Why Toronto Should Care About TGIFTuesday

 

 

Although voter turnout was up across the city, with initial reports of almost 61 per cent casting ballots, it was highest in the wealthy inner core that supported mayor-elect John Tory and lowest in the struggling suburban wards that favoured Doug Ford. In Wards 7 and 8, home to the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, support for Ford was 65 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.

 

No, Ford Nation is not dead.  If anything, given the way wealth has increasingly aggregated in a narrow corridor in the middle of town, it could be realistically assumed it could grow between 2014 and 2018.

 

There's lots that could happen between now and then, but we could very realistically see a Ford or similar populist win that vote by pushing just the right buttons.

 

So, a valid question becomes how might we inoculate NIAs against simplistic, hateful populism?  There is an answer, though it flies in the face of much conventional wisdom.

 

Empower people to get informed, get engaged and make a difference, and they will make wise choices.  This means empowering all those who benefit the least from the economy, those that provide the lowest labour costs but the highest tax challenges with equity.

 

Which is what Why Should I Care does.

 

And what TGIFTuesday and from a different angle, Where Worlds Collide does.  It's a fundamental belief of the Open Community, as well.

 

The goal should not be to destroy the careers of the Fords - there will always be other populists in the wings.  The goal shouldn't be to more tightly control the narrative for "those people" either - that fuels the problem.

 

Empowerment, equitable accesses, etc. 

 

That's the only way forward.