Pie Palace

Where oh where can it be?

Last week I was emailed by a fellow denizen of the blogosphere, who said something along the lines of d00d, yer p4rty is 404. Roughly translated, that means:

I can’t help but notice that the Canadian media has been paying a lot of attention to climate change and Kyoto recently. I would have thought that the Green Party would have been using this opportunity to capitalize on the media’s attention.

Looking at the Green Party webpage, I can’t help but wonder the same thing. The airwaves have been abuzz with noise about climate change, and yet the Greens haven’t cashed in.

Why is that? Looking at the press releases on the GPC website, we can see that there is some content, but nothing outside of what we’d expect. Lots of press releases criticizing the government, and calling for action, primarily through Kyoto. Perhaps something a little more dynamic is called for, like a Green Party “made in Canada” solution, which would set the bar for the Conservatives. Perhaps something along the lines of

• a carbon tax on gasoline and other fossil fuels, scheduled to rise a set rate over the next 10 years
  
• tax credits to those living in dense urban areas,
  
• improved funding for public transportation,
  
• legislated extended producer responsibility, making companies responsible for disposing of their products at the end of their lifecycle,
  
• cutting federal funding, subsidies, and tax write-offs for oil and gas companies (with tariffs levied on subsidized imports from elsewhere)
  
• federally mandated (minimum) standards on vehicle emissions,

I’m not suggesting that all of these ideas are practical, I’m just tossing out a few possibilities. I’d like to believe that the new Shadow Cabinet will start pumping out policy ideas, and that we’re just in a dry spot where that organization is finding its feet. Who knows. Maybe they aren’t 404, they’re just 503.

Is it my imagination, or is this a remarkably cogent discussion of Wal-Mart and it’s implications? Now compare that to prattle (from all sides of the issue) on climate change. Weird. I’m surprised that the average Gizmodo reader is more polite, and has more insightful things to say than the average (Conservative) political blog reader.

City council is considering another increase in OC Transpo’s fares, this time of 7%. OC Transpo has been raising its rates constantly for the past decade. I’ve seen fares rise from the neighbourhood of $1.85 in 1995 to $3 now – now city staff is suggesting that we raise the rates to $3.25. That would be a 56% increase over 12 years. Take that, lower income earners! Meanwhile, property taxes have increased by how much?

According to CFRA, this is to meet the goal of having 55% of OC Transpo’s budget be covered by the fare box. Ugh. The goal of public transit should not be financial self sufficiency, it should be high public mobility at a low cost. Because I’m a Green, I have to clarify that: low environment, social, and fiscal cost.

I do, of course, encourage you to contact the mayor and city councilors.

Update: Fixed typo pointed out by dave0.