Change in direction is what's needed

(June 09) - Winston Smith is alive and well. He works for a living somewhere in the basement of the Ministry of Transportation. His job is to make us believe that something guaranteed to make life worse can be an improvement.

For those who don’t know, Smith is the central character in George Orwell’s novel
1984. He worked for the Ministry of Truth. That was the government department that came up with inspirational slogans such as war is peace, ignorance is strength, and other truisms.

It’s like the evolution of political thought in Canada and Ontario. Less is more. Bad is good. Lies are truth.

As an aside, there are eerie coincidences throughout this analogy. Orwell’s prophetic novel was published 60 years ago yesterday, on June 8, 1949. Twenty years ago last Thursday, on June 4, 1989, the Chinese government sent tanks and bullets against protesters. In true Orwellian fashion they then erased the event from their history books. This year, on June 5, 2009, consultants working for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation began a public review of the environmental impact of “improvements” to the Hanlon.

It can’t get much spookier than this: three things in the sixth month of years ending in 9 and spanning six decades. Can you spell 666?

If you want a close look at satanic city planning, go over to Kitchener and take a drive down the Conestoga Parkway. Better yet, get off at Homer Watson and find your way to Avalon Place. Park in front of number 160 and take a look at 118 Chandler Dr. You can see the back of it quite clearly. If you could heave a brick across four lanes of traffic, you’d break its window. Walking from one to the other is a 3.5-kilometre trek. Before the expressway was built, it would have been 3.5 minutes.

The Conestoga is a child of the 1960s, born at the same time as people in Toronto successfully fought the Spadina Expressway. All the arguments used to rally public opinion against the Spadina could have been used on the Conestoga. Or the Hanlon.

When Bill Davis, the Conservative premier at the time, conceded defeat, he said: “If we are building a transportation system to serve the automobile, the Spadina Expressway would be a good place to start. But if we are building a transportation system to serve people, the Spadina Expressway is a good place to stop.”

Read Spadina, think Hanlon.

Be clear about one thing. The villain in this piece is not to be found on Carden Street. It is somewhere in the dark bureaucracy of the provincial government. Someone is clinging to antiquated notions of moving people and products. In these and other matters, the province is boss of the city. If the province has its heart set on a project, it is hard for a city to say no. But the people can. This was proven 40 years ago by Jane Jacobs, John Sewell, and the citizens they galvanized.

The public review process is open until Aug. 4. Get involved. Tell them what you think. It’s not just about the environment. It’s not just about traffic. It’s about our community.

Don’t worry too much about perfecting a clever understanding of the issues. We can argue until we’re blue in the face about how much light rapid rail is better than heavy slow trucks. The people working in the basement of the Ministry of Congestion don’t care. They already have their minds made up.

The best argument is to convince Liz Sandals that future electoral successes won’t happen unless her government takes a fundamental change in direction.