The idea of city-building was greatly expanded under the auspices of a reading at Harbourfront last week.
Unlike most such events, which tend to have one or more authors standing at a podium, authors Ed Keenan and Ivor Tossell decided to act as facilitators to a group of four people they decided were the city-builders Torontonians should be hearing from. Both have Toronto books out this season.
The four speakers, billed as
Toronto Talks: The Future of our City, were introduced by both authors, tag-tea style, with Keenan, a former
Yonge Street Media editor, relaying a lesson he learned growing up in an active, impecunious and sometimes chaotic household. "If you want something to happen," he said, "you have to make it happen."
David Buchbinder, a member of the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band and founder of
Diasporic Genius, talked about art and storytelling. Toronto Sport and Social Club co-founder
Kristi Herold discussed the role--and further potential--of sports in the city. Boris Chan, an engineer at
Xtreme Labs, spoke provocatively about the difference between democracy and what Xtreme calls "do-ocracy."
The evening was rounded out with Mike Labbé of
Options for Homes, who outlined his organization’s novel approach to recycled urban wealth. "What we’ve found is that 70 per cent of the wealth in our city is created by real estate or real estate development," Labbé said. "How do we make that wealth do the best possible work for our society?"
Writer: Bert Archer
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