Rocket Talk: Can Sunday Subway Service Start Sooner?
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The Art of Not Knowing
If You Tweet It, He Will Come
Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2008--the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months, with one hero and one villain selected by each participating staff member. On Christmas Day: the heroes. On Boxing Day: the villains. And next week, cast your vote to determine the Superhero and Supervillain of the year.
Free Stuff (And The People Who Provide It)
Everyone likes free stuff. This year has seen a lot of people facing harder times than usual, but there are still lots of things to do in Toronto without spending a dime, which wouldn't be possible without the people who donate their time—and money—to make it happen. This year, Newmindspace organized great free events such as the giant Capture the Flag game, pillow fight, and bubble battle. Streets Are For People, the group behind Pedestrian Sundays and World Car Free Day, continues to put pedestrian—public, fun, and free—space first. Improv in Toronto has organized a number of creative public improv games, including the live Where’s Waldo game and the fake Dinosaur Protest, and the "improv invitational" nature of their events make a great excuse to break the ice with surrounding strangers. (We look forward to their No Pants! subway ride in January.) The City of Toronto has to be appreciated, too, for its continued effort in keeping free city-wide festivals happening. The big guns like Nuit Blanche, the Cavalcade of Lights, Doors Open Toronto, the numerous events at Nathan Phillips Square, and the upcoming WinterCity Festival wouldn’t be possible without a commitment from City Hall or the big sponsors required to fund the full-sized projects. The City is also a supporter of Harbourfront Centre, which has provided some phenomenal free screenings, galleries, festivals, and music this year, and where the free fun continues through the winter with free skating and free hot chocolate from Harbourfront rink sponsor Natrel. The Toronto Public Library also can’t be overlooked: apart from the obvious—free books!—the library offers free classes at local branches in everything from new computer skills to “literacy through hip-hop," and also hosts art exhibits, free concerts, and a writer-in-residence program. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of different Toronto communities, we also have Afrofest, Gay Pride Week, the Zombie Walk, Corso Italia Toronto Fiesta, Taste of the Danforth, the Beaches Jazz Festival, and the Word on the Street. All free to participate in. Some even giving away more free stuff! And last, but not least, the TTC is providing free rides home for Toronto revellers this New Year's Eve. This may be the best New Year's ever! Sorry, taxi drivers! Thank you for getting us out of the house and making sure that we feel like this city belongs to us—and vice versa—regardless of our income. Your efforts have made Toronto a great place to live in. BY VICKY PETERS; PHOTO BY THE ILLTELLIGENT FROM THE TORONTOIST FLICKR POOL
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Is it any surprise that Jack Layton is a Torontoist "hero"?
In one you refer to Stephane Dion as a joke, then another as a hero. I don't think he is either, but he's the single reason Harper got cockier and more reckless. As for the Clarity Act, big deal - Harper was as much an architect as he was.
High gas prices may be heroic for the environment, but that's all wiped out but the current sub 70 cent levels isn't it?
I like the choice of Bikes and Social Media.
PickleToes, is it any surprise you were the first to comment on this post?
Gauldar: A little, but I knew that you and rek were really the only other contenders.
"...all of this and more was just proof that we can be a very, very stupid country when we want to be. Remember, Dion pretty much wrote the Clarity Act all by himself, which put the sovereignty movement in Quebec to bed for a decade until Stephen Harper decided to open his stupid mouth earlier this year."
YES! Just wish the mainstream media in this country agreed. They really did their best to regurgitate all of Harpers' talking points about the 'weak leadership' of Dion and, sadly, Canadians bought it.
I have feeling the media's tune will change with the new appointed Liberal leader. He's pro-Bush Doctrine, pro-torture and has spent the last 30 years outside of this country but our press will conveniently ignore those facts.
Speaking of facts, here's the opposite of one: "As for the Clarity Act, big deal - Harper was as much an architect as he was."
Dion was both a hero and a villain. It was contingent on him, as leader, to get his message across. He failed miserably at every turn. He's a good parliamentarian and a worthless leader. The Green Shift is great policy, it's unfortunate that he didn't step aside to let a more competent leader sell it.
Ironic that a guy who wrote something called the Clarity Act would be such an incomprehensible communicator. His awful leadership resulted in the greater success of both Harper and Layton, as the Liberal's bled support on both sides. That'll end with Ignatieff, Harper will be pushed to the right and Layton can return to being an irrelevant shouty fringe element.
Thanks for the love, Torontoist :) Newmindspace loves you too.
From Harper's wikipedia entry:
In late 1999, Harper called for the federal government to establish clear rules for any future Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[35] Some have identified Harper's views as an influence on the Chrétien government's Clarity Act.
Public Space Zealots
The radicals responsible for the decline of individual property rights. Yeah, they sound like heroes to me....
How about activists obsessed with creating communism through fascist methods?
Does anyone know about a greasemonkey application that can block comments from trolls? Killfile only works for LJ.
(No, I'm serious.)
@garden_hoe21: This past summer, someone wrote a Greasemonkey script specifically for banning Torontoist commenters of your choice.
*gasp* That's amazing! Thank you!!
David: Haha wow. I'm a preset too!
*kisses you*
Did Svend just cite conjecture on wikipedia in order to prove his point?
Union: If I wasn't so confident about the quality of his character, I'd conjecture that he edited the wikipedia article and added in that paragraph.
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/hoc/Bills/352/Private/C-341/C-341_1/C-341_1.pdf
This is the Quebec Contingency Act that Harper put forward in 1996 as a private member's bill, a precursor to the similar Clarity Act that Dion produced.
1996...hmmmm. Was that 'Quebec Is A Nation Harper'? Or 'Erect a Firewall Around Alberta Harper'?'Elect the Senate Harper'? Wait it was 'The Government needs the support of the House Harper'!
Dion and Chretien, two Québécois, got their ideas for dealing with Quebec sovereignists from the leader of a western protest party. Got it.
Yes, people can agree on one thing while disagreeing on several others.
Dion, Chretien, Harper all supported the Clarity Act - they share a strong stance in dealing with Quebec separatists just as Trudeau did before them. Did you even read Harper's bill?
I strongly disagree with your choice of East Toronto Community Coalition as a hero. They don't represent the interests of the community as a whole, just the interests of a narrow(minded) subset, as shown here and here.
totally agree. But this is Torontoist we're talking about so you come to expect it after a while.