Halifax is now the first city in Canada to accept online petitions. City council’s discussion of the issue was typically bizarre: Linda Mosher pointed out that most petitions “go into a vault somewhere” and get forgotten, so therefore we can’t accept e-petitions because people will get spammed. (You figure it out.) “I was elected by people, real live human beings—not bytes and wires,” said Steve Streatch. “I don’t care if someone in Florida thinks there should be a stoplight in my district,” chimed in Brad Johns. But after the famously old-school and technologically phobic Reg Rankin gave a rousing speech extolling the virtues of increasing public access to councillors by whatever means, electronic or otherwise, a majority saw the light and approved the new plan. I’d appreciate it if all Floridians would demand a stoplight at the corner of Maynard and Cunard Streets.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2008.