All posts by Chris Tindal

Message from Laurie Arron

endorsements, green party, toronto,

I just got off the phone with Laurie Arron. Laurie (who is currently studying in France) is a friend, a Green Party supporter, and a prominent member of our community. As the Former Director of Advocacy for Egale and the former National Coordinator of Canadians for Equal Marriage, he knows a thing or two about winning an uphill political struggle. (He also knows how to successfully work himself out of a job, an aspiration of all good Green candidates. ;-) )

Laurie asked me to share with you the following, which I’m adding to my growing endorsements page. (My campaign manager Jeff has informed me he’s going to explore having our office door widened in case I start having a hard time fitting my head through the frame.)

Given its diverse makeup and history, the riding of Toronto Centre should be at the leading edge of Canadian politics—and that means electing Canada’s first Green Member of Parliament. Canada needs Green MPs now. In this election, Chris Tindal is the only viable alternative to Bob Rae…the only candidate with the ability to unite voters across the riding. Chris is fresh, intelligent, enthusiastic, the ideal voice to represent Toronto Centre in Ottawa.

Thanks James!

green party, toronto, ,

I continue to be humbled by all the great people who are endorsing my campaign, often without even being asked. If you’ve been following this site or received a letter from us, you know that they include prominent people from all of the old-line parties, as well as a diverse group of community leaders from across the riding. Along that line, I received the below letter from author and crime journalist James Dubro, who, as you’ll see, has an impressive CV. James, thank you for your confidence and your support.

The Green Party programs to address crime are the most progressive and sensible one of all the parties. The legalization of pot is an important step to taking some of the fuel out of the enormous growth and power of gangs and organized crime in our society. The war on drugs failed a long time ago, and making criminals out of users is a mistake and only helps the criminal mobs in Canada, not society.

Moreover the Green Party overall program on the environment is by far the most sensible and coherent. We need elected Green Party Members of Parliament to help improve our quality of life. Most of the other parties are tired, cynical, and not credible (some are even corrupt!). They have had their chance and failed. Now is the time to give some Greens like Chris Tindal and Elizabeth May a chance to bring some rational alternatives in Parliament.

Chris, we need idealistic, rational, intelligent, dedicated people like you in Parliament to make this country work better. The Green Party is for a progressive 21st-century-Canada while the older parties—especially the Liberals and the Conservatives—are stuck in the 20th and 19th centuries.

Cheers,

James Dubro
Former President of the Crime Writers of Canada
Former Chair of the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Police Advisory Committee
Former Chair of the 52 Division Community Police Liaison Committee
Former Director of the Canadian National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association

If Yonge Street Is Sinking…

toronto, water, ,

Is there any question that our cities are in desperate need of funding? Certainly not, as a water-main at the north-end of our riding explained to us this morning:

Traffic was restricted on Yonge St. south of St Clair Ave. this morning after the pavement sagged near a broken water main.

Toronto police closed the road around 8 a.m. at Summerhill Ave., near the Summerhill subway station, to investigate the sagging asphalt. Toronto Water had been investigating the leak since yesterday afternoon.

Police said water from the broken pipe left an open hole in the ground.

Over the past few years, under the parties of the past, governments of all stripes have cut funding to municipalities while simultaneously downloading responsibilities. This morning’s incident is just one example of the sorry state of our city’s infrastructure, and the severe lack of long-term thinking displayed by our current political leadership. As a result, we’re now paying more to deal with incidents like this than we would have paid to invest in cities in the first place. (To get a sense of how much more, try and wrap your head around this report’s finding that one billion dollars’ worth of drinking water disappears into the ground every year in Ontario alone due to “rotting, leaky municipal water pipes.”) Meanwhile, our federal government sits on giant surpluses while telling Toronto to “drop dead,” in the words of a recent Star headline.

It’s time for new ideas. It’s time for a party that takes long-term planning seriously. It’s time to invest in our communities and build the great city we know Toronto can be.