license or a fishing license, and the City doesn’t
create specific sledding hills or check and maintain any hills for safe
sledding. So they don’t “permit” it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However, in layman’s terms, “does not permit” means “forbids”
or “prohibits”. Which means that schools and other responsible authorities are
likely to treat this as a ban, and obviously can’t allow, much less encourage,
their charges to break such a rule. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet what the City really wanted to convey was that if you
sled, you are doing so at your own risk, and if you hurt yourself doing it, don’t
blame (or sue) the City. And that’s perfectly fair; we should be able to make
informed decisions about risk and assume our own risk and <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2015/01/16/mother-of-teen-killed-while-tobogganing-says-banning-not-the-answer">take the consequences</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So the wording was causing some confusion, and this is where
the good news comes in: when the issue came to their attention, Barrie’s City
Council <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/12/barrie-council-altering-signs-regarding-winter-activities">sprang into action and fixed it</a>, immediately! Councillor Arif Khan
presented a motion to change the wording, with Mayor Jeff Lehman’s support, and
the rest of Council voted unanimously in favour. Within weeks, the wording on
all these signs will be updated from “the City does not permit” to “the City
does not maintain … use at own risk”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And that’s good for several reasons. It frees schools from
having to keep kids off public sledding hills at recess. But perhaps better,
since kids are going to sled on good hills after hours regardless of signage,
it avoids teaching them to ignore rules and bans. Now, instead of sledding
under a “no sledding” sign, they will instead be reading a sign that says it’s
okay to sled if they feel the risk is acceptable. They will be learning the
principle of assessing risk for themselves. And that’s perhaps one of the most
important lessons of childhood activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.4px;"><i>Published as my root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/12/barrie-council-altering-signs-regarding-winter-activities">City's sign switch offers valuable lesson</a>". See also coverage of this issue by Cheryl Browne <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/20/citys-sign-switch-offers-valuable-lesson">here</a>. All of this is a follow-up to a <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2016/01/free-sledders.html">previous column</a>. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is vice-president of the
<a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-74478212153068396102016-01-20T20:35:00.000-08:002016-01-20T20:56:48.884-08:00Free the Sledders!<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t buy the idea that government, in general, is a bad
thing, designed to harm or control us. I know many in public service or elected
office, and most do it for good reasons: to ensure everyone receives the best
possible opportunities, services, and benefits of society. Of course, they are all
human, so some are selfish or even criminal, while others are incompetent or at
best mediocre. But this goes for most organizations, businesses and community
groups; it’s not unique to government. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hejQnJ5ysb_KbSoI0RvOxKlySuvA-tXyIssPl03yviJMjkDr8roUSLNW949RqxlulkSfK_uMvps4otUAycZ1gjNzeFMOpb74f6dv-MItH0lTmJ4ZrfBxo7MEeFaUGWACd2bxkd7G6OU/s1600/does+not+permit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hejQnJ5ysb_KbSoI0RvOxKlySuvA-tXyIssPl03yviJMjkDr8roUSLNW949RqxlulkSfK_uMvps4otUAycZ1gjNzeFMOpb74f6dv-MItH0lTmJ4ZrfBxo7MEeFaUGWACd2bxkd7G6OU/s320/does+not+permit.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NOTICE: The City of Barrie does not permit any <br />
recreational winter sports on any hills or walkways</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
Yet government does have special unique powers, one
being that unlike business or the non-profit sector, we don’t really have a
choice in who governs us. You can pick a different phone company or grocery
store but you can’t choose a different government unless you uproot and
relocate to another jurisdiction. And though some people do, most find it
easier to either try and influence the local situation, or rail against it
ineffectively. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
Now it’s my turn to rant. Not against our federal
government, recently released from the pernicious influence of a mean-spirited,
near-sighted, narrow-minded government and now blossoming under a new attitude
of “sunny ways”. And not against our provincial government, which is far from
perfect, but whose current sins are too nebulous and vague to pin with specific
complaints. No, this is a rare instance where I must rail against our local
government. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
Of course the largest complaint is against the public
school board, whose determination to close Barrie’s last downtown high school
and build a new on in the suburbs that refuses to comply with the city’s
carefully drawn sustainable development plans, is irksome and chronic and
defies logic. But that is already well-covered in our local media, and I’m not
sure I have any insight to add right now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
Instead, I must complain about our city government,
which recently <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2015/12/27/city-signs-at-barrie-parks-raising-questions-about-tobogganing">planted a sternly-worded sign</a> atop the toboggan hill my children
enjoy during and after school hours, sloping from their schoolyard into a city
park. Although this new sign declaring the city “does not permit” sledding or
other winter activities was damaged by vandals within hours and disappeared by
the next day, I worry it may re-appear. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
I get that local government has a responsibility to
try and ensure the safety of the public, and is liability-averse, but this is
the safest sledding hill I’ve ever seen. It is little more than a single story
high and free of obstructions. Hills that feed onto a sidewalk or street are
understandably perilous; a high school friend lost a younger brother to a
sled-car accident on that kind of hill, but this one bottoms out on a large
soccer field. The only risk is of kids falling over on an icy day, or colliding
with each other, and those are no worse than the risk of slipping on the
sidewalk, driveway, or stairs. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
I take some solace in the fact that the sign didn’t
say “prohibited” or list a by-law or fine, and I can find no such by-law on the
books. Presumably this is just the city’s way of saying “hey, we don’t
encourage sledding, if you get hurt it’s your fault, don’t sue us”. Which is
fine, but if that sign is ever replaced, I hope they improve the wording,
because “does not permit” is enough to spook the school into disallowing recess
sledding. And in this age of overweight, under-active children, banning their
sole source of healthy winter recreation is very much a step in the wrong
direction. Free the sledders!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2015/12/16/barrie-bylaw-prohibits-tobogganing-on-neighbourhood-hill">Barrie bylaw prohibits tobogganing on neighbourhood hill</a>"; see coverage of this story by reporter Cheryl Brown <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2015/12/27/city-signs-at-barrie-parks-raising-questions-about-tobogganing">here</a>, and then read the satisfactory conclusion <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2016/01/sledders-coast-to-victory.html">here</a>.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
vice-president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-38793294749357862012016-01-14T19:04:00.001-08:002016-01-14T19:04:56.815-08:00Pipe dreams of the fossil promoters are just that<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">References to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s <a href="https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/marijuana/">legal marijuana pledge</a> aside, there is another “pipe dream” afflicting many Canadians: the idea
of Canada as a burgeoning energy superpower, needing only a few big, shiny new
pipelines to link our oil sands to tidewater. This dream is truly a fantasy,
not just for environmental and political reasons but simple economics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, the environmental case is clear and, in a rational
world, would remain king. Profits and economic growth mean nothing if they come
at the cost of poisoning our world, natural assets, and human population. This
understanding fuels widespread opposition to expanding extraction of oil or
gas, either through dwindling conventional sources or newer hydraulic fracking
and other expensive unconventional means. Not only does burning fossil fuels
threaten runaway climate change, unconventional extraction multiplies the pollution
emitted before the product reaches the ultimate consumer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unconventional extraction also brings new catastrophic risks
to add to the traditional ones of leaks, spills and fires. Accidents like the
<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/04/20/deepwater-horizon-bp-s-toxic-legacy">Deepwater Horizon</a>, spewing oil from a well 4 km beneath the ocean’s surface,
can poison seas, kill fish, and wreck regional tourism for years or decades.
Fracking can poison water supplies with leaks of unknown toxins, but even when
functioning smoothly, causes earthquakes in relatively stable areas like
<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/magnitude-45-earthquake-reported-in-alberta-fracking-zone/article28130435/">Alberta</a> and <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/earthquake-northeastern-b-c-progress-energy-fracking-1.3367081">north-eastern BC</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Df-5YCOekq33KymafkE6Y45ro9FB90kvVgKw6l-WaWwyaKeccXy0zGDkJ2McJjoyrutZGEyTSTULwdOaik_gOQEqE3ZAr9R8hMhx-3YEugX3hx3Qt7v7MP6K8P4pzvmRlZWez_TpL18/s1600/na-4859-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Df-5YCOekq33KymafkE6Y45ro9FB90kvVgKw6l-WaWwyaKeccXy0zGDkJ2McJjoyrutZGEyTSTULwdOaik_gOQEqE3ZAr9R8hMhx-3YEugX3hx3Qt7v7MP6K8P4pzvmRlZWez_TpL18/s320/na-4859-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back when pipelines at least created jobs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But even if one foolishly ignores immediate and local
environmental risks, or long-term global harms of injecting more fossil carbon
into the atmosphere, solid social and economic reasons say pipelines will never
be built. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course, fossil supporters (like the astroturf Facebook
group “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CanadasEnergyCitizens/">Canada’s Energy Citizens</a>”, who seem to have sworn allegiance to the oil
patch) loudly bemoaned US President Obama <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/keystone-xl-pipeline-obama-1.3307440">kyboshing the Keystone XL</a> proposal,
and will soon be whinging about BC’s declaration that the Kinder Morgan
twinning proposal <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story.html?id=11642943&__lsa=4221-abad">fails to meet any</a> of the 5 conditions the province set for
it. They heap critical scorn on First Nations, environmentalists, or other
stakeholders who use hearings and courts to demonstrate that fossil extraction
infrastructure does not have social license. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet the real economic truth is these pipelines still could not
be built, even if every objection were removed. New pipelines cost billions and
take years to construct, and Canada’s oil companies can’t pay for it
themselves, as their revenues have already been promised to (<a href="http://business.financialpost.com/news/majority-of-oil-sands-ownership-and-profits-are-foreign-says-analysis">largely foreign</a>)
owners and shareholders. Instead, they borrow from banks, promising to repay
the loan and interest out of the profit from shipping the oil. Yet with our
dollar sinking and oil at $30, the <a href="http://www.macrotrends.net/1369/crude-oil-price-history-chart">lowest since 2003</a> and still dropping, <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/1/12/10755754/crude-oil-prices-falling">supply still exceeding demand</a> with the world’s largest consumers either exporting
their own oil (US) or facing prolonged economic doldrums (China), there is no
money to be made from pumping out expensive bitumen for years or decades to
come. Even if demand picks up, global purchasers will choose cheap conventional
crude over expensive heavy bitumen, leaving our products literally at the
bottom of the barrel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So any new pipelines actually built will be a recipe for
bankruptcy not only for oil companies that build them, but for banks foolish enough
to finance them. And since Canadian banks have a well-deserved reputation for prudent
lending, the real obstacle to pipelines isn’t environmental cost, political
climate, or public resistance; it’s harsh economics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/13/economics-the-real-obstacle-for-new-pipelines">Economics the real obstacle for new pipelines</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694049208920605.post-60507644883452008062016-01-07T17:30:00.000-08:002016-01-07T17:30:22.011-08:002016's Climate of Change<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Last year ended with a climate of change. Since October I
wrote of many, <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2015/11/canadas-climate-delegation-looks-more.html">mostly positive, changes</a> to the figurative political climate,
but there was also a significant change to the actual, literal climate: average
global temperatures. While some self-deluded right-wing ideologues still repeat
the long-disproven assertion that the earth has not warmed over the past couple
of decades (cherry-picking the record-breaking high temperatures of 1998 as
their starting point, instead of using a more average year, and ignoring
constantly-warming oceans), people who watch the data know 2014 was the warmest
year on record, until <a href="https://www.wmo.int/media/content/2015-second-hottest-year-record-europe">2015 exceeded even that</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-u6Q_c9jXCLYKea_5m3A0psc6_oFwCPLVIWA6mLrLIJYYG7KxUFOfjMxe9sYTUZzOGfJ-pf55HbbUgIiLwUyGq8H1YPDbrAHGw3-SioF3WclZZCnU55f4_h0ocJhZD3Aj4Aul_Y8362g/s1600/crazy+climate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-u6Q_c9jXCLYKea_5m3A0psc6_oFwCPLVIWA6mLrLIJYYG7KxUFOfjMxe9sYTUZzOGfJ-pf55HbbUgIiLwUyGq8H1YPDbrAHGw3-SioF3WclZZCnU55f4_h0ocJhZD3Aj4Aul_Y8362g/s320/crazy+climate.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The colours of climate chaos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After a few years of what some took as mixed messaging, all
indicators have lined up to show global warming and the associated climate
chaos. While Arctic ice remains <a href="http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/">below average and shrinking</a>, the tropical El
Niño effect is lining up to be the <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/11/18/global_temperatures_hit_new_high_amid_record_el_nino.html">largest ever</a>. The warmer the oceans and
winds, the more Pacific moisture El Niño carries onto land, bringing deeper floods,
heavier snowfall, and overall more devastating storms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Usually reports of tornado swarms and their wake of death in
the final days of the year are part of the year-end summary, recapping what
happened in late spring. But this year it was current news: in the US, more tornadoes
killed more people in December than the rest of the year combined, a <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/us-reeling-from-violent-tornadoes-epic-flooding-winter-weather-an">first since record-keeping began</a> in 1875.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the UK, not only did they have a green Christmas this
year, they actually had the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/winter-solstice-2015-as-warm-as-june-summer-solstice-met-office-uk-weather-a6782736.html">same temperature on the winter solstice</a> (Dec 22
over there) as they had the previous summer solstice. The same temperature on
midwinter as on midsummer! Insane! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Without doubt, climate chaos is causing great harm already.
Here in Barrie, we aren’t immune. While a green Christmas isn’t that unusual
for us (I recall 3 or maybe 4 since coming here in 1999), it’s unheard-of for
kids to be enjoying our parks in balmy 15 degree weather on Christmas break!
For a regional economy heavily dependent on winter recreation, snowless falls
mean significant <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2013/01/another-warm-winter-demonstrates.html">losses of income and related hardship</a>, even as our Out of the
Cold program serves <a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/04/barrie-out-of-the-cold-seeing-mixed-usage">more homeless this year</a> than last. Whether you go by how
many winter days are cold and snowy enough to ski, or to snowmobile, snowshoe,
ice-fish, the trend is downwards, with the clearest indicator being the steady
loss in frozen days on Kempenfelt Bay, an undeniable trend observable for the
past century. While we don’t face
imminent extinction like low-lying islands or cities by rising oceans, we still
share in the harm, and look at a world with growing numbers of climate refugees
seeking nicer places, like Barrie, to resettle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">2015 ended a <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/11/10/huge_el_nino_pushes_climate_toward_records.html">full degree warmer</a> than pre-industrial norms,
which is already half-way to the 2-degree internationally-agreed limit,
two-thirds toward the safer 1.5 degree limit Canada helped promulgate in Paris
last month. Clearly, if we don’t want climate chaos to worsen, we must start
planning major shifts to our energy systems and find the fairest ways to
achieve them without severe harm to those least able to afford such changes. So
while we notice climate change both globally and locally, we also need to work
on both fronts to reduce our emissions and strengthen our efforts to minimize
the coming harms. For the rest of this year, let’s never again argue whether
climate change is a fact, and instead discuss the <a href="http://www.erichthegreen.ca/2015/03/carbon-fee-and-dividend-best-road-for.html">best, swiftest, most efficient ways</a> to address it together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "<a href="http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/01/06/indisputable-climate-change">Indisputable climate change</a>"</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is
the vice president of the <a href="http://schalkenbach.org/">Robert Schalkenbach Foundation</a>.</span></i></div>
Erich the Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11433590628245316583noreply@blogger.com0