tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10515065174035135202012-02-08T15:04:12.818-06:00Exploring Ottawa's Urban GeographyUn Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.comBlogger711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-29679937500991685482010-09-29T07:51:00.009-05:002011-06-16T13:07:53.189-05:00

Despite the death-knell of expropriation, commercial activity continued, in mixed and semi-commercial building,Cathy’s Lunch Bar was operated by Mr. Saikaly in partnership with Mr. Ayoub, who had recently moved to Ottawa as part of the Lebanese migrantion in the late 1950s. With its low overhead costs the store was profitable, but after the expropriation, sales had fallen dramatically, just four

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-39637825002243310112010-09-29T07:43:00.003-05:002011-07-07T08:38:08.416-05:00

The professional appraisals of the Flats reflected the social Darwinist understanding of “natural” neighbourhood change. These descriptions were part a desire to the move the Flats “forward” – and to forget the working landscape of the past.The neighbourhood descriptions contained within individual property assessments charted the “natural decline “of the central city, assessed the desirability

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-48915017358454558782010-08-25T15:24:00.005-05:002010-08-25T15:29:49.480-05:00

As an operator of over 50 cabs, plus 40 independent operators, the central location of Red Line Taxi at the Corner of Fleet and Duke Streets near major thoroughfares, was conveniently located drivers within 1.5 miles of Union Station and Chateau Laurier where 60 per cent of business was produced. As part of the ongoing property rationalization, the company received $236,000 as compensation for

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-6019859995034370712010-08-17T07:27:00.008-05:002010-08-25T15:30:19.494-05:00

Photo: Victoria Foundry Scrap Yard Among the remaining industrial production, there were a number of foundries on LeBreton Flats including the Victoria Foundry complex. In business for 118 years, Victoria Foundry had at the time of expropriation 26 employees, 9 of which had been with company for over 10 yrs and another 13 employees with over 5 yrs. The shop works at the Victoria Foundry

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-8154684315137824062010-08-16T19:09:00.005-05:002010-08-16T19:13:58.624-05:00

On 17 April 1962, the federal government publicly announced a massive urban renewal project for the neighbourhood of LeBreton Flats in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The expropriation of LeBreton Flats, and its working-class residents, emerged from an ambitious state-led initiative to remodel Ottawa into a new, modern, national capital. Initiated in 1945, and carried out in the 1950s and early

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-3367967504340146332010-06-29T05:35:00.003-05:002010-06-29T05:43:47.398-05:00

As Canada’s national media obsesses over a few burnt cars, the shock doctrine has been played in full force to the Canadian context. During this week’s G20 meetings, the use of massive police and security operations has masked the (re)imposition of unpopular neoliberal policies. As Naomi Klein has detailed, the shock doctrine works like this: at a point of crisis, force people into a state of

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-75931519690438732112010-06-21T10:15:00.002-05:002010-06-21T10:16:30.348-05:00

“It cannot be overlooked that the assembly line, which plays a fundamental role in the process of production, is in a sense represented by the filmstrip in the process of consumption. Both came into being at roughly the same time. The social significance of the one cannot be fully understood without that of the other” Walter Benjamin

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-31755706659449112682009-11-08T10:05:00.004-06:002009-11-08T10:09:14.422-06:00

When Robert Dahl wrote his book on urban governance in 1961 he asked the question of who governs the city, and how urban development can be understood in a political context. This early contribution to the study of urban governance is complemented by Logan and Molotch’s classic 1987 essay “The City as a Growth Machine.” Logan and Molotch maintain that the question of “Who Governs” has to be

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-86144218858746096192009-10-21T10:55:00.000-05:002009-10-21T10:56:47.021-05:00

Jean Sarkozy, le fils cadet du président de la République tente d’être élu à la présidence de l'Etablissement public d'aménagement de la Défense (EPAD), l'organisme qui gère le quartier d'affaires de la Défense. A 23 ans il sera la tête du plus grand quartier d'affaires européen, rival du Canara Wharf à Londres. Son manque d’expérience dans le domaine immobilier, ainsi que les connections de son

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-16948206020412917842009-09-17T23:06:00.003-05:002009-09-17T23:11:36.257-05:00

“It is clear that juvenile delinquency, crime and vice thrive in an environment of bad housing... many of these surveys have indicated that it is the slum that makes the slum dweller, not the slum dweller the slum, and therefore the elimination of the slum one tends to get the elimination of lower social standards”Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Submission to the Advisory Committee on

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-7907111941959930532009-09-03T21:05:00.006-05:002009-09-05T09:30:16.321-05:00

In his book Vichy At War, Robert Paxton argues that despite claims to the contrary, technocrats ‘did not save the French people from suffering’ but rather shared Vichy’s ‘heavy burden of responsibility’. The Battle of Marseille, which finds some of its origins in Jacques Gréber’s regional plan of 1936, is perhaps one of the more glaring examples of how this burden is shared by French urban

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-26235081724784107462009-08-21T09:15:00.008-05:002009-08-21T09:39:39.187-05:00

As a major employment node, the massive la Défense complex is directly connected to la Périphérique and to the RER commuter train network though a major transportation hub below the main plaza. Auto-mobility@ la DéfenseRail LinksThis last picture is almost seemingly the entrance to la Défense, however, it is in fact the entrance to Hull’s own peripheral government Place du Portage office complex

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-70159409375022785322009-08-05T11:45:00.008-05:002009-08-05T12:56:48.236-05:00

In a recent forum on la Défense, Charles de Gaulle’s 1958 decision to initiate this grand projet was characterized as a prophetic vision. The beholders of his fateful plan, the hommes sages reunited to pontificate on its future, presented a vision for the next half century. The event also provided the current hyper-président Sarkozy with a new laurel. During the June 30th meeting, the mediator of

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-13640825839856729142009-08-05T11:40:00.004-05:002009-08-05T11:43:51.931-05:00

A.K.A. Automatic, retired today after 20 NHL seasons. He always knew how to set the teppo (as a sign in the old wpg. arena used to say!).

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-6542496886072967382009-07-18T10:17:00.008-05:002009-07-18T12:05:07.981-05:00

The triumphant modernist President Georges Pampidou pronounced in 1970 that “there is no modern architecture without towers.” La Défense his promised “forest of towers” is a testament to his undying faith in the promise of rapid modernization.The CNIT, the iconic building of the first wave of building (pictured above) still stands, however, many of the first modernist buildings such as Gréber’s

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-43035602252397809052009-07-17T06:29:00.005-05:002009-07-17T06:48:09.541-05:00

Opened in 2007, the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration has taken tentative steps at poking holes at the French republican ideal. It is also a welcome contrast with the Paris grands projets and major cultural destinations. The Museum’s narrative - which highlights immigrant experiences in France - distinguishes itself from other Parisian museums (revolution, revolution, liberté,

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-51594955732772345552009-06-04T12:39:00.010-05:002009-08-06T12:59:44.736-05:00

La Défense, the giant business center at the end of Paris’ grande axe stands as an iconic reflection of dream-image of postwar modernism. Initiated in the mid-1950’s by a state-controlled development agency, according to the 1933 Athens Charter, the master plan was designed for maximum density of office and residential use. The complex would be served by an extensive networks of roads meeting in

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-24218978727387630602009-05-29T07:21:00.004-05:002009-05-29T07:27:56.259-05:00

Now that Toronto is getting serious about actually implementing its cycling strategy, it is a good time, as Now writer Paul Terfenko suggests to begin implementing separated bike. While those painted lines in existing lanes are quite handy, they are constantly being invaded by trucks, parked cars, and most annoyingly cop cars stopping for coffee. Moreover, they do little to make me feel safer...

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-55039455280048710602009-05-26T14:17:00.004-05:002009-05-26T19:29:53.961-05:00

The suburban project took on anew form and historical significance following WWII. The influx of workers, veterans and farmers immediately following the war exacerbated the wartime housing shortage. The housing shortage during and after WWII led to the first direct federal involvement in house-building. A number of institutions are created to house returning veterans who demanded housing. In

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-88469983912393030952009-05-15T08:57:00.002-05:002009-05-15T08:59:49.717-05:00

In 1961, just around the time Jane Jacobs was writing her influential book on the death and life of the great American city, Yale Professor Robert Dahl was writing a book on urban governance. Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City. A case study of political power and representation in New Haven, Connecticut, Dahl book looked systematically at political power, economic influence to

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-7421143410095164862009-05-11T18:01:00.004-05:002009-06-04T11:00:55.301-05:00

As Larry 0’s trial was nearing, a number of pretenders to began to position themselves for the crown, in case zero-means-zero fell on his sword. Among the pretenders Rick Chiarelli advanced a plan for the redevelopment of Landsdowne Park that would highlight his consensus making ability. Chiarelli’s motion gave the promoters of “Landsdowne Live” a 60 day exclusive window to negotiate with the

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-37782990839550941902009-05-11T17:26:00.003-05:002009-05-11T17:30:40.174-05:00

Almost two years after allegations first surfaced, the Trial of Larry 0 is finally underway. You can follow the proceedings on twitter here.

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-66796146192910096662009-01-09T16:17:00.002-06:002009-01-09T16:19:29.111-06:00

“The thing that’s so ironic, is we are stuck with what I call national Alzheimer’s disease. The general American public, through no fault of its own, but through the media—which is laughingly called, absurdly called, obscenely called—liberal media, which is a joke, of course. But the point is that because of that, day after day after day, putting down of labor organizations, or not mentioning

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-70280571254033575212008-12-13T08:07:00.007-06:002008-12-13T08:13:21.493-06:00

Ottawa’s coffee shops have been dining with talk of the ongoing transit strike. The ATW have gone on strike over driver scheduling. Depending of which spin you believe, it is either an issue of efficiency (city spin) or worker control (union). Either way both sides seem to have dug in hard, claiming the other is being inflexible, and refusing to negotiate. Having been involved in disputes of this

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-29713365597647864892008-10-29T08:56:00.006-05:002008-10-29T09:05:37.344-05:00

"We're surrounded by their credit lines, and their payment plans, with interest piled high.Why do you think they fucking advertise,it's because we'll make them rich,while they ruin our lives"Shout Out Out Out Out (2006)Was Shout Out Out Out Out, not just saying this but much more? Sounds appropriate to the predatory lending practices now leading us into a recession...

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-21405932876648512772008-10-17T09:59:00.002-05:002008-10-17T10:06:56.159-05:00

P3’s, the glorious neoliberal solution to the systemic under funding of Canadian municipalities, have once again shown why they do not work. Today, as reported in the Ottawa Citizen, the developer of the $36 million Orleans art center is asking for a public contribution beyond the initial agreement. Forum Equity Partner’s Inc. is building the facility and leasing it back for the city for 30 years

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-21862456674206366402008-08-14T23:42:00.006-05:002008-08-14T23:51:46.046-05:00

Recent interventions in the literature on neoliberalism have called on critical scholars to “appreciate both diversity and consistency across particular neoliberalizations” (Prudham, 2005: 15). This call to search for the “similarities among differences” of neoliberalism (Castree, 2005) can be used to trouble the complicated ways in which the lines between the Keynesian and neoliberal urbanism

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-85168879123754211322008-08-07T23:33:00.002-05:002008-08-07T23:36:18.476-05:00

"The LeBreton Flats expropriation and demolition created a considerable climate of uncertainty for the Dalhousie area. While the expropriation order included only the lands as far south as Primrose Street, there was little indication to property owners that land acquisition would stop there. Indeed, even to-day the “rumour mill” produces stories of imminent expropriation in the area adjacent to

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-2365661913080571732008-07-18T11:38:00.004-05:002008-07-18T11:52:19.209-05:00

Our ever so progressive OPS has renewed its fight on the segmentation of function on our city streets. Our Revanchist Mayor, his rural-right-wing-fringe henchmen, and our man in blue Vern White, and his 9% budget increase, are at it again. Just a short time after launching an attack on city pedestrians, the OPS has launched a month long program targeting city cyclists. The cops will be warning

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-79524818936310873782008-07-16T20:38:00.001-05:002008-07-16T20:40:24.915-05:00

In the long, hot summer night, attention wanes, and sleep comes slowly. It demands a particular remedy: the visual phantagasmoria of the gangster movie and the political thriller. Both let us sweat out summer heat in the action-packed stories of deceit and deception and the guilty pleasures of voyeur luxury and success. However, more than a thrilling visual and guttural ride, these films are a

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-64030421914122228952008-07-03T21:11:00.007-05:002011-06-16T13:24:41.132-05:00

"He (Lefebvre) said, prophetically, everyday life was being colonized. Colonized by what, exactly? Colonized by the commodity, by a modern postwar capitalism that had continued to exploit and alienate at the workplace but had now begun to seize the opportunity of entering life in general, into nonworking life, into reproduction and leisure, into free time and vacation time. Indeed it was a system

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-6495255000265872412008-06-26T11:55:00.002-05:002008-06-26T11:58:12.701-05:00

"In the 1970's, somebody asked Lefebvre if in fact he was really an anarchist. "No," he replied. "I'm a Marxist, of course, so that one day we can all become anarchists."From Andy Merrifield, Henri Lefebvre: A Critical Introduction, 2006.

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-22951047726134244022008-06-17T09:55:00.003-05:002008-06-17T10:01:43.029-05:00

"David Harvey (1972:323) once said in reply to Stephen Gale (1972), who was reviewing Explanation in Geography (Harvey 1969), that he was at a ‘‘disadvantage’’ because he had ‘‘never read it’’ and further- more he had ‘‘no intention of doing so now.’’"Excerpt From ‘‘The Background of Our Lives’’: David Harvey’s The Limits to Capital Trevor J Barnes, Antipode, 2002.

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-62829752928296079472008-05-15T18:02:00.002-05:002008-05-15T18:05:51.942-05:00

In the Great Transformation (1944), Karl Polanyi described how the capitalism created abstract market forces which detached people from place. Two years earlier, in his treatise on economic history, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942), Joseph Schumpeter made similar observations about the immense destructive power of markets. Capitalism, Schumpeter remarked, was a “perennial gale” that “

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-63525470609209788842008-05-02T11:02:00.006-05:002008-05-03T17:37:45.659-05:00

In an earlier piece, I gestured at the impending repercussions of Larry 0’s false prognostication of the City’s doomsday fiscal picture. In the recent budget debate O'Brien's run-by-the-seat-of-his pants reforms - partially filled in with suggestions for ‘transformation’ from his DND-buddy and man-for-hire Gordon J. Hunter - were in large part rejected by City Council. However the past budget

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-51040149251002045032008-04-09T10:58:00.003-05:002008-04-09T11:02:52.867-05:00

Last week, a Toronto artist and his accomplices were vindicated for driving a people powered 1986 Buick Regal down Queen St. W. in Toronto. Michel de Broin’s art piece “Shared Propulsion Car” transformed the aforementioned 1986 Buick Regal into an un-car: the motor, floor, windows and seats were replaced with plastic bucket seats, four sets of pedals and a levered hand-brake system. In September

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-70858353449029526352008-03-11T10:15:00.008-05:002008-03-13T02:32:46.692-05:00

“Let’s hear it for the boy,” the 1980’s pop-hit, pays tribute to the machismo of the good ol’ hometown boys. This ode to the boys might well apply the ongoing dependence of cities on the entrepreneurial style of urban governance and development. Boosterism of this particular kind, is nothing new to the neoliberal era. However, the ongoing dependence of the men in suits to this logic needs to be

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-2057395282861716352008-03-10T15:12:00.009-05:002008-04-09T11:50:27.298-05:00

Sparks Street, 1909Public space, Marshall Berman has noted, has the urgent quality of a common terrain where "men and woman can come together to heal their inner wounds" (186: 476), where strangers can articulate their differences, and where people "can begin to deal with the contradictions of urban life and potentially work them out (1986: 477).” For Berman, the right to public space is implicit

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-18137346705684833162008-01-20T22:17:00.002-06:002008-04-09T11:22:16.204-05:00

This weekend a public dialogue was held to discuss the future of LeBreton Flats. The event attracted a broad range of residents, community activists, and included professional and amateur planners, non-profit housing providers, educators, health professionals, transportation buffs, accessibility advocates, cultural sponsors, local artists and writers.A few of the old residents of the Flats, were

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-63573496776630154672007-12-11T14:04:00.000-06:002007-12-12T14:39:04.952-06:00

Columnists such as Randall Denley, Bloggers such as Miss Vicky, and even the raggish Ottawa Sun have weighed in on the charges against Larry O. Wtih various degrees of certainty, the pundits (aside from CFRA) are signing on key: resign, resign, resign. I say amen to that chorus!

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-91928699211900667452007-12-10T17:27:00.000-06:002007-12-11T08:38:29.680-06:00

A view from inside the Old Aud in Buffalo, New York. This fantastic picture is just one of many photos by an Urban Exploring Artists from Montreal-Toronto. Check out the fine visuals at Worksongs His pictures of the residue of industry in Buffalo and Thedford Mines struck a particular cord.

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-20730959952984039672007-12-10T14:38:00.001-06:002007-12-12T14:42:20.583-06:00

How appropriate that the day in which Conrad Black gets sentenced for 6 ½ years our own Mayor Larry O’Brien is charged with influence peddling. O’Brien renown for his boastful self-confidence, upon hearing of their charges, quickly asserted his innocence. Yet, like Black he seems oblivious to the serious nature of these charges. These charges strike directly at Larry 0’s legitimacy. The charges

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-84478944657599174232007-12-04T08:25:00.000-06:002007-12-15T13:56:11.814-06:00

Cultural guerrillas' cleared of lawbreaking over secret workshop in Pantheon, From The GuardianIt is one of Paris's most celebrated monuments, a neoclassical masterpiece that has cast its shadow across the city for more than two centuries.But it is unlikely that the Panthéon, or any other building in France's capital, will have played host to a more bizarre sequence of events than those revealed

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-79726483051039602522007-11-24T09:01:00.000-06:002007-11-25T11:50:37.853-06:00

Despite continued evidence of rapidly rising income disparity (the rich are getting richer, the rest of us poorer), yesterday the Finance Minister floated the idea that we tax the rich too much (I can't believe it either!). Lower taxes for the richest 1% of Canadians, Flaherty claims, are needed to keep them in Canada. Canada's scions of wealth, the Bankers quickly supported the idea. All this

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-81463301922428524982007-11-22T15:37:00.000-06:002007-12-15T13:49:54.061-06:00

“This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-19144113809429197952007-11-17T21:02:00.000-06:002007-11-21T14:27:55.222-06:00

The Imperial Theatre in Ottawa was built in 1914, and featured both a balcony seating over 200, and loges, or box seats, for over 100 patrons.In 1938 the venue was popular enough to be fined twenty dollars for overcrowding and people standing in the aisles.Ten years later, however, the theatre had to reduce the seating capacity to meet the requirements for a one-man projection booth, as they

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-73639787510334320622007-11-16T10:21:00.001-06:002008-05-02T11:10:57.172-05:00

Ottawa’s recent draft budget report suggests closing 23 community centres, nine libraries, wading pools, reducing bus service, doubling the cost of ice arena rentals, eliminating web-casting of council meetings, cutting public health nurses etc, etc.Larry o noted that his zero-for-zero campaign "is a war." Indeed, Larry O'Brien has hit it right on the head. His scorch earth policy is an emulation

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-58260938119225844622007-11-15T12:02:00.000-06:002007-11-19T14:38:40.044-06:00

For WB, too often photography failed to record “the essence” of everyday life, such as factories, even as they ceased being the motor of the city. What remained of this past existence, was rapidly disappearing. The expressway was quickly became the new gateway into the city, replacing the railway station. The speed of modernity increased, the present-day became more fluid, and the “circle of what

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-25783738348963634162007-11-13T23:17:00.000-06:002007-11-18T14:52:42.281-06:00

"Le projet Hypothèses d’insertions consiste principalement à explorer et occuper temporairement le paysage urbain de Hull avec un élément ludique mobile : une table de ping-pong..."

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-71073461624293837342007-11-11T22:16:00.000-06:002007-11-15T01:16:51.507-06:00

Having succumbed to an inadvertent bike ride, I found solace in the lost objects of garbage-eve. Found: cross-country skis (left downhill behind); a hockey stick (mint!); a phonograph (still to determine working condition); an unknown alley tucked behind a major commuting artery (silent on a Sunday night, though less silent than it would have been had it not escaped the purge of urban renewal); a

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-56895243414972242552007-11-08T15:08:00.000-06:002007-11-08T17:07:58.297-06:00

Ottawa's bumbling Mayor continues to bluster and bluff. Yesterday he pontificated to a group of business leaders and city councilors about his "plan" to be a total zero. Some reactions."We've seen over the last year that this is the mayor's style, all pomp and no substance. The mayor's answer seems always to be to privatize the whole of the city." Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-60985921833289028632007-11-07T12:11:00.000-06:002007-11-08T21:08:39.215-06:00

Larry 0's recent desire to emulate Winnipeg’s privatization plans have made my own internal ruminations quite au courrant. For some weeks I’ve been thinking about the links between Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien and Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz. Both are political neophyte entrepreneurs who rose from nowhere to sit in the big chair at city hall, and both used their business credentials to launch their

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-13653742885183831892007-10-30T15:52:00.001-05:002007-11-08T21:09:38.111-06:00

A copy of backup data from Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien's hard drive at the company Calian Technologies Ltd. was seized as part of an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into allegations against the mayor, say court documents obtained by CBC News... (Click on Title for more)

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-45268139918473303572007-10-20T09:07:00.000-05:002007-10-21T11:59:56.333-05:00

The bribery controversy just won’t go away. Poor old Larry O can’t shake allegations that he offered fellow right-wing candidate Terry Kilrea up to $30,000 to cover campaign expenses if he dropped out of the 2006 Mayoral race as well as help to get a federal appointment. This week the controversy even made its way into the House of Commons with the Liberal pressing the regional minister John

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-70017185282195531022007-10-15T16:58:00.000-05:002007-10-15T09:56:22.596-05:00

"We're blacksmiths here. We're not budging. These are blacksmiths, tailors, cobblers, carpenters. But their work is here. They can't leave."Le Mani sulla città (1963)

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-72057319455699193962007-10-14T13:59:00.000-05:002007-11-08T21:06:58.762-06:00

"Lasting impressions, the slightness in their differences, the habituated regularity of their course and contrasts between them, consume so to speak, less mental energy than the rapid telescoping of changing images, pronounced differences within what is grasped at a single glance, and the unexpectedness of violent stimuli."Georg Simmel, The Metropolis and Mental Life

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-78341337828354998432007-10-13T10:00:00.000-05:002007-10-15T09:36:13.822-05:00

Francesco Rosi’s 1963 classic, Le Mani sulla città, provides a fantastic visual exposé of the urban growth machine at work. The Italian director succeeds brilliantly in simultaneously portraying how key power brokers act both in the public and private realms to enclose and direct the city’s growth. Using marvelous scenes shot in the historic Naples council chambers, the back-rooms of bourgeois

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-50417151022216210912007-10-02T09:19:00.001-05:002007-10-03T12:42:22.180-05:00

Mayor Larry O’Brien’s disdain for public administration, and preference for closed meetings and decision making processes continues. Despite having a wealth of experienced policy analysts, managers, and administrators at City Hall, our gold-Mercedes-limo-driving Mayor hired his old pal Gordon J. Hunter as his new ‘senior advisor on transformation’. Larry O's election campaign manager, former

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-87923484510885681052007-09-22T17:33:00.000-05:002007-09-22T17:34:45.018-05:00

I’ve long heard rumours there is a abandoned TTC station near Museum. Finally, my suspicion is proven. Thanks to Joe Clark’s wonderful exposé of the TTC’s living tile presented at the ATypI 2007 conference for bringing forth some fascinating tid-bits of TTC history. Among a cornucopia of facts, Joe confirms the exisitance of the phantom station. Located under the present day bay station, Bay

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-26162269479916858462007-09-18T09:22:00.000-05:002007-10-13T14:22:04.530-05:00

The secrets behind the rise of Larry O’Brien only get murkier as time goes on. Recent documents released under request of Larry O’s lawyer show that he may used more than his “entrepreneurial” know-how to glad hand his way to victory. Our revanchist mayor seems to have kick started his unexpected rise with a strategic take-out. O’Brien (or his henchmen) are accused of offering fellow right-wing

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-30523779683256617602007-09-05T09:32:00.000-05:002007-09-05T13:49:49.309-05:00

In Larry O’Brien’s surprising come from nowhere victory in last year’s election, the local media hyped up Larry O as a high-tech entrepreneur. His intimate knowledge of the “f to f” of Ottawa’s Silicone Valley North were promoted as attributes that would give the Mayor the innovative business know-how to promote and maintain Ottawa as a choice destination in the increasing competition between

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-11345339333295660862007-08-29T09:15:00.001-05:002007-08-30T09:38:40.639-05:00

A few weeks ago I discussed Mayor Larry O’Brien’s dependence on large federal contracts to build his ‘entrepreneurial’ spirit – including significant contracts with the Department of National Defence (DND). The close connection between the local business elite and government operations comes as no surprise. Ottawa’s local power brokers have long had a special relationship with the DND and the

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-12189242706777722282007-08-21T17:11:00.000-05:002007-08-21T23:28:53.004-05:00

Yesterday, our unelected Minister of Pork-barreling (otherwise known as Minister of Public Works Michel Fortier), announced that Canada’s “new” government had sold off a package of public properties to private developer Larco Investments for $1.6 Billion. The government was only too willing to unload these properties fearing to have to foot the bill for much needed repairs after years of neglect.

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-44450195887611553442007-08-20T22:02:00.000-05:002007-11-16T08:40:39.963-06:00

Henri Lefebvre's preface to his Critique of Everyday Life is a wonderful voyage into the veiled alienation of bourgeois urban life. In the first few pages, Lefebvre rails against those who were only willing to see “alienation on the speculative level” and unwilling to see alienation “soiled by the confrontation with actual human reality, with everyday life.” The eternally humanist HL wants to

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-44477917382195199432007-08-17T10:22:00.000-05:002007-08-17T22:26:09.778-05:00

In the weeks following the Turkish election there has been extensive coverage of the simmering tension between the defenders of Ataturk’s Kamalist republic and the newly re-elected populist AK Party. Most of these debates have centered around the renewal of Abdullah Gül’s candidacy for president. Opponents have claimed that the former Welfare Party (RP) member is a threat to the secular nature of

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-41183488515597799452007-08-08T21:19:00.000-05:002007-08-08T21:49:11.411-05:00

Hey Pittsburg,For some reason I keep having images if you wearing leggings, dancing in your rusty warehouse space, flying out freely into the fire-escape, exploring abandoned factory spaces to an upbeat 80's soundtrack, and "dancin' like you never did before." Some kind words of advice: don't get too sweaty, avoid shady bars by the waterfront, and watch out for Richard Florida. (Hmm. I may be

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-50693454024390774502007-08-07T05:51:00.000-05:002007-08-08T21:37:00.600-05:00

“Silence. People who write history devote too much attention to so-called events heard around the world, while neglecting periods of silence... Silence is necessary to tyrants and occupiers, who take pains to have their actions accompanied by quiet.”Ryszard Kapuscinski The Soccer War

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-8566590831750773532007-07-31T20:29:00.000-05:002007-08-07T06:06:56.631-05:00

A Benjaminian Excise of the Tragedy of the E.B. Eddy PlantOn July 31, 2007, the century old dream of an industrial heartland in the Ottawa Valley was dealt a final blow. Domtar Corp. the owner of the historic E.B. Eddy plant announced the closure of the last remaining plant on Chaudière Island. An epoch had finally come to an end. The slow and steady decline had met its terminal point. Forest

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-69671194081043379122007-07-22T21:57:00.000-05:002007-08-29T09:26:34.924-05:00

Voters in Turkey have returned the ruling AK Party to government after today’s election handing them 341 seats in the new Parliament. Their chief rivals, the republican CHP with 112 seats and the right-wing nationalist MHP with 70 seat were left far behind. However, the victory is not without dissapointment. The ruling party remains 27 votes shy from the goal of 367 seats set by their leader as

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-51999764619820333842007-07-19T09:13:00.000-05:002007-10-15T09:23:24.002-05:00

Michael Haneke’s latest masterpiece Caché carefully but subtly unveils the tragedy of past(s) forgotten. Haneke’s succeeds in keeping the audience in suspense as to what exactly is hidden. At the same time, Haneke succeeds in reminding the viewer that near the placid surface of contemporary Parisian bourgeois intellectual life bubbles the threat of extreme violence (and that la République

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1051506517403513520.post-84085200299669423882007-07-18T09:19:00.000-05:002007-07-19T15:31:02.358-05:00

This November Ottawa voters chose political neophyte Larry O’Brien as new Mayor of the Nation’s Capital. To the surprise of everyone, in a stunning mi-election turaround, O’Brian emerged from relative obscurity to defeat both long-time Councilor Alex Munter as well as the incumbent Mayor Bob Chiarelli. The narrative of his dramatic victory holds that O’Brien’s amiable smile and personable

Un Canadian Errantnoreply@blogger.com0