More Thoughts on the Municipal Election

After I complained last week "that having decent heritage legislation means nothing if you don't have the local politicians on side," Toronto Architect Graham Smith wrote a thoughtful note in comments that included an idea worth considering:

"It is time for us to stop whining about our ineffective politicians and get out there with ratepayers groups, volunteer groups... and start getting our cherished buildings listed and designated. There are hundreds of streets and neighbourhoods across the Province that warrant HCD designation but no will to get them designated as such...

If I learned anything in this election its that the centre/right is more proactive whereas the centre/left expects the nanny-state to take care of everything and are upset when it doesn't work out. Let's all be proactive!"

If I have learned anything in my year and a half as President of the ACO, it is that property rights trump heritage rights in the minds of the centre/right. But our strength may be that we are, by definition almost, a conservative movement. We shall see.