[PHOTO] Looking east at Yonge-Dundas Square

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• blogTO notes that loads of new streetcars should arrive this year for the TTC.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to one paper examining the impact of colliding stellar winds in a close binary on habitable planets, links to another examining how habitable planets gets their water, and wonders about the insights provided by the HR 8799 planetary system into water delivery.


• The Dragon's Tales links to a paper arguing that Enceladus' subsurface ocean is made of alkaline soda water.


• Joe. My. God. notes a claim by some British scientists that it may be possible, with foreseeable genetic engineering, to create children with two same-sex parents.


• Languages of the World's Asya Perelstvaig looks into what Broca's area of the brain actually means for human language.


• Marginal Revolution notes that the woman-dominated area of health care is a growth area for middle-class employment in the United States.


• Otto Pohl notes that yesterday was the 71st anniversary of the deportation of the Chechens and the Ingush.


• pollotenchegg maps industrial production in Ukraine.


• Will Baird argues at The Power and the Money that the Minsk Accord is crumbling and examines the reasons for Chinese support of Russia.


• Spacing Toronto's John Lorinc worries about corporate sponsorship of ice rinks.


• Torontoist notes that Massey Hall has begun its renovations.


• Towleroad notes a Texan legislator who wants to make it illegal for trans people to use public washrooms.


• Transit Toronto observes that the Union-Pearson Express is undergoing test runs.


• Window on Eurasia worries about the potential for a minority of Russians in Latvia's eastern Latgale province to start trouble.

[LINK] "Latvia Torn Between Money and Fear of Russia"

Sanita Jemberga and Inga Spriņģe's article at EurasiaNet examining how Latvia's program offering well-heeled immigrants residency status is attracitng many people from across the Soviet Union, and how this is causing some concern.

The Latvian capital is an hour and a half’s flight from Moscow. The majority of the people speak Russian. But the main attraction for Latvia’s “residency for property” program was, until recently, its relative cheapness compared with similar “golden visa” programs in Europe. For an investment as small as 70,000 euros, foreigners could obtain a five-year Latvian residence permit, enabling free travel throughout most of the European Union.

During the five years of the program’s existence, 13,518 foreigners have obtained residence permits. Unlike similar programs in other European countries, 90 percent of Latvia’s applications have come from citizens of the former Soviet Union, mainly Russia. Over 10,000 Russians have obtained Latvian residency under the program.

For almost a year Re:Baltica, in collaboration with EurasiaNet.org and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, collected and cross-matched information from Land, Property and Business Registries in Latvia and analyzed the 315 most expensive real estate deals in Riga and Jūrmala involving foreign investment. The purpose was to obtain a full picture of the people who, during turbulent times in Ukraine and the growing standoff between the West and Russia, have opted for Latvia’s ultra-cheap “golden visa” program. The investigation also strived to determine the origin of the money used to buy properties.

The investigation revealed that over the past year, a majority of buyers of real estate came from Russia’s middle class. The number of applications grew rapidly after the start of the pro-European protests in Ukraine and Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea. Twice as many people from Ukraine applied in 2014 as had in the previous year. The wave from Russia picked up after Putin was re-elected president in 2012, and continued at almost the same level last year.

[. . .]

Officials in Riga have a hard time determining the extent to which dark money is used to purchase property in Latvia, a country with a banking sector that has a reputation for being a gateway to the EU for oligarchs from the former Soviet Union. Money laundering has been an issue in the past. In 2013, Latvian regulators fined an undisclosed bank for laundering money in a case connected to Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in official custody in 2009.

[LINK] "Canadian First Nations Seek to Protect Forest Homeland"

Edwin Dobb's National Geographic article, well-illustrated by the photographs of Greg Girard, notes how at least some Canadian First Nations are trying to regain control of their traditional territorries with the goal of protecting their natural environments.

[T]he effort to regain control of ancestral land has become a potent environmental strategy, especially as the world's industrialized countries go to ever greater extremes to satisfy their appetite for natural resources.

Renewing ties to the land, says Sophia Rabliauskas, of the Poplar River First Nation, is the only way "to keep the heart going, to keep the flame from dying out." The way that aspiration has played out in the Poplar River and neighboring communities east of Lake Winnipeg—the Bloodvein First Nation, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, and Pauingassi First Nation—has inadvertently placed them in the vanguard of the definitive environmental battle of our time.

That's because that territory encompasses a vast section of unspoiled boreal forest—a crucial front in the campaign to slow climate change. If the trees are left standing, and the soil undisturbed, the immense amounts of carbon they contain won't be released into the atmosphere as heat-producing carbon dioxide.

But becoming part of a global campaign wasn't on the minds of Sophia Rabliauskas and other Poplar River leaders when they started trying to reclaim the place they simply call the "bush."

Their aim was as simple as it was bold—to become the guardians of their traditional territory. To that end they created a land management and conservation plan while recruiting their First Nations neighbors to join them in what has been a decades-long endeavor.

[LINK] "Is Japan Asia's Next Autocracy?"

Noah Smith's Bloomberg View article alleging that the Japanese politicians who want to install a new constitution want to impose something terribly illiberal is very alarming.

The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP), which is one of the most misnamed political parties in existence, has governed Japan for most of its postwar history, with only the occasional brief interruption. A substantial chunk of the party is philosophically, organizationally and often genetically descended from the political class of Japan’s militarist period. As one might expect, it didn't completely internalize the liberal values that the U.S. imposed on the country during the American occupation. That faction, once a minority, now appears to be dominant within the party.

The LDP is now campaigning to scrap the U.S.-written constitution, and replace it with a draft constitution. In a booklet explaining the draft, the LDP states that "Several of the current constitutional provisions are based on the Western-European theory of natural human rights; such provisions therefore [need] to be changed." In accordance with this idea, the draft constitution allows the state to restrict speech or expression that is "interfering [with] public interest and public order.” The draft constitution also repeals the clause that prohibits the state from granting “political authority” to religious groups -- in other words, abandoning the separation of church and state.

Even more worse, the draft constitution adds six new “obligations” that it commands the citizenry to follow. Some of these, such as the obligation to “uphold the Constitution” and help family members, are vague and benign. A third, which requires people to “respect the national anthem and flag,” is similar to constitutional amendments advocated by conservatives in the U.S.

But the other three “obligations” are an obvious move toward illiberalism and autocracy. These state:

“The people must be conscious of the fact that there are responsibilities and obligations in compensation for freedom and rights.”

“The people must comply with the public interest and public order.”

“The people must obey commands from the State or the subordinate offices thereof in a state of emergency.”

These ideas wouldn't be out of place in China or Russia. The provision for a “state of emergency” echoes the justification for crackdowns used by many Middle Eastern dictators.<./blockquote>

[URBAN NOTE] "In many Canadian cities, unsold condos are stacking up"

Tamsin McMahon's article in The Globe and Mail noting how the condo boom is starting to bust in Canada outside of Toronto and Vancouver makes for worrisome reading. What will happen to the Canadian economy?

When the federal government tightened mortgage rules in 2012, overheated condo markets in Toronto and Vancouver were widely seen as the main target. But little more than two years later, it’s many smaller cities that are bearing the brunt of stricter regulations.

Winnipeg, Montreal and Moncton are grappling with a surplus of unsold condo units driven by a surge in new construction and a dwindling supply of first-time buyers in the wake of Ottawa’s decision in June, 2012, to limit mortgage insurance to amortization periods of 25 years or less from 30 years.

[. . .]

The downturn has been most painful in Quebec, where the boom in condo construction started in 2011 and 2012 as young buyers, armed with cheap mortgages, flocked to the housing market.

Roughly a third of Quebec buyers had taken out mortgages with 30-year amortizations – and that number rose to 40 per cent in Montreal, Mr. Cardinal said. He calculated that the change was the equivalent of raising interest rates by one percentage point.

Similar problems have plagued markets such as Moncton and Halifax, according to a recent housing market forecast from Re/Max. In Regina and Saskatoon, the number of unsold housing units hit a 30-year high, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation said, the majority of them condos.

Winnipeg has also seen a surge of new condo construction since 2012 as builders rushed to cater to new immigrants under Manitoba’s provincial nominee program and retirees looking to downsize and spend their winters down south.

[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto heritage in a dismal state"

Christopher Hume's Toronto Star article bemoaning the poor state of Toronto's preservation of its architectural heritage is notable, if despairing, reading.

As Heritage Toronto board member Mark Warrack said at the agency’s State of Heritage Report presentation Tuesday morning, what the city needs is “strong bureaucratic and political leadership.”

Warrack, Mississauga’s Heritage Coordinator, painted a picture of a system that lurches from crisis to crisis, budget cut to budget cut.

Though he found reasons for optimism in recent heritage-friendly amendments to the Official Plan, in most respects the process is deeply flawed and so confusing almost no one understands it. And even those who do are overwhelmed by backlogs that will take years to clear and rules that make it nearly impossible for them to do so.

Heritage Toronto, a charitable arm’s-length city agency, focuses on awareness and education. It’s the grunts at the municipal Heritage Preservation Services, planning department and the like that do the hard work.

It wasn’t lost on them that just last week Toronto’s budget committee recommended laying off eight more heritage employees. That decision must go to full council, but now that the city is in service-cutting mode — despite protestations to the contrary — there’s little chance it won’t approve these proposals regardless of how short-sighted they are.

[URBAN NOTE] On the strange tunnel at York University, Toronto

Late last night, CBC shared the remarkable article "Mystery tunnel found near Pan Am Games venue"

The tunnel was dug in the woods near Toronto's Rexall Centre and York University's Keele campus. It was large enough for a person to stand in, at around 2½ metres in height, and was about seven metres long. The tunnel had lights inside, powered by a generator, and the walls and ceiling were reinforced.

Sources told CBC News that the tunnel was filled in by authorities.

A Toronto and Region Conservation Authority employee reportedly found the tunnel while walking near the TRCA headquarters at 5 Shoreham Dr. in mid-January. The employee, who was carrying out day-to-day activities, noticed a piece of corrugated steel in the woods, and when it was lifted, the tunnel could be seen about three metres down.

The TRCA told CBC News on Monday that it is aware of a police investigation.

Authorities have essentially ruled out the possibility that the tunnel was going to be used as a drug lab or marijuana grow-op, according to sources. It likely took weeks if not longer to dig, and the earth excavated from the tunnel appears to have been removed from the site to help avoid detection.

This story has since gotten global attention. No one has come forward to describe why this tunnel was built. It's already a subject of some humour locally.

Any ideas?

[BRIEF NOTE] On the selection of Wade MacLauchlan as premier of Prince Edward Island

Wade MacLauchlan, former president of the University of Prince Edward Island, is now the 32nd premier of Prince Edward Island.

Newly confirmed P.E.I. Liberal Leader Wade MacLauchlan turned to the words of Island songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors to inspire his party for a campaign expected this spring.

"As Stompin’ Tom has taught us, 'If ya don't get at it when ya get to it, you won't get to it to get at it again,'" said MacLauchlan.

MacLauchlan was the only candidate for the leadership, and the convention Saturday afternoon was a formality. He will be sworn in as premier on Monday morning, along with a new cabinet. He replaces Robert Ghiz, who announced in November he would resign pending the election of a new leader.

MacLauchlan, the former president of the University of Prince Edward Island, has been criticized for not laying out more details of his agenda as he moves into government. He was short on specifics Saturday as well, but did present the pillars of a strategy for a provincial election campaign expected in the spring: economic growth, demographic change, and open government.

His election symbolizes the extent to which the Island has become cosmopolitan. (The Chinese vote may be noteworthy.)

On demographic change, MacLauchlan said the province must continue in its recent successes in attracting immigrants. The province has to do better at retaining its own talented and most mobile people, and encouraging expatriate Islanders to return.

"We cannot prosper without an effective population strategy," he said.

MacLauchlan directly addressed the growing Chinese population on P.E.I., speaking in Mandarin wishing them a happy new year.

The Chinese population could be a significant factor in the coming election, especially in Charlottetown. There is the potential for thousands of new Chinese Canadians voting for the first time in the capital city.

Perhaps more notably, MacLauchlan himself is gay: out, partnered, all of it.