G20 Summit Inquiry

Emailed today.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Premier Dalton McGuinty

Mayor Rob Ford

MP Bob Rae (Toronto Centre)

MPP Glen Murray (Toronto Centre)

Councillor Pam McConnell (Ward 28)

Right honourable leaders and honourable representatives,

As we approach the anniversary of the Toronto G20 Summit we find ourselves with as many questions as ever about what happened in the days preceding, during, and after the meeting. The patchwork of reviews is producing an incomplete and inadequate accounting. As a democratic society, we owe it to our citizens and our police officers to review the actions, decisions and outcomes of events and assess how they served us as a nation that embraces both liberty and good governance.  

I strongly urge you to call for a full public inquiry into the G20 Summit including:

• The manner of determining that the host site be located in downtown Toronto
• The counsel and intelligence that was used in assessing risk and planning response
• The manner of issue and public announcement of the regulation granted under the Public Works Protection Act
• Adequacy and quality of information to police officers and the Public prior to, during, and following the G20 
• The acquisition of and legal limits placed upon the use of new weapons for use against civilian populations including the four “sonic cannons”, which had use-prescriptions placed upon them by the Courts
• Tactics of crowd control, methods of arrest and detention used by the police to secure the event and protect the public
• An assessment of the extent and type of risk posed by agents provocateur, allegedly connected to the anarchist movement, in Canada 
• The freedoms and treatment of agents of the press as they reported on the events

The fact that the weekend saw the largest mass-arrest in Canadian history should itself require a public inquiry and it is time for our leaders to call for one. 

We as a body-politic and a national public need to reflect upon what the stresses to our systems posed by the G20 stress told us about the laws, policies, and processes that frame our civic lives. While the destruction in downtown Toronto was wholly unacceptable, the greater threat to our democracy lies not with a few disaffected individuals smashing windows and burning cars but with an over-reaction on part of our institutions to secure against this possibility. We cannot eliminate risk from a free society. Ultimately we must strike that balance between public safety and freedom of action that renews its commitment to err on the side of freedom and transparency. 

Thank you all for your dedication and your service.

Sincerely, 

Tal Henderson

[address]

Tough Love for Subway Development

Richard Gilbert in the Economy Lab writes that the subway plan could be saved by greater development around subway stations thereby increasing ridership, and by using smaller, automated trains as in Europe.

He's got some good points to consider here.

Key excerpts:

The mayor’s plan could be rescued by taking into account two factors ... 

The first overlooked factor is revenue from riders. Over the life of any subway line, most of its revenue comes from fares. In Toronto – and elsewhere in Canada – there has not usually been a surplus of fare revenue that can be used to pay down debt incurred for construction. This does not have to be the case. With more riders and lower costs there could be a surplus. 

More riders would come from development at and near new subway stations. Toronto has an astonishingly poor record of transit-related development. There are 54 heavy rail stations outside the downtown, but no more than 16 of them have substantial amounts of station-related development.  

This will mean maximizing the use of city-owned land, massive upzoning of land near the stations, generous buy-outs of landowners to achieve appropriate land assembly, and possible creation of one or more public development corporations to move things along. 

To cover the full cost of a subway line from the fare box, there must be 30,000-40,000 residents or jobs within a square kilometre of each station.

The second thing ... is whether the cost of the proposed Sheppard extensions ... Subway lines in Europe are built for about half this amount. Savings come from designing for short, fully automated, driverless trains that provide high capacity by running frequently most hours of the day.

Shorter trains mean smaller stations and thus lower costs. Automation allows closer spacing of trains and thus higher line capacity, offsetting shorter trains. Shorter trains are lighter, which can result in savings in track-bed and other infrastructure costs. Automation also reduces operating costs, creating more surplus to cover construction costs.