Welcome to the official campaign website for Chris Tindal, candidate for City Councillor of Toronto’s Ward 27. If this is your first time visiting, you may want to watch this video from our campaign launch. You can also learn more about Chris on the about page or check out who’s endorsing him. You can easily and quickly get involved by donating or signing up to volunteer. Finally, stay up to date by signing up for email updates on the right side of any page. Thanks for visiting!

TORONTO- On August 25, Evan Dean stepped down as a candidate for city councillor in Ward 27, and announced his support for Chris Tindal.  Evan has been a great contributor to the community, both as a candidate, and through his work with Trinity Square Café, Our Place Community of Hope, and as volunteer coordinator for Pride Toronto. Chris is honored to have his support.

“I believe that Chris is the best suited for the role and that he has both the political and policy background necessary to serve the residents of this Ward” says Evan on his website. “I believe that Chris understands the role that communities play in creating a great and diverse city.  Chris also understands that improving public transit, and creating more infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists will keep this city green and sustainable in the future.  This is why I will support him for councillor for Ward 27.”

Chris Tindal is endorsed by people throughout Ward 27 and across the political spectrum, including former Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament David MacDonald, retired Senator Lois Wilson and former Ontario NDP Youth Chair Liam McHugh-Russell.

These members of our community are supporting Chris because they know he has the right priorities for our ward. Chris is committed to representing all of Ward 27’s unique communities, and will champion

• more responsible fiscal management at City Hall;
• improved transit, so that ‘the better way’ really is better; and
• smart, sustainable development that plans for our future but also preserves our past: our heritage buildings and the feel of our communities.

Chris’s platform was officially announced today on his website, christindal.ca.

For More information contact:
Matthew Ross
Media Relations
416.627.8928
matthew@christindal.ca

Release also available as a PDF

The board members of Pride Toronto are to be congratulated for having the courage to change their minds, and a special thanks goes to the community members including Brent Hawkes, Doug Elliott, Doug Kerr, Michael Went, Maura Lawless and others who worked to build bridges and come to this agreement.

As Glen Murray points out this morning on Facebook, the most important thing now is the second part of Pride Toronto’s decision, to “appoint a panel of LGBTTIQQ2SA leaders and friends to recommend a policy to protect and advance the qualities of Pride and ensure it is true to its core values and principles” with a mandate to “consult with the community to develop recommendations to ensure a Pride that values and promotes freedom of speech and individual expression, inclusiveness and respect, pluralism and diversity, equity and fairness, celebration, humour and fun.”

This addresses the two main concerns I expressed to Torontoist earlier this month, saying “The [Pride] Board did not pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination policy… the decision was ad hoc. Had they gone through an open process, there would not be such anger.” Now we will hopefully have both a comprehensive policy and an open process to create it.

Now it’s time to move forward together, recognizing that while the decision that Pride Toronto originally came to was wrong, there are also some members of the LGBT community who have not felt, as Pride’s slogan puts it, like they “belong” due to language they perceive to be hurtful and even threatening. Let’s be clear, I’m not just talking about lobbyists and activists with a public profile. There are many people I’ve spoken with while knocking on doors who have told me they no longer feel welcome at Pride, and that’s a real concern. Creating an environment where everyone feels a sense of safety and belonging while also allowing a diversity of voices is the challenge, and I’m optimistic that Pride has created the right process to meet it.

Hosted by Maggie Cassella, “#VoteTOin27: So You Think You Can Council?” takes place this Thursday June 10th at Fly Nightclub (8 Gloucester St). Doors are at 6 p.m., with the program starting at 6:30 p.m. The event is free, but in order to ensure admission it’s recommended that you RSVP for free tickets by clicking here.

Hope to see you there!

In the coming days we’ll also post some longer-form video from the launch. (This highlights video is also available on Facebook.) And as always, if you’d like to get involved with this campaign, we’d love to hear from you.

When: Tuesday April 27th, doors at 6pm
Where: The Pilot Tavern (22 Cumberland Street, near Yonge and Bloor)

This event will be hosted by broadcaster Ralph Benmergui and feature special guests including former local MP David MacDonald and retired Senator Lois Wilson. There will be food and a cash bar.

You can RSVP (not required) and share this event on Facebook.

See you there!

The situation is a challenge for those like myself who would represent the Church/Wellesley Village at city hall. While the conflict in the Middle East is obviously not and should not be a civic issue, nor is the definition or prohibition of hate speech, the councillor of Ward 27 must be a clear and unapologetic advocate for the LGBT community. They must also represent those members of our community who find some of the language that was used by participants in last year’s Pride highly objectionable. How does one person walk that line?

Marching in a Toronto Pride parade, and at a Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee event recently in Ward 27.

I think we begin by working to find common ground. Something straight people like myself need to understand about the Queer community in general—and the history of Pride in specific—is that censorship, perceived or real, is anathema. The Pride celebrations we know today owe their very existence to the rejection of pressures that would try to control, silence or sideline unpopular or disruptive voices. Many in the queer community I’ve talked to in the past few days view any attempt to filter or sanitize the Pride parade in anyway not only as a huge step backwards, but a dangerous one that summons memories of the days not long ago where so many people were not able to openly acknowledge their own sexual or gender identity. (Not that that stigma has been completely defeated, but we’ve come a long way and we don’t want to go back.)

Similarly, something non-Jewish people—again, like myself—need to understand about the Jewish community is that they have an extremely high sensitivity towards any language that even flirts with the thin edge of the slippery slope towards anti-Jewish or anti-Israel (in the “Israel should not exist” sense) sentiment, and for good reason. Like with the Queer community, this sensitivity comes from a memory of a time not so long ago when mere words helped to set off one of the most horrific series of actions in the history of humankind. Today, we hopefully don’t need to be reminded, antisemitism is still a present and persistent threat that must be vigilantly identified and condemned.

There, simultaneously, is the source of tension and also the opportunity for common ground. Members of these two groups find themselves in conflict over where to draw the line when it comes to freedom of expression. Not only that, but their definitions of what kind of uncomfortable speech should be tolerated are, in some ways, at the core of their communal histories. And yet, they are united by an oppressive past and an understanding of prejudice and hatred that all too often persists. They share a desire to fight ignorance, to defend their rights and to proudly celebrate their identities.

The question therefore becomes, what is the best way to accomplish those shared objectives? In the struggle between defending freedom of expression and preventing groups from being targeted, what wins out?

In this specific case, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Instead of allowing intolerance to breed in dark corners, let’s bring it out in the open so we can name it and repudiate it in public. Or, as Xtra’s Marcus McCann put it, Pride Toronto should go so far as to “[endorse] free expression for those who are anti-gay; it is better that they are laughed out of the commons than their opinions be allowed to fester in private.”

Using the words “apartheid state” to describe Israel, as one group did in last year’s Pride parade, is hurtful, dangerous, and displays a titanic misunderstanding of the complexity of the situation. But it’s not the job of Pride organizers to serve as arbiters of what amounts to allowable protest. If it comes down to it we already have laws against inciting violence or hatred. Keep Pride free, as it should be, and let individuals be judged for how they choose to use that freedom.

A Copenhagen bike lane. PHOTO: bmevans80 on Flickr

I am reminded of a conversation I had while in Copenhagen last month. One of the first things you notice about Copenhagen is their extensive cycling infrastructure and how well it’s used. The climate in Denmark is similar to ours (while I was there it was cold and snowing) but because bike lanes are wide, separated, part of a large network and receive good snow clearance, they’re used year-round by large numbers of commuters and families. When I told a local woman named Anna Sophia how impressive that was, her first reaction was to lament that it wasn’t nearly good enough. “Amsterdam has a great cycling culture,” she said. “Ours is OK.”

Then I told her how many bike lanes are available to Torontonians, what they’re like, and the fact that efforts to expand our bike lane network are met by some with the “war on the car” accusation. She laughed, and said two things. First, “that’s such a Canadian/American thing to say.” (I don’t think she was trying to be hurtful.)

The second thing is what really stuck with me, though. She said, “I can’t imagine what this city would be like without our bike lanes. Everyone would have to drive. It would be so congested and impossible to get around.” The realization hit me like a tonne of bricks: she’s describing Toronto.

As Hamutal Dotan wrote for Torontoist earlier today, “what we need—urgently, and very badly—is to measure the success of our roadways by how well they move people, not cars, and privilege the modes of transportation which are most efficient at moving the largest numbers of people.” Rossi was absolutely right when he said that “cars are simply a necessity for many people,” and planners need to recognize that. However, his contention that this city suffers from too much traffic congestion due to a “war on the car” is backwards: the fact that we have so many cars on the road causing congestion is a direct result of urban design that has disproportionately favoured cars over other methods of transportation. The idea that we can somehow accommodate more cars on downtown roads while improving traffic conditions is fantasy. The best way to improve driving conditions is to offer better alternatives to driving.

All of our best research shows that when people have a transit system that works and treats them with dignity and a cycling infrastructure that doesn’t make them fear for their safety, they take advantage of it and drive less. That means fewer cars on the road, which means less congestion for those who choose or need to continue to drive. Drivers (a group that, as an Autoshare member, I include myself in, along with being a cyclist, pedestrian, and transit user) who want less congested streets should favour “complete streets” that do a better job of balancing different transportation options.

Policies are specific ideas meant to address specific problems. When we go to the polls on October 25th, many people will likely vote based on which candidate has, in that voter’s assessment, the best set of policies. Also important, however, are a campaign’s principles. Principles are more broad and foundational and less fickle than policies. They’re what one uses (or should use) to make decisions and form policy positions. (In other words, instead of asking “what will get us the most votes? what can we get away with?” and so on, campaigns should ask “how do we stay true to our principles?”)

This afternoon we’ve added a new permanent page to this website that outlines and explains our principles. This campaign will be:

Open. We will use both web-based tools and in-person meetings of all kinds to engage with people and make this election about ideas rather than personalities. We will also interface with and draw inspiration from initiatives like ChangeCamp, Better Ballots, #VoteTO and others which seek to engage a broad spectrum of people in civic idea generation and decision-making.

Uniting. It’s tempting for politicians of all stripes to attempt to score points by applying labels to different groups of residents and then pitting those groups against each other (drivers vs. cyclists, union members vs. non-union members, TTC operators vs. TTC riders). When we do that, however, we fail to move forward together. Only by building an inclusive movement that respects all Torontonians can we create the city we want.

Future-oriented. We will make decisions that address the needs of the present generation without sacrificing the rights and prosperity of future ones. We will build a city that we’re proud of today that will also serve us well tomorrow.

Again, these are not meant to be specific policy commitments, but they are declarations of how you can expect the members of this campaign to behave and on what we will base our platform. And, in keeping with the first principle, we’ll do all that together.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO – Chris Tindal, a former candidate for federal parliament, today registered to run for city councillor in Toronto’s Ward 27.

Chris Tindal has served as a Vice President of the Ontario Recreational Canoeing association and as a board member for a boys and girls residential summer camp north of Toronto. Having produced some of Canada’s largest web properties including family.ca (for Astral Television Networks) and ytv.com (Corus Entertainment), Tindal now does strategy and business development for a national newspaper chain’s interactive properties.

For more information

Matthew Ross
matthew.a.ross@gmail.com
416.627.8928
www.christindal.ca

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