Inauguration Day

I want to capture my thoughts on the day in which a new president is inaugerated. The world has changed dramatically since George Walker Bush took office eight years ago and, despite plenty of commentary otherwise, some of it has been for the better.

I do not hide the fact that I did not support Barack Obama in his presidential bid, as inconsequential as my support would have been. That isn’t to say that John McCain would have been a better president — he had his own problems — but at least McCain had plenty of experience and a clear vision on foreign policy, especially on trade policy and the War on Terror, the two areas that concern me most.

Be that as it may, Obama got the big win after an almost perfect campaign. It is his victory to savour.

It is a well-known axiom that a week is a long time in politics, and once you start measuring time in years instead of days, events and attitudes become ancient history. With this in mind, the meme of the Obamerica changed in the eon of a few weeks, from rejoiceful adulation to one of hesitant optimism, with the assumption that the electorate has a short memory, which is does. Even on election day, the excuses began bandying about, beginning with the media and followed by knee-jerk supporters, that Obama just might not be evidence of the Second Coming. Not yet, anyways. You see, they say, Obama inherited two wars, an economic crisis, global warming, a divided nation, and a sick puppy (probably). I’m told he (“He”?) might need two terms to solve all these crises.

Leave aside the fact that George W Bush also inherited the events on September 11 and the spectre of an increasingly confident Saddam Hussein from his predecessors, yet he never used that as an excuse to shirk his responsibilities.

Obama wasn’t forced into office. Personal compulsion is not the same thing as indentured servitude. He asked for the job, the people gave it to him, and he does not deserve pre-emptive excuses before he even takes the oath.

This applies doubly-so for a man who did everything in his power to project an image of other-worldiness — remember the Greek columns at the DNC, the unilateral declaration of lower sea levels, the be-everything-to-everyone without promising anything specific? The reason he has impossibly-high expectations is because he carefully crafted those expectations himself. He’ll get no pity from me.

If he isn’t up for the job, old Dubya would be more than happy to take it off his hands. I’m sure that going back to organizing communities will give Obama all the opportunites to avoid responsibility that he needs.

Speaking of which … As president, unlike anything Obama has done before, he will actually have to make decisions. Those that derided Sarah Palin on her mere governorship of a minor state, in addition to her mayoralty of a minor town in said minor state, conveniently forget that as chief executive of both governments, Palin had to make choices. These choices had real outcomes, they affected real people. Sometimes (most times?) people supported those decisions, while on other times, other people were disappointed. That’s what leaders do; they decide and are not given the choice to vote “present”.

Unfortunately, Obama has not given much of an indication of what he’ll actually accomplish, outside of curing lepers and changing water into wine, of course. Therefore, given the self-imposed expectations, he will likely disappoint many of his supporters. To which I say, I hope so. Too many of his supporters have too many stupid and destructive ideas. If he rejects these ideas outright and adapts a pragmatic streak, all the better. If not, however, then God (the real God, that is) help us.

However, any criticism of the Obama administration will be done in the light of the recent past. I, for one, will not forget the attitudes of Obama or his followers during the Bush presidency. The utter disrespect toward the office and the institutions of the nation in general were shameful and embarrassing. While I’ll be the first person to criticize any government at any moment, and will defend the right to do so in others, I also believe in fair, rational criticism. I especially loathe hypocricy, and especially in myself, and the hypocritical attitudes of Bush-haters/Hope-and-changers is beyond parody.

If it wasn’t for that second virtrue, then I could easily fall into the trap of the past eight years. I could refer to Obama as a fascist (as opposed to the extreme socialist that he is — or has been up until now), and I could refer to him as “Baboon Insane OMcHitlerama” or something so clever and witty that Bill Maher himself might have coined it. I could spend my days making fun of his cadence (which to be honest is starting to grate on my nerves), or his physical appearance, or his relationship with his parents, or whatever inconsequential detail might pop up from time to time.

But I’m not going to do that. Not because of the disingenuous calls for “unity” by our self-anointed elites in the media and (ahem!) Hollywood. These people have set a clear example as to how not to behave when you do not support The Man.

No. I simply pledge to remember the sullying, distasteful effects of Bush Derangement Syndrome every time Obama makes a decision that I cannot personally support. I pledge to keep my criticisms objective and avoid the ad hominem attacks. I pledge to not be a condescending jerk when I argue policy on blogs or through other internet media. I pledge that I will not rudely assume someone else agrees with my politics and offer my unsolicited commentary if and when the president becomes unpopular. I pledge I won’t call for Obama’s assassination or burn his figure in effigy. I pledge that I won’t compare America to Nazi Germany, ever.

Most importantly, I pledge to support my friends and neighbours in the only nation that actually attempts to spread liberty and democracy in the world with action, not just with talk through committee, and that this support will not ebb and flow with whoever sits in the Oval Office.

It is with this pledge that I will act with decency and honesty while I participate in this great thing known as responsible government. I may not always be right but at least I’ll be true to myself, and I’ll be able to look back at my behavior during the next four years with honour and respect.

God bless our ally, the United States, and God bless the new president.

Palin in 2012!

Just because you could doesn’t mean you should

Canada’s best political historian, Michael Bliss, offers sage words to heed during this constitutional crisis (emphasis mine):

Canadian public opinion was outraged by both Meech and Charlottetown. Eventually, the politicians were forced to take the Charlottetown accord to the people in a 1992 national referendum, where it was massively defeated. Canadians didn’t want constitutional change — and they said so once they got a vote on the matter.

Sadly, instead of taking the lesson from this precedent that, in a modern democracy, the will of the people trumps Parliamentary deal-making, the architects of the 2008 coalition trotted out the same old assumptions about Parliamentary freedom, and how little the popular will matters. Their conceit has been that they can legally succeed in what millions of Canadians see as the overturning of the outcome of a democratic election, and do it without giving Canadians the ultimate say in the matter.

This is a huge error of both political and constitutional intelligence. Constitutions are living bodies of precedent, convention, comity and adaptation. Canada has evolved a long way since the era when Sir John A. Macdonald opposed universal suffrage and condemned democracy as an American disease. No constitutional expert — certainly, no governor-general–can ignore the democratic conventions that have emerged and evolved throughout the 20th century. These conventions have been moving constantly in the direction of shifting sovereignty from Parliament to the people.

Just as it was finally realized that the Charlottetown Accord had to be taken to the people, so the Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition proposal would have to go to the Canadian people before it could be legitimately implemented. I am certain that if Mr. Harper loses the confidence of the House at the end of January, and chooses to request a dissolution of Parliament and an election to test voters’ will, the Governor-General will grant it. The coalition-without-election idea, I believe, is as dead as the Charlottetown Accord, not least because, now as then, so many Canadians have been deeply angered by the arrogance and egos of parliamentarians whose understanding has failed to evolve beyond the pages of out-of-date constitutional textbooks.

You really ought to read the whole thing, but let me summerize:

The Canadian constitution is not static, but is a living, developing entity.

That entity has been moving away from centralized governance to more direct consent models (i.e. from absolutism, to limited monarchy through the Magna Carta, to parliamentary rule in the Westminster model, to direct democracy initiatives, such as referenda and election of leadership by party members).

Any recent attempt to thwart this evolution has been met with scorn and outrage by the citizenry.

Got that?

Therefore, the attempted coup — and it was an attempted coup — was legal to the letter; however, it contradicted the evolution of the constitution. Therefore, the tactic was illegitimate as it did not — or could not — express the will of the people.

Destination Unknown

Ruby, Ruby, Rubyruby SoHo!

Don’t you just love Rancid? Me too. An especially apt name of a band considering my thoughts of the following spam I received from Liberal MP Ruby, Ruby rubyruby Dhalla today:

From: Ruby Dhalla, Liberal
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008 5:13 pm
Subject: Buying time / Pour gagner du temps
To: Bumf

Dear Robert,

In an unprecedented display of arrogance and a complete abdication of his accountability to Canadians, Stephen Harper has shut down Parliament in order to avoid facing a confidence vote he knew he and his government would lose.

He has bought himself six more weeks to come up with a plan for our damaged economy – a plan that has so far eluded him.

He has also bought six more weeks for his Conservative Party to continue their advertising and PR campaign of half-truths and outright fabrications in order to shore up support in the far-too-likely event that he is unsuccessful in regaining Parliament’s confidence in January.

The Liberal Party must be in a strong position to respond no matter what further machinations the Harper Conservatives introduce. Please make a donation right now of $10, $25, $100 or whatever amount you can afford.

Make sure your voice is heard. Government accountability is something we must all fight for. Please help us ensure Canada has the government we deserve.

Thank you,

Ruby Dhalla
Labour Critic
Liberal Party of Canada

Doesn’t Rubyruby know that in a coalition government, the Ministry of Labour would be handed over to the socialists?

From: Bumf
Date: Thursday, December 5, 2008 8:58 am
Subject: Buying time / Pour gagner du temps
To: Ruby Dhalla, Liberal ,

Dear Ms Dhalla

Thank you for your impassioned plea on behalf of your party’s severely misguided attempt to seize power over the duly elected prime minister. I want to let you know that your efforts have not gone unnoticed.

You know that the results of the 2008 election definitively showed that Canadians do not want to be led by Stephane Dion, as does Michael Ignatieff, whom you supported during the Liberal leadership race. You also know that even though the Westminster parliament allows for dissolution of the House during any confidence vote, you and the rest of the Members have an obligation to refer back to your constituents in times like these, with such a charged and radical political manoeuver that involves a change of leadership.

Do I have to express my distaste in the Liberals who have formed a coalition with the NDP, who have been around for decades yet never gotten close to power, for good reason? And what about forming an alliance with the Bloc Quebecois? Have you no shame?

Do you really believe that Canadians don’t see how disingenuous your entire party has been? Do you really believe that this would not have occured had the prime minister not sought to cut out public funding for political parties? Do you believe that Canadians are too stupid to see that?

Please, give up this awful charade. It’s embarrassing you and your party.

Yours sincerely,

Rob Huck
Saskatoon

P.S. I have informed my local Conservative representative that I will support her with my money and volunteer hours if the GG calls an election in January. Thank you for the motivation.

P.P.S I have also let the governor-general know that I support the prorogation of the House, and that I expect that she call an election if the budget does not pass in January. Again thanks for everything.

Perhaps Ruby ought to be spending less time stumping for a loser of a Liberal leader more of her time gearing up for Ignatieff’s bid.

My babies just wrote me a letter

I’m starting to get the emails. I’m wondering when they’ll stop.

From: Greg Fergus, Liberal
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:22 pm
Subject: Serving Canada, Serving Democracy / Dans l’intérêt du Canada et de la démocratie
To: bumf

Dear Robert,

The best traditions of our parliamentary democracy have been served by yesterday’s historic formation of a proposed alternative government for Canada. Together, opposition parties have found a way to do what may critics had declared impossible – make Parliament work.

But we need your help right now, in to deliver the action Canada so desperately needs. Canada’s Governor General, Michaelle Jean, needs to hear from you.

By electing three consecutive minority governments, Canadians have, in essence, been saying to politicians, “find a way to work together.” And since Harper Conservatives have steadfastly refused to do so, the other parties have stepped up to the plate.

Next Monday, MPs will formalise with a vote what is already clear to all – that Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has lost the confidence of Parliament and Canadians.

Then the Governor General will decide whether to force another election on the country, as Stephen Harper would have her do, or honour our parliamentary traditions and give the alternative government an opportunity to serve the country.

Please write to the Governor General today and tell her you support the alternative government. We cannot let this historic initiative fail due to the silence of the majority – make your views known!

Now is the time for real action on the economy, not another $300 million election. A Liberal-NDP government, which would have the full support of the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party of Canada, is the truest reflection of the will of voters and the best solution for the good government Canada needs.

Yours sincerely,

Greg Fergus
National Director, Liberal Party of Canada

PS. The Conservatives have launched a massive public relations campaign to push for another election and swing support towards their divisive and narrow point of view. We must counter this effectively. If you are in a position to make a donation, please do. Your support will make an important difference at this critical time.

From: Bumf
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008 5:10 pm
Subject: Serving Canada, Serving Democracy / Dans l’intérêt du Canada et de la démocratie
To: Greg Fergus

“By electing three consecutive minority governments, Canadians have, in essence, been saying to politicians, ‘find a way to work together.’ “

Funny. During the last election, I heard Canadians saying that they didn’t want Stephane Dion to become prime minister.

Please cease your traitorous and illegitimate activities.

Thank you.

Rob Huck

From: Doug Ferguson, Liberal
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008 9:37 pm
Subject: Open Letter to Progressive Canadians / Lettre ouverte aux Canadiens et Canadiennes progressistes
To: bumf

Monday’s events are of unequalled historical significance – Parliament has chosen to place its confidence in a cooperative government, and will vote non-confidence in the current one. As you know, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and the Liberal Caucus have reached across the aisle and come to an agreement to form a cooperative government with the NDP, which will enjoy the support of the Bloc. This move is a direct response to the Conservative Government’s inaction on the economy.

The Conservatives, of course, don’t like to see democracy working against them. In the coming days they will launch an unparalleled barrage of lies and fear-mongering tactics to sway public opinion. It is no secret they have more money than we do – and make no mistake, they will attempt to buy their way out of this situation.

The Liberal Party needs you now, more than ever before. In order to fight the Conservative spin machine, we need you to take action. Below you will find tools to help you fight back. These tools include:

1. Talking points: These talking points are intended to help you answer questions from local media or from your friends, family and neighbours. Feel free to share or tailor these lines as you see fit – they are the best guide to our messaging. In addition to spreading the word to your peers, we encourage you to call local radio or television call-in shows. We also suggest you to call your Member of Parliament and / or the Prime Minister directly and voice your opinion.
– Forming an Alternative Government
– Alternative government will put economy first

2. Model letters: We urge you to send these letters to your contacts as well as to your local media under your own signature. This will ensure that our message reaches every Canadian in every region of the country. In the coming days, model Op-Eds will also be made available.

3. Canvass cards: These cards will help you spread the message in your community. We encourage you to print these cards and distribute them as you see fit.

4. Third Party Quotes: These quotes have been assembled from a variety of sources to highlight support for the coalition. You can use these quotes as a “cheat sheet” when discussing with friends, family and neighbours.

5. Letter to the Governor General: We know the Conservatives will be appealing directly to the Governor General to influence her important decision. In light of this, we need to have our voice heard as well. We encourage you to copy or print the attached material and ask the Governor General to support the will of Parliament.

The actions we are asking you to take are simple. They do not require a great deal of time or effort. However, the result of your actions will mean a better way forward for Canada. As I write this, the Conservatives are fighting tooth and nail for their tenuous grip on power. They are proving once again that they will stop at nothing to destroy their opponents. It’s time to fight back.

Sincerely,

Doug Ferguson
President, Liberal Party of Canada

From: Bumf
Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2008 12:23 pm
Subject: Open Letter to Progressive Canadians / Lettre ouverte aux Canadiens et Canadiennes progressistes
To: Doug Ferguson

Mr Ferguson,

I do not support socialists nor to I condone separatists. Any Liberal who supports this coalition ought to hang their head in shame. If they have any shame left to give, that is.

I find this behavior disgusting and completely unbecoming of any civilized public servant.

Please stop this ridiculous farce and respect the wishes of a Canadian people who clearly stated that they do not want Stephane Dion to be their prime minister.

Yours sincerely,

Rob Huck
Saskatoon

From: Doug Ferguson, Liberal
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:26 pm
Subject: Shut down the recession, not Parliament / Contrer la récession, non pas le parlement
To: rob.huck@shaw.ca

Dear Robert,

In the midst of the worldwide economic crisis, Stephen Harper wants Members of Parliament to take a two month vacation. As Canada faces the possibility of a grim recession and the worst economic situation in eight decades, Harper wants to shut down Parliament. He is afraid to face a vote in the House of Commons on his own outrageous and regressive economic plan.

Harper will address the nation, this evening, to save his own skin after he failed to address the nation to save the economy. In their hour of desperation, the Conservatives are spending millions and millions of dollars to destroy anyone who opposes them. We must not let them succeed. Your help is urgently required. Help stop Harper by giving to the Victory Fund.

Quite simply, a small monthly donation to the Victory Fund will ensure that the Liberal Party is able to take on Harper at both the national and constituency level. Don’t let Harper rule without Parliament. Don’t let the Conservatives smear your Liberal MP or your riding volunteers. Don’t let the wealthy Conservatives destroy the economy and send Parliament on a long, paid holiday.

Please consider making a monthly contribution to the Victory Fund. Let’s end the one-man rule. Let’s get rid of the recession, not Parliament.

Sincerely,

Doug Ferguson
President, Liberal Party of Canada

From: Bumf
Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:52 pm
Subject: Shut down the recession, not Parliament / Contrer la récession, non pas le parlement
To: Doug Ferguson, Liberal

After seeing M.Dion’s performance on the television tonight — albeit late — I briefly considered donating to the Victory Fund, if only to give Stephane Dion a decent web cam.

But instead I donated that same money to the Conservative Party.

Thanks for the reminder.

Rob Huck

I hope they don’t stop now. I’m just getting geared up.

Running back to Saskatoon

Hey there, people. I’ve got a little life update for you.

I have been offered a job in Saskatoon starting in August and will be leaving Calgary as a result. While The Better Third and I are sad to be leaving our friends and family here, we are looking forward to our new opportunities and relationships in a city we both know well.

The job is in technical communications for a well-regard uranium mining company. I think they’re a terrific organization with a solid reputation both within and without the industry, and I’m very lucky to have been offered a position which uses my diverse professional background and interests. In short, I’m pumped.

Time is getting short and I simply may not have a chance to say good-byes to many people. That said, I will be having a bit of a get-together this Thursday, July 31, after work at Fionn MacCool’s in the Sheraton Eau Claire downtown. Any and all Calgary friends are welcome to stop by, sip a beer, and have a chat or two.

(The Better Third, for those who know her, will be staying in Calgary for a little while longer, so her friends are encouraged to keep her company while I’m away for the rest of the summer).

Maybe I’ll see you on Thursday. If not, take care and we’ll catch you when we catch you. Stop by here every so often for more updates. Once we get settled in, regular blogging may resume.

To those in Saskatoon and area … look out!

Bumf’s back.

Ta-ta for now

I always knew this day would come (although considering my commitment towards the whole concept of commitment, I may end up reneging on the following), but I never looked forward to it:

People, I’m folding BumfOnline.

Of course, this should come as no surprise to almost anyone who reads this on a regular basis. My blogging has been sporadic for some time. Posts which used to come several times a day are now spaced out by a week or more. In fact, as of late I’ve started far more posts than I’ve actually gotten around to publish, and that annoys the hell out of me.

It’s not that I’ve stopped writing, or that I have no more interest in the outside world; to the contrary, I still am a voracious reader of blogs, newspapers and, most especially, books. To be sure, I’ve read more books in the past few months than I had in the previous few years.

Part of it is because I haven’t been working. Not full-time, anyways. I’ve had an opportunity during the last 6 months or so to take a deep look in side myself in order to discover what I truly want and need. However, when I began blogging, it seemed to be a stop-gap measure which allowed some creativity and interest while I slogged along in a job I neither loved nor appreciated. Now that I’ve moved on, I no longer crave the outlet I once cherished.

Another part of it is the echo-chamber mentality of the blogosphere, a phenomenon much-documented elsewhere. It’s not that I believe that blogs have no value much less that I recognize it as an accumulation of communities coming together to consensus on ideas. (That’s human nature, and blogging is simply a extension of that behavior, and thus this is nothing to be lamented.) My problem is that I don’t believe I’m adding anything productive to the conversation, at least since I’ve scaled back my blogging duties during the past year. I respect originality and I’m having trouble staying original, much less relevant.

Which leads me to the final reason: I have difficulty fitting in any certain category. This has been an issue for me all of my life, a person with many good friends but no real close ones, someone with a broad range of interests but no real passions for any one thing. Instead, my passion is for ideas of all kinds, my love for many people. It is because of this that my blog ranged from hockey to politics to philosophy to family to pop culture to religion to social issues to the frivolous activities of mankind. I could never settle on a theme, which was unfair to my audience, all of whom seemed to stop by for their own reasons. I couldn’t keep up, and it finally got to be too much.

As for now, I am not against helping out on group blogs if anyone asks (hint, hint Darcey), but I just don’t want to run my own blog for a while. It’s not going to get completely abandoned but I’ll just keep it going as a life-update for my friends and family.

I’m going to continue writing, just for myself. I’ve been sketching ideas for short stories and the like, and I now also keep a private journal which has absolutely no expectations whatsoever (Bumf recommends). I’m also expecting to start a new job in the near future, one which might just keep me interested and challenged enough so that I don’t have to fall back on blogging as a means to express myself. That’s the hope, anyway.

In summation, I just want to thank everyone who stopped by over the years. I believe that I did the best I could to entertain, to inform and to question, and I like to think that you knew that too. It meant a lot to me that you were there, even if you never revealed yourself.

Sometimes, all a person needs is a voice and the prospect that someone else is listening. All else is an extravagance.

Take care, dear reader, until we meet again.

The dignified silence

The last occasion Dr Vrbova saw her father was in Budapest, whither the family had fled because of the comparatively mild regime of Admiral Horthy. But Horthy was replaced by Hitler because he was not anti-semitic enough, and the subsequent regime grew much more murderous. The last time Dr Vrbova saw her father, he said to her, ‘You must forgive me that I have always made the wrong decisions, and brought you into danger. Your mother wanted us to emigrate, but I had too much trust in my fellow citizens…’ With dignified poignancy, Dr Vrbova, who was 17 when this happened, writes, ‘Somehow I knew that this was the last time I would see him.’ And it was.

Theodore Dalrymple on the callousness of decadent Western youth who revel in self-pity and narcissism, and who are completely ignorant of what it truly means to suffer.

The rise of New Urbanism

Are modern cities — and the modernist architecture it spawns — doomed to fail? Architect Leon Krier thinks so. And so do I.

Here’s the philosophy behind the New Urbanist movement:

Krier presents the first principle of architecture as a deduction from Kant’s Categorical Imperative, which tells us to act only on that maxim that we can will as a universal law. You must, Krier says, “build in such a way that you and those dear to you will use your buildings, look at them, work in them, spend their holidays in them, and grow old in them with pleasure.” Krier suggests that modernists themselves follow this dictum—in private. Modernist vandals like Richard Rogers and Norman Foster—between them, responsible for some of the worst acts of destruction in our European cities—live in elegant old houses in charming locations, where artisanal styles, traditional materials, and humane scales dictate the architectural ambience. Instead of Bernard Mandeville’s famous principle of “private vices, public benefits,” it seems that they follow the law of private benefits, public vice—the private benefit of a charming location paid for by the public vice of tearing our cities apart. Rogers in particular is famous for creating buildings that have no relation to their surroundings, that cannot easily change their use, that are extremely expensive to maintain, and that destroy the character of their neighborhoods—buildings such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, for which a great acreage of humane streets had to be cleared and which deliberately turns its back on the historic quarter of the Marais; or the Lloyd’s Building in London, a piece of polished kitchenware surmounted by a pile of junk, dropped in the city as if from a passing airplane.

Calgary, it must be said, is not a categorically ugly city, though it is not entirely charming either. It was built too fast over too short of a period of time, and thus its development of character has been doomed from the start. That’s nothing to be ashamed about — rapid growth can only be had due to enormous success, and Calgary has been a tremendous success economically and (dare I say it?) culturally.

While some effort has been made to produce neighbourhoods on the New Urbanist model — most notably Mackenzie Towne and Garrison Woods — it seems that it’s been too little, too late for most of this sprawling burg. It is a suburb city gone mad, with sprawling, completely unwalkable communities which require automotive transportation simply to go down to the corner store to purchase some milk. (If there such a corner store exists, that is.) No wonder people love their SUVs in this town — I would too if I were forced to spend two hours a day in my car.

Worse still, the cookie-cutter homes and rigid zoning bylaws all but permanently assure that not one ounce of character and uniqueness can develop, which would be an even bigger disappointment if the residents ever took to leave their homes in order to engage their neighbours.

However, this does not stop at simple choice of architecture in new developments. His Worship the Mayor might deny that he is simply propagating the obtrusive modernist mentality today, but when he designs a new LRT line whose only purpose is to ferry workers to the downtown core, that is exactly what he is doing. Not that I disagree with the idea of rapid transit, and I’m not going to get off on the spectacular failure of the city administration to communicate with the afflicted communities during this planning stage. What concerns me more is that lack of priority given to connect various corporate and economic centres around the city. Instead of focusing on how to get every worker in the entire city to work in one area, the city should do more to encourage alternative corporate centres to develop.

In fact, without any help from the city at all, other corporate centres are popping up, including a growing tendency for companies to set up their offices at the airport and, more importantly, in the city’s southeast. The latter is the second-busiest district for workers in the city, yet His Worship the Mayor has acquiesced that those workers are far better off driving their cars or relying on the poorly managed transit system to get these people to work. Investing the $800 million presently being doled out for the West LRT — an system which is designed solely to encourage housing development in the western suburbs — takes away from investing in workers in an alternative commercial zone for another 10 years or more.

And don’t get me started on the lack of progress of the LRT line reaching the airport.

In truth, New Urbanism is (or ought to be) the way of the future: smaller town centres featuring organic growth in terms of architecture and space planning, adequate public transportation to the surrounding communities, and a quality of life which will prevail long after oil hits $200 a barrel.

Principles of representative democracy and the abuse thereof

I have been following as of late the goings on of Calgary City Council and their almost comical handling of the proposed West LRT route. Last week, I attended the extended hearings of the Planning, Land-use and Transportation committee regarding the route and was dismayed at the obvious disconnect between some of the aldermen and the residents of the communities through which the LRT is planned to run.

As was expected, the committee accepted the proposal from administration, leaving the final vote on the matter to be held by City Council at their next meeting on Monday. The city web site makes it seem like a simple procedure, that the administration is doing its job and that Council approves of their work.

The reality is far different. The communication on this project has been mangled from the start. Even though His Worship the Mayor has insisted that this project has been on the books since the Canadian Pacific railway had first looked over the surveyed maps of this unmolested prairie ground some 130 years ago, he had insisted that Council approve the budget for the line within a month of the last municipal election, an election which brought in 4 brand new alderman to office. And this was even before the finalized route was even revealed to the public.

Since then, the mayor has pushed to get the project underway come hell or high-water, regardless of the efforts of such groups as the Best West LRT, not to mention affected community associations and their counterparts across town.

The former is an especially interesting collaboration. More than simply concerned citizens, the Best West group involves architects, engineers and business people who have — on their own volition — designed an alternate route which would have less societal impact as well as a reasonable budget to boot.

Whether or not the alternate proposal was feasible, we’ll never know. A few aldermen, including John Mar and Joe Connelly, attempted to direct administration to perform a cost-benefit analysis of the Best West plan, but they were voted down. Alderman Gordon Lowe, who would believe that it was actually the Easter Bunny who died on the cross if it was asserted so by His Worship the Mayor and his administration, admonished the deniers on council by accusing them of “not trusting administration” to do their jobs. (Which gives cause to wonder if Alderman Lowe even understands his own job, that being a check on the city administration and ensuring that all reasonable complaints are given a voice.)

I wish this whole West LRT debacle was an aberration, but it is sadly a pattern of poor communication with the citizenry. Worse still, this is also one more in a long line of instances where His Worship the Mayor bullies his opponents to getting what he wants.

The problem, however, not only lies with the mayor; it lies with the basic structure of municipal government in itself. There is an absence of the division or separation of powers in city hall. Moreover, there is an absence of an official opposition whose role it is to criticize both government AND administration. Both of these features are vital to afford government the proper checks and balances necessary to prevent corruption and tyranny, as well as to keep a semblance of balance within the legislative procedure.

For example, while the provincial and federal legislatures in Canada both suffer from the division of powers common to American bicameral legislatures, they do have within their constitutions provisions for an official opposition which may or may not offer alternative or parallel proposals to legislation which may or may not benefit the government and its citizens.

It is very rare to hear a government minister accuse an opposition member of having a lack of trust of the administration, much less use that as a defense of a proposal developed by said administration. Elected officials are meant to act as stop-gaps on the administration, and must then be given reasonably free-reign in their formulation to alternative policy, or at least, rejection of the orthodox.

The city of Calgary, however, and most municipal governments across the dominion, rely on a simple council to make all the decisions together based solely off the information of the administration headed by the mayor. Aldermen have little to no outside resources on which to rely which would allow them to develop policy alternative to that of administration. This might be all well and good for small municipalities which have very few resources to begin with, but when you have a rich city with a large and diverse population, it makes little sense why the rules should limit members of city council so.

Sadly, His Worship the Mayor and Alderman Lowe, among others, do not seem to realize this. Or worse — they simply couldn’t care less.

The biggest hypocrisy in this entire scheme is that it could have been prevented. Instead of releasing funds for a line of the LRT immediately before the public was even consulted on the project, a project which will result in changes to entire communities for the next 50 years and beyond, Dave Bronconnier could have directed his administration to behave in a more open and honest manner, accepting alternative criticism like a man. When he threatens city council that delays in the project could cost $5 million a month, he does this because it was his decision to ram the project through. When he accuses various community and citizen groups of holding the city hostage with their complaints, it is because it was he who kidnapped the process to begin with.

And he has the gonads to insist on increased taxation powers? Why doesn’t he just get on with it and crown himself king so that we can throw away this whole stupid charade once and for all?

Parking the car in Harvard Yard

The Better Third and I just got back from our five-day trip to the beautiful city of Boston. She was there to attend the Yoga Journal 2008 Boston Conference along with her brother and sister (last year, the three traveled to San Francisco for the same) while I was simply along for the ride.

Thought I’d share a few photos for all y’all.

A general shot of the financial district from the wharf area

“The Cradle of Liberty” — Fanueil Hall — is located near Quincy Market, and is where such revolutionary patriots as Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock would debate the ideas of the Enlightenment and democracy. The upper levels of the building were designed by self-taught architect Charles Bulfinch, who popularized the “federalist” style of the early 1800s, defining Boston for the ages.

Faneuil Hall

As could be expected, plenty of churches dominate the Bostonian skyline, even to this day. While the first were made primarily of wood, thus being prone to fire and other damage, brick and mortar churches soon developed. Many have since been removed to make way for progressive development, but there remain more than a few notable houses of worship which beautify the city today.

New North Church

King’s Chapel

Old South Meeting House

The architecture in this city cannot be described as anything other than phenomenal. The aforementioned Charles Bulfinch left an enduring legacy on the city, as did the considerably more modern I.M. Pei, the world famous graduate from Harvard University.

New State House by Charles Bulfinch, 1797

Trinity Church by Henry Hobson Richardson, 1877

Boston Public Library by McKim, Mead and White, 1895

Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge, 2002

The First Church of Christ, Scientist (not to be confused with the Church of Scientology) was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. In addition to being home of the Christian Science Monitor, the Christ the Scientist Park deserves special mention when it comes to Boston architecture:

Church of Christ, Scientist, Park

The Original Mother Church, 1894

The Mother Church Extension, 1906

Christian Science Center and Reflecting Pool by I.M. Pei, 1968 and 1974

Patriots abound throughout the Boston area, even those who eventually won the big game:

Paul Revere, he of the ride made famous by Longfellow

George Washington was given control of the Continental army in nearby Cambridge

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston and attended the Latin School

Samuel Adams — brewer, philosopher, politician, writer, rabble-rouser, and Founding Father of the United States of America

The Boston Holocaust Memorial is a subtle yet profoundly moving commemoration to that infamous time. The six towers symbolize the six major concentration camps; upon the towers are etched 6 million numbers, the numbers which were assigned those destined to extermination in those death camps. Steam rises from grates below, and visitors are encouraged to walk beneath the towers, reflect on the quotations featured inside, and feel the suffocating effects of the steam as representative of the Nazi gas chambers.

Again, it was very moving.

The Holocaust Memorial

Last, but not least, while the Better Third was stretching in some ridiculous poses at the yoga conference, I took the opportunity to do the ultimate Boston adventure — seeing the Red Sox play at Fenway Park.

Bumf enters Fenway

Fenway Park

The Green Monstah

Big Pappi up to bat

All in all, we had a wonderful time. We didn’t get to the North End for a classic Italian dinner, and I didn’t run into Cam Neely, but the weather was decent and we got to see plenty of sights.

The city is very walkable and beautiful. Its eye-catching red brick buildings contrast beautifully with the ubiquitous green foliage, and the lovely banks of the harbour and the Charles River offer plenty of sights well worth seeing. The New World history is second-to-none, while the city prides itself on its ability to renew itself time and time again.

If you ever make it out to the Mass Bay region, I can recommend that you do both a walking tour of the Freedom Trail, as well as take a Duck Tour. Harvard University is a short subway ride north from the city and features some of the most beautiful neighbourhoods anywhere. The Boston Children’s Museum is a terrific place for young’uns, while the Science Center is a treat for kids and grown-ups alike. And, really, I can’t say enough about how fun a ball game at Fenway can be.

Good times were had by all. Bumf recommends.