What's this all about?
I’m a public policy analyst focused on urban issues. So I spend a lot of time writing about cities (mostly Toronto). I also travel a lot for work. Often when I write about policy lessons from various cities I leave a lot of material on the cutting room floor. There are photos, observations, and stories that don’t make it into policy focused columns. I’ll share some of them here.
One of my frustrations with Toronto is that we’re very outwards looking, but we often ignore our own backyard. Toronto is an outward looking, global city. But we often forget there’s a whole big country North of Bloor Street (figuratively speaking). People come here from all over the world, and we travel all over the world for fun and adventure. We often overlook the rest of the province (and most of the country), both politically and culturally. I want to do my small part to change that.
I’ve lived in every province west of Quebec, and most major cities on the Prairies. So I know the country pretty well, with some glaring exceptions (sorry, New Brunswick!). But I’m a terrible Ontarian. Despite having lived in several parts of the province, there are wide swaths of Ontario that are mostly names on a map. I want to change that.
Canada is one of the fastest growing countries in the western world. By the turn of the Century Canada is likely to be the second largest (currently) industrialized country on earth. Ontario is going to bear a lot of that growth. It won’t all be in Toronto. Some of it will end up in places that I don’t know very well. Some of Ontario’s smaller and midsized communities will grow up to be full blown cities one day. It’s an exciting prospect. I want to get to know these communities better.
I not only want to learn more about my home province, but to think about what we can learn from elsewhere. So I’ll also share observations from the rest of the continent, through an Ontarian lens.
I hope you’ll follow along!
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