Category Archives: toronto

What are you proud of?

social justice, toronto

Last week, my girlfriend Claire and a few other people were out buying supplies for the Green Party‘s entry in this year’s Pride Parade. They were in a fabric store buying strips of green fabric (I don’t want to give away our costume plans, but they involve strips of green fabric) when the salesperson asked them what the fabric was for.

“The Pride Parade,” said Claire.

The man responded, “Pride Parade? What are you proud of?”

He wasn’t trying to be nasty; he actually hadn’t heard of the parade, or maybe hadn’t noticed that it’s no longer called the “Gay Pride” parade. It’s a good question though. And since Pride Week is no time for modesty, here are some things I’m proud of:

Of course, there are other things too, but I figured I’d just list some of the seasonally-related ones for now. I don’t want to be obnoxious or anything.

Happy Pride Week!

ps. What are you proud of?

Two Visions of the Future

climate crisis, cycling, toronto

Yesterday’s TTC strike serendipitously coincided with the opening of Toronto’s Bike Week. For the annual kick-off event, cyclists from across the city converged on Yonge and Bloor (conveniently close to where I live) for a “group commute” down Yonge St, then over to City Hall for a free pancake breakfast.

The group left the intersection of Yonge and Bloor around 8am; I got the time wrong and showed up at 8:20. As I began my trip, cars clogged the streets. I slowly weaved through near-gridlock as frustrated drivers leaned on their wheels. Taxi passengers watched meters tick on as people on the sidewalks passed them. Confused commuters waited at the corner for buses that weren’t coming. A friend of mine later told me that Bay Street was the same. This is Toronto without transit.

It only took a few minutes, however, to catch up with the group commute as they headed down Young street. Hundreds of bikes took up the whole right lane for as far as I could see. The cars were stuck behind me–a distant memory–leaving only cyclists and pedestrians. I came up to a friend of mine and we started chatting. Others were deeply engaged in conversations with strangers. Torontonians were enjoying their city, their public space. This is Toronto without cars.

At an event I attended today, Toronto Star columnist Christopher Hume put it another way. “The greatest shame,” he said, “was that all of those people who filled the street were taken from subways, buses and streetcars instead of from cars.”

I’m not saying we should get rid of all cars (yet). It’s just that, for a moment, I saw Toronto without them. And it was a beautiful sight.

First Bike of the Year

cycling, toronto

It is with a healthy mixture of excitement and embarrassment that I announce that today was my first “bike to work” day of the year. Excitement because I love biking around Toronto; embarrassment because it took me this long to get my tires pumped and find the key to my bike lock.

This morning reminded me of what I discovered last summer: that despite all obstacles and barriers, and even when compared to the first way, another way, and the better way, biking really is the best way to get around the city. Unfortunately, it still needs to be even easier and safer before it will enjoy the mass-adoption we need it to.

Let’s be realistic. The population of Toronto is expected to grow by 1,000,000 over the next few years (and that doesn’t even include the number of Green Party voters I’m trying to trick into moving to my riding). Just try and picture a million more cars on the road. No? How about 500,000 more? Ok, try imagining cramming just 10 more people onto a Yonge Street subway at rush hour. Ain’t gonna happen.

I’m not saying there’s no room to improve TTC infrastructure, but I’m doubtful it will happen in time. As for automobiles, Queen Street isn’t going to get any wider. Cycling is a big part of this city’s future. And that’s good news, but we’ve got some work to do before we get there.