The results are in

I’m particularly proud of and happy about three things today. First, friendships that have been made and strengthened. A campaign is a community, and ours was a great one to be part of.

Second, and related, that we had such a strong showing without a big political machine behind us. This was a grassroots multi-partisan campaign that grew as we went along. Some of our most dedicated volunteers were people that joined us after we knocked on their doors, like a snowball rolling down a hill. I’m so humbled that so many great people gave so much of themselves.

Third, the strength of the other candidates. What an amazing thing we accomplished here. Over and over again people told me that there were multiple council candidates they wanted to vote for, who they thought would make great contributions to council. How often does that happen? When was the last time you voted in an election and thought, “gosh, there are just too many good choices?” It’s remarkable.

This week, we’ve got work to do closing up the campaign office, returning rented furniture, collecting and recycling lawn signs. Claire and I will then spend the weekend at a bed and breakfast in Prince Edward County before I return to work from my three-month leave of absence on Monday.

I’ve learned a lot during this campaign, and hope to share some of that in this space over the coming month.

More to come.

How to vote

To find out where to vote, click here or phone 311.

You’ll need to bring ID that shows your name, signature and address. For a list of acceptable ID, click here.

Voting is open from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. If you have any questions or require assistance getting to your voting station you can call our office (416.351.8000).

Why vote

Because the municipal level of government affects our lives more directly than any other, and because it’s more important than ever that we have a strong city council. This is a very tight race—it may come down to as little as 100 votes—your vote will make a difference.

Why Chris Tindal

Chris is endorsed by respected people from across the political spectrum and all over our ward. He has the best set of principles and priorities, and he has the business and governance experience to get results. I have been impressed by his honesty, integrity and genuine interest in what each and every person has had to say throughout this election. I am confident he is the best candidate for city council.

As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch by email or phone.

Best,

Lesley Myers
Campaign Manager, Chris Tindal Campaign

http://www.christindal.ca/

416.351.8000

“I am honoured that ArtsVote has given me their highest grade when it comes to recognizing the importance of investing in the arts in Toronto,” said Tindal. “I look forward to being a champion for the arts on the next council so that we can continue to build a beautiful city and support the many jobs in the arts and culture sector.”

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

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!

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

–30–

As of this morning I am a candidate for city councillor in Toronto’s Ward 27. After months of consultation and contemplation, I’ve come to the conclusion that this municipal election represents an exciting and unique opportunity for us as residents to, in one small but significant way, seize control of our own democracy and build the kind of community we want.

In one sense, city governance is about a set of very practical things like roads, garbage collection, sewers, and so on. It’s important that these areas are addressed properly and with sound judgment. In addition, however, city governance defines the kind of world we live in. We interact with municipal government services more than those of any other government, and in many ways those services have the largest immediate impact on our quality of life. When we talk about city building and when we elect a city council, we’re deciding what kind of neighbourhood we live in, what our commute to work is like, what kinds of activities we can easily enjoy on the evenings and weekends, what kind of education our children receive, and what it means to exist as a diverse community of equals.

And yet, we tend to pay very little attention to municipal politics, and I doubt there are even many city councillors who would argue we have the kind of governance we can be proud of, the kind of vision we should aspire to, the kind of representation we deserve.

I’m running to be Ward 27′s next councillor because I’ve lived here for a decade, I attended and graduated from university here, and I think we deserve better.

Recognizing that there will be a lot of time to discuss specific policy positions throughout the campaign, in these early days there are three areas I would like to lift up.

First, anyone elected to city council will need to address the very serious and imminent financial crisis. The city must get its house in order and Torontonians expect to see better value for their tax dollars. That will mean finding new creative sources of revenue as well as targeted cost containment. The unrelenting wave of perpetual property tax increases we’ve become used to is not only bad policy, it’s unimaginative. In short, through smart development and planning I will focus on expanding the tax base, not the tax burden.

Second, we expect more from our transit system. Too many of us know the frustration of waiting for a bus that never comes, or watching a full streetcar pass us by as we stand with our Metropass or transfer in hand. While it is true that the TTC is underfunded by provincial and federal levels of government, we need to move from making excuses to finding solutions. We don’t do that by blaming others or creating divisions, we do it by articulating the kind of system we want and a plan to get there together.

Finally, much of what a city councillor does is concerned with building the kind of city we want, whether that means working with developers and residents on a new residential or commercial building or negotiating how our streets are equitably shared among pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers. I will approach these conversations in a way that is open and inclusive, seeking to build common ground. And I will be mindful not only of our ward’s current needs, but also the kind of city we’ll be proud to have created further down the road.

In addition to these larger areas, I’ll enter into dialogue with residents and stakeholders from each of our neighbourhoods about what specific issues we should work on together over the next four years. For example, a conversation about Church Street’s accidental evolution is long overdue, and as a community we need to address what kind of Church Street we want. (Update: conversation about this in the comments.)

Let’s be clear: we can win this campaign, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to those of you who have already offered your support. It’s a long time until election day on October 25th, and there’s much to be done. Let’s get to work.