My former boss, Paul Jay, now chair of the Independent World Television network and senior editor of The Real News, used to say (and no doubt still does), “A single fact, clear and verifiable, will alter the story.” Of course, as David Byrne put it, sometimes facts just “twist the truth around,” but I did find a real eye-opener in today’s Globe And Mail: “In 2007,” writes Clive Doucet, “the City of Ottawa will build a record number of new roads – 200 kilometres.”

Jim Cracky, what the hell is going on?

In “A super agency?”, an article by Maurice Strong that sits right next to Doucet’s, Strong writes: “Action must be taken on many fronts, by government, industry, science, academia and most of all, in the attitudes and behaviours of individuals. This requires a framework beyond anything now existing to give it essential coherence, direction and sustainability.”

If one is fearful that Strong’s prescriptions – an autonomous United Nations agency which oversees the international response to global warming – will take too much time and horse-trading to get quickly off the ground, I think we can agree with Doucet that one practical thing should be done right now: roll back Ottawa’s plans for 200 kilometres of new roads. If Toronto deserves and requires a new subway line to York University, Ottawa deserves and requires an electric light-rail transit system; and we all deserve and require more of the common sense exhibited by Clive Doucet and Maurice Strong.

Ken Alexander
Editor, The Walrus

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Posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 10:43 am. Follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comment or trackback.