Editorials - July 7, 2023
We need a real push
Metrolinx (Ontario’s regional transit agency) has been operating GO trains between London and Toronto as a pilot project for the past two years under an agreement with VIA Rail and CN, using their tracks and train stations and now that project is coming to an end.
Just as that project is ending, VIA Rail will be reviving trains 82 and 83 which operated the same corridor previously, but had been cancelled during the pandemic. Unfortunately, VIA Rail passenger service is decidedly more expensive than GO trains. A one-way ticket on GO runs about $30, while VIA’s options begin at $52 and run as high as $176.
According to rider interviews and social media interactions, not only was the GO pilot project less than successful, it seems to be set up for failure. For starters, the trip from London to Toronto clocked out at over four hours each way, about double the time it takes to drive there on the 401. The pilot project also offered only one trip into Toronto per day, departing at 5:15 a.m. and one return trip leaving the city at 4:15 p.m. The average commuter might be able to make that work for their workday, but for the hundreds of people going into Toronto for entertainment or appointments, a car is their only real option.
We need public transportation to be more efficient if we are going to get out of the single-car mindset. Until we get fast trains running frequently between major cities such as London or Stratford and Toronto with fares more economical than a tank of gas, drivers are going to insist on the convenience of driving themselves to their destinations and the planet needs fewer cars, not more individual trips. – DS
Too big to... something
While not yet finalized, the massive media entities of NordStar (which owns the Toronto Star and Metroland Media) and Postmedia (which owns the National Post, Toronto Sun and many other papers across the land) are in talks to merge, creating one super company. This would mean the liberal-leaning Toronto Star and conservative National Post (which gives voice to columnists like Conrad Black, Rex Murphy and Jordan Peterson) would all be brought under the same umbrella.
Each company would maintain a 50 per cent voting stake in the new company, if the merger goes ahead, and the Star would maintain its editorial independence... says an article by the Star. If approved, the move would save journalism in Canada... says a column in the Post by the aforementioned convicted fraudster Black. Therein lies the issue.
This move would - forgetting the promise of editorial independence for the Star - create one big media voice for all of Canada, save for small, independent publications like this one. It’s hard to even get a straight account of this story because the only papers left to report on it are the very same papers in question. It’s difficult to understand how this deal, creating one amorphous blob of media, will benefit Canadians and encourage diverse opinions reflecting Canada.
In a society that wants to be progressive and diverse, fewer voices at the table is never good. Furthermore, with both companies owned by faceless firms with uncertain motivations, there could be more drastic consequences to this that many haven’t even yet considered. Everyone, from Citizen readers to those at the Competition Bureau, should be watching the next steps of this potential deal very, very carefully. – SL
Let’s talk about sex
Canada has lost an essential, international sex symbol with the death of Sue Johanson, who has passed away at the age of 93. The beloved broadcaster was best known for offering straightforward sex advice on the call-in radio and television program, Sunday Night Sex Show, and its U.S. spinoff Talk Sex With Sue Johanson. She received recognition for her advocacy and was awarded the Order of Canada. To a generation of Canadians who came of age during the often-raunchy cultural era of the late 1980s and 1990s, Johanson was a reliable source of information about anything and everything to do with sex - emphasis on anything… and everything, pioneering discussions on taboo topics and providing sex education to a wide range of audiences. Johanson’s legacy is seen as a positive force for change in discussions about sex and sexuality.
In the online age of limitless information, there are innumerable resources for those with questions about sex and gender, some helpful, some harmful. A world where everybody has a voice is a beautiful thing, but it can be hard to hear when infinite answers are shouted simultaneously. That was what made the Sunday Night Sex Show so remarkable - Sue Johanson’s easy-going approach was non-judgmental and humorous, but she was a trusted figure in her field, backed up by an expertise that even detractors couldn’t deny. Her knowledge was earned through decades of hands-on work as a nurse who opened one of Toronto’s first birth control clinics, and extended by a post-secondary education in both Canada and the United States. Johanson’s show may have offered her an unusually accessible platform, but it was what she had to say that kept us tuning in every Sunday night. – SBS