By Hamutal Dotan

Bryant welcomes switch to city job (National Post): “Michael Bryant, who quits his position today as Ontario Minister of Economic Development…is expected to formally announce, along with Mayor David Miller, that he will become president of Invest Toronto, a new economic development agency, just three days after he told Premier Dalton McGuinty that he was leaving politics.” [More coverage in the Globe and Mail.]
Workers give union mandate to strike (Globe and Mail): “The city’s inside workers have voted 90 per cent in favour of a strike if contract talks with the city break down, their union announced last night.”
Transit hubs to shape urban pocket in Markham (Toronto Star): “[A] new-style urban community proposed for a 57-hectare site south of Highway 7 between Yonge St. and Bayview Ave….will be highrise, mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly. Organized around transit—new subway lines and expanded bus service—Langstaff represents the new face of suburbia, which is no suburbia at all.
Bike lanes may not turn their crank, but councillors join mayor’s City Hall ride (Globe and Mail): “With about 1,000 cyclists in tow, Toronto Mayor David Miller and his fellow pols on council are set to bike to Nathan Phillips Square today to kick off a month of bicycle-friendly activities across the city. But after the early-morning pleasantries, watch the gloves come off at council today and tomorrow when the politicians debate measures that, depending on your politics, are anti-car or overdue improvements for cyclists and pedestrians.”
Ontario liquor store workers vote to strike if contract talks fail (CBC): “Workers at Ontario’s government-run liquor stores have voted to go on strike if upcoming contract negotiations fail to produce an agreement.”
This old house: Is it being left to fall apart? (Toronto Star): “Toronto’s Catholic school board is being accused of wilfully neglecting a historical building so it can get approval to tear it down.”
Ontario hates jazz? (NOW Magazine): “To many people in Toronto (and afar), the Toronto Jazz Festival is one of the highlights of the summer concert season, so why has the Ontario government decided that this year they aren’t worthy of a grant from Celebrate Ontario?”