As I walked down my street on Monday, I heard a hauntingly familiar rumble, followed by a flash of red and white. And, just like that, visual confirmation that the nearly 60-day bus strike was over. Part of me was so perturbed about the whole situation that I still wanted to walk, but my feet were begging for the ride, and the ATU was trying to show some beneficence and win back some of their ridership by eliminating the fare for a week, so I hopped on.
As I took my seat and picked up the paper on the seat next to me – an amenity of public transportation that many avail themselves of, and had probably been missing as well – I found an article that really spoke to me and to the root of my exasperation with the strike:
People get the government they deserve. Certainly Ottawa does. If you are prepared to take nearly two months without public transit, without a clear return, and few compensatory measures to soften the cost, that’s what you’ll get.
When Ottawans stoically and heroically organized car pools, walked to work, rearranged their lives, missed classes, lost income or stayed home, they gave politicians no incentive to act.
Astoundingly, the first protests came late in the strike. Until then, some real suffering — particularly among the elderly, the sick, the disabled and others who have no voice — was easily ignored. In Paris and other real cities, they would have been marching on city hall, if not burning it down
…But the transit strike is symptomatic of Ottawa’s larger problem, which lies in its contented people and its feckless politicians.
There are no citizens of Ottawa, as the mayor likes to say. Citizenship implies a sense of belonging. That notion, even if it had a legal standing, is foreign to this city. Ottawans aren’t residents, either. Even those who own homes or are born here have a permanent impermanence. More likely, Ottawans are tenants.
The article goes on to challenge Ottawa, in no minced words, to get serious about itself as a city. As a resident I feel as guilty as the next person. While I did my best to incite some conversation (and ire) around the issue with my radio show, it wasn’t until mid/late January that I got it in me to start trying to organize some of the young entreprenurial community in the city, and by the time I had myself organized, the strike was over. It was exasperation with the complacency and civic deficit that spurred me to act though. I felt that Ottawa was selling itself short. Telling by the wave of responses the article has garnered, I’m not the only one.
It has been said over and over by Richard and a host of others – it’s a shame to waste a good crisis. Initiatives like ChangeCamp have been probing the frontiers of civic engagement through technology. In a city that isn’t organized with density in mind, is this the kind of thing that Ottawa needs? How does Ottawa leverage this one to emerge from it a more responsive and engaged population? What will it take for people to wake up, get involved, and become citizens?
And now, as always, some music.
February 12th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Good lord. People take the bus in Ottawa???
Stoic, indeed. And probably missing some appendages to frostbite!
February 12th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
The thing that sums it up for me is the first two city councillor quotes in the article: “not an amazing badge of honour to this G-8 capital” and “really shameful that as a national capital we allowed this to happen”. Really? Shouldn’t they be more worried about the people with very long walks in the worst possible weather? Would a long transit strike in Calgary matter less because it’s not a national capital?
Ottawa has let its role as the capital become the defining feature of the city, and it’s about the worst defining feature you could choose. As a capital, Ottawa gets a rich collection of museums and galleries, along with extra money for parks and landscaping, but it feels like they go to waste because there’s no effort to focus on how they could benefit local residents. Instead, it’s all about the image and reputation of the city.
Is there a group of people who could talk about what they want out of their city, without once mentioning the word “capital” or worrying about the city’s reputation? If so, they might find ways to make Ottawa a better place to live, rather than just making it a better backdrop for photo ops.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:02 am
You’re all making me feel better about living in Canberra, Australia’s capital city. There is a push to get light rail up and running here, and there is plenty of broad avenues along which the rails could run.
But there is no strong push by citizens for it, because many already have cars. This gives the politicians an excuse to stall things, and I am wondering if it is similar to Ottawa. Canberra is also a place of transient people who come here for a few years, and move on again…it is quite hard to find people who were born here.
Ditto the place being full of museums and galleries which are nice places, but a long way from both the CBD and each other.
At least we have Greens in the local Parliament who insist on raising these issues….
October 6th, 2009 at 4:37 am
[...] Someone I’ve heard of placed an observative post today on Creative Class Blog Archive Bus Strike Requiem: From Tenants …Here’s a quick excerptMore Details Packing Info: 1/cs Quantity: 29.19 Tennis Ball Glide Pads for Drive Medical Tennis Ball Glides. Consumers can install them in seconds on fixed wheel walkers. You are here: Home Walkers Walker Accessories Glides, Skis, Tennis Balls. It provides a smooth glide tennis balls pop in and out for quick. Find more the tennis ball dampens the sliding. Extensions by Drive Part A1 250-213 Drive Medical Tennis Ball Glides Walker Glides, Wheels and Brakes For Lumex and Drive Brand Walkers Walker Accessory. Compare Cheap Prices for Invacare Gliders & Walkers at. walker glides or walker skis are designed to easily attach to the bottom of most standard walkers and glide Ball Replacement Caps. Deluxe Tennis Ball Glides w/Replacement Pads (2) These Glide Caps for Pilot Walkers are assistive devices that allow for the easy. One Pair Tennis Ball Glides Two Replacement Glide Tips. Maxi-Aids offers aids for independent living including [...] [...]