I want you to vote. You have until 8pm tonight to get to your polling stations and participate in the democratic process. If you live in Toronto, this is what you need to know:

• Click here to find your ward, and here for a list of councillors running in your ward.
• Click here for your polling station.  Once you’ve submitted your address you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and even get a sneak peak at the ballot you’ll be voting on.  Here‘s an example.
• Click here to find out what identification you’ll need to bring.  When I voted last weekend, I didn’t have a driver’s licence, so I brought my passport and a credit card statement.  There are all kinds of acceptable combinations.  I didn’t have a voter card and wasn’t on the voter list either… so don’t let that stop you.
• Praxis Theatre will be “live tweeting” the joint Torontoist/ArtsVote party at the Cadillac Lounge from 7pm onwards, but maybe the Keith Cole For Mayor Victory Party is more your style.  No matter what you decide to do (after you have voted…) you can follow along with Praxis at www.twitter.com/praxistheatre.
• Happy Voting!

Naheed Nenshi was elected the first Muslim mayor of a major Canadian city in Calgary last night. He overcame a heavily favoured campaign run by Stephen Harper’s strategists for well-financed Conservative alderman Ric McIver through the use of charisma, vision, and social media. In this Ted Talk he describes his philosophy about and research into how cities grow.

by Michael Wheeler

My Facebook feed was an explosion of political thought yesterday.

One week before Toronto’s municipal election, two polls came out putting ex-Liberal cabinet minister George Smitherman in a dead heat with Conservative endorsed Rob Ford, while polls showed defacto-NDP candidate Joe Pantalone to be up to twenty-five percentage points behind.

The opinions expressed by my facebook friends, many of whom I had never seen express their political thoughts publicly, embraced one of two competing narratives

Position A: It’s not strategic voting, it’s rational voting: This camp, as exemplified by the post written by Globe and Mail theatre critic Kelly Nestruck on his personal blog, argues for the rational approach to electing a mayor. In a system without runoff voting, your job is to make the best choice you can from the options presented.  Life isn’t perfect and either are elections. If you know your candidate isn’t going to win, it is a waste to vote for him or her.

Position B: It’s not strategic to abandon your principles for a right-of-centre candidate: This perspective, as expressed in today’s column by Toronto Star columnist Royson James, argues that there is little practical difference between Ford and Smitherman’s policies. In particular, for progressive voters, there is very little to identify with or embrace in the platforms of the two leading candidates. Even if he loses, in the bigger picture, it is better to cast a vote for the one candidate who isn’t talking about cutting services and taxes.

Surprise! None of my facebook friends spoke out for Ford and only one spoke out for Smitherman based on his platform or abilities.

Just to add a little spice to the mix – yesterday Toronto officials reported attendance at advance polling stations was up a whopping 82.5% from the previous election. Although some of this can be attributed to a well-organized Ford campaign getting their supporters to the polls early, these kind of numbers indicate something greater shifting in the electorate. Later that night, unabashedly progressive and Muslim candidate Naheed Nenshi was elected Mayor of Calgary. In post-election analysis, The Globe and Mail concluded Facebook and social media tools were the game changer that brought Canada its first Muslim mayor.

Where does that leave us here in Toronto 6 days from E-Day? What is actually strategic? Is Smitherman really “as bad” as Ford? Is it more rational to vote based on polling over principals and policies? Is the process of casting a vote that rational an activity? Is there something they know in Calgary that we don’t know here?

All I know for certain is this would be a good start.

The One Toronto campaign to change the tenor and tone of the municipal election appears to be gaining momentum. Despite the negative rhetoric that pushed some candidates into the lead early on, the tide seems to be turning towards a discourse that embraces a positive and inclusive vision for the city. Pantalone’s consistently positive campaign and Smitherman’s new upbeat ads all point towards a race to the finish line that is defined by who wants to be mayor of an incredible city and not who wants to trash it.

Hey, why not? As reported last week by the Toronto SUN: PricewaterhouseCoopers just rated Toronto the #1 most liveable city in the world!

by Michael Wheeler

“This city is envy of the world and we’re acting like it’s falling apart.”

Filmmaker Atom Egoyan speaking as an observer at the launch of the non-partisan One Toronto movement to reduce the prevailing negativity of the mayoral campaign, and to encourage those Torontonians who support inclusive values to become engaged and involved.

I wonder if representatives from The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), The United Way, and Luminato have ever sat at the same table before?

The broad-based support for this campaign impacted me more than the rhetoric for cameras at the One Toronto media launch. Certainly all the right things were said: There was a call for thoughtful non-partisan dialogue, respect for inclusive values, and a Toronto where anyone can succeed. This was expected. What was unexpected is how varied the groups backing this initiative are.

Look let’s be honest here: Luminato is more of a centrist Ontario Undergraduate Student Association (OUSA) kind of organization than a natural CFS ally – and the CFS has more of a Fringe Festival vibe than a Luminato one. Yet this is not the time for what become trivialities in the face of an almost unthinkable municipal administration that would decimate both culture and students with little regard for these distinctions.

Clearly it is time to make some new friends and work together. The distinct possibility of political apocalypse makes for strange bedfellows and a strikingly broad base of support that cuts across traditional fault lines in civil society.

One Toronto organizers are proposing Torontonians ask candidates what they would do specifically (no platitiudes) about three core issues that SHOULD be dominating the debate, but are being lost in sea of angry populist disaster porn: 1) Climate Change, 2) Inclusiveness and Equality, 3) Services and Programs. This is pretty wide ranging stuff you would think is a no-brainer, but is getting absolutely no play in the race right now.

This election will be decided by a ballot question that has not yet been set. Currently the question is: “Do you want Rob Ford to dismantle City Hall?” If that remains the question, he almost certainly will win. If the question becomes something else, something positive that addresses all of the ways municipal government can engage with and improve our lives as Torontonians, his chances of winning decrease significantly.

As we have seen from the discussion still going on in the comments to Monday’s post, strategy and picking a single mayoral candidate will play a big role in how this all plays out. Just as important as WHO people vote for is WHY they vote for someone though. This is an area we have a lot to work on in a short period of time. Fortunately a week is a lifetime in politics, which means we have five lifetimes to change the tone and topics of this debate.

One Toronto has called an upbeat, completely positive, Emergency Community Meeting for Monday September 27^th from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at The Church of The Holy Trinity (Behind the Eaton Centre).

Facebook page here. Facebook event here. See you there.

]]> https://praxistheatre.com/2010/09/one-toronto-launches-movement-to-get-positive-about-the-t-dot/feed/ 5 https://praxistheatre.com/2010/09/in-other-news-from-the-apocalypse/ https://praxistheatre.com/2010/09/in-other-news-from-the-apocalypse/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:17:18 +0000 https://praxistheatre.com/?p=4117

No theatre talk for those of us in the GTA today. Apparently September 20th is for thinking about what we are going to do about this.

Comments/suggestions welcome.