Fight the Power?

Today I went with my neighbour Diane and her son, Jupe, to the rally to protest the power plant that the McGuinty government wants to put up in the Portlands, not far from where I live. The ratio of politicians to community members was sadly a bit lopsided at times; though the fire academy hall on Eastern Avenue was fairly full at one point, there should have been a lot more residents there, especially on such a lovely spring day (maybe that’s why they weren’t there). It was a cheery event, with local musicians (Robert Priest and the like) and the CBC’s Jian Gomeshi (a Riverdale homeowner), who introduced federal NDP leader Jack Layton, entertainment for the kids by the firefighters and the Zero Gravity Circus guys, etc. All the pols (Layton, local councillors Sandra Bussin and Paula Fletcher, MPPs Michael Prue and our recently elected NDPer Peter Tabuns) gave rousing speeches about the east end’s successful past efforts to shut down the various noxious stacks that have belched out enough pollutants over the years that we east-enders evidently harbour higher levels of toxic elements in our bodies than people in other parts of the city.

BUT…none of the speeches followed the golden rule of persuasive communication: end with a call to action. There was a lot of talk about banding together and holding hands, and the hard work that will be required to convince energy minister Donna Cansfield to look at conservation and non-renewable energy sources instead of this mega-plant. But nobody told us precisely what we could do to help. Though there were some clipboards with sign-up sheets, it wasn’t clear what they were advocating, and some of them seemed to be at cross-purposes (no plant? a smaller plant?). None of the speakers provided us with the addresses of politicians to write to, websites to go to – the flyer being handed around said nothing more than Stop the Plant. Peter Tabuns did finally say something vague about petitions.

I’m on their side, and I will check out the website that one speaker mentioned, where I hope I can find out more. John Barber in The Globe and Mail suggests that there may still be some life in the proposed alternatives to the plant. The letters that came to my door in the recent byelection from the Liberal hopeful, Ben Chin, were written in that exasperated “the NDP doesn’t know what the hell it’s talking about” tone that indicates either Chin is arrogant…or he’s right that a new gas-fired power plant on the waterfront is the only thing that’s going to ensure we can still turn the lights on in a few years.

But that choice seems so short-sighted. Especially, if, as Paula Fletcher mentioned today, Toronto wants to host the World's Fair down at the Portlands in 2015 (a prospect I dread, but that’s another matter).

By the way, Paula sang a mean version of Ride Sally Ride with the band (Mike Tanner and the Circumstantialists). As an exercise in feel-good community organizing, the rally certainly made me feel good. I’d feel even better if I knew how to help.