{{{In light of yesterday’s vicious attack on a shop-owner… I’m postponing this post until August 26th}}}
I acknowledge that climate change is here and affecting me right now. All city planning must take steps to accomodate extreme weather events (flooding, hurricane-level winds, heat-islands, flash freezing/flooding). I expect a lot of ground heaving and that will play holy hell with subterranian infrastructure. My surrounding climate does not care about my politics nor my core beliefs. In fact, planet Earth will continue with or without humans.
I understand that most Canadians live in urban settings and hug the US-Canadian border (<1 tank fuel); therefore, let us focus funding priority to those centres. All citizens needs access (affordable = commenserate to transportation/fuel costs) to high speed internet — and that goes double for urban folk.
Let us also address food security. I consider food banks a given (and I support The Daily Bread Food Bank [so should you]). Toronto has something called “food deserts” … there are few/no grocery stores within walking distance (<15-20 minutes in fair weather). I cannot expect citizens to hop into cars and drive to the nearest SMART CENTER.
All city planning must address basic utility maintenance — reliable electricity, tertiary (and ultimately beyond that [to neutralize micro-particled plastics]) sewage treatment, and potable water supplies.
There will be climate-exacerbated breakdowns/power-outages/loss-of-service events. I want all homeowners and renters have Red Cross quality survival kits on hand. When things fail, all residents need to be able to remain self-sufficient for 72 hours. My Federal government has already assembled a list one can use. Here’s a video one can view. Oh, and city planners need to figure out a strategy for citizens to CHECK AND REFRESH their survival kits.
I know perfectly well city planning is a highly politicized issue. I believe it was a WWI-era German politician that said politics is like making sausage — the end result can be wonderful, but if I look what is going on in the hopper… … …Yeah. I want electoral reform built into city planning. Representation by population. We get rid of the first-past-the-post election mechanism. I understand that MIGHT allow some unsavoury political parties to get seats. Their platforms might stink, however, I might have to tolerate their views (if they represent pockets of Canadians). Tolerance does not mean acceptance.
My top expectation: all citizens, be it downtown or in remote communities have the right to clean drinking water. I find it embarassing that there are Canadians that have had decades-long ‘boil water advisories’. If that means we must reduce our foreign aid contributions, so be it.
Alright, my rant is off. 🙂
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