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A few years ago, Elizabeth May said that we need to plan cities around the child, instead of around the car.  There’s now a movement around 8-80 cities that calls on cities to be planned with two groups of people in mind – 8 year olds and 80 year olds.  The theory is that if you take care of the young and old, the able-bodied in between will be able to look after themselves.  It’s a compassionate approach to community building with the goal of safe streets, local economies and cohesive neighbourhoods, rather than maximum mobility.  And it’s very much at the heart of what the Green Party is all about.

Happy Family Day 2011 to all.  It’s beautiful and bright, and there are lots of things to do.  My family will be spending the day mostly at home because my son has the chicken pox, but we might get out to a park for a while.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day today.

We’ll be celebrating with a family dinner featuring a lot of red.

Mmmm.  Beets.

In clear pre-election mode, this last Wednesday evening, Jack Layton held a live over-the-phone “town hall” meeting, where he answered questions in real time and polled listeners on their priorities.  It was a great way to outreach to the community and worked quite well.  If elected, I’ll keep that in mind as a way to engage people who prefer the comfort of their own home.  But I’d also like to have in-person town halls and simply attend meetings with local groups.     Read more »

I’ve just been alerted to an article by Gwynne Dyer, who anticipates increasing food riots globally.  We may be sheltered from actual rioting in Canada for a while, though we won’t be spared the rising prices.  And of course, the global destabilization involved will have inevitable impacts on Canada long before we face actual shortages here.