~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~
There’s a dystopian race car movie from 1981 called ‘The Last Chase‘ filmed at the futuristic looking Scarborough Civic Centre (plus racing scenes at Mosport). Set in the not-too distant future (the year 2011) the protagonist lives in a ‘police state’ that used to be the USA. Much of the population was killed by a pandemic, and in the chaos, democracy was replaced by totalitarianism.
The crux of the movie is that privately-owned automobiles are outlawed, to prevent further turmoil as the world supply of fossil fuels dried up. The further loss of other personal freedoms soon followed, and soon surveillance systems monitored private citizens’ every move.
Every time the propaganda machine makes villains out of motorists, and promotes the mass-transit agenda, that great piece of Canadian ‘carsploitation‘ cinema comes to mind. Special interest groups villainizing the car, trying to take away the freedom of mobility.
In decades past, Toronto’s leaders built highways for privately-owned cars and trucks because they understood that free movement is the lifeblood of the city. Not just for the transport of goods, but for interconnecting widespread neighborhoods. Thanks to the privately-owned cars, a person living downtown could work in Scarborough, and a grandma in East York could visit High Park whenever she wanted to.
Last week, dozens of citizens protested the restrictive weekend ban on cars in High Park, which took effect recently. The group called High Park Access For All are concerned that the changes prevent people with mobility issues from accessing the public park. The TTC bus from High Park Station loops through the park, yet High Park Station itself is not wheelchair accessible. A recent CBC report confirms what freedom loving motorists already knew. The TTC does not have the transit infrastructure to handle traffic increases caused by a weekend ban on cars in High Park.
Senior citizens with limited mobility cannot walk from the subway station, and the ban on cars prevents them from enjoying the park. For someone with a walker or cane, the TTC is just not practical. This is something those waging the propaganda campaign to discourage Torontonians from driving simply do not want to hear. They are only interested in their own agenda.
To compound the problem, half of the 560 parking spaces inside High Park have been eliminated, which has overflowed parking into local neighbourhood streets. Residents living near the park cannot even find a place to park near their own homes. This anti-car strategy is designed to create division and conflict.
There is such intolerance in the rhetoric of those waging the War On The Car in Toronto that it makes you wonder if there’s more to the story than ‘blue sky‘ environmentalism. The Parkdale/High Park city councilor (Gord Perks) gave a hint at another motive. His PR team must have come up with the sound-bite he gave the CBC, proclaiming that High Park is no longer a “drive-through amenity” insinuating that driving a car to the park is the equivalent of turning an urban greenspace turns it into a McDonald’s pick-up window. Perks hypothesized that the park should only be accessed by using some kind of independent transportation service…perhaps run by the TTC…or a private company. And that’s what this is really all about folks. It’s a grift.
Politicians discussing the possibility of privatizing public transit should be ashamed of themselves. Any propaganda about banning cars is simply an attack on our freedoms, What’s next? The only way to have a car is through a subscription to a vehicle you can never own?
You’ll have to pry the car keys from my cold, dead hands first!
Well said, my friend.
By the way, such a beautiful picture of your Miata!!!
No sir…that aint my Miata!