First we had fare hikes, then an unforeseen accident shut down a major section for a night, then there was token “hoarding,” followed by the brilliant answer – time sensitive tickets (except they don’t have enough tickets, so in the meantime we’re still using tokens). Who’s ever in charge of controlling the message they’re doing a lousy job.

So imagine the frustration riders must have felt at Bloor/Yonge station today when they were herded like cattle down towards the end of the platform in an attempt to stop people congesting the end where the entrance is.

In theory, this isn’t a bad idea. The first 3 train cars are always smashed and loading and unloading times add valuable seconds to the trip. But were 30 or 40 TTC employees and security guards needed? Were endless signs and barriers necessary? Did they really need to be shouting at us like prison guards?

The TTC reminds me of some over-the-top sitcom character where – no matter how good their intentions – the execution is always disastrous.

The thing that really irks me is that this whole debacle has forced me to do something I never thought I could – agree with Toronto city councillor Denzil Minnan Wong. Talking about the token shortage Wong was quoted as saying:

“A billion-dollar corporation should be able to plan and anticipate events such as these,”

That would be sensible and contrite – traits sorely lacking from the TTC.

But as frustrated I am with the TTC’s constantly bad service, expensive price-tag and disgusting riding conditions, it’s symptomatic of a city that is failing on so many levels.

Photo courtesy of flipkeat

When I was younger and growing up in the suburbs, we looked at Toronto like Rome. It was an exotic destination that we found any excuse to visit. A few years back I was lucky enough to move here and was a little put off. It was meeting your favourite musician and finding out he’s kind of a dick. You still love the music but some of that shine has worn off.

I started to see that everything costs money – to the point of being petty and punitive. Toronto had a sneaky way of tacking extras on to almost everything. The price of something in the 905 was  always more expensive downtown (including a cup a coffee).

I had the most ridiculous run-ins with parking bylaw enforcement and finally hit my breaking point when I was issued a $100 ticket for failing to have a horn on my bicycle (it should be noted that this isn’t a municipal law, but it was a Metro cop and it’s my blog). It was all too much and instead of loving all the amazing burroughs and personalities of the city, I was just frustrated with it.

There’s a long list of problems in this city and each one of them seems to come with a price. We pour money into things like the land transfer tax, failed green-bin programs, the TTC and see little to no improvement. As far as things like technology, identity and unity go, this city is failing miserably.

I know it still has some amazing attractions, and trust me – I’m still enamoured with Toronto – there’s nowhere I’d rather live. But when I think of what it could be and all the potential it has I get sad. I get sad because I don’t see us moving anywhere near it. The people in charge just never seem to get it right.

Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe we’re waiting around for someone else to fix it instead of taking the first steps ourselves. Now I just wonder what those first steps are.

Harper announced 9 new senators and stacked the deck for the second time in less than a year. He’s stockpiled the senate with supporters, creating an echo-chamber for anything he really needs to get passed through the upper house.

But let’s be frank, this process is nothing new. Prime Ministers have been doing this for a while and Harper’s maneuvering isn’t as insidious as it might seem. What does make me chuckle (and by chuckle I mean cringe with anger), is the clueless assholes he’s so lovingly inserted into these posts.

Take for instance his “star” candidate and former NHL coach Jacques Demers who’s qualifications are that he’s a conservative.

Demer’s masterful grasp of our country’s government (and his new job) was on display in a Toronto Star article where he was quoted as saying:

“I don’t know the schedule. I don’t know what’s the plan, how many times they meet at the Senate. I don’t know none of that right now.”

So Demers will be coming into the job wide-eyed and full of naiveté, which one presumes is the best starting point for people entrusted with passing legislation.

Jesus Christ, couldn’t someone have pulled him aside and shown him the Wikipedia page on the Canadian Senate or told him what days they meet? Or let him know that the senate is the body of people not the place?

This is of course in direct contrast to a quote Demers made just a few days earlier after his appointment to the senate. Apparently he was approached by Harper last year to run as a Federal MP. Demers said this:

“I didn’t feel comfortable being that kind of politician — stand around in a shopping centre, ‘vote for me,’ make promises,” Demers said. “It’s not something I wanted to do. But a senator plays a different role, could be a positive influence. And that role was more acceptable for me.”

So he knew enough about the Senate to realize it was exactly the sort of role he wanted in the Conservative government but not enough to know which days of the week he should show up to work.  I think Demers realized what most people have been saying for ages – the senate is an absolute sham. Or at least at the hands of people like Stephen Harper it is.

I’m guessing the $100,000 annual salary made Demers’ choice that much easier too.

But now that the strike is over all bets are off.

And so I read this quote from Ann Dembinski, president of CUPE Local 79 in regards to how the negotiations went down:

“Labour relations has [sic] been set back decades,” she told reporters after the deal was reached.

“It will not be the same for years to come…You can’t treat members like this and expect things to ever be the same,” she added later, predicting there will be a much more combative attitude in day-to-day dealings with senior managers.

Please note the complete and utter lack of culpability by the unions in this process: They never said anything incendiary or inflammatory. They were never difficult or disruptive and certainly never treated fellow citizens with disdain.

Living in Toronto and commuting through the strike’s epicentre – City Hall – I was privy to some of the really terrible behaviour from BOTH sides – citizens and strikers alike. Bust trust me when I tell you I saw and heard first hand the ignorant manners from some union workers.

But this is regular strike behaviour (enabled if not encouraged by local police) and the delays and rude behaviour are to be expected. Hell during the strike they were flaunted! So to read Dembinski’s quote completely absolving the unions from their part in this debacle drives me to distraction.

Going forward I don’t doubt there will be bad blood between management and unions over this prolonged strike, and in four or five years time we’ll go through this whole exercise again. A city held ransom every few years doesn’t seem like a workable solution for anyone involved – oh except the unions who blackmail their way into more and more lucrative deals.

This week we’re reviewing St. Johns, Newfoundland’s Hey Rosetta! and you can read our full reviews here.

Meanwhile you can start brimming with anticipation now, by checking out the coming weeks reviews.

Up next:

Elliott Brood –  Mountain Meadows
Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane
Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Modern Life
Malajube – Labyrinthes
K’Naan – Troubadoour
Joel Plaskett – Three
Great Lake Swimmer – Lost Channels
Metric – Fantasies
Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms

Having heard a few of the albums already and being familiar with some of the artists, this is an extremely rich crop of talent. Makes you proud to be Canadian.

Brad Trost is a big fat bigot.

For those unfamiliar with the Saskatchewan MP, here’s some back-story:

Turns out some of the funding for the recent Pride Week in Toronto came from the Federal government’s Marquee Tourism Events Program. Apparently being gay is against the Conservative code and therefore Bob Trost unthinkingly made this comment –

“The pro-life and the pro-family community should know and understand that the tourism funding money that went to the gay pride parade in Toronto was not government policy, was not supported by – I think it’s safe to say by a large majority – of the MPs.”

Things to glean from Brad’s statement:

Gay’s apparently hate families and are against the idea of life. They’re some kind of nihilistic sect of humans bent on destroying everything we believe in. Stage one of their plan is to throw a flamboyant and brightly coloured parade to corrupt us all. (Irish and Santa Claus, be on notice we’re on to your shit).

Also, an event that brings people from all over North America and generates upwards of $91 million for local businesses clearly has no right being supported by a tourism program. That’s just bad math – why would you stimulate the economy for a payoff of more than 200 times your investment?

I’m just going to cut to the chase. This is yet another sign that the current federal government is so wildly behind the times that it’s embarrassing. We can’t even claim to be more forward thinking than the US anymore. For once we stand alone as the blatantly ignorant and bigoted country, ten steps behind the rest of the civilized (and uncivilized) world. Is this the country we want to be? If it is than I don’t want any part of it.

Also – I fully imagined Trost would be some ancient curmudgeon who pre-dated the founding of the country, but was shocked to find a 35 year-old former geophysicist who’s probably never been off the farm.