Man, does Warmington Miss the Point!

But if Premier Kathleen Wynne thought bringing in two 13-year-old girls to help push through her new sex education curriculum would prevent push back, she misread it.

When it comes to Wynne's hope to start teaching children in Grade 1 about sexual consent, an appalled Dr. Charles McVety - president of Canada Christian College - let it be known it won't be done without a fight.

Here's Warmington's frame: Wynne, that dastardly woman Premier, is manipulating children (little non-sentient creatures who are supposed to be protected from the world by their parents until a ritualistic coming-of-age) as political pawns.  Shameful.

Here's Vety's frame: this ungodly lesbian woman is trying to teach children to accept sex, because to even talk about sex is to suggest getting to yes is the objective.  Sex, after all, is sinful, unless it's procreative and within the context of holy matrimony.

There are audiences who will jump on such frames.  Clearly, their are politicians who will seek advantage in pushing those frames, possibly including Monte McNaughton.  He can differentiate himself from Christine Elliot by owning the issue and set himself up as the only one who can protect youth from evil Liberal attempts to sexualize children.

That's their frame.  Now here are a couple of factoids reflective of actual reality.

Millenials are a growing force to be contended with - they make up a full half of the workforce and, as baby boomers fade off into a retirement sunset many Millenials fear will be denied them, they recognize that the 20th Century social model is failing them.

Still on Millenials - they aren't motivated by the same aspirations that drove their parents; they're more interested in social ownership than just property.  They want to engage grow, build communities, put people and the planet before profit, etc.  This can be interpreted as lefty socialism or more right-leaning entrepreneurialism and direct participation in the nation-builder sense.

Now, on to religion.  Believe it or not, religious inclinations and the buying-in to complete religious ideologies is decreasing.  Youth don't see organized religion as representative of their reality or embodying of their values any more than they feel government has their long-term interests at heart.  If anything, youth feel that traditional institutions have played a massive role in mucking up the world previous generations borrowed from them.

This applies equally to second-gen Canadians as to those whose families have been here for ages.  "We're not married to your past," they say. "We have to protect our future by building a world that can sustain it."

Then, there's the reality of Gomeshi, the Parliament Hill assault scandals and the overarchinig and incredibly uncomfortable public conversation around unspoken sexual abuse that largely involves powerful older men targeting younger women.

Now let's add this all up:

On the one hand, you have the Warmingtons and Vetys of the world, aghast at the idea of kids learning about sex, being indoctrinated into an adult world before their time and in a way that subverts traditional sexual enculturation (talk birds and bees, ignore sex entirely until the kids get married).  They see youth as pawns, ie without ownership, without will, without any ability or right to speak for themselves or make decisions about their own self-interest.

On the other hand, there are youth who see the Warmingtons and Vetys of the world as poster-boys for everything that's wrong with the world; chauvinist, borderline imperialist with their sense of cultural superiority, instigators of social disorder and apologists for every male who has abused power so they can abuse young women.  

Remember - Tessa Hill and Lia Valente started a petition; they did indeed lobby the government and were successful at it, too.  If the tables were turned and it was Warmington and Vety at the podium, talking with the Premier about the need to keep kids in the dark about rules of engagement around sex and just hoping predators would leave them alone, the Warmingtons and Vetys of the world would be congratulating themselves on their win.  It's patronizing, hypocritical, domineering.

That a Conservative leadership hopeful would miss the demographic reality behind this scenario suggests they're either super short-sighted or hopelessly cynical.

Meanwhile, there's Kathleen Wynne, right in the middle.  She's not using the youth as pawns - they came to her.  The Premier is serving as a conduit for their message, their initiative and their taking ownership of their own future.

Hill and Valente are stepping up in the same vein as Morgan Baskin and Munira Abukar; don't judge us by our age or our gender, they're telling us:

- we are people, and we have a voice

- we are not to be underestimated.

- we will be holding all of you to account 

- this is our time, folks; we hope you'll be with us, but we're moving forward regardless

That's their frame.  They feel that the educational status-quo is putting them at risk.  They feel the institutional status quo is impeding their opportunities.  They feel that the old boys' network is intentionally keeping them down so that the Warmingtons and Vetys can continue to reap more than their fair share of society's benefits.

With Premier Kathleen Wynne, however, they see someone who listens, who treats them seriously and understands their perspective.  They see Wynne as their advocate.

Wynne knows exactly what she's doing.  The game is changing, and she's adapting in ways that are both strategically beneficial and better for Ontario in the long term.

If there is a fight brewing, it isn't between the left and right; it's between the past and the future. 

Wynne knows which side she's on.  Her opponents are making it pretty clear which side they're on, too.

Why @JohnToryTO should hire @MorganBaskinTO

The team that will help transition John Tory into his role as mayor includes key members of his campaign team, mayoral candidate David Soknacki, and non-profit, business and academic leaders.

 

 John Tory is a smart man with a background in managing big organizations.  One of the keys to any form of successful leadership is recognizing one's own strengths and weaknesses and building teams that fill out your capacity.

 

It's clear this is what John Tory has in mind as he builds his team.  It's also clear that he's not slacking off on the political acuity side, as he's made a point of saying he hopes to find ways to include his main rivals for the Mayor's chair, Doug Ford and Olivia Chow.

 

 While John Tory is a good man with right intent, he's decidedly old-school and upper-class.  His approach to management is equally grounded in a old-world, top-town mentality - this was reflected in past comments about the need for women employees to hustle more and his difficulty in accepting the concept of white privilege.

 

These aren't abject human failings on Tory's part so much as they are limitations.  We can't truly know what we can't experience - it's why the smartest urban planners in the world often neglect design-thinking pieces around accessibility, navigability, etc.  It's why we have a representative democracy in the first place.

 

John Tory has done a great deal of good for a great many communities, but he doesn't necessarily understand their day-to-day reality or have the capacity to see the world through their point of view. 

 

This is especially true of millennials. Of course, he's not alone in this - baby boomer managers and employers from every sector are struggling to recruit and retain millenials.

 

The problem they are facing is one of culture change.  Once at the forefront of social change, babyboomers have become the establishment.  They fundamentally don't get the priorities of today's youth; they have trouble seeing the modern forms of interaction and ideation that millenials practice as anything other than a lack of discipline.

 

This shouldn't be a problem for Tory - he's smart enough to recognize what he doesn't know and fill out his team with supportive players.

 

Which is where Morgan Baskin comes in.

 

If you haven't heard of Morgan Baskin, she's the 19 year-old who ran for Mayor.  Put it another way - she's a millennial that understands the motivations of modern youth who was gutsy and tenacious enough to hustle in an old-school way John Tory would be familiar with.  She also happens to be wicked-smart, well-versed on issues and an effective communicator.

 

As a result of having run for office, Morgan has amassed an impressive network of supporters and partners who rightly recognize her as a young leader to watch.  She also has an insider's familiarity with the political process that few youth - including those weaned on partisan politics and youth forums - can match.

 

Right now, Morgan is weighing her options of what to do next, which school to go to, where to dedicate her focus post-election.  Among the options she is considering is study in either public policy or urban studies.  She remains passionately committed to systems change in Toronto. 

 

Who better to lead or at least advise John Tory's youth employment/civic engagement push? 

 

Hiring Morgan in some capacity (ie, a paid position) would be a smart move on the part of Team Tory.  She can do the job, she can communicate Tory's message (and bring the message of youth back to him) and beyond that, it's good optics. 

 

A big challenge old guard employers/policy makers face is that they are seen as tokenizing youth rather than taking them seriously.  Giving a millennial a significant, paid role on his team with a clear mandate is a great way for Tory to send the message to Toronto's youth that he's serious.

 

Would Morgan be interested, though?

 

Morgan's nobody's pasty; she wouldn't take on a token position, nor would she be content to be a one-way messenger.  Morgan is a quintessential millennial; she's diplomatic, but not willing to push messages she doesn't believe in.  Engagement, not sales, is her focus.

  

If Tory were to consider adding Morgan to his team, he'd have to make sure the position offered was one she could relate to, grow in and find fulfilment through.  That's just the way it is with millenials.

 

I think it would be a great match; Tory would gain a fresh face, powerful communicator and a bridge to millenials.  Morgan would have a great opportunity to hone her skills, build her brand and facilitate the kind of change she knows is required. 

 

Plus, doing so would be a clear, early indication that Team Tory is serious about doing a better job engaging the City's youth.  Figuring out how to bring Morgan on to his team would also be a useful exercise in millennial engagement for Tory himself. 

 

Introductions made - I look forward to seeing what happens next.

 

How Important is Youth Employment to Toronto's Election?

 

"One thing seems to resonate for Chow's campaign: her messaging on youth unemployment... it earned her the loudest cheers of the night."

 

Politics is a finicky thing, especially when it comes to elections.

 

While partisans and pundits like to talk about defining issues and how whatever message they were plugging was the decisive factor in determining an election's outcomes, the truth is that people have their own minds and make them up through a myriad of reasons.

 

One of the key things we do cognitively (and we see this manifested in many ways throughout society - "low hanging fruit", "optimization" and "strategic priorities" being some examples) is discount what we think is irrelevant to focus on what presents either a threat or an opportunity to us. 

 

This doesn't mean we land on the right assumptions - ask any pundit about that - but it's how our brain works.

 

That, and by association.  If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck - it's a duck.  This is why partisans work so hard on defining issues and the like; Rob Ford won the last election because he was the perceived anti-establishment candidate and the only one talking rough on cost cutting and social justice masquerading as punishment for champions of the status quo.

 

Chow's got a couple of different definitions she's playing with, but this champion of youth employment is both a very interesting and very risky one.

 

Why?

 

Because in the mix of folk running to be mayor is an actual youth who has youth issues as her centerpiece of her campaign.

 

Morgan Baskin is 19 years old, smart, articulate, quick on her feet, getting some positive attention from increasingly big media outlets and, most importantly, earning a lot of support from an incredibly wide demographic:

 

"My surprise supporters have been the people who surround young people - grandparents, parents, teachers and others who are pleased that the young people in their lives are engaging in politics."

 

That's from an article in Forbes.  Most of the time when Toronto gets any attention beyond local media, it's because of crack-smoking Rob Ford.  There's real appeal in a fresh face that has the ability to re-brand Toronto in the eyes of the world.

 

Oh, and her answer to "why are you running" is a powerful message geared right at the people that Chow is trying to target:

 

"If older people can represent me, a younger generation can represent them."

 

It's not for no reason that Baskin's been receiving encouraging emails to drop out of the race from other teams.  Some folk are afraid she may "split the vote", making it easier for Ford to win again.  Others are afraid she may actually be capable of winning this thing.

 

Of course, good will and emails don't equate with dedicated volunteering and votes on E-Day.  Baskin has a tiny campaign team without the bandwidth to answer all the emails she's getting, which is problematic - nobody likes to feel neglected.  At the same time, people get clearly why this is the case, which may bolster rather than take away that initial enthusiasm, especially as her media attention grows.

 

Baskin is a fringe candidate and not included in the main debates; this hinders her for exposure, maybe, if anyone beyond the already-committed folk are following the debates.  That's debatable in itself.  Not being in the debates also keeps her out of the line of fire for the kinds of bitter attacks that dominate political debates and seem sure to be a staple of the rest of this election.

 

Having said that, should it look like Baskin proves a legitimate threat, you can bet that the war room masters of other campaigns will set her in their sights.  From their perspective, politics is war and if you're on the field, you have to be prepared to be fired upon.

 

Would Baskin hold up to blistering attacks of her character, her positions, her age, etc.?  How would she respond?  She's never been tested under such focused negativity, so there's no clear answer to that one.

 

Plus, smart backroom folk wouldn't necessarily need to go overly nasty - they could, if they don't think she's up to it, poke Baskin on the really tough issues that mayors face; how would she respond to a mass-shooting or a massive natural disaster?  Does she have the moxy to be a beacon for the people in times of hardship?

 

It's a risky question to ask, because the answer may well be yes.  Particularly under our weak-mayor system, one of the key roles of chief magistrate is to be a community cheerleader, and a rallying point.  Basking could potentially be that.  She certainly wouldn't be worse than Ford.

 

So it's an interesting gambit for Team Chow to play, this focus on youth employment.  It may yet prove to be a case of be careful of what you wish for... because if that really is what the people really want, that's probably what they'll opt for. 

Rob Ford and Lawrence Heights

"This was a very brazen, cowardly act in a community that has made great strides in the past few years to bring a sense of calm and safety to the area," Crone said of Lawrence Heights, a neighbourhood that has seen more than its fair share of gun violence in the past.

 

 

One dead, Toronto's 23rd murder this year, with two other lives still hanging in the balance.  A recovering community that has legitimately been doing a great deal to take ownership and strengthen their community, rocked by gun violence once again.

 

This happened in a community in Toronto, a stone's throw from the incredibly busy intersection of Lawrence and the Allen. 

 

Yet what's everyone talking about today?

 

Rob Ford and his rehab shenanigans.

 

Toronto's Mayor has broken the law, broken public trust, been abusive to staff, competitors and even people he was in rehab with.  He's a walking disaster, a parody of what's worst about politics, a circus side-show in a city facing a whole host of serious, structural issues, among which is postal-code stigma, poverty and related, crime and gun violence.

 

We love him for it.  We are addicted to Rob Ford.  Like true addicts, we are so focused on our next Ford fix that we ignore the destruction he leaves behind as much as we tune out the issues that mayors should be drawing attention to.

 

It's not just the general public that's rushing for their Ford fix, seeking spin-off celebrity.  The big-name mayoral candidates are quick to rush out press releases commenting on the latest Ford gaffes, like it somehow matters what they have to say about Ford's antics.

 

Where, pray tell, are statements from Oliva Chow or John Tory or Karen Stintz on the murder of Abshir Hassan?  Where is the empathy for a devastated community, the resolve to work with community leaders to solve the issues that lead to crimes like this?

 

Crickets.

 

Whether they know it's happened at all or whether their political staffers have told them there's no votes in Lawrence Heights, so don't bother, or the risk of speaking out outweighs the gains for some reason, I don't know.  What I do know is that this silence is exactly why communities like Lawrence Heights have good reason to be skeptical about the commitment their government has for their well-being.

 

Maybe they should take up golf, or maybe they should en-masse become crack-addicts that make homophobic slurs in public places.  That seems to be what it takes to get people's attention in this City.

 

For anyone who does care - one mayoral candidate who's expressed interest in sitting down with youth in Lawrence Heights and talking about community engagement is Morgan Baskin.  Hopefully, that happens. 

 

At the same time there are young leaders in Lawrence Heights itself working hard to develop leadership programs, entrepreneurship centres and the like - places that seek to empower residents to be masters of their own fate rather than passive recipients of programs.  These folk are reaching out to whoever can help them achieve their goals - including organizations like My SoJo.

 

There is so much potential in Lawrence Heights, as there is in "priority neighbourhoods" throughout the City.  With a bit if empowering help and peer support, there's no limit to what they can achieve.

 

But we live in a world where voices like these are expected to come all the way to decision-makers while buffoons like Rob Ford get international coverage for what they're doing wrong.  Even the criminals get off easy, so long as they can hide in Rob Ford's shadow.

 

It's a screwy, irrational, self-destructive paradigm we live in, folks. 

 

And it ain't going to change on its own.

 

Until we start saying no to the sideshow, roll up our sleeves and start leading from the front, we will continue to be stuck with leadership that focuses on sizzle more than steak.

 

It's a show we've been before, and it wasn't funny the first time.  It's time to change the channel, folks.

 

Progidies

Everyone loves talent.  We revel in the accomplishments of athletes, innovators and leaders.  It's in our nature to do so.  Talented people are bright lights - interesting, engaging, challenging, fascinating - we're all moths to their flame.

There's something magical, though, about young people who aren't just talented, but have a honed talent.

It's easier to understand how adults who have spent their lives in practice have turned raw ability into an effective skill.  Prodigies, however, boggle the mind.  How can people without the advantage of time be so good at a skill or practice that they can go toe-to-toe with people who've lived multiples of their lifespans?

Morgan Baskin is no child - at 18, she's a woman - but she is a prodigy.  Informed, articulate, confident in her presentation, able to answer questions directly but in a way that conveys her core themes, Baskin is an effective communicator.  

At the same time, her take on leadership is lightyears ahead of where most people in charge stand.  If Baskin reminds me of anyone on the current political landscape, it's Kathleen Wynne.

The more she gets out in public, the clearer it becomes that Baskin is no less qualified to be Mayor of Toronto than any other candidate, and certainly more so than the current Mayor.  She doesn't have Olivia Chow's long record of being in politics, John Tory's long record of being in business, but she clearly has the capacity to communicate as well as any of them.

Combine that with a willingness to engage, a perspective that differs from the status quo and, because of her age, less expectation than other candidates, it's not impossible that, with enough exposure, she could convince enough voters (including those who don't traditionally vote) to take her seriously and give her a shot.

Regardless of whether she wins the mayoralty race or not, it's pretty clear the sky's the limit for Baskin - and she's got plenty of time to get wherever she wants to go.