By Patrick Metzger

Mayor David Miller, anxious to prove the civic value of his trade mission to China, announced yesterday that a major Chinese mining company would be opening an office in Toronto. Well, not necessarily an office. It could be one of those shared rental suites. Or a mailbox, definitely a mailbox, at least. Say, how ’bout that Great Wall?
Almost time to get out our walkin’ shoes? The Globe and Mail says that TTC talks have reached a “boiling point,” and that transit unions may call a news conference for tomorrow. It’s this kind of thing that makes you glad to have a powerful, decisive mayor around to intervene at a moment’s notice.
TTC Chair Adam Giambrone says that by 2018, the TTC will take a serious look at a new “Downtown Relief” subway line across the bottom of the city. The line, projected to cost at least $3 billion, would be implemented simultaneously with the tunnel to Rochester and the fleet of giant nuclear-powered zeppelins.
The RCMP and Elections Canada searched Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa yesterday, apparently over alleged election spending irregularities. The federal Tories responded by saying that the incident was “a PR stunt and a tactic of intimidation,” before calling in a squadron of F-16s to take out Elections Canada offices.
Crude oil prices hit a new record high of over US$114 a barrel this morning. I never get tired of writing that headline.

Photo by David Topping.