tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8092262900505102672024-03-21T08:55:13.478-07:00Steve LafleurCommentary on culture, public policy, and urban affairs from a classical liberal perspective.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-52872694897216884242011-06-17T13:32:00.000-07:002011-06-17T13:37:47.819-07:00New Music Video Highligts the Innocent Victims of the Drug War, Which Turns 40 Today<span jsid="text">The US government spent $15 billion dollars on the War on Drugs in 2010 (nearly equivalent to Canada's entire military budget), and almost 35,000 Mexicans have been killed in Drug War related violence during the past 4 years. Here is the video for a new song by my friend Lindy Vopnfjord, which highlights some of the innocent victims of the drug war. Viewer discretion is advised.<br /></span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pV7u91A3KGQ" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="349"></iframe>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-19361216918608608202011-05-19T07:45:00.000-07:002011-05-19T07:49:23.538-07:00Today, I'm coming out as a (constitutional) monarchistHere's my <a href="http://www.c2cjournal.ca/blog-articles/view/is-it-time-to-cut-canadas-ties-to-the-house-of-windsor">latest article</a> from C2C Journal, where I argue that the monarchy plays a small, but crucial part in our system of government that cannot be trusted to an elected office.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-81070183757741076792011-05-17T10:57:00.000-07:002011-05-17T11:00:19.418-07:00Can immigration save Detroit?In my latest article at New Geography, I argue that targeted immigration should be used to stem Detroit's demographic and economic decline before it's too late. The only alternative is razing much of the city to the ground, which has already begun. The model for this already exists in a surprising place: Winnipeg.<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/002238-can-winnipeg-model-save-detroit">Click here to read the full article.</a></div>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-42948947807935921692011-05-13T09:41:00.000-07:002011-05-13T15:01:02.295-07:00My Response to the Federation of Canadian MunicipalitiesThe Edmonton Journal informed me that they have a strict editorial policy about printing responses to responses, which is a fair rule, so I'm posting my response to the FCM president's <a href="http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Gridlock+belongs+federal+list/4737377/story.html">letter to the editor</a> about <a href="http://www.edmontonjournal.com/story_print.html?id=4702451&sponsor=">my article</a> about infrastructure spending here.<div><br /></div><div>Here it is:</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">“Gridlock belongs on federal list,” May 6, 2011</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m glad that the President of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities took my proposal to decentralize infrastructure spending seriously enough to respond.<span style=""> </span>I’m also encouraged by the fact that he did not disagree in principle with the idea.<span style=""> </span>However, I have two issues with his response.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">First, he minimized the problem.<span style=""> </span>His claim that half of infrastructure spending comes from municipalities is correct.<span style=""> </span>But the debate over infrastructure spending has always been focused on capital spending, the majority of which comes from senior levels of government.<span style=""> </span>In Alberta, it’s funded entirely by the province.<span style=""> </span>As long as municipalities rely on higher levels of government, they’ll be forced to balance the needs of the city against political needs of senior governments.<span style=""> </span>There’s no better example than Toronto’s Sheppard Subway line—a line from nowhere, to nowhere, and through nowhere.<span style=""> </span>The province financed the tiny stub known as the Sheppard line by canceling the far more practical Eglinton line.<span style=""> </span>Bad planning often makes good politics.<span style=""> </span>Had the decision been left up to Toronto voters alone, this wouldn’t have happened.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Second, he said that if higher levels of government propose to give municipalities taxing power, the municipalities would be happy to sit down with them.<span style=""> </span>The deferential tone is the problem.<span style=""> </span>Unless municipalities are willing to forcefully make the case to the public that decentralization is essential, higher levels of government won’t bother with it.<span style=""> </span>Federal and provincial politicians love controlling the purse strings.<span style=""> </span>Having the ability to funnel money to politically important areas works out well for them.<span style=""> </span>The FCM is a powerful lobby group, so there is no reason why they should hedge their bets by backing band aid solutions.<span style=""> </span>The ball is in the FCMs court.</p></div>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-89399432518701712522011-04-28T11:39:00.000-07:002011-04-28T15:08:56.251-07:00Air travelers should be weary of the NDP's de-facto airline policies<p class="MsoNormal">With the very real prospect on an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">NDP</span> lead Federal government, Canadians who have hitherto paid little attention to the details of the party’s economic plans are now scrambling to piece together the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NDP</span>’s vision for <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Unfortunately, their platform is silent on many important issues.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Among these issues are airline regulations, which have been a hobbyhorse for many influential New Democrats over the last few years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s airline regulations rank among the most backwards in the developed world.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If statements from people like Peggy Nash, Olivia Chow, and Jim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Maloway</span> are indeed representative of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NDP</span>’s intentions for the airline industry, Canadian travelers may be in for a shakedown under a Jack Layton government.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Three specific policies championed by the aforementioned New Democrats come to mind.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>First, Peggy Nash, a current CAW employee and President of the New Democratic Party, has <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/silver-powers/monday-morning-hilarity/article1232351/">advocated</a> for a partial nationalization of the Air Canada, and regulations that would hamstring discount carriers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her rational is that discount carriers flood the market with supply in order to eat away at Air <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s market share.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even if true, it is hard to fathom how this is a bad thing from the perspective of anyone other than a unionized airline employee.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Discount carries save consumers a substantial amount of money, especially low income travelers, who might not be able to afford to fly with Air <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They also save businesses money, which helps make them more <a href="http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/pages/2011-01-20-01.aspx">competitive</a> with US companies, who have access to cheaper airfare (this is especially important for small businesses).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>As it is, we need more competition—foreign or otherwise—not less.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our airline policies <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">shouldn</span>’t be about keeping Air <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s unionized employees happy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The second worrisome policy is contained in Winnipeg MP Jim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Maloway</span>’s 2009 private member’s bill, which called for the creation of a “<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2009/05/04/airline-passengers-tariffs789.html">passenger’s bill of rights</a>” for air travellers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This included such gems as compensation of $500 per hour (after the first hour) to customers experiencing flight delays, and up to $1200 for being bumped from a flight.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The four largest airlines implemented a watered down version of this bill of rights.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>While the intention behind this legislation was reasonable, the impact would have been devastating to the airline industry, and bad for consumers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After all, if the cost associated with delays was rendered higher than the expected revenue from many flights, the industry would reduce the number of flights.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This could be devastating for companies like Porter and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">WestJet</span>, where a large percentage of flights are under $500.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For instance, a quick search reveals that a flight from <st1:city><st1:place>Toronto</st1:place></st1:city> to <st1:city><st1:place>Chicago</st1:place></st1:city> on April 30<sup><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">th</span></sup> (booked April 28<sup><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">th</span></sup>) would cost $60 plus tax.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Porter would gross $4200 on this flight if it is filled to capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If this flight were to be delayed by two hours—which often happens due to circumstances beyond the control of airlines—Porter would be fined $35,000.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Given that Porter operates on low margins, the loss from this one flight would be well over $30,000.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s hard to imagine Porter operating in this environment.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In other words, no more $60 airfare to <st1:city><st1:place>Chicago</st1:place></st1:city> (Air <st1:country-region><st1:place>Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> would charge $139).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The last policy that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">NDP</span> has to answer for is their opposition to expansion of the <st1:place><st1:placename>Toronto</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> airport.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>While this issue is specific to <st1:city><st1:place>Toronto</st1:place></st1:city>, the mentality behind the party’s opposition should worry air travellers throughout the country.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is the beachhead for Porter Airlines, and Olivia Chow is on record as wanting to shut it down.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her opposition stems from the not in my backyard sentiment against the airport from certain local constituents.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This lobby was powerful enough to propel former Mayor David Miller to power, so it seems like a wise political move for Chow, whose riding includes the airport.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When opposing airport expansion in the House of Commons, she <a href="http://www.parl.gc.ca/housepublications/publication.aspx?docid=3058521&language=e&mode=1&parl=39&ses=1#Int-2161776">claimed that</a> “operating an airport is contrary to the vision of a clean, green and vibrant waterfront.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It’s hard to imagine how forcing the 700,000 plus passengers travelling through the Island Airport to instead travel all the way to Mississauga to fly via Pearson would mesh with her stated environmental goals.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After all, only <a href="http://www.gtaa.com/local/files/en/Corporate/Publications/MasterPlan/MP-Chapter8.pdf">7% of passengers, and 11% of employees</a> travelling to Pearson use public transit. One valid concern she raises is that the airport is subsidized to the tune of $6 million annually.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This should be addressed by shifting the burden of financing the airport to the airlines.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The <a href="http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/04/27/porter-airlines-to-invest-45m-in-expanded-island-terminal.aspx">$45 million</a> Porter spent on their new terminal is a great start.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nevertheless, it seems odd that Chow is so concerned about a $6 million dollar subsidy, but unfazed by the annual $400 million plus <a href="http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Commission_meetings/2009/December_16_2009/Supplementary_Reports/2010_OPERATING_BUDGE.pdf">operating subsidy</a> to the Toronto Transit Commission.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If the New Democratic Party is serious about governing, they will have to explain their positions on important issues like airline regulations.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One of the reasons why the Conservative Party has been able to build a competitive national party is that they dropped many of their most controversial policy ideas when they were within striking distance of power.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Will the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">NDP</span> make the same prudent decision, or will they govern like an opposition party? <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is the question that Jack Layton will have to answer in the closing days of the campaign.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-74410010835856644222011-04-20T20:56:00.000-07:002011-04-20T21:01:15.474-07:00My latest column on why the Feds shouldn't pay for infrastructure<a href="http://www.canada.com/news/decision-canada/real-agenda/story.html?id=4649649">Here is a column</a> I was invited to write for Post Media for their series "The Real Agenda," which highlights issues that are not being focussed on during the Federal election, but should be. I argue that having senior levels of government funding infrastructure projects is bad for everyone, including the recipient municipalities.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-62631306497823136832011-04-20T12:32:00.000-07:002011-04-20T12:34:54.241-07:00US Air Traffic Control System Comes Under Fire, Privatized Canadian System Wins AwardsIn the last few days there has been shocking news about US air traffic controllers sleeping on the job, watching movies at work, and showing up late for work. Today the issue has been exacerbated by a <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42684307/ns/politics-white_house/">close call</a> experienced by First Lady Michelle Obama. <div><br /></div><div>It may come as a shock to critics on the left that while the US government's government run air traffic control system is violating safety regulations, <a href="http://www.financialpost.com/news/Canada+beacon/4022200/story.html">Canada's privatized system</a> is far more efficient, and safer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Have a look at these two videos on privatizing air traffic control:</div><br /><br /><script src="http://reason.tv/embed/video.php?id=1775"></script><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="500" height="305" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KaPvJlPnc6E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-12951925555679821612011-04-11T10:38:00.000-07:002011-04-11T10:45:39.315-07:00Canadian journalist detained in China, dissident artist nowhere to be foundWhile most of you are bogged down in the election campaign, I hope you can take a minute to observe what is happening in China right now. Today, Canadian journalist Bill Schiller was <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/china/article/972598--star-reporter-detained-interrogated-by-chinese-police">detained</a> and questioned for documenting the oppression of Chinese Christians. Meanwhile, dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who was <a href="http://journal.probeinternational.org/2011/04/08/china-makes-a-mockery-of-the-rule-of-law/">detained last week</a>, is nowhere to be found. I encourage you to Google his name, since Google will actually permit you to do so in Canada. <div><br /></div><div>While many people will inevitably be disappointed by the outcome of our election, at least we live in a country where we don't face indefinite detainment for expressing political opinions. </div>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-21291220905077057842011-03-30T05:36:00.000-07:002011-03-30T11:19:55.274-07:00My Calgary transportation study, released today<div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia; color:black">I've spent a good chunk of the last few months working on a</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black"><a href="http://www.fcpp.org/publication.php/3702">study of Calgary's light rail transit (C-Train) system</a>, which was released today by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. I've had a long standing interest in LRT systems, and spent the summer of 2009 working for the Cascade Policy Institute in </span></span><st1:state><st1:place><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">Oregon</span></span></st1:place></st1:state><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">, where we compiled massive amounts of data on their world renowned LRT system as part of an ongoing project. The data (including actual field research, which proponents of the system haven't done--they rely on survey data), indicates that ridership is lower, and costs are far higher than proponents believe. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">That first hand experience (which included riding the train every day), coupled with the empirical literature from light rail systems across North America, shattered my previous conviction that light rail transit can be an economical method of transit. For the record, I do believe that subways can be profitable in dense urban cores (even the badly managed TTC nearly breaks even), and buses already are profitable in many cases (especially inter-urban bus services, such as Greyhound and Megabus). Many proponents of LRT believe that it is a happy medium between subways and buses. If that were the case, it would be profitable. However, LRT combines the disadvantages of the two: it is slow, inflexible, and expensive. Numerous studies, in particular an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01984.pdf">authoritative study</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>by the non-partisan United States Government Accountability Office, have demonstrated that on average, buses are a cheaper, faster, and more flexible than LRT for providing mass transit. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">While I use many different metrics to demonstrate that the costs and benefits of LRT are wildly exaggerated, my favorite is that </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black"> spends both the most on transit and the most on roads per-capita. Given that </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">'s entire land use and transportation framework for the past several decades has been built around the C-Train, it is hard to call it anything but a failure. The City has cracked down on parking so aggressively to encourage people to ride the train that there are only 0.07 parking spaces per employee in the central business district. Because of this, </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black"> is tied with </span><st1:state><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">New York</span></st1:place></st1:state><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black"> for the highest parking prices on the continent. But many of those people who would otherwise have parked downtown instead park in the free parking spots provided at C-Train stations. Not only is free parking horribly inefficient, but this also emphasizes one of the major contradictions of the C-Train: it isn't getting people out of their cars, and it isn't helping to curb urban sprawl--two of its primary goals. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">Unsurprisingly, those last two findings proved controversial, though not as controversial as my assertion that the C-Train fails to help the urban poor. A columnist for the Calgary Herald wrote an<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=ce3b5f60-2b77-4b9f-9c36-96595dad16f2">angry response</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to my<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/Lafleur+Train+system+costly+inefficient/4522533/story.html">Herald article</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>that accompanied the story (though doesn't seem to have read the study). She attempts to refute my arguments about urban sprawl, and the impact of the C-Train on the poor, while dismissing the study as </span><span class="apple-style-span">"</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">a cost-benefit analysis guaranteed to resonate with other right wingers who share the mantra of lower taxes above all else, including over the reality of everyday experience." I'm not clear on when cost-benefit analysis became a right wing concept, but I'll let that one go. I will, however, address her two criticisms in short order.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; color:#333333">The idea that urban transit could worsen sprawl seems odd. The reason why it does so in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333"> is because the C-Train network is built on a hub and spoke model. What this means is that transit is concentrated on going from the outskirts, into the city center. Since LRT is so expensive, and since people need to be 'collected' by buses to get to LRT stations, the city has less resources to provide transit circling the core, or travelling east-west. And if you can't provide good transit for people who aren't living along LRT lines, and don't work along one of the lines, people are just going to keep moving further out (hence the highest road costs in the nation). Here's what Calgary Transit's current planning manager<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/Calgary+train/4113831/story.html">has to say</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>about the C-Train's impact on sprawl: </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:black">"In one respect, it should allow Calgary to be a more compact city, but what it's done is it's actually allowed Calgary to continue to develop outward because it was so easy to get to the LRT and then get other places," says Neil McKendrick, Calgary Transit's current planning manager."</span></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span style="font-family:Arial;color:black">While that comment is true for those who can afford to live by LRT stations (or to drive to them), it doesn't apply to the city's poorest. </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">As it happens, LRT lines</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:#333333"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;color:#333333"><a href="http://www.realestateinvestingincanada.com/portals/0/media/calgary_transportation_%20report.pdf">raise the cost of adjacent housing</a></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black">(though for proximate high end housing it lowers the value--hardly a concern for the poor)--by $1045 for every 100 feet closer to a rail station. This isn't a terribly complicated concept. If you spend a massive amount of money on a form of transit that is considered to luxurious, the price of housing goes up. This is exacerbated by the fact that diverting transit resources to those areas makes transit there comparatively better, making it that much more desirable comparatively for people who intend to use transit at all--even as just an occasional amenity, say for going downtown on weekends. LRT is great for people who can afford to live by the stations, but not so much for anyone else. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, verdana, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; "><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; color:#333333">Unfortunately, for many, light rail transit has become a sacred cow. But if </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333"> is ever going to have adequate rapid transit, the City will need to explore more cost effective options. Buses may not be trendy, but expanding BRT in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333"> would dramatically improve people's mobility at a reasonable cost. Fortunately, the current Mayor has acknowledged that BRT will have to be part of the solution for making </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333">Calgary</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:#333333"> a transit friendly city. He also made the wise decision of de-prioritizing the southeast LRT extension (expected to cost $1.2-$1.8 billion). If the Mayor follows up on his promise to make BRT an integral part of Calgary Transit in the short term, the City will not only have far better transit, but it will have a chance to watch the LRT and BRT operating side by side so that the people can decide for themselves whether the the billion plus required to build the Southeast LRT is worthwhile. My bet is on BRT.</span></p></span></div>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-49758352406470664982011-03-26T15:06:00.000-07:002011-03-26T16:02:48.514-07:00Instead of Earth Hour<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCR7i0ArhP7P4AZw6FJmZNc8bDSfqoK2DRwn2W0piIX-Pi15YCJ00bXWasy7YtJolc9rNrdV6dZU0Q7sWZuu3lPlg6vQDfgNgGCLnxCAe08QLvsGiTLNx3iIQTLOOR4z8MLIla8ucA1Gx/s1600/2295194905_7465d0a1e0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 313px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCR7i0ArhP7P4AZw6FJmZNc8bDSfqoK2DRwn2W0piIX-Pi15YCJ00bXWasy7YtJolc9rNrdV6dZU0Q7sWZuu3lPlg6vQDfgNgGCLnxCAe08QLvsGiTLNx3iIQTLOOR4z8MLIla8ucA1Gx/s320/2295194905_7465d0a1e0.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588513968460843666" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Earth Hour is a great example of millions of how people can spontaneously cooperate to achieve a collective good. Unfortunately, while participants succeed in coaxing others to participate, the collective good they create is a fleeting sense of collective accomplishment. As for achieving the primary goal of the activists--reducing greenhouse gases--it completely misses the point. The most efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to increase energy efficiency. Fortunately, nearly everyone has a vested interest in energy efficiency--saving money. </div><div><br /></div><div>Does turning off the lights for an hour have a lasting impact on energy efficiency? Of course not. The real rational behind Earth Hour is to create support for legislation that they believe will reduce carbon emissions. In other words, Earth Hour is a bottom up attempt to use top down means to solve hundreds of billions of problems--namely the multitude of individual energy inefficient decisions each of us make every day. This approach is bound to fail. Declaring that carbon emissions shall be reduced doesn't have an impact unless individuals and businesses do something to reduce their carbon emissions. Diktats have far less ability to change people's behaviour than economic incentives, absent Draconian measures. In short, the best way to convince people to conserve energy is to show them that it will save them money.</div><div><br /></div><div>So how could we leverage the co-operation of Earth Hour into an increased awareness of the individual benefits of energy conservation? I would suggest that rather than turning off the lights for an hour, the World Wildlife Foundation (organizers of the event) suggest that everyone make one improvement to their household energy efficiency during Earth Hour. This could range from replacing an old refrigerator (or at least purchasing one online during the hour) to installing an energy efficient light bulb, or installing new weatherstripping on a drafty window. Sure, it doesn't have the visual impact of having large swaths of a city fall into darkness, but it would actually have a bigger long term impact. WWF could feature an energy efficiency calculator on their site, and participants could roughly calculate their energy consumption savings, and send them on to WWF to aggregate. This way participants would still get some of the sense of accomplishment that comes along with cloaking their city in darkness. Given that WWF believes energy efficiency to be the <a href="http://www.wwf.eu/climate/energy_efficiency/">most efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas</a> emissions, this would seem like the perfect way for them to get their message across. </div><div><br /></div><div>So here is the choice: self loathing deprivation, or a celebration of human accomplishment. Given the extremely negative message the first sends to people who aren't hardcore environmentalists--that <a href="http://ep.probeinternational.org/2009/03/30/vampire-hour/">conservation requires inconvenience and sacrifice</a>--the smart approach would be to send a positive message: energy efficiency saves you money. It lacks the feel good factor of sacrificing for the good of the planet, but at least it could have an actual impact. Like it or not, self interest almost always trumps self sacrifice. The goal should be to harness people's self interest, rather than fighting against it. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-1820247171442093312011-02-28T11:16:00.001-08:002011-02-28T11:20:50.380-08:00Should Toronto Sell the TTC?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; ">Eleven years ago, a British company bid $500 million to buy the TTC, and promised a 10 year fare freeze. The TTC currently loses $350 million annually. Energy Probe Research Foundation executive director Lawrence Solomon makes the case that the TTC millstone could still be turned into an asset for the city. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; "><a href="http://urbanrenaissance.probeinternational.org/2011/02/25/lawrence-solomon-transit-competition/">Read the full story here.</a></span></div>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-71438734691731387622010-12-01T09:57:00.000-08:002010-12-01T10:01:03.087-08:00Toronto Election Highlights Failure of Amalgamation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjffXGhnsgwdR21eL_KOUIFtv4q17bgf50xdGqhYe21_Lbx_z3eTtqXcWqjmE7LCxUwbaa6SuGjDYdldyQw17j6CGxQKcj_eJb1Oli64FO14BplmrD6MnkEAWWWzHwOZANad7Rk9EFaEF/s1600/toronto-night.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjffXGhnsgwdR21eL_KOUIFtv4q17bgf50xdGqhYe21_Lbx_z3eTtqXcWqjmE7LCxUwbaa6SuGjDYdldyQw17j6CGxQKcj_eJb1Oli64FO14BplmrD6MnkEAWWWzHwOZANad7Rk9EFaEF/s320/toronto-night.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545774909622172338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001890-toronto-election-highlights-failure-amalgamation"><span style="font-style: italic;">Originally featured at New Geography.</span></a><br /><br /><p>In my <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001773-toronto%E2%80%99s-civic-malaise" rel="nofollow">pre-election piece on the Toronto election</a>, I discussed the city’s lingering malaise. It developed slowly but its roots can be traced to the 1998 amalgamation that swallowed up five suburban municipalities. This led to a six folds expansion of city boundaries and a tripling the population base. This amalgamation was initiated by the province of Ontario as a cost saving measure and faced major local opposition. Citizens and politicians were concerned that the benefits of the alleged efficiency saving would be outweighed by the negative impact of losing local decision making powers. The recent Toronto municipal election bore out this concern. </p> <p>In the October 25th election, Torontonians were presented with two dramatically different visions. The first vision was presented by former Liberal Ontario cabinet minister George Smitherman. A self-described progressive, Smitherman appealed mainly to voters in the downtown core of Old Toronto. He stood for issues such as improved bicycle lanes, renewal of the downtown waterfront, and improving social housing conditions. The second version was presented by maverick councilor Rob Ford, who represented a ward in the former City of Etobicoke. Ford’s message was simple: it’s time to stop the “gravy train” at City Hall. While he had elaborate platforms on many issues, cutting waste at City Hall was his ubiquitous message. </p><a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001890-toronto-election-highlights-failure-amalgamation"><span style="font-style: italic;">(continue reading)</span></a>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-65363194860983005502010-11-13T10:03:00.000-08:002010-11-13T10:11:05.014-08:00Unintended Consequences of Oil Drilling Regulations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuD9D7lTbehhtWtVSOp1YWKe1utUsOop_fK9mcP_cKAIpZC7RoXgzndfhz7SqQJb17r8nVQJTh-4EQdnzgS2eoqizihcvTkuSbjivx83FPL24qppPQseNz9qVEkR0jWZ0rmXXs7sc_cUp/s1600/oil-rig-with-crew-boats_3218.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuD9D7lTbehhtWtVSOp1YWKe1utUsOop_fK9mcP_cKAIpZC7RoXgzndfhz7SqQJb17r8nVQJTh-4EQdnzgS2eoqizihcvTkuSbjivx83FPL24qppPQseNz9qVEkR0jWZ0rmXXs7sc_cUp/s320/oil-rig-with-crew-boats_3218.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539098126410803522" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Here is a<a href="http://percolatorblog.org/2010/11/08/why-the-quest-for-oil-is-so-risky/"> link</a> to a great article from Shawn Regan at the Property and Environment Research Center on how government regulations are effecting oil exploration. Rather than protecting the environment, it turns out that heavy handed regulations--driven by NIMBYs--are leading us to look for oil in all the wrong places.<br /><br />The world isn't running out of oil, yet governments have essentially forced oil companies into offshore drilling. The US government has designated 80% of oil rich offshore land, and 60% of equivalent on shore land of limits to drilling. Combine this with a liability cap for oil spills, and offshore drilling all of a sudden makes plenty of sense for drillers. Michael Greenstone of the Brookings Institute summed up the situation pefectly: “The cap effectively subsidizes drilling and substandard safety investments in the very locations where the damages from spills would be greatest.”Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-16588747162178650502010-10-08T16:18:00.000-07:002010-10-08T16:31:27.474-07:00Taxpayers Likely to Lose Hundreds of Millions on Olympic Village<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZU4LiI7JKHLHcIQB7-h2ecWSXUm7SaYEamoESmFIDKiq2IF0kzaq4qUvP86HYj55py-nf-n9S3s7L_S5CH2hcN6Ak9WPPutFyVqgBjJ8kAyE4E4sDwoSP0KCbi0DY8vPE6lAo9AlwJEvJ/s1600/vancouver_olympics1.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZU4LiI7JKHLHcIQB7-h2ecWSXUm7SaYEamoESmFIDKiq2IF0kzaq4qUvP86HYj55py-nf-n9S3s7L_S5CH2hcN6Ak9WPPutFyVqgBjJ8kAyE4E4sDwoSP0KCbi0DY8vPE6lAo9AlwJEvJ/s320/vancouver_olympics1.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525820697002690834" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Originally posted at <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001802-vancouver-olympic-villiage-development-becoming-a-burden-taxpayers">New Geography</a>.</span><br /><br /><br /><p>The former Olympic athlete's village in Vancouver is in the news again, but this time no one is celebrating. The billion dollar plus development, originally built to house athletes then converted to a residential housing development, was primarily financed by a loan from the city of Vancouver. Millennium Development Corp., developer of the project, currently owes the city $731 million. Millennium was scheduled to pay back the first $200 million by August 31st, but came up $8 million short. They managed to <a href="http://www.theprovince.com/sports/high-school-zone/City+scolds+deadbeat+developer+over+missed+Millennium+payments/3605465/story.html">find another $5 million by September 20th</a>, but they are still $3 million short. On top of this, they have another $75 million due in January. The city is considering legal action against the developer. </p> <p>This isn't the first we've heard about financial troubles with the project. The city actually took over the loan from Millennium’s initial lender due to cost overruns. The repayment schedule was considered feasible, given the strength of the Vancouver real estate market. Unfortunately for them, sales have been slow. While 223 units sold during the presale, only 36 units have moved since. This leaves more than half of the units. 454, lingering on the market. The city has actually been forced to take over the 252 units of social housing that were required to be built due to the city's inclusionary zoning laws.</p><p><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001802-vancouver-olympic-villiage-development-becoming-a-burden-taxpayers">(Continue Reading)</a><br /></p>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-29929504029670647872010-09-20T23:33:00.000-07:002010-09-20T23:38:53.835-07:00Amalgamation, and Election Year Anger in TorontoMy latest New Geography article. Toronto election year anger is a side effect of amalgamation, rather than a knee jerk reaction against big government.<br /><br />Despite Toronto’s international reputation for livability, all is not well in the city. Many politicians and pundits blame the outgoing city council, and Mayor David Miller. While they’ve done their share of damage, the city faces deeper, systemic problems. The source of the problem is more fundamental than stifling bureaucracy, or the stranglehold of the public sector unions. These are symptoms of the institutional sclerosis caused by the amalgamation of Toronto and surrounding areas into the new Toronto Megacity...(<a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001773-toronto%E2%80%99s-civic-malaise">continue reading</a>)Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-61983001239882555762010-09-13T12:25:00.001-07:002010-09-13T12:55:24.565-07:00NDP and Greens Back Fiscal Restraint in Winnipeg, While Tories Back Expensive Toy Trains<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIB8n2CDAaxVDZbcgoF2lunGZZ8-cfpYS872gPyDqklRq7FLGatI4t1zV58yzmOeeI-WYZBtwtG3Rshi_vu-DAVWhwLH4KPjT99tvJ19bhp4tSFYoYnkxY5JPNq42syA_TddKVSdyPodCO/s1600/2292872.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIB8n2CDAaxVDZbcgoF2lunGZZ8-cfpYS872gPyDqklRq7FLGatI4t1zV58yzmOeeI-WYZBtwtG3Rshi_vu-DAVWhwLH4KPjT99tvJ19bhp4tSFYoYnkxY5JPNq42syA_TddKVSdyPodCO/s320/2292872.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516482631031729490" border="0" /></a><br />Light rail transit is seen by many progressives as the transportation method of the future. Despite numerous studies that question the alleged social, economic, and environmental benefits of light rail, they continue to advocate for it. Many studies, including an <a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d01984.pdf">authoritative study</a> by the US Government Accountability Office, have demonstrated that bus rapid transit is a far more efficient than LRT. <br /><br />While academics and non-partisan advocacy groups continue to document the benefits of BRT, for some reason Conservative municipal politicians are embracing LRT. Calgary City Councilor and Mayoral hopeful Ric McIver and Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brian have been long time LRT backers, and Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz jumped on the bandwagon awhile back. <br /><br />Shockingly, Katz is now being <a href="http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/Wasylycia+Leis+makes+first+campaign+promise/3297387/story.html">opposed</a> in his attempt to introduce LRT to Winnipeg by NDP Mayoral candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis. Even more surprising is that she has garnered an <a href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/City-lags-behind-other-Canadian-cities-in-green-initiatives-rapid-transit-Green-Party-leader-says-102739104.html">endorsement</a> from Green Party leader Elizabeth May. That's right. The NDP and Greens are supporting efficient transportation policy, while a partisan Tory Mayor (<a href="http://www.reelectsam.ca/news.asp?newsID=1994">endorsed</a> by at least one Tory MP) is advocating for billions of dollars in capital expenditures. It seems that the Tory strategy of strategic capitulation (read: selling out) is backfiring in Winnipeg. I haven't had a chance to look into the rest of her platform, but I would imagine that I'll wind up supporting her at this point. She may be bad on every other issue, but she probably couldn't spend the savings from scrapping the LRT system if she tried. Besides, it's time for the grassroots to send Tory sellouts like Katz a message: show some fiscal restraint, or your base will stay home--or vote for someone who will. Even if it's a New Democrat.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-61880846962915906252010-09-03T12:16:00.000-07:002010-09-03T13:07:12.317-07:00What Does $600 Million of Provincial Transit Funds Get You?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QPhu21xw1VoDokJ1ca79Ne1jnV0aYSPs6AW9YFZef2yqDJ-ilC5U1AEiWHdYMi4xYLLqFeYtNC0ACK0YmT5KnHiZEcgjDnGzlx6SfeMnjXScu9zFt2y9BGZlq_FME5ULUH_jqMBK6J4x/s1600/3130751.bin.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QPhu21xw1VoDokJ1ca79Ne1jnV0aYSPs6AW9YFZef2yqDJ-ilC5U1AEiWHdYMi4xYLLqFeYtNC0ACK0YmT5KnHiZEcgjDnGzlx6SfeMnjXScu9zFt2y9BGZlq_FME5ULUH_jqMBK6J4x/s320/3130751.bin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512770360648305554" border="0" /></a><br />The City of Ottawa just received <a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Province+600M+Ottawa+light+rail+project/3473969/story.html">confirmation</a> that the Province will kick in $600 million to fund the city's light rail transit exansion. What will they get out of that? A Twelve kilometer extension. Yes, that's right. For the price of 1000 state of the art hybrid buses, they get a measly 12 kilometers added to the light rail line. Sorry. I lied. They don't even come close to getting it for $600 million. The total price tag is $2.1 billion, and that is before the inevitable cost overruns. In other words, for the price of tripling the number of buses in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OC_Transpo">OC Transpo</a>'s fleet, they're getting a glorified monorail extension.<br /><br /><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AEZjzsnPhnw?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AEZjzsnPhnw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-30104648211772813362010-08-20T11:55:00.000-07:002010-10-08T16:30:57.140-07:00Vancouver: Planner’s Dream, Middle Class Nightmare<span style="font-style: italic;">Original featured at New Geography.</span><br /><br />Vancouver is consistently rated among the most desirable places to live in the Economist’s annual ranking of cities. In fact, this year it topped the list. Of course, it also topped another list. Vancouver was ranked as the city with the most unaffordable housing in the English speaking world by <a href="http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf">Demographia’s annual survey</a>. According to the survey criteria, housing prices in an affordable market should have an “median multiple” of no higher than 3.0 (meaning that median housing price should cost no more than 3 times the median annual gross household income). Vancouver came in at a staggering 9.3. The second most expensive major Canadian city, Toronto, has an index of only 5.2. Even legendarily unaffordable London and New York were significantly lower... (<a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001729-vancouver-planner%E2%80%99s-dream-middle-class-nightmare"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">continue reading</span></a>)Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-86531707640413619302010-08-09T13:17:00.000-07:002010-08-09T13:25:22.410-07:00Electric Vehicle Subsidies: Greening the Earth, or Subsidizing the Wealthy?Here's a great <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2262229/">article</a> from Slate Magazine on the futility of subsidizing electric vehicle technology. While EVs may one day be viable, subsidies for EVs are little more than kickbacks to those who are actually wealthy enough to afford them. I wonder if the author read the <a href="http://www.cascadepolicy.org/2009/10/02/a-free-market-perspective-on-electric-vehicles/">report</a> I published for the <a href="http://www.cascadepolicy.org/">Cascade Policy Institute</a> last summer?Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-71310618893022679422010-08-04T08:51:00.000-07:002010-09-16T23:38:26.308-07:00Is Homeownership Overrated?<span style="font-style: italic;">Originally featured at New Geography.</span><br /><br />Home ownership has been considered an integral part of the American Dream for as long as anyone can remember. Now it has come under scrutiny, notably in a June <i>Wall Street Journal</i> piece by <a href="http://www.creativeclass.com/rfcgdb/articles/Home%20ownership%20is%20overrated.pdf">Richard Florida</a>, which claims that that home ownership reduces employment opportunities for young adults, since it limits their mobility. To support ownership, others — particularly <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001624-time-dismantle-american-dream">Wendell Cox</a> — have argued that home ownership levels do not correlate with the economic productivity of cities...(<a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001688-ownership-subsidies-dream-homes-or-disasters">continue reading</a>)Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-68351226883172606162010-07-31T07:37:00.000-07:002010-07-31T07:39:42.255-07:00Libertarian Centrism<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8mqqW0kFLJlXbnQe99AGRkelRbZFNe0zt1ms29oXqEFKv3tLtxSxatW6MBo7HrrbNJS65-PlolkbOaTOghUH8GHeq5_fFSiqg0YgK0o03jeJkai5-PLD0dg5NVJL1MOg0G8KqcQuOzsP/s1600/feature_image.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8mqqW0kFLJlXbnQe99AGRkelRbZFNe0zt1ms29oXqEFKv3tLtxSxatW6MBo7HrrbNJS65-PlolkbOaTOghUH8GHeq5_fFSiqg0YgK0o03jeJkai5-PLD0dg5NVJL1MOg0G8KqcQuOzsP/s320/feature_image.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499504840076692658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo3DQkHJrz2BmtXMDSQkTGQ2AD5Pzgma0UBMUKJIb2AaphiK44ZgU4fjxvR1Jnv3fCYvdlddtBAbAb4ReKQejfpEETyB_BlpI_iJDMqHDdZAr9r9W4dYQZuYPfi4-GQWDma7PtC-dhsPQy/s1600/feature_image.jpg"><br /></a><br /><br />Libertarianism has an ambiguous place within American federal politics. Since libertarianism became popular in the 1960's, libertarians seem to have defaulted towards reluctantly supporting the Republican Party. This loose alliance reached a peak during the Reagan years, as well as during the Republican revolution in the early 90s. While most libertarians continued to vote Republican through the last decade, many libertarian public figures disavowed the party during the Bush Administration. This has lead to many debates among libertarian intellectuals about how best to work within the political system to advance individual liberty. Should libertarians continue to support Republicans, or move over to the Democratic column. I will argue that neither is appropriate. The only way for libertarians to influence American politics at the national level is to remain an independent swing vote. The flip side of this is that they need to be willing to back moderate proposals from either party that will serve to advance freedom. In other words, libertarians need to claim the center.<br /><br />*Before proceeding, I should point out that this argument is exclusively referring to American federal politics. Libertarians still do have something to be gained from a loose alliance with conservatives in Canada, since Canadian conservatives are nowhere near as socially conservative than their American equivalents, and tend to be far more reasonable on civil liberties issues. It also doesn't necessarily apply to State governments, since the issue set is different than at the federal level.*<br /><br />A recent debate in <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2010/07/12/where-do-libertarians-belong/">Reason Magazine</a> between Brink Lindsey from the <a href="http://www.cato.org/">Cato Institute</a>, Jonah Goldberg of National Review, and Matt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kibbe</span> of Freedom Works has been the subject of a flurry of discussion recently. The genesis of this debate can be traced back a few years to an <a href="http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6800">article</a> Lindsey wrote in The New Republic in 2006. His claim was that Libertarians had nothing to gain from their 'fusion' with conservatives, and should instead focus on co-operating with liberals. While he didn't expect to convert liberals en <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">masse</span>, he hoped to work with liberals to use market mechanisms to achieve progressive goals. He referred to this philosophy as '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">liberaltarianism</span>'. Goldberg was one of his most prominent opponents from the beginning. Goldberg wished him luck, but doubted that liberals would have any interest in using market mechanisms to achieve progressive goals.<br /><br /><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://reason.tv/embed/video.php?id=1299"></script><br /><br /><br /><br />In the Reason debate, Lindsey unambiguously disavowed any kind of alliance with the left. He recognized that "for now and the foreseeable future, the left is no more viable a home for libertarians than is the right." The left is inflexible on economic issues, as the right is on social issues. Rather than fusing with the left or the right, Lindsey advocates working with the left on social issues, and the right on economic issues. Rather than throwing money at the Republican or Democratic Party, he believes believes that libertarians should fund individual candidates who are committed to both individual and economic freedom, rather than funding candidates based on their economic views and just hoping they won't trample over civil liberties.<br /><br />While Lindsey's position hasn't been fully fleshed out yet, I find it persuasive. One need only look at the survey data on Tea Party activists that Lindsay provides:<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Tea <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Partiers</span> hold distinctly <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">unlibertarian</span> views on a wide variety of issues. According to the </span><em style="font-style: italic;">Times</em><span style="font-style: italic;"> poll, 82 percent think illegal immigration is a very serious problem, and supporters of decreasing legal immigration outnumber those who want to liberalize immigration by 42 to 14 percent. Only 16 percent favor gay marriage (compared to 39 percent of the country at large), and 40 percent call for no legal recognition of same-sex unions. Meanwhile, 77 percent support either banning abortions outright or making them more difficult to obtain. "</span><br /><br /><br />The standard libertarian position on immigration, marriage, and abortion is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">laissez</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">faire</span>. Furthermore, most libertarians feel strongly about at least one of those three issues. This should give libertarians pause before supporting any party who will pander to the Tea Party. I am much more opposed to mass deportations than I am to tax increases, so there is no way that I can align myself with the Tea Party. It is also worth noting that there are a non-trivial number of activist libertarians who attend Tea Parties. Remove them from the above numbers, and I suspect the numbers get far worse.<br /><br />The biggest problems with working with Republicans that Lindsey pointed out are that they tend to rely on two impulses: anti-intellectual populism, and/or dogmatic religiosity. This is precisely the opposite of the libertarian ideal. Of course, the far left is no better. There is no way to reason with people steeped in anti-corporate conspiracy theories, and revolutionary sentiments. Rational, secular discourse is required for a thriving liberal democracy.<br /><br />There is one major problem with breaking away from conservatives: fundraising. Libertarian think tanks have been fairly close with conservatives, and by explicitly moving away would jeopardize at least some fundraising capacity. However, I don't see any need for think tanks to change their policy focus, or their outreach efforts. Most think tanks have very limited political advocacy efforts anyways. What's more important is how libertarian donors and activists act.<br /><br />The fundamental rule for activism and political donations for libertarians should be to always work towards divided government. Neither party can be trusted with the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. In terms of specific candidates, I would recommend a two track approach. Obviously, actual libertarians like <a href="http://flake.house.gov/">Jeff Flake</a> and <a href="http://garrett.house.gov/">Scott Garrett</a> deserve our support. More importantly, libertarians should work with moderates in both parties. There are several reasons for this. First, they are typically more thoughtful than the average member. This means that they are more open to shifting policy positions. Second, they compose large blocks of semi-independent swing votes. Third, they tend to have very high national profiles. One way to achieve this would be to start a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">liberaltarian</span> version of Freedom Works. I'm not sure how <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">feasible</span> this idea is, but it would be an excellent way to provide the fundraising and volunteer muscle that would be required to show these candidates that there is something in it for them if they adopt slightly more libertarian policies. This sounds crass, but it's the game that conservatives and liberals play.<br /><br />When thinking about how to influence politics, libertarians often refer to the <a href="http://www.mackinac.org/OvertonWindow"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Overton</span> Window</a> (not the unrelated Glenn Beck book). The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Overton</span> Window theory dictates that there is a middle ground of policy positions that are politically palatable. If legislators move too far to the right, or the left, they risk alienating the average voter. The key for libertarians is to try to move the window of public policy options into a more libertarian direction. The strategy for advocacy groups (not necessarily think tanks) has been to try to move towards more economic freedom without much regard for social freedom. This has prevented libertarians from gaining as much traction as we could with young people. Since younger people are more preoccupied with social issues than economic issues, they naturally gravitate towards the left. That is a major missed opportunity for us.<br /><br />In my opinion, the most effective libertarian advocacy organization is the <a href="http://www.theihs.org/">Institute for Humane Studies</a>. I use the word advocacy loosely, since they are actually an educational organization. That distinction is exactly why they are effective. While Freedom Works is out recruiting older conservatives and libertarians to Tea Parties, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">IHS</span> is inviting high school and college students to educational seminars. The mistake that advocacy groups make is to focus on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">herding</span> existing sympathisers. Instead of doing this, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">IHS</span> is helping to build the activist base. Far from brainwashing students, they encourage them to debate classical liberal philosophy. Above all, they encourage disagreement, and scepticism. Since any student who is motivated enough to spend a week at a seminar is likely more inquisitive than the average student, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">IHS</span> is confident that their participants are able to make up their own minds about whether or not they agree with libertarian principles. This approach is all the more important since most intellectually interested young people identify with modern liberalism. For every one that embraces libertarianism, there is one less radical activist. More importantly, each one of these new recruits will no doubt discuss these ideas with their friends in their own language. Yelling out anti-government slogans doesn't appeal to young activists. Rational discussion sometimes does.<br /><br />In short, we have nothing to gain from pandering to the right. They are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">reactionarily</span> anti-government anyways. They won't vote any different on any substantive policy, no matter what libertarians say. The Tea Parties won't go away just because libertarian activists stop showing up. The key is to work with moderates, to show them how more economic freedom will help to achieve the policy outcomes they desire. Distancing ourselves from the Tea Party is crucial if we intend to do this. This doesn't mean libertarians shouldn't work with conservatives on certain issues. It means that we should focus equally on working with liberals on important issues like immigration, and drug war reform as well. We need to be a swing vote, rather than a faction.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-61398845258971544192010-07-15T17:00:00.000-07:002010-09-16T23:41:47.689-07:00My Latest Post at New Geography: Revisiting Toronto’s G20 Costs<p style="font-style: italic;">Originally posted at New Geography, and picked up by the <a href="http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/tag/steve-lafleur/">National Post</a>.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the lead up to the G20 conference, the security costs were projected to approach a billion dollars. As high as this number sounds, sources are now speculating that the total bill could be closer to <a href="http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/07/08/14651761.html" rel="nofollow">$2 billion</a>. Shocking as that number is, the costs incurred by local businesses may have exceeded that total. </p> In addition to the physical damage to the hundreds of shops that were smashed in, there were major productivity losses during, and in the week before the conference. The most visible opportunity cost was the sharp decline in retail sales...(<a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001675-revisiting-toronto%E2%80%99s-g20-costs">continue reading</a>)Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-19811418462523348102010-07-07T09:25:00.001-07:002010-07-07T09:33:37.821-07:00My Reason Magazine Article About EPA Regs and Craft BeerHere's an <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/23/its-the-water">article</a> I had published in the July edition of Reason Magazine. I examine the unintended consequences of federal EPA water regulations on the craft brewing industry in Oregon. Is it worth spending $400 million to save zero lives, and potentially decimate a $2.3 billion dollar industry? You decide.<br /><br />p.s. I'm not sure if I'm proud or ashamed of my bio in the <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2010/05/23/contributors">contributors</a> section, but everyone seems to like it more than the article.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-23456220189657129732010-06-27T18:29:00.001-07:002010-11-02T03:25:34.678-07:00Toronto G20 Conference: A View From The WreckageHere are my observations from this year's G20 conference in Toronto. I have inserted as little political commentary as possible, opting instead to share my personal experience.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">June 25<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span></span></span>, 2010<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX6y5XLLx_C2qtBT_ZFCoWjMTTCSjz_NnxKZy4UMPuW6x1LLG0WKOdkHt5hUsoF2zqSl97iq1Ldr23_uP5kIQpRQvWuiv4SeIgkrtEOXxDUDKxYZjhIzMxbBu0KtArctCq1MilwfsLcql/s1600/IMG_0006.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNX6y5XLLx_C2qtBT_ZFCoWjMTTCSjz_NnxKZy4UMPuW6x1LLG0WKOdkHt5hUsoF2zqSl97iq1Ldr23_uP5kIQpRQvWuiv4SeIgkrtEOXxDUDKxYZjhIzMxbBu0KtArctCq1MilwfsLcql/s320/IMG_0006.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487656566260527554" border="0" /></a>10:51 PM<br /><br />I arrive in Toronto to a surprisingly vacant parking lot on the Esplanade, in the heart of Toronto's bustling financial district.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOiBhRCEROklWpNMa6Kb6vsqaL0MJpW40UlqTUz4Nb4ANsfjQgSSuAzOcOhoghwIHB0Bh4b7LyjsRrsrXnU6tIVdPitctmlG0rY9_8MdGFHoxsa6_HWp3TsGAchOUkkO21mk4KAORAU_55/s1600/IMG_0009.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOiBhRCEROklWpNMa6Kb6vsqaL0MJpW40UlqTUz4Nb4ANsfjQgSSuAzOcOhoghwIHB0Bh4b7LyjsRrsrXnU6tIVdPitctmlG0rY9_8MdGFHoxsa6_HWp3TsGAchOUkkO21mk4KAORAU_55/s320/IMG_0009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487656221882393522" border="0" /></a>10:56 PM<br /><br />Quietest Friday night I've ever seen in Toronto. Barely a soul out in the usually packed financial district.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxe9nmaO_uENd9Kw9cJLtcjIWUG7P1M1zA9xSdYW7S8t0PVlDuhf9GkdbV9gUQJ_oQrcv6gtJRypn_2LZ87r_U0bp-ob3y23j4RAFatQ9WSTKur7Cl8a7FWMLYlOy6d7F43FPOG6WZiRO/s1600/IMG_0010.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxe9nmaO_uENd9Kw9cJLtcjIWUG7P1M1zA9xSdYW7S8t0PVlDuhf9GkdbV9gUQJ_oQrcv6gtJRypn_2LZ87r_U0bp-ob3y23j4RAFatQ9WSTKur7Cl8a7FWMLYlOy6d7F43FPOG6WZiRO/s320/IMG_0010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487655847798347378" border="0" /></a>2:12 AM<br /><br />On the way back to my lodgings, I pass by the French delegation's bus. The hotel workers had been on strike for the previous few days. The hotel company is owned by a French company, so they decided to go on strike while the French delegation was there as a bargaining tactic. The picketers left hours before my arrival.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlado2UFD2fyp_SsLcrvqTy_X-y1-mDP-Bp3EH7G3RzYejwmbSv726P0MpZpkZYbibO-4c29wZioA1N-Z3m10sN5mC4ZzQOmfoHabhurrLzQiwtGsVkWCzSqBJGHU-QFM86t0PzpcOMed3/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlado2UFD2fyp_SsLcrvqTy_X-y1-mDP-Bp3EH7G3RzYejwmbSv726P0MpZpkZYbibO-4c29wZioA1N-Z3m10sN5mC4ZzQOmfoHabhurrLzQiwtGsVkWCzSqBJGHU-QFM86t0PzpcOMed3/s320/IMG_0013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487655522979500050" border="0" /></a>2:14 AM<br /><br />The Esplanade is conspicuously devoid of returning bar goers.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">June 26<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span></span></span>, 2010</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xxKUmL-g2YRSOekpSzLhbQ6v28vaxnWqpvZl_osH9R0ZIpQGkmrRQZNmpwXGQQdxFS5pSNlvzWcuvC2CieAjQvXO2iTIMe2VwEXCqDi5_eQ85PgTkZ9Yw900IwGoryIBnXcA2ribKm4r/s1600/IMG_0018.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4xxKUmL-g2YRSOekpSzLhbQ6v28vaxnWqpvZl_osH9R0ZIpQGkmrRQZNmpwXGQQdxFS5pSNlvzWcuvC2CieAjQvXO2iTIMe2VwEXCqDi5_eQ85PgTkZ9Yw900IwGoryIBnXcA2ribKm4r/s320/IMG_0018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487654538960909778" border="0" /></a>10:39 AM<br /><br />I arrived a few minutes after a scheduled keynote speaker at Allen Gardens that I heard about on Twitter. The tent town built by protesters has already been broken up, and its occupants dispersed.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxYPgYNlKIVSIaVLjzHZedDoUKP-RNLIpSS4BiQm2BklYiHYaNxeNxpENbDi2Ppue4t9xkkHOdxOW9lXsdhezGIo7pfXovJjhY3cSFTY83u7xfuFTwrpJEVouCmwj4lkVJe3zTKIEi0gz/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxYPgYNlKIVSIaVLjzHZedDoUKP-RNLIpSS4BiQm2BklYiHYaNxeNxpENbDi2Ppue4t9xkkHOdxOW9lXsdhezGIo7pfXovJjhY3cSFTY83u7xfuFTwrpJEVouCmwj4lkVJe3zTKIEi0gz/s320/IMG_0019.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487654029180726450" border="0" /></a>10:40 AM<br /><br />The speaker went on anyways, with a small crowd. I was told there would be a 1:00 PM rally at the Provincial Legislature, Queen's Park.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3POetQA0OPCX3QtEfWTD2eyJYMXkZ8WAIRKK5K4hyphenhyphenH8tKvexFg48rIpPrnbbV22B9yDuDoxTo_IX4k2u-eXhACbIpMD1M_HdlCoS_cgkSsVmeoEKl98Kf9J3xqkN9qCm5jbRwVaUH6TuK/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3POetQA0OPCX3QtEfWTD2eyJYMXkZ8WAIRKK5K4hyphenhyphenH8tKvexFg48rIpPrnbbV22B9yDuDoxTo_IX4k2u-eXhACbIpMD1M_HdlCoS_cgkSsVmeoEKl98Kf9J3xqkN9qCm5jbRwVaUH6TuK/s320/IMG_0036.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487653080023935810" border="0" /></a>10:56 AM<br /><br />In the meantime, I headed to Bay Street, the heart of Canada's financial district. I figured if there were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">pre</span></span></span>-rally disruptions, they would be here.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrCuK3hqDEiXNtu0w57eq5F_OjTjksoWJ-9LnocOjwC2haJ-SCUupCdz7i-DObcED51kLPEmufXHEQALyMVxrxx72On7inAW4QU8OtRfpr-Hr50T3bmecC-tdP1ruOpy6R_ZzzqsBmbGv/s1600/IMG_0042.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrCuK3hqDEiXNtu0w57eq5F_OjTjksoWJ-9LnocOjwC2haJ-SCUupCdz7i-DObcED51kLPEmufXHEQALyMVxrxx72On7inAW4QU8OtRfpr-Hr50T3bmecC-tdP1ruOpy6R_ZzzqsBmbGv/s320/IMG_0042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487652716827004722" border="0" /></a>11:04 AM<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">All's</span></span></span> quiet at Queen's Park. I decided to walk down to the security barrier surrounding the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where the summit was being held.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKH6CwzKTxIjfraBodmvEqR6GEHRDQv2V63JzlYu4gAkD30vwdk_WhEOGA0VJsQ1cIEUV2BTBoTa-Lnv0gV3Wq52geUD65ng98M90BZhxjlalXlqMJLcZd0g3rwR4C0IyeozxXFVi6g94/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKH6CwzKTxIjfraBodmvEqR6GEHRDQv2V63JzlYu4gAkD30vwdk_WhEOGA0VJsQ1cIEUV2BTBoTa-Lnv0gV3Wq52geUD65ng98M90BZhxjlalXlqMJLcZd0g3rwR4C0IyeozxXFVi6g94/s320/IMG_0048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487652148695548146" border="0" /></a>11:11 AM<br /><br />The Art Gallery of Ontario was one of the many high profile venues that closed for the conference. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Mirvish</span></span></span> cancelled all of their shows, including the high profile Rock of Ages musical. The Blue Jays were also forced to move 3 home games to Philadelphia.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHB9_sBAzERLBlcC3jv5uJsconDysfCxAnqmRpfDUp3wonvrewxoUxDYowmzF-m-gMBIrd_Ns-43nI94_I0zM_Exh-7aqmWUKoYgtb_MemWcoeTExtfyrVs084fNDBqaoN8hTgixLeQb_/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlHB9_sBAzERLBlcC3jv5uJsconDysfCxAnqmRpfDUp3wonvrewxoUxDYowmzF-m-gMBIrd_Ns-43nI94_I0zM_Exh-7aqmWUKoYgtb_MemWcoeTExtfyrVs084fNDBqaoN8hTgixLeQb_/s320/IMG_0053.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487651782413702082" border="0" /></a>11:18 AM<br /><br />University Avenue. One of Toronto's busiest streets. Empty.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0RvysG1me30Wg7yQIa3Q8IT4PjPtUkmefNz2llpaXNUwKLFgJ_BJ-qkKTlQi1U3JJHGR5aTL91ESYo2rSv0wXET2sF9S0W-1uVt28yo7triHN8LUKzXqs9zcWOHNk5e9H8h0NkCs29NY/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0RvysG1me30Wg7yQIa3Q8IT4PjPtUkmefNz2llpaXNUwKLFgJ_BJ-qkKTlQi1U3JJHGR5aTL91ESYo2rSv0wXET2sF9S0W-1uVt28yo7triHN8LUKzXqs9zcWOHNk5e9H8h0NkCs29NY/s320/IMG_0071.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487651200273251922" border="0" /></a>11:29 AM<br /><br />Arrival at the Security barrier. A few officers hanging around, but surprisingly quiet.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEefZTy3Qcz875anCmbjHm_1fbRIy9KWviEK0ptXLgItmRBvRxau3zcO2g-ssMjtZFvVTGdSyZleeOF2gU2WnWFRBl8A-mJietFgtBmtwv7pghEHymxHCvwWNl__RZbSTSYyS0osROKVdm/s1600/IMG_0073.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEefZTy3Qcz875anCmbjHm_1fbRIy9KWviEK0ptXLgItmRBvRxau3zcO2g-ssMjtZFvVTGdSyZleeOF2gU2WnWFRBl8A-mJietFgtBmtwv7pghEHymxHCvwWNl__RZbSTSYyS0osROKVdm/s320/IMG_0073.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487650708787554098" border="0" /></a>11:30 AM<br /><br />The police decided to use tightly meshed chain link fences to make climbing the barriers extremely difficult. I used a Canadian bill for scale, which may be slightly deceptive to Americans (since our bills are slightly shorter, and wider). It still appeared to be somewhat climbable, but I didn't dare test my theory.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46Bw3QCwniLQhGo40-zpVJ80cWCsHdpqoIeIl3a5SpqPcXmxz7nWOEzXRqEuHJPO14XglIjePJH5WBZfJAXvo4o8D46DQOXPE3bFU71PhlmbGg_ihGKzFjhTEQ4-SR6GM55cdY2PkiE8m/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46Bw3QCwniLQhGo40-zpVJ80cWCsHdpqoIeIl3a5SpqPcXmxz7nWOEzXRqEuHJPO14XglIjePJH5WBZfJAXvo4o8D46DQOXPE3bFU71PhlmbGg_ihGKzFjhTEQ4-SR6GM55cdY2PkiE8m/s320/IMG_0080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487649821243346930" border="0" /></a>11:36 AM<br /><br />I caught the subway at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Osgoode</span></span></span> station to head back to Queen's Park. It was quieter than it usually is at 1 AM on a Sunday.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTWCPhaS_DkA-MthQKIjPR8vXYx4-bmDKEkJUJ2EV4v0XWJPVS5BzvuJnGrZ51YlbwLQzXJYd7r0Ib5rBgufJbyaYO2LC2tSDpc8R3LN7vKCKvOGYWzchQpUUEvcqMxoG3UHAlaEGS0br/s1600/IMG_0098.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTWCPhaS_DkA-MthQKIjPR8vXYx4-bmDKEkJUJ2EV4v0XWJPVS5BzvuJnGrZ51YlbwLQzXJYd7r0Ib5rBgufJbyaYO2LC2tSDpc8R3LN7vKCKvOGYWzchQpUUEvcqMxoG3UHAlaEGS0br/s320/IMG_0098.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487649351756027282" border="0" /></a>11:55 AM<br /><br />A scene from the University of Toronto, which was also closed for the conference.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWiiHBD3QlxHXYLZLWpVmZRHHZeH5AcqjLsAKHtk8qSVdhQmTVVerJSrcPMNUTNMaWHBq-zAJCgxW3XEpdV0NDzHpqU3K_Z8CfOgAICp2OGPkLlJZ61kjq-Mv37ZvbcEgIhamW2kxDSsw/s1600/IMG_0102.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWiiHBD3QlxHXYLZLWpVmZRHHZeH5AcqjLsAKHtk8qSVdhQmTVVerJSrcPMNUTNMaWHBq-zAJCgxW3XEpdV0NDzHpqU3K_Z8CfOgAICp2OGPkLlJZ61kjq-Mv37ZvbcEgIhamW2kxDSsw/s320/IMG_0102.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487648851304601330" border="0" /></a>12:06 PM<br /><br />The people in orange hats are the legal representation for the protesters. They're prepping for a long day.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQjw6CMI0pqxySKkh2ohK-rLmSp_rNyMCnPgGT9dhVesLaTlZSrq9_SLGLTyjGLS4bByMTC_2d89POHwn4L12n5sIwUjLg2ds-b_QC9Rf3gYiY_VcMfjKRY7lfLkU9Y_c16fR_4qzAxmX/s1600/IMG_0115.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQjw6CMI0pqxySKkh2ohK-rLmSp_rNyMCnPgGT9dhVesLaTlZSrq9_SLGLTyjGLS4bByMTC_2d89POHwn4L12n5sIwUjLg2ds-b_QC9Rf3gYiY_VcMfjKRY7lfLkU9Y_c16fR_4qzAxmX/s320/IMG_0115.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487648433369929490" border="0" /></a>12:10 PM<br /><br />Queen's Park begins to fill up with all of the usual suspects. Union activists, environmentalists, and anti-war protesters seemed to be the bulk of the crowd.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgOF2dudQ3FC9qeLM-f_Kan5v1ObpJPDioCLiM_KNYbJkAgifSzcKJVAXDVgC2p_IOxUb0w1jDpYg8WtcqZvEIJ7eY1BoNcWU6NjhBDLz-Su2W1Huq-VujB274W5VQHbWjzsCDunwglQZ/s1600/IMG_0146.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgOF2dudQ3FC9qeLM-f_Kan5v1ObpJPDioCLiM_KNYbJkAgifSzcKJVAXDVgC2p_IOxUb0w1jDpYg8WtcqZvEIJ7eY1BoNcWU6NjhBDLz-Su2W1Huq-VujB274W5VQHbWjzsCDunwglQZ/s320/IMG_0146.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487647646842157874" border="0" /></a>12:30 PM<br /><br />Things seemed quiet, so we decided to go for lunch. When I saw <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Greepeace</span></span></span> approaching, I knew it wouldn't be quiet much longer...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6e2nA7VN7Ux0fC2IampcUv4vg__pid-484sVxw-dcKI_dmgCNmRKBMY3sMyLD7JoY8261wJBG5XbHJPIYbt7OqX1haLZp0WLjjPC8E30HrQPtBlr8lqpxBtcdplssoIzaUyol4LhDO7am/s1600/IMG_0152.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6e2nA7VN7Ux0fC2IampcUv4vg__pid-484sVxw-dcKI_dmgCNmRKBMY3sMyLD7JoY8261wJBG5XbHJPIYbt7OqX1haLZp0WLjjPC8E30HrQPtBlr8lqpxBtcdplssoIzaUyol4LhDO7am/s320/IMG_0152.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487646967483835170" border="0" /></a>12:34 PM<br /><br />...and then I saw people in their midst who appeared to be Black Bloc anarchists. They are notorious for their role in the Seattle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">WTO</span></span></span> protests of 1999, where they caused major property destruction. Given that they show up to protests specifically to attack corporate buildings, I had to stay close by.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-CONB4dG9iBQdP-jJ5bu_YU4kLHs2VgmkcvDYkICJE3_nHtIip1nH-iQm63rW1Tm-dK2adPLG-aTTy_6mz5mqsjCDNoLxLSu5ywM3_itJaRisHGwpJboz90Nj_rUF1Xh9Dl-HYHMnhDW/s1600/IMG_0164.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl-CONB4dG9iBQdP-jJ5bu_YU4kLHs2VgmkcvDYkICJE3_nHtIip1nH-iQm63rW1Tm-dK2adPLG-aTTy_6mz5mqsjCDNoLxLSu5ywM3_itJaRisHGwpJboz90Nj_rUF1Xh9Dl-HYHMnhDW/s320/IMG_0164.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487646576430613842" border="0" /></a>12:43 PM<br /><br />Things got pretty busy at Queen's Park. Despite the rain, an estimate put the crowd at 5000.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjXW64e4mojpoF9d68wXqWPed9lh1w7dFr9oVnrUGgldCCBnljVWs68mrNUWVLx4OMhZSdoQjoYo-Xt6UTh16mt5NCjgaoytMma4ry8lWah9WduLktgM8uibn2wrXgCz4sVDPCR0p65iM/s1600/IMG_0176.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKjXW64e4mojpoF9d68wXqWPed9lh1w7dFr9oVnrUGgldCCBnljVWs68mrNUWVLx4OMhZSdoQjoYo-Xt6UTh16mt5NCjgaoytMma4ry8lWah9WduLktgM8uibn2wrXgCz4sVDPCR0p65iM/s320/IMG_0176.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487645910386860898" border="0" /></a>12:48 PM<br /><br />A crowd protesting the Ethiopian genocide filled the streets of Queen's Park. I told my photographer not to worry about them. They had nothing to gain from being violent. Spoiler: I was right.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJp-stNyhSiAcFFi7vrix-JD7otN3H3YD3UfpIbd4KdfWmfCovjr_tTp-FMrIIwfxUgQpmPyPd37ZTU_hy1o9WoNXIcRzdnYrPIlAhjAVRIO-DO17R0Qk2MzhFYFQD_HCJwE4p5Af0ojqQ/s1600/IMG_0196.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJp-stNyhSiAcFFi7vrix-JD7otN3H3YD3UfpIbd4KdfWmfCovjr_tTp-FMrIIwfxUgQpmPyPd37ZTU_hy1o9WoNXIcRzdnYrPIlAhjAVRIO-DO17R0Qk2MzhFYFQD_HCJwE4p5Af0ojqQ/s320/IMG_0196.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487645131360463522" border="0" /></a>1:00 PM<br /><br />The Queen's Park subway station. Moments after this photo, I was told that this stop, among others was closed. First sign that the police were prepared to funnel the crowd down University Avenue, to avoid anyone getting to Bay Street. Given the number of anti-bank banners, this was probably wise.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGbiTlh2u1okaQHw86SbuKbjQ-9zvsjHeWQg7WTeMeoJ5K2Rft30ZREkWwoH6gEkC_y7UHLnXWb4_KyOZybTHNl-NjYzrSnHIp_7YQvNaj8Snmgz7pU7ozzrTm0zfqf800KFl9R5RLxFB/s1600/IMG_0208.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGbiTlh2u1okaQHw86SbuKbjQ-9zvsjHeWQg7WTeMeoJ5K2Rft30ZREkWwoH6gEkC_y7UHLnXWb4_KyOZybTHNl-NjYzrSnHIp_7YQvNaj8Snmgz7pU7ozzrTm0zfqf800KFl9R5RLxFB/s320/IMG_0208.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487644693870968994" border="0" /></a>1:14 AM<br /><br />A frustrated streetcar driver looks on as protesters and police shut down University Avenue. Combined with the subway closure, passengers has little option but to wait for the march to end. I have no idea when this streetcar was actually up and running again.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQQw9IQmv5kttWGSR788oOM5VTWZfjdXVVhDo0y6C1-SXtK70GkH5tOXYhwsUBSZ59P8knjlRTZtqjeFRjAGoi9zZnI9zzGzNyKqbgDZjHZLbvmARau9QFDgKb5Z2nKFHOthCpk3Bzq3L/s1600/IMG_0217.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQQw9IQmv5kttWGSR788oOM5VTWZfjdXVVhDo0y6C1-SXtK70GkH5tOXYhwsUBSZ59P8knjlRTZtqjeFRjAGoi9zZnI9zzGzNyKqbgDZjHZLbvmARau9QFDgKb5Z2nKFHOthCpk3Bzq3L/s320/IMG_0217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487644341360796226" border="0" /></a>1:41 PM<br /><br />The demonstrators have now officially shut down University Avenue. Frustrated motorists driving south on University are stuck for minutes on end, trying to plow through the crowd.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KdMEVIphOWO3AgAi_YM2rUsUQYaxmuol8evfFTBSBVbn8ngxAEGUxZpiVUPpMxqjxdJqfeXqaRf-cV1_yMmJu19cwIGBsHBqvAKTJsp92ULXNsMyDNJP2uhbRc9xhg__ODeSLEEE41w-/s1600/IMG_0232.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KdMEVIphOWO3AgAi_YM2rUsUQYaxmuol8evfFTBSBVbn8ngxAEGUxZpiVUPpMxqjxdJqfeXqaRf-cV1_yMmJu19cwIGBsHBqvAKTJsp92ULXNsMyDNJP2uhbRc9xhg__ODeSLEEE41w-/s320/IMG_0232.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487643393553248162" border="0" /></a>1:56 PM<br /><br />The crowd continues south on University. They are flanked on either side by police. I instructed my photographer to stay as far north as the police. The last thing I wanted was to get caught with police and protesters on either side. I wanted to maintain an exit strategy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwB3A0AE_iDamJjHEkHc4ewjGUCKPh49ZBauhujUc1oZkCEyroZMFhEMe1l3MHyBENPpHk7W5gmZnPg-_gyZzV7P3r3zLYHoJGY-Vbf9V5eqk-nxdPEByNb8wdgEVINWEHHd2287j7RhF/s1600/IMG_0242.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwB3A0AE_iDamJjHEkHc4ewjGUCKPh49ZBauhujUc1oZkCEyroZMFhEMe1l3MHyBENPpHk7W5gmZnPg-_gyZzV7P3r3zLYHoJGY-Vbf9V5eqk-nxdPEByNb8wdgEVINWEHHd2287j7RhF/s320/IMG_0242.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487642993150927234" border="0" /></a>2:26 PM<br /><br />After a long march south, the protesters are all funnelled to the east side of the street. This bolstered my theory that the police were trying to contain the protests between Queen's Park and the barrier. A classic pincer formation.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8DtET3lntom-4u0g5xDYPpCJ6VrBOlWka82MRcnqP2V91rWCBBuA1btzBikXs8bEmwvLEHMJk8mRnxlNKH7Q-nxZO8wdY5Raqz0Yi2zDDhOK_ei5yIQK4B6_pTPK2HsQsn1H2WG8RkYR/s1600/IMG_0250.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8DtET3lntom-4u0g5xDYPpCJ6VrBOlWka82MRcnqP2V91rWCBBuA1btzBikXs8bEmwvLEHMJk8mRnxlNKH7Q-nxZO8wdY5Raqz0Yi2zDDhOK_ei5yIQK4B6_pTPK2HsQsn1H2WG8RkYR/s320/IMG_0250.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487642368862344402" border="0" /></a>2:37 PM<br /><br />My first sighting of riot police.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1cRBvfxib7OEhEtVzanQ9Iw2feP8aYREgnoEPvOWuOEyjm8uNBIJxN0MmIlXJICzmTIMIipWp4evlrNI5WaT7OPkL1EgJIOyB7gmnEe7ZLN5dQbyyvXciVBr3_3iTUPXQ9SwSaj8sdqc/s1600/IMG_0264.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH1cRBvfxib7OEhEtVzanQ9Iw2feP8aYREgnoEPvOWuOEyjm8uNBIJxN0MmIlXJICzmTIMIipWp4evlrNI5WaT7OPkL1EgJIOyB7gmnEe7ZLN5dQbyyvXciVBr3_3iTUPXQ9SwSaj8sdqc/s320/IMG_0264.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487641694806918594" border="0" /></a>2:45 PM<br /><br />I was proven wrong. Rather than contain the crowds (which would lead to immediate confrontation), the police formed a human funnel to shunt the protesters west on Queen Street. They were betting that dispersing protesters towards bohemian West Queen West would give them fewer targets. Given that they decided to use <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">dispersment</span>, rather than containment as their strategy, this was not unreasonable.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTR_Ppw9d3BBnz6nr3z2evKoSGjIfxjCjqUFsu_9T7jxvXiMbalRqfoDCYF1ah5AI6KKEc4e6H0IJ03uD-Chc9aEnXNrb2NJzIMemPkc4YsynDzLP9qvfWeNZmP6SLcQsRh20S8xf_cLr0/s1600/IMG_0268.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTR_Ppw9d3BBnz6nr3z2evKoSGjIfxjCjqUFsu_9T7jxvXiMbalRqfoDCYF1ah5AI6KKEc4e6H0IJ03uD-Chc9aEnXNrb2NJzIMemPkc4YsynDzLP9qvfWeNZmP6SLcQsRh20S8xf_cLr0/s320/IMG_0268.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487641183417510882" border="0" /></a>2:47 PM<br /><br />The view from Queen West. Seems remarkably quiet. Few protesters left in sight.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1tLLBFmACj0QBDzdn0t5CHZGtx0M9p6Nahji-ySAPNlUaV8swNTX1c64jcOfswbmRNhxTqIXearuc_OyadEMMP5GlYL8oOuNS5qKaCeuCGNLK9ddnHncGFbDYX98Q540N49cfEQXxWJj/s1600/IMG_0275.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1tLLBFmACj0QBDzdn0t5CHZGtx0M9p6Nahji-ySAPNlUaV8swNTX1c64jcOfswbmRNhxTqIXearuc_OyadEMMP5GlYL8oOuNS5qKaCeuCGNLK9ddnHncGFbDYX98Q540N49cfEQXxWJj/s320/IMG_0275.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487640744303324866" border="0" /></a>2:55 PM<br /><br />A little bit of hipster irony. This was going to be my caption photo had there been no destruction. Clever stunt, I must say.<br /><br />I chatted with some riot police to see if anything had happened. No reports of violence. I decided that nothing was going to happen just yet. I began heading east to meet a friend at a pub. As I reached University, I noticed the police were once again blockading. I was talking to bicycle police, and pointed out that that the riot police one street south were putting on gas masks. They looked back, looked west down Queen, and noticed that the protesters were marching back East. There appeared to be police officers fighting with protesters, so the police told us to head north immediately, or we would be collateral damage. He wasn't being threatening; just acknowledging a reality.<br /><br />At this point, we left. As we walked north, we bumped into someone who had come from further west on Queen West. He informed us that rioters were breaking every window in sight. We then turned east to try to get far enough away from the protests to head back south to where we were staying. The protests seemed to follow us in lockstep each time we went South. It turns out that many of the protesters who were funelled west simply headed south, and turned back east to avoid the police. Hence the riot police with gas masks a block south.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIchdqeGw-URTwxRcnE0khrHJwKUN3ToAjP9Z6lKRm-jggGYmU7ms8XDTR2__eDQYuWE8Ouz5Qvm3Pg4k3ntSFoZJxmXNmwo4ALi88Dawq8nt-TanTeqDuMGAdJudKWKXLUfOqgibKZREG/s1600/IMG_0278.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIchdqeGw-URTwxRcnE0khrHJwKUN3ToAjP9Z6lKRm-jggGYmU7ms8XDTR2__eDQYuWE8Ouz5Qvm3Pg4k3ntSFoZJxmXNmwo4ALi88Dawq8nt-TanTeqDuMGAdJudKWKXLUfOqgibKZREG/s320/IMG_0278.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487640206436436802" border="0" /></a>3:48 PM<br /><br />We eventually ended up walking south on Church. As we crossed King Street, we saw a cloud of smoke. It appeared too dark to be tear gas.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9LJw3pdBf85ueVo0nujOEKuE8dU0aTEQeZXbYqH26ISwiIZS7PJkrISnkFYiMl1xrO5O7AHmaCIPU_C1SnPslWaYwxK9lWgLb08qPMjB-kY0pdFMl9VtlEdDm0FCUIiV88k8GHTz2PSU/s1600/IMG_0279.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9LJw3pdBf85ueVo0nujOEKuE8dU0aTEQeZXbYqH26ISwiIZS7PJkrISnkFYiMl1xrO5O7AHmaCIPU_C1SnPslWaYwxK9lWgLb08qPMjB-kY0pdFMl9VtlEdDm0FCUIiV88k8GHTz2PSU/s320/IMG_0279.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487639824286266498" border="0" /></a>3:48 PM<br /><br />It turns out the smoke was coming from a burning car in the middle of the road. We later found out it was a police car set on fire by protesters with Molotov cocktails (one of at least 3). We decided it was time to get out of downtown.<br /><br />I met my friend at the pub (C'est What?), and told him there was a car on fire down the street, and protesters were rapidly moving our way, leaving behind a swath of destruction. We headed a block north of Yonge and College to another bar.<br /><br />After ordering a drink at Bar Volo, the owner walked up to our table, and told us to move away from the window. There were people breaking windows of shops just south on Yonge, and he didn't want his customers to get hurt. We hopped in a cab, and fled to north.<br /><br />We spent the next few hours at Rebel House. Ironically, this was the launching point for one of Canada's biggest political clashes, the Upper Canada Rebellion. The irony was unintentional.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRc53UK5aXT0Rvzq52Yufka2IA6BRQftr5CJ_kmOciB4XEvprZTwx4kG-7xh_as8OJuKjZNcFvmFz_up7HEXt97yYil2STAne2VnsB4G-aTwp6u2nTSEBz9WE7GdlKU9uodMafsPt9a-VZ/s1600/IMG_0280.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRc53UK5aXT0Rvzq52Yufka2IA6BRQftr5CJ_kmOciB4XEvprZTwx4kG-7xh_as8OJuKjZNcFvmFz_up7HEXt97yYil2STAne2VnsB4G-aTwp6u2nTSEBz9WE7GdlKU9uodMafsPt9a-VZ/s320/IMG_0280.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487639071907706818" border="0" /></a>11:46 PM<br /><br />We returned downtown around 11pm to have a quick drink at Duggan's, a local microbrewery. Upon leaving, downtown was once again eerily quiet. Some business owners had the foresight to board up in anticipation of the riots.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGTpUlq3rb62NG-pz_k3xv5aqRhXe9W7VVry0fNx0wJtHTZgB3Wl-EpovRCDJTTNsc-FBurSlZQl886BGqOMLRCizWhp1oEdCrXN61relFRwO02Ew2krhyEgA0bgpfGSbMogScWIKrSfS/s1600/IMG_0283.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuGTpUlq3rb62NG-pz_k3xv5aqRhXe9W7VVry0fNx0wJtHTZgB3Wl-EpovRCDJTTNsc-FBurSlZQl886BGqOMLRCizWhp1oEdCrXN61relFRwO02Ew2krhyEgA0bgpfGSbMogScWIKrSfS/s320/IMG_0283.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487638559614912066" border="0" /></a>11:52 PM<br /><br />We were greated by hundreds of riot police outside of our lodgings. We litterally had to be escorted accross the street. There didn't appear to be anything amiss.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFr-FNdAMhhAkYiqJe1HvXrthNt0b7qZ3gVO3r2woTZeCCu7LDSPW7OOcYN85ry3i40xmOpE9hmxk3sIS9kAWL1CHUIuRfSm6y6EPlCrYrsS9suqMmfFO8DkfVfxB9OQEZa91t92kbCfJ/s1600/IMG_0296.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjFr-FNdAMhhAkYiqJe1HvXrthNt0b7qZ3gVO3r2woTZeCCu7LDSPW7OOcYN85ry3i40xmOpE9hmxk3sIS9kAWL1CHUIuRfSm6y6EPlCrYrsS9suqMmfFO8DkfVfxB9OQEZa91t92kbCfJ/s320/IMG_0296.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487638191228617490" border="0" /></a>12:42 AM<br /><br />From the roof, we were able to discover what the police were up to: resting.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBZGR7nxfKf292q8fMcpAb8QJuW58Q6sZpkAlOYIlKujWB40lxW3pklu6dPfoHcuTCTrkB0JThPxHg_vS3ykp-McT46x6aR2puEQG2ENe1rrOt2KyQgkqGwmKdVHH_VbK_lHVe70T4aEM/s1600/IMG_0301.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBZGR7nxfKf292q8fMcpAb8QJuW58Q6sZpkAlOYIlKujWB40lxW3pklu6dPfoHcuTCTrkB0JThPxHg_vS3ykp-McT46x6aR2puEQG2ENe1rrOt2KyQgkqGwmKdVHH_VbK_lHVe70T4aEM/s320/IMG_0301.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487637748013645458" border="0" /></a>12:45 AM<br /><br />More riot police arrived. They appeared to be regrouping in prepartion for more protests. The next day, we found out that hundreds of people were arrested just outside. There also appears to have been a journalist abused and detained in this flurry of arrests. I suspect we'll hear much more about this.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">June 27th, 2010</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRrghRXP0pMBnSG2AxqCEE0eJGLAV6-x1R6S8Q5cgZEcavv9vezLcOBY14v2LVFkOGFIa85h0WIyu_V53DIiNM3ejVeVcrao8rooUZhmgUTOO5eUSNIYK5CRV-Wn-PaHj1dScyj3m-fwC/s1600/IMG_0304.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRrghRXP0pMBnSG2AxqCEE0eJGLAV6-x1R6S8Q5cgZEcavv9vezLcOBY14v2LVFkOGFIa85h0WIyu_V53DIiNM3ejVeVcrao8rooUZhmgUTOO5eUSNIYK5CRV-Wn-PaHj1dScyj3m-fwC/s320/IMG_0304.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487637186195873698" border="0" /></a>1:56 PM<br /><br />I decided to drive around the Queen West/Bay Street areas to survey the damage. This Bank of Montreal was one of many banks that was attacked.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMqqRwJIjvV0WpnJRBy80U0GW1KY1Dt439fsSSyz4xVkYXDE5VV9g40YQiW2bgZd43PjTbQiqH8D9zxJq6X77IW37CoXoV99aOkLU6axMWQu2jQf52lPGn7A9vGgd_zqPYbrw-4b41TIW/s1600/IMG_0305.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMqqRwJIjvV0WpnJRBy80U0GW1KY1Dt439fsSSyz4xVkYXDE5VV9g40YQiW2bgZd43PjTbQiqH8D9zxJq6X77IW37CoXoV99aOkLU6axMWQu2jQf52lPGn7A9vGgd_zqPYbrw-4b41TIW/s320/IMG_0305.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487636886258527746" border="0" /></a>2:09 PM<br /><br />After being questioned by police, we resumed photographing. Given that I was driving around taking photos, this was unsurprising.<br /><br />The CIBC accross the street from Bank of Montreal was another of the Banks smashed in. It surprised me how quick the vandalized establishments were boarded up. No remaining shattered glass visible from the road.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MvDCjsEN1XCYZs8d56qo5a-bqPwsZ5Ha6AA65XvKpvkFJ47Z0MCneR92AMTnL7zOxrf2HWtgd0q67msV8C8ZYvTXMQYAVPRkSOZibOkU2URCihihPRYAkS_XMVbPLqkyekxxNIjBnP9w/s1600/IMG_0311.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7MvDCjsEN1XCYZs8d56qo5a-bqPwsZ5Ha6AA65XvKpvkFJ47Z0MCneR92AMTnL7zOxrf2HWtgd0q67msV8C8ZYvTXMQYAVPRkSOZibOkU2URCihihPRYAkS_XMVbPLqkyekxxNIjBnP9w/s320/IMG_0311.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487636484714111938" border="0" /></a>2:11 PM<br /><br />The Gap was one of the predictable targets for protesters. There were dozens of less prominent shops that were also vandalized.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAONKQF3EzDdFtrh6WrFdOjiAo3qSVzr0JkfvnIFjSx07e9Tgdes92sVU8tshhMTfU8EwMbkrxvB9ZQdvxw7xZYz_bG_uSYrOVjkZ_0KHl0-gI4MQ9zwMLuipXAduL5D4DsGjoJEW3dxk/s1600/IMG_0315.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifAONKQF3EzDdFtrh6WrFdOjiAo3qSVzr0JkfvnIFjSx07e9Tgdes92sVU8tshhMTfU8EwMbkrxvB9ZQdvxw7xZYz_bG_uSYrOVjkZ_0KHl0-gI4MQ9zwMLuipXAduL5D4DsGjoJEW3dxk/s320/IMG_0315.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487636047317188546" border="0" /></a>2:12 PM<br /><br />Starbucks. The absolute favorite target of anti-corporate vandals.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0QzK9B8JpvLNVI79MIycUapiJXCsEpYCDFCKDRANwEIe42pu749VGF-SmFDCFXqbhkln37nk3Pw1iEdcN75dZNuBIDFjOjTkedq8e9pXIH0xF_foGXpHCUk6zxR9IvSDB8maG8dCzPXgY/s1600/IMG_0316.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0QzK9B8JpvLNVI79MIycUapiJXCsEpYCDFCKDRANwEIe42pu749VGF-SmFDCFXqbhkln37nk3Pw1iEdcN75dZNuBIDFjOjTkedq8e9pXIH0xF_foGXpHCUk6zxR9IvSDB8maG8dCzPXgY/s320/IMG_0316.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487635566677698402" border="0" /></a>2:13 PM<br /><br />The vandals also targetted the CTV news building, as well as several media vehicles. Their commitment to free speech seemed questionable by this point.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3fEToCpXd-_piQ8JRA_kc6yLELzBfARcY1i6jRoaCOOK6l_0d6G2RR5t_MIAxQ5GYtty1Cb9oyugfp2rTGarGCcoTc2Uel5Kjh7OqFoeY3O3ynGCAc9IomCcz6LbofgenQRgEZBygROkL/s1600/IMG_0318.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3fEToCpXd-_piQ8JRA_kc6yLELzBfARcY1i6jRoaCOOK6l_0d6G2RR5t_MIAxQ5GYtty1Cb9oyugfp2rTGarGCcoTc2Uel5Kjh7OqFoeY3O3ynGCAc9IomCcz6LbofgenQRgEZBygROkL/s320/IMG_0318.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487634820329394738" border="0" /></a>2:13 PM<br /><br />A window at police headquarters broken during the riots.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OykdsudM7P-Y4Xdah2VClUECEOxrBFpZdvEvRMSrUp1SQYXIDLiIZlZ106Cb8_jUKri3h_jkp7neQrx8kal8D3fHKK_KfeVHArpfnhBoIxxJCRH0lOz2rHc6mFfdcFySUJIDBlyTmb9r/s1600/IMG_0319.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OykdsudM7P-Y4Xdah2VClUECEOxrBFpZdvEvRMSrUp1SQYXIDLiIZlZ106Cb8_jUKri3h_jkp7neQrx8kal8D3fHKK_KfeVHArpfnhBoIxxJCRH0lOz2rHc6mFfdcFySUJIDBlyTmb9r/s320/IMG_0319.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487633781045232418" border="0" /></a>2:14 PM<br /><br />Yet another CIBC location with broken windows.<br /><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi191MmEgbuMmUsgX37MeE0-7-wEP-GImehQl9eUuBwQqsOVMKzNed3UuCSv9elC1EMV4q_FlwEsgQxLzgIu9sV7mqJMzY0Q8JaUutB-dDkpuE0mVf-os_d5p0wzoVFPBw5AOfGakUPxSGU/s1600/IMG_0322.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi191MmEgbuMmUsgX37MeE0-7-wEP-GImehQl9eUuBwQqsOVMKzNed3UuCSv9elC1EMV4q_FlwEsgQxLzgIu9sV7mqJMzY0Q8JaUutB-dDkpuE0mVf-os_d5p0wzoVFPBw5AOfGakUPxSGU/s320/IMG_0322.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487631579995229346" border="0" /></a>2:15 PM<br /><br />I continued along Queen Street, passing by the Four Seasons Centre, home of the Canadian Opera Company. My favorite building in the city. As I crossed the intersection, I heard a loud rumble. Yet another protest march coming down Queen Street, following a police car. I quickly pulled a U-turn, and headed north on University. I kept going, and exited the city.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />There are plenty of lessons that one might learn from this experience. This was my second G20, after last year's meeting in Pittsburgh. This was far more chaotic, possibly even worse than the Seattle riots in '99. The lesson that I want to impart is simple: major political meetings should never be held in large cities. They are a magnet for violent protesters, and endanger local residents. The destruction, and the billion dollar security tab will hopefully make politicians think twice about foisting these events upon major cities. Like <a href="http://www.newgeography.com/content/001607-torontos-g-20-conference-financial-boon-or-boondoggle">I said</a> before the meeting, it should have stayed in Huntsville, a small tourist town outside of the city where it was initially supposed to take place. This is my personal opinion. You decide.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-809226290050510267.post-41655165071362424312010-06-21T21:17:00.000-07:002010-06-22T12:52:11.051-07:00My Review of The Great Reset by Richard Florida in C2C JournalHere is my <a href="http://www.c2cjournal.ca/blog-articles/view/the-great-recession-or-the-great-american-opportunity">review</a> of urban guru Richard Florida's latest book <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Great-Reset-Working-Post-Crash-Prosperity/dp/0307358291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277182135&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Great Reset</span></a> in C2C Journal.Steve Lafleurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02605764574208246819noreply@blogger.com0