As Seen On TV

Can Hamilton Really Start a New Chapter?

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:01:59 -0400

I watched history last night as the Mayor of Hamilton got censured by his colleagues for his conduct. I felt the air suck out of the Council Chambers when Council voted unanimously in favour and none spoke to the motion. I heard insiders tell me their versions of events in the hallway even before the meeting was officially over.

At the end of the meeting the Mayor said he would use “introspection” to learn from this, and soon after Councillor Whitehead was telling CHML Bratina had “the makings of best mayor for the city”.

Councillor Merulla - the author of the motion and the man who unleashed a maelstrom with his comments to me in this week’s Laircast http://bit.ly/GV9Aua - now wants us all to start a new chapter so we can get on to more important things.

I want the Mayor to learn from this, Council to work together better, and the drama to end - especially after this week.

This week behind-the-scenes Hamilton was at its worst. Sure politics is a blood sport, but this week the knives were particularly sharp. I had a few pointed at me for my interviews in the Lair. Angry phone calls, emails from insiders flying around, too much talk of lawyers and slander. It’s a wonder anyone got any real work done.

I have on very good authority that Council’s decision to vote as a unit, to have no discussion and to not do an in-camera intervention, was in large part due to the comments Sam made to me in the Laircast and the subsequent advice Council received.

Some Councillors did not support Sam’s statements, some likely did not want to get into trouble, and others did not want to heap any more embarrassment on the city.

So knowing the reason for the abrupt 180 from some Councillors, and the rationale behind Council speaking (or not speaking) with one voice, I am both hopeful and skeptical.

First the skepticism: Since it was such a messy process to get to that decorum we witnessed last night can we really believe they will all move past the dagger throwing and give the Mayor a fresh start?

Can such a dysfunctional political culture really begin to function?

Shouldn’t we have each of our representatives state on the record why they supported a historic motion - even if its after the fact - for the sake of transparency?

These are legitimate questions that anyone who has watched Council closely over the years needs to ask.

So why am I hopeful? Because as I looked at all of the beautiful Hamilton babies at a Momstown event this morning, I need to believe that we can be better than this for them. For the future of our city. For the poor who need help. For the young entrepreneurs who have faith. For all of us.

I need to take Council’s ability to come together in a critical moment and use restraint to mean that they can work together when it matters on other issues.

I need to believe that the prayer delivered at the start of last night’s Council meeting for “unity and harmony” has resonance for all who heard it.

So I will keep my skepticism at bay while I watch closely for evidence that Council will indeed lead the city in starting a new chapter. I will hope for a productive, progressive and low-drama city government to emerge.

I am prepared to turn the page. Are you?

What Peggygate is REALLY About and How to Stop It

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:12:51 -0400

Don’t kid yourself - the scandal rocking Hamilton that is known as Peggygate is not just about money. It’s not even really about Peggy.

Peggygate is about much more than Peggy Chapman the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, her shocking 30k raise, or the attempts to shift blame to City Staff.

It’s more serious than that. Peggygate is really about Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina and what the Hamilton Spectator columnist Andrew Dreschel recently dubbed his “political paranoia”.

Paranoia is defined as: “An illogical fear or suspicion of people, companies or organizations being consciously against you, and the belief that they are constantly trying to ”get” you… the thought process, which is heavily influenced by anxiety and/or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion” (Urban Dictionary).

There is evidence of this political paranoia dating back to before the word Peggygate existed.

A week before the Mayor and Peggy made that fateful call to give me as Producer of the OShow the exclusive about her raise, I had conducted an interview with them on my podcast www.laircast.com where the Mayor immediately railed against the media for their agenda against him - a complaint he had already made in other forums.

The subsequent raise to Peggy, the public announcement of it, and the storytelling about its origins wasn’t just about fair compensation. The raise was also about sending his critics a clear message that he would defend his often maligned and most valued, loyal employee at all costs.

The message may have been sent, but the cost to his reputation was so grave that it made the decision a totally irrational one.

His political paranoia was even more painfully on display in this week’s explosive missive to the Hamilton Spectator. He was so vitriolic and accusatory that it has caused Council to consider censuring him AGAIN, and Hamiltonians to inundate me with emails, Facebook comments and tweets - from a former Cabinet Minister who calls the scandal “an embarrassment for Hamilton” to people asking about his state of mind.

There is a warning in media relations that you don’t want to chum the waters of a scandal because the media sharks will smell the blood and start a feeding frenzy on you.

Bratina’s letter this week wasn’t just throwing chum in the water - he slit his neck and threw himself in the shark tank.

It was such a destructive move that yesterday on the Bill Kelly Show on 900 CHML, Bill and I struggled to understand why a smart man would do such an ill-advised thing http://www.mediafire.com/?051qkqcfkekxjj1

The important question is: if the Mayor doesn’t change course how do we stop the destruction that is Peggygate?

How do we stop this scandal that is wasting Council’s time, distracting Hamiltonians from other important issues, embarrassing our city, and hurting the Mayor and those closest to him - including Peggy?

Council must try to deal with the underlying issues - not just the Mayor’s official conduct.

They need to deal with the anger and political paranoia the Mayor is displaying. They need to understand why their colleague feeling so besieged and help him out of his growing isolation.

To merely have the Mayor fire Peggy, or punish him by censure is to potentially reinforce what he may already be feeling: that people are out to “get him” and those close to him.

Yes Council can and will continue to function well in spite of all the drama coming from the Mayor’s Office - but they shouldn’t - to let it fester is to do a disservice to the citizens of Hamilton, our productivity and our image as a City.

We have two years left in this term of office.

It’s time for Council to get past their justifiable outrage and punishment options, and find a substantive solution to the real Peggygate problem. Fast.

Why we deserve more from our local media

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:21:00 -0500

Given the passionate response I am getting to my rant about the local media’s mishandling of the tragic VIA Rail crash this week it is clear this pot has been boiling for a while.

So when I decried the poor local coverage of the crash on my TV show it blew the lid right off.
youtu.be/K2yYHgSrliA
We have three mainstream media news sources in Hamilton: CHCH, CHML, and The Hamilton Spectator.

CHCH serves a provincial market with it’s powerful signal and has advertisers to please and other programming requirements that prevent it from being the ubiquitous local broadcast station a city this size needs (Hamilton is 9th largest in Canada last time I checked).

It is also a jumping off point for ambitious journalists to get to the real action down the QEW… the faces change often and the community roots are not as deep as they were in the Dan and Connie days.

So I get why on a lazy Sunday they were not live from the scene by 4:30, and why they didn’t cut into programming (an old Western) - but they should have. Even a crawl on the bottom of screen that they knew of the accident and were going to have coverage would have helped.

(I was a weekend news producer / anchor and reporter / video journalist at CBC Windsor so I know what I am talking about here in terms of response times on weekends).

CHML does solid news and talk programs, and given that radio’s biggest advantage is speed (takes time to edit a TV story and write a print piece) I was particularly dissapointed they weren’t calling in live from the scene in the time it took to drive there. And apparently they don’t have “in case of local disaster” protocol for breaking into repeat broadcasting on the weekends.

The Spec had good coverage eventually too, but with all their reporters who use Twitter I was dissapointed that local journos (even NBC news) seemed to be tweeting about it more responsively.

And yes, if Cable 14 had a news show it should have been there too (like when we did back in the day - we were fast on the scene of Plastimet fire and I did live hits every hour throughout the ensuing evacuation).

For the record I have nothing against any station - in my 20 years in Hamilton as a journalist, pundit and PR pro I have appeared on just about every show and in every publication. So far this year I have been debating healthcare on CH, critiquing the Mayor’s communication on the Bill Kelly Show on CHML and in the Spec about my laircast interview with Mayor Fred. All three of these news outlets are full of professionals trying to do a good job.

The problem is bigger than any one of these under-resourced outlets and so they shouldn’t shoulder all the blame.

As Hamiltonians we have let our perennial underdog syndrome convince that we don’t deserve better (Windsor had CBC TV station, a competing local broadcast TV station plus cable! That’s just the TV)

We accept that our “proximity to the largest media market in the country” somehow makes up for it. If you have ever tried to get CBC, CTV or Global to make the 45 minute trip to Hamilton to cover news you would know that is a total joke. As Larry said on the show, when they did should up for a massive disaster we are “West of the GTA” to them.

So we bitch when our three local news outlets don’t respond to our media releases, whine when they aren’t at our events, roll our eyes every time we hear CHCH talk about serving Hamilton and churn with angst at Cable 14 that we really could do news again if only they’d let us. (People have started sending me scoops and media releases imploring the O Show to fill the void - I am starting to feel more like a news producer again than a pundit).

What IS helping to fill the void is all of the new media - The Hamiltonian, Raise the Hammer, Laircast and more are becoming reliable sources for news. (That was never the mandate of the Laircast - but we are in a vacuum here people - news abhors a vacuum!)

Just before the late proud Hamiltonian whose name graces our airport passed away, he came up to me and my husband Rob (who works at CBC Toronto) at a Rotary BBQ enraged by the lack of a CBC bureau in Hamilton. He was determined to get one.

Legend has it he passed away writing a powerful missive to the federal government demanding an important city like Hamilton get the media attention it deserves. (I imagine if he had lived he would have nailed his thesis to the doors of parliament with Lutheran zeal).

So let’s finish the job John Munro and others have started. Sure CBC has a digital station starting here which is good news - but it’s not enough.

Let’s stop our complaining and take action. Let’s tell our MPs and media outlets that in Hamilton we deserve better.

How to protect girls from digital self-exploitation

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:40:00 -0500

I love text messaging. The most popular communication tool on earth, it has had an amazing impact on the world. Think Arab Spring - protest movements can organize themselves on the go with this affordable, effective tool giving them an advantage for the first time over oppressive regimes. Even my husband and I talk much more during the work day with quick texts than we ever did with just email.

Using text messaging to send sexy messages (or sexting) has been around for a while and also has its obvious benefits. Even for teenagers it is a convenient way to flirt (I am not advocating for teenage sexting but let’s be real - much of adolescence is exploring your sexuality).

So given my appreciation for the technology and my liberal attitudes towards sex in general, I surprised myself by my visceral reaction to a tweet from a CHCH TV reporter about young girls sending naked pictures of themselves via text. I really lost it though, when I learned their pictures are being traded like baseball cards by boys.

I thought: “Just when I thought we had reached more equality as women we have girls being exploited and traded.”

I put my outrage out on Twitter and collected a range of responses from “boys are just horny” to “its not a lack of equality, its lack of wisdom”, to an explanation that they may just want attention.

I am sure all of these are true. But I think we are missing something more insidious in this discussion beyond the obvious fact that girls are still so needy for male approval that they are exposing themselves. (Ugh)

We are missing the fact that girls are too competitive with EACH OTHER. Every woman knows that when girls spend hours getting ready to go out it is to impress other girls not boys. Guys don’t care about the latest fashions or nail colours. They probably prefer less makeup. But that doesn’t stop girls from putting hours of time and all their cash into clothes and beauty products.

If you were a teenager you know this. If you saw Mean Girls you know this. If you watch any reality show where they divide teams into genders (like a recent episode of Top Chef Texas) the narrative is always that the females will destroy each other in a competition to the benefit of the more team-oriented men. As unappealing as that is to me there is truth to it.

So I can’t help wondering if sending out naked pictures knowing that other girls are doing it too, and that they will be viewed by more that one person - essentially judged - is in part a more destructive level of competition between girls.

Competition is great - but hanging your self-worth on the need to best your competitor at any cost is dangerous.

These girls will be mocked, minimized, and have to endure a lifelong regret that only the digital age guarantees. We could do stupid things in high school and hope everyone forgets over time. No more thanks to the internet. They are stuck with stupid.

So this begs the question: How can I possibly protect my daughter from this kind of voluntary self exploitation?

My best guess is to teach her self respect so that she instinctively knows her body is too precious to casually share.

But isn’t there more we can do than just try to install self respect in our daughters?

As women we can model examples that are less catty and competitive, more supportive and self-assured.

We can channel our competitive instincts to changing the world for the better - something I believe women may be uniquely positioned to do.

Let’s show high school girls that not only is sending naked pictures of yourself NOT the way to get the guy, it is also not necessary to compete with other girls to the point of damaging yourself. As a females we are simply better than that.

PS - as soon as I tweeted out the link to this blog I received a suggestion from a mother that I wanted to share: Team-building exercises for girls: GENIUS.

Bringing Honour to the Memory of Shafia Women

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:49:00 -0500

The all guilty verdict in the Shafia “honor killing” trial caught me off-guard. It wasn’t the verdict itself (which was a no-brainer), it was how fired up I became when I heard it.

As a woman this a blatant case of the worst kind of violence against women. When you kill a woman or girl because they are female it’s Femicide. Screw a misguided sense of “honor” - it is about control, power and pride (in the vice sense of the word).

This was also a blatant case of parents killing their children - inconceivable to me as a mom. I am looking at my 18 month old daughter as I write this and hope she grows up to be a liberated, self-determining, confident woman - all the traits that seemingly got the Shafia girls killed. Tragic.

And as a Canadian I am fiercely proud that we sent a message to the world that while we are a welcoming nation, we defend the universal values of human rights and justice for all.

My hope in all of this is that the girl terrified of her abuser knows that we don’t think she deserves to be hurt for being HERself - that she is a victim and there can be justice.

And that the abuser feeling a need to control and punish a woman thinks twice - because there is no honor in hurting a woman and he will be brought to justice.

I have hope this message will mean these three girls and woman didn’t suffer and die in vain.

Let’s get the message out. Let our actions help bring honour to their memory.

4 Questions to Ask About our City's Vision

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:29:00 -0500

The overwhelming response to this week’s Laircast - thousands of listeners and many tweets talking about former Mayor Fred’s “vision” for Hamilton - has prompted me to analyze the issue in this post.

The term “vision” is one of those annoying, overused management terms that was popular and now can mean very little. Companies that have Vision Statements often can’t distinguish them from their equally useless Mission Statements, and both sit on a plaque on a wall destined to collect dust for another 20 years.

So when a city invests a lot of money and time as Hamilton periodically does in a “visioning” exercise, my experience in this area always makes me want to test to validity of the result - much as I do with my corporate clients - only this vision matters far more.

1. Does the Vision set a clear, aspirational direction for the future?

2. Is it simple to understand and easy to remember?

3. Can the average citizen state what it is and more importantly, what it means?

4. And lastly, can it be measured and acted on or is it just a fancy statement to make Council feel like they have done their job?

So if our current City vision (correct me if I am wrong here but if I am that kind of proves points 2 & 3) is “the best place in Canada to raise a child” what does that mean?

Low childhood poverty? Low childhood obesity? Low crime? Top-notch education? Ample parks and recreation facilities? Are we measuring these or other measurables against a national baseline? How are we progressing?

If this is the vision for Hamilton and we do have measures, should we be hearing more about them? Are we sufficiently inspired?

Let me know what you think because while the word “vision” maybe almost meaningless these days, the need for Hamilton to have one that guides us could not be more important right now.

Mr Mayor - Leadership is Communication

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:46:00 -0500

Leadership comes in many forms and you can argue which type of leader is best in a given situation. One thing that is irrefutable however is the fact that a good leader needs to communicate - especially in today’s media saturated world.

We - the people - communicate with such frequency and urgency that we demand the same level of communication from our leaders. We want authenticity. We want transparency. We want continuity. Whether it is a business leader or a politician the expectation is the same.

For years I have implored my clients to adhere to the principle of proactive communication and avoid the pitfalls of reactive communication or worse, the damage of not meeting their constituents’ expectations for transparency and accessibility.

But this time the reason for my post is not proselytizing the gospel of communication best practice but rather to request - even implore - our current Mayor Bob Bratina to reassess his communication strategy.

In our Laircast (www.laircast.com) interview with him before Christmas he lamented the treatment he is getting from the media - to the point of a persecution complex. The ensuing mess with Peggy Chapman’s huge raise was made much worse by poor communications. And then something as innocuous as changing the date for a New Year’s Levee was so mishandled it led to a spontaneous citizen protest. I won’t even try to analyze the internal communication problems between the Mayor’s office and Council.

Despite these and other communications missteps in the past year, there are almost three years left in the Mayor’s term. There are important issues to address (budget, Pan Am to name a few). The Mayor has addressed important issues well in the past. He need not be mired by these recent situations.

There is a will among Hamiltonians to be functional and successful. Even among the Mayor’s detractors there is a will to see the Mayor and Council succeed. In many ways the city is on a pretty impressive roll - we need to make sure our politicians boost that positive momentum and not jeopardize it.

As I have said on the O Show lately, the new tone for the New Year depends on the Mayor. Please move away from the failing Nixon-style communications of isolating yourself and being suspect of others… rather than count your enemies embrace the many Hamilton leaders who want to work with The Mayor. They will communicate with you - they will support you. True leadership requires nothing less.

What you need to ask yourself about Occupy

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:10:36 -0500

Like many of you I have been watching the Occupy movement with a mixture of fascination, empathy, cynicism and confusion - what do they want, how will they mobilize all the attention into something real, are they complaining and hanging out or is this serious business?

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn and turned on CNN, expecting to see last night’s recycled news but instead they had live shots of the Occupy Portland standoff with police in riot gear encircling thousands of people after the protesters refused to vacate their occupation at the midnight deadline.

The sight of the mounted police and the growing crowds made me wonder if the Occupy movement is at a tipping point. Cold weather is coming and it seems like cities across North America are drawing a line in the sand - “we tolerated you because we understand the frustration with the system but its time to move on”.

Aware that both the cops and the protesters were using Twitter to communicate with the outside world and each other, I decided to tweet them both my thoughts and had my tweet retweeted by the protestors.

Suddenly in some tiny way I felt connected to the cause - no longer just a distant TV pundit living my comfortable life and dolling out my tentative support. I hoped that the fact that someone was watching from Canada may have given them a some support.

I don’t plan on sitting in cold parks all day or protesting the “Man” for the obvious abuses of big business and the financial system, but I wonder what I will do if we see the Occupy movement tip from a curiosity to a society-changing moment like Kent State.

Will those of us who support reforms to the system and equality for the poor rise up and help the protestors change our societies and our world? Or will I stay on my comfy couch watching in horror as violence erupts and do nothing but tweet my support.

I think its a question all of us who support the fundamentals of Occupy have to think about. Now.

Why Cain Isn't Able to Get on Message

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:29:07 -0500

It’s almost cliche as a public relations professional for me to say that the devil is in the cover-up, but in the sexual harassment saga of republican presidential nominee hopeful Herman Cain it’s simply true.

Did he harass or assault those women? We don’t know. But Cain’s mishandling of the crisis is going to doom his candidacy, regardless of his guilt or innocence.

Sure, some people are doubling down and money is flowing into his campaign coffers, but his sound-bites and clips in the last two weeks could be used to virtually hand Obama a second term if Cain gets the GOP nomination.

What Cain keeps getting wrong are the fundamentals of effective media relations.

First, you do not fully control the situation as you might control a company as a CEO. This is often a bitter pill my powerful business clients have to swallow when they are facing a media crisis. Cain tried to control the media by declaring he was not going to talk about the allegations, only to have to hold a full press conference the very next day.

Second, stay calm and focused or you make stupid mistakes. I spend half my time getting my otherwise rational clients to think rationally during a media crisis when they want to be angry and waste time railing against the media. Not only did Cain get angry in front of the media, his Chief of Staff confirmed incorrect information about the source of one of the accusations and they have reversed themselves so often it’s bordering on the ridiculous.

Which leads me to my last point - take responsibility for what you have done, explain your side, take the wind out of the sails of the media by telling them what they are going to find out anyway, so that you truly can get back on message.

Until Cain does this, his message will never get the airtime he needs to become president. And given how badly he has handled his first crisis that’s probably a good thing.

Why Council Should be Congratulated

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:13:04 -0400

It’s easy - and often necessary - to critique Hamilton Council for some of the parochialism and ego battles that have tarnished our city’s reputation over the years. And when you look at that behaviour in front of a backdrop of a city that is still struggling with high poverty rates and other issues, it can be easy to think that Council is inept.

But beneath the drama and dysfunction there are tough decisions being made, long term visions coming to fruition, and a Council who have been there for years plugging away.

This week’s Maple Leaf Foods announcement isn’t just a lucky break or a one-off. It is the result of years of planning - the completion of Red Hill, the Glanbrook Industrial Park, the tireless work of our Economic Development staff to attract business, the lessons learned from the failed Maple Leaf flirtation with Hamilton a few years ago; the list goes on.

Is it a perfect plan? Some will argue the land shouldn’t be used this way, others living nearby will truck out the usual NIMBY arguments, but if you really want to evaluate the impact of this announcement simply look at how communities who are losing Maple Leaf feel - that Hamilton has won something that they are very sorry to be losing.

And that is the point- because after years of tough decisions by Council today (as stated in the best Hamilton Spectator front page headline I have ever seen): HAMILTON WINS

Congrats Council!

Time to Stop Calling it Bullying

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 10:58:00 -0400

On this week’s “O Show” our debate on bullying in the wake of a suicide by an area highschool student generated such an overwhelming response I feel compelled to argue my point further.

The word “bully” brings to mind nostalgic notions of Biff bugging George McFly in the 80’s classic flick Back to the Future. You know - the archetypal high school bully from a bad family that picks on the weakling until the weakling has a confidence building ephiphany and stands up to the bully. The story ends sweetly with the bully working for the former weakling later in life.

Or the ad featured on the back of comic books where the bully kicked sand on the weakling on the beach until the weakling took up weight lifting and came back looking like Atlas. Then he got the girls and all was well with the universe. How quaint.

But there is nothing quaint about today’s bullying. George McFly was not subject to online harassment campaigns, brutal beatings, or character assassinations through social media and body building certainly doesn’t stop these social media attacks.

Most importantly McFly and the weakling on the beach were never bullied to the point of contemplating suicide.

But kids today are committing suicide because of bullying. What had changed? Are they weaker? Do they lack social skills from their parents to handle a bully? Is society just too soft these days - not requiring kids to “man-up” and deal?

I reject all of these antiquated notions. Technology and changes in our culture where kids have access to adult media and adopt adult behaviours at an earlier age, makes bullying by boys and girls so insidious that it is causing wonderful people to end their lives.

So what can be done? One bullied boy in Eastern Canada stopped going to school until the school held a rally to raise awareness and support him.

Some schools go beyond the weakly enforced “zero tolerance policy” to create safe spaces and support groups.

Parents can learn to talk to their kids assertively about school and pay close attention to telltale signs their child is being victimized.

But I think we can do better. As I said on the show, in any other context in our society bullying is assault.

Let’s stop using the “schoolyard bully” language and the rite of passage nonsense it conjures up, and call this cruel, soul crushing behavior what it actually is - “assault”.

Maybe once we give it a serious name we will start treating it seriously.

NEW HAMILTON CURRENT AFFAIRS TV SHOW DEBUTS TUESDAY

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:00:00 -0400

NEW HAMILTON CURRENT AFFAIRS TV SHOW DEBUTS TUESDAY

The O Show with Loren & Laura on For the Record Tuesdays on Cable 14

Friday, September 2, 2011 – HAMILTON: On Tuesday, September 6, 2011 The O Show with Loren & Laura will debut on Cable 14’s For the Record. The show is a debate between community leaders Loren Lieberman (Festival of Friends) and Laura Babcock (POWERGROUP Communications) on the most important local issues of the day.

Loren and Laura will also be producing the show which will be hosted by Larry DiIanni. Prior to each show Loren and Laura will seek input on topics of interest via Facebook and Twitter respectively. They may include comments from social media in their discussion.

The O Show with Loren & Laura airs Tuesdays on Cable 14’s For the Record

at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11 p.m.

For Info & Interviews

Laura Babcock Loren Lieberman

Community Producer Community Producer

905-977-0023 905-961-7213

Why Jack’s Optimism Matters

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:57:00 -0400

It’s rare to see people react with such sadness to an event that was as predicted as Jack Layton’s tragic passing. We all heard his voice and saw the cake makeup on his face in his last press conference and yet his optimistic attitude that so captured our national attention in the recent federal election made us all believe that if ANYONE could beat cancer again it would be Jack.

You may not agree with his politics or even his approach but there was something about his attitude that was truly contagious. It woke us up in the final stages of another dull conservative VS liberal election and made us think that this guy could be Prime Minister.

Why? The NDP platform hadn’t changed. Their tactics hadn’t evolved. His party wasn’t much more electable. It was Jack – his sheer will to lead, his optimism for unprecedented results for his party, and his hope for a better Canada that inspired a cynical country.

And that is why his optimism matters – he translated his personal optimism into hope for a nation.

His final missive sums it up best:

“My friends, love is better than anger. Let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world” – Jack Layton, August 20, 2011.

Words for us all to embrace and live by.

Do we finally have momentum?

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:59:39 -0400

For the longest time Hamilton was on the “cusp of a renaissance” but after reading about all the development in the core, and having an upbeat chat this week with one of the city’s young entrepreneurs, I am starting to think we now have momentum.

Not every project will please everybody but with the Connaught finally being brought to life, the Lister Block becoming a glimmering jewel on James North (did you ever think you would hear those words!?), a new hotel, a new medical centre, etc., it is hard to be cynical.

So who gets the kudos for all this momentum?

First the developers (not a dirty word people), because they are actually choosing to invest here. Without their money and vision we would simply not have any private sector development.

Secondly, the engaged citizens and activists who, through their relentless scrutiny and love for the core, make the developments better. It really is a labour of love driven by their own vision for a livable downtown.

Lastly (as I tweeted this am) Councils - past and present. While their process can confound and some decisions disappoint, they are getting more right than wrong. The decision to host Pan Am is in part a driver of this momentum - not to mention the countless other improvements like the Library, Farmers Market, City Hall etc.

Now this is community building. Nicely done everyone!

Why Our Council Lacks Vision

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:25:53 -0400

In a recent letter to the Hamilton Spectator I called out Hamilton council for having a lack of vision for the city, particularly where Light Rail Transit (LRT) is concerned. I have had multiple requests to expand on the letter so here goes:

Just a few months ago I blogged that council has done a few things well of late - such as dealing with difficult issues like area rating.

But those achievements do not translate into a vision for Hamilton.

What is vision? I define it to my corporate clients as the ability to see the light at the end of a tunnel that no one else does, and make others believe in it’s brilliance so they will move towards it.

Hamilton has been in a tunnel for decades. In our podcast last week Marvin Ryder gave perhaps the best historical perspective on the tunnel that I have heard so far.

What keeps us in the tunnel is our acceptance that it is all we deserve - all we can afford. Acceptance of mediocrity is the polar opposite of vision.

Our Mayor loves this city and is getting it’s work done pretty well. But when he says one thing he stands for is keeping Hamilton “affordable” I shudder. That’s just keeping the tunnel as comfortable as possible - where is the light we can raise our heads and look towards? What will quicken our step and fill us with that famous Hamilton ambition?

All day GO transit? That would be great, but as someone just pointed out to me that keeps Hamiltonians getting to Toronto for work whereas LRT will help build Hamilton for people to stay and work here.

It is also misleading to frame the debate as “if we want a world class city we need LRT” because, having just returned from a business trip to New York City, becoming world class city is not necessarily the light at the end of OUR tunnel.

What we need is a vision that makes Hamilton the best it can be for future generations and LRT is a part of that vision.

For those who would stretch my analogy to say LRT is actually just an expensive, disruptive train coming through the tunnel at us, I would ask them to have more faith in our potential to pay for it and make it work.

And it is not just about the cost, it is about the rewards for our economy, environment, and image for future generations. It is about making Hamilton successful and progressive so that everyone prospers.

That is a vision for Hamilton I can believe in.

Nothing is Crawling at Art Crawl

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:53:00 -0400

After years of hearing mixed reviews and subscribing to the view that the Art Crawl on James North was a good idea but likely over-hyped, my husband and I decided on a whim to check it out.

We were shocked.

Art Crawl is many things, but it’s not crawling. Art Frenetic is more apt.

From King William to Barton the air was almost charged - the side walks were packed, the bars wall-to-wall and if I didn’t know better I would swear I was in Montreal.

I confess the street vibe and random political debates we got into with TV viewers were so seductive I never looked at the art.

It was impossible not to marvel at the mad mix - street fights by drug dealers, young families with ice cream cones, cops watching warily from dark alleys, art lovers reading in bars, and people like us drinking it all in.

My husband remarked it was like a Take Back the Night event. When I tweeted out my surprise at the scene unfolding in front of me the owner of Mixed Media on James North replied that Art Crawl is all about the culture clash.

Then up swooped the venerable Matt Jelly in his full length cape and not only showed us some awesome after hours art crawl action, he explained the organic history of the event.

So simple. So interesting. So Hamilton.

So get ready for Supercrawl in the fall - and see if you can keep up with the pace of change in Hamilton.

Why it's great to be Canadian

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:44:04 -0400

With all due respect to the beaver and maple syrup, the invention of the telephone and the bra, what we should be most proud of as Canadians is our culture itself.

In the past few weeks I have had some amazing and difficult conversations on TV and in our podcast.

On the Michael Coren show we talked about several cases in which the right to speak freely was under scrutiny (Dutch politician regarding Islam and Toronto sportscaster regarding same sex marriage). In both cases I vociferously defended each the right to say what they believe even if I don’t support their positions.

On the show, For The Record, Larry Di Ianni and I went another round about his comments regarding some citizens in the core. We both had blogged and tweeted about it. We came to verbal blows after the show as we are both passionate about our community. I even asked Dr. Marie Bountrogianni to weigh in on the debate during her Chat from the Lair podcast and her answer was remarkable

In all of these cases I had the freedom to say what I believed in a culture that espouses public debate.

We are not afraid of new ideas in Canada. We are not afraid to challenge authority. And as I did a training program yesterday at the St. Joseph’s Immigrant Women’s Centre I was reminded once again of how we don’t just embrace diversity of opinion in Canada we embrace diversity of people. And I am fiercely proud of that.

As I tweeted recently to a new Twitter pal in Australia “you would love Canadian culture - we are laid back and progressive”

She agreed. Happy Canada Day!

Why Larry Di Ianni's Comments Hurt Hamilton

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:02:00 -0400

Watch Tuesday’s episode of For the Record.

Former Mayor Larry Di Ianni wrote and delivered a rant on our show For the Record last night that shocked me. It wasn’t just the words he strung together or the condescending attitude he delivered them with, it was the fact that a former mayor talked about people in his city in such a way.

As a pundit I string together a lot of words - some of them can be pretty stupid at times. I can also come across as condescending. While I try not to put people down or have that tone it can happen from time to time.

But I am not a mayor and never have been.

So when former mayor Di Ianni belittled the downtrodden people in the core and suggested they are an embarrassment and need to be dealt with so efforts like art crawl and Lister can succeed, I did more than cringe.

His remarks ignored the systemic issues including poverty and addiction that are the real problems that need to be dealt with in our city.

These are not buildings that are an eyesore and need to be torn down or restored. These are the PEOPLE he was the mayor of.

Larry is a friend, a good man and in many ways, was a good mayor. But his comments reinforced an “us” vs “them” attitude that has no place in our city and gave Hamilton haters the perfect video clip to mock us in perpetuity.

When has another mayor anywhere talked about his own citizens that way publicly? In office or after?

As one viewer said the irony was that he thinks the downtrodden people in the core are the embarrassment when in fact his comments were the true embarrassment to Hamilton.

What do Weiner, School Board and Mayors Office Have in Common?

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:11:15 -0400

All jokes aside (but do send me your answers to the title question for fun) what do these three have in common?

Failed attempts at message control.

Let’s take Weiner – his foolish use of social media (Twitter is a broadcast system NOT a private conversation), his week of narcissistically courting national media interviews only to lie to the even more narcissistic anchors, and his disastrous press conference where he broke all the rules of crisis management, made for a historic screw up of message control.

Specifically, he did not reinforce his mea-culpa with real action or proof that he would change his ways. He also ventured into unbelievably dangerous ground hypothesizing about the ages of the girls to whom he may have sent lewd photos and messages. Third, he gave actual clips that were so damning and unnecessary, his future opponents won’t even have to edit their attack ads. And finally, he broke the cardinal rule by staying up there too long. The more you say, the more you can say wrong.

Frankly, the narcissism that got him in the mess in the first place is the same that kept him up there, sucking in all of the negative attention. How bad was it? PR professors will teach about it. I will use it in my media training courses. The world will now refer to screwing up a communication as “weinering it”. It was that bad.

In the same week as Weinergate we found ourselves talking locally about the public school board’s attempt to control the communication of its trustees. As you see in the clip, the actions are too close to the scandal time-wise to appear as anything less than a blunt attempt at damage control. Like Weiner, they should have given a little more thought to the strategy of controlling their messaging crisis before going public with this hammer. And back to the Mayor’s office - their attempt to limit media access to those with a boss was both the subject of my last blog post and another example of how NOT to attempt message control.

So Weiner, school board, and Mayor’s office here are three simple tips:

1. Take a good look at your audience and their CURRENT communication habits, needs, and expectation. Communication and crisis management are evolving.

2. Take a deep breath before launching anymore defences of your attempts at message control. Don’t further Weiner it.

3. Understand that (as my husband is so fond of saying) control is an illusion. Encoding your message properly so your audience can decode it, and receive it as intended, is a good strategy.

Grasping for control however, is not.

See the U.S. Representative for New York’s 9th congressional district Weiner it.

Why Mayors Office Attempt to Control Media is Flawed

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:32:15 -0400

As you can see in this week’s For The Record clip I was incensed at the attempt by the Mayor’s office to limit local media access. It’s not the goal of increased decorum or message control I oppose, but rather the flawed logic at the heart of it.

I respect the media credentials of both Mayor Bratina and Peggy Chapman, who got her journalistic bona fides in the formal media setting of Queen’s Park. They are traditional media experts but they seem to be missing the fact that new media means things have changed – in Hamilton and around the world.

The comment by Peggy on the Bill Kelly show is what best illustrates this – she said media “have to have a boss I can complain to”.

Social media does have a boss. Every blogger has a boss. Every online publication has a boss.

It’s not some exec in an office down the hall who can take calls of complaint from the Mayor’s office and apologize and / or broadcast a retraction and / or fire the mistaken journalist.

It’s a much more powerful and responsive boss than that. It’s called the PUBLIC.

Not every person with a Facebook page is an independent journalist.

You have to have an audience – a following that trusts you to relay the news and inform them. And if you become lazy, inaccurate, overly biased (I am not talking opinion pieces here, I’m talking legitimate fact finding and interviews) than they stop following.

Recently an indy journalist in Hamilton wrote something that the Mayor complained about and the complaint was presented and analyzed at length for the public to evaluate. And if the public, that powerful boss, thinks the journalist screwed up than they will stop following them. Once their audience is gone, so is their journalistic platform. That’s how it works.

So, Peggy, with all due respect NO independent journalist in Hamilton who has a regular online presence and following of the public is without a boss. That is the flaw in your logic and that is why they should all get media access to the information their boss wants.