Ian Gartshore

Simplistic and populist politicians frequently fail to appreciate the long-term consequences of their platform and thrust. Dropping a stone into a still pond send ripples in every direction. Everything is connected and related to some extent; those who have eyes to see will recognise this truth in human activities. I understand the hardships being experienced by increasing numbers of people in the world due to the inflationary effects of higher fossil fuel costs. The ‘ripples’ from their excessive profits have impacted the price of food (largely grown on oil/gas dependent chemical fertilisers, pesticides and other inputs), oil-dependent transportation, and virtually everything else. Now interest rates are rapidly climbing, further impacting those who have limited incomes. In the same way, cities negatively impact the cost of living (and far more) by being car-centric. The physical space to accommodate the automobile takes up valuable real estate that would otherwise be available for...

May 24th Fuel Truck closes Malahat for most of a day I have followed provincial politics for longer than the E&N railway became an issue, and I have consistently heard from NDP candidates on Vancouver Island that investing in this railway is a high priority, including Mr. Horgan when campaigning last year. With the support of the Greens how could this solution to our transportation woes seem to have derailed?  Recently, once again, the Malahat highway was closed for a lengthy period of time –making a complete mess of travel plans for thousands, increasing the risk of accidents, missed appointments and more. I have been delayed multiple times on that stretch of highway, including to my mother’s funeral (I made it in time). Some people complain that getting the E&N railway back into full operation is expensive. Hardly. The entire length would cost only double of the single overpass now under construction at McKenzie Road in Victoria. Contrast this to the cost of b...

Core Review questions and comments September 12, 2016 While I applaud this Core Services Review I believe that its greatest weakness is that it sometimes fails to address the causes of issues (and hence expenses) and then only addresses how to treat the symptoms. This is a cultural norm in our part of the world, and costs us tremendously –in every way. I wish to especially focus on the area of waste management and transportation (which are related). Waste policies (pg 77)             The options offered are far too limiting and do not meet our goals of continuing to improve our performance in this area. Indeed, the solutions may encourage us to go in the opposite direction! The following are just two options that most other municipalities are not embracing, ones that would again place Nanaimo at the leader in both waste reduction and boosted related employment: Greatly reduce the weight of the garbage cans being ...

The City of Nanaimo has just released its proposed Transportation Master Plan . This plan is designed to take us 25 years into the future. Very tragically the proposed Plan does little to take us away from the very expensive existing car-centric city we currently pay for. In this 13 page document I outline how it could be vastly improved so as to save us money and improve the city's sustainability, leading us to better health, lower costs, and far more. It requires us to work together, adjust to significant (positive!) changes. It means making it possible to cycle safely, use buses that are frequent and fast, invest in infrastructure and in carsharing, and more. To view the slides and text to my 5 minute presentation to City Council May 26, 2014, click here. To see the Council meeting and the 10 presentations about the Transportation Plan, including mine (second one on the list) you can view it here . The presentations start at about 15 minutes. The picture above could ...