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Newsstand: December 2, 2011

It's December 2. Are those sugarplums in your head dancing yet? Perhaps some news will get them grooving: the list of pools and arenas the City wants to close is revealed, Ford says he's doing God's amalgamation's work by laying off City employees, council says no to shooting ranges, and a supposed animal rights group threatens Chinese businesses.

By • Illustration by Brian McLachlan


One day, far in the future, our children will ask us why the city’s parks contain these strange empty concrete structures. And so will begin the telling of the long and tragic tale of a man named Ford and his war on city services. The latest chapter in this ongoing saga has the Star revealing the wading pools the City wants to close in the name of saving money in the 2012 budget, along with two outdoor pools to be closed and 10 arenas to be closed from Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Remember this part of the story so you can tell it to your son or daughter quickly, before they bring up the vehicle registration tax again.

Speaking of Ford, he’s once again doing that awful thing that happens when he opens his mouth. No, not insulting homosexuals or being belligerent at a hockey game. No, this time it’s the classic Ford maneuver: make an unpopular decision, oversimplify it beyond all recognition, then claim taxpayers are on his side. In this case, it’s in regard to layoffs for City staff. Apparently Toronto just has too many municipal employees since amalgamation, and Ford is going to put a stop to that. If you disagree, get in touch with your mayor. Just be sure to leave a voicemail.

It’s Friday night, and you’re hanging out with some friends, trying to figure out something to do that isn’t bowling or a Wii Fit tournament. Finally, someone suggests going to one of those hilarious shooting ranges everyone keeps talking about. But then you remember there’s a bylaw against those, and your night is ruined. Well, city council came close to pushing that chilling hypothetical situation into the annals of local history yesterday, as an Ontario Municipal Board complaint led city staff to recommend council lift the shooting range ban. But council didn’t cooperate, and instead the OMB will handle the issue. Among those who supported lifting the ban is Rob Ford, and while that isn’t likely to push Ford almost-haters over the edge, it doesn’t cast him in the prettiest of lights either.

Toronto banned the sale of shark fin in October, but apparently that wasn’t enough for some racist crazies. A supposed animal rights group has sent a letter to the head of the Toronto Chinese Business Association—which is fighting the ban—claiming its operatives are in Chinatown spreading rat poison on meat, fish, and just so vegetarians don’t feel left out, fruit and vegetables. The letter also claims the group will be spreading “e coli virus” at the Mandarin restaurant chain, which means that, as well as mastering the art of the racial slur, these eco-terrorists have developed a way to turn a bacterium into a virus. And that’s just scary.

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  • Anonymous

    Who doesn’t enjoy a great rat poison and msg high?

  • Anonymous

    I really don’t see what the big deal is about lifting the shooting range ban.

    • Anonymous

      One major concern is gun theft, from the range itself or from people using the range who bring guns to and from the site.

      • Anonymous

        Is there statistics to back up this claim? No. Gun owners (myself included) spend thousands of dollars securing our firearms. In 15 years of going to a range in 5 different cities in Canada I have never heard of theft at a gun range. The security in those places is akin to a bank vault. They don’t just leave things laying around.

        It’s total b/s.

        • HadEnough

          No one needs a gun EVER; therefore, there is NO need for a shooting range in this city. Sorry if you think guns are fun to play with or whatever, but there are a lot of fun things we ban to protect society. I like cocaine and think it’s one hell of a drug, but it’s illegal and I have to live with that. I don’t understand how anyone can seriously argue that their right to have fun trumps everyone else’s right to safety. It makes no difference that you haven’t had a gun stolen from you YET, the possibility alone is enough for me to want to see ALL firearms banned. I’m already praying for the family of the next person killed by gun violence in this country, because it won’t be long until it happens again.

          • Anonymous

            Dude, nobody needs lots of things that we use on a daily basis EVER, so it’s a pretty weak point. Comparing guns (non-addictive and legal) to cocaine (highly addictive and highly illegal) pretty much sums up how incoherent your point is.

            As far as the possibility of theft of my firearms. There is nothing to back your claim here, so you’re just making stuff up.

            Great hyperbole though. You should educate yourself and then come back and have a convo with me.

        • Rich1299

          About 40%-50% of the guns used in crimes in Toronto started off as legal guns in Canada that were either stolen or illegally sold, the rest came from the US. Every year in Canada approximately 3000 guns are reported stolen, who knows how many don’t get reported or were illegally sold. See http://www.guncontrol.ca/English/Home/Facts/illegallegal.pdf Other sources report that approximately 15% of all guns used in murders alone across Canada as a whole were stolen from legal gun owners, the rest were a combination of legally owned guns used in murders and an estimated 50%-60% of guns used in murders in Canada as a whole originated as legal guns in the US since they have such weak gun control measures. I don’t have the links handy for the source I read about this info.

          Still 40%-50% of all guns used in crimes started life as guns legally owned by Canadians and approximately 15% of guns used to murder someone also started off as guns legally owned by Canadians. Long guns are responsible for the most deaths in Canada, though that also includes suicides. The fact is the fewer guns in Canadians’ hands the fewer guns that get stolen and used for crimes such as armed robbery, rape and murder.

          The best solution would be to crack down as hard on guns being smuggled into Canada from the US as Canada and the US crack down on pot from Canada being smuggled into the US. Does the US even bother trying to prevent guns from entering Canada to anywhere the same degree as the Canadian gov’t works to prevent pot from Canada entering the US? I highly doubt it.

          Regardless a significant number of guns used by criminals could be reduced by stricter gun laws on Canadian legal gun owners and more bans of certain types of guns altogether such as assault rifles, any sort of automatic gun, and any other military grade weapons. There’s simply no need for them for any legal use in Canada besides collecting and there’s no right to own guns in Canada let alone collect extremely dangerous ones.

          There also needs to be stricter laws on gun storage, I know for a fact that many people who hunt simply leave their long guns out in the open, I’ve walked into many homes and saw their rifles and shot guns just laying about, they should instead be locked inside a gun safe or their owners should face criminal charges.

          • Anonymous

            Damn disqus ate my comment :P

            TLDR: I agree with most of what you wrote. It’s clear from statistics that the majority of illegal weapons used in crime come from the U.S.

            It doesn’t answer my question as to how adding a range at Union station will create higher theft of weapons, which previous comments have inferred.

    • Anonymous

      Shooting is barbaric and uncivilized. It has no place in a civilized metropolis.

      • Anonymous

        :P

  • Anonymous

    I love how Ford defines “gravy.” Every level of government is running a deficit, there’s rampant unemployment, housing/utility prices are out of control, and in general people just don’t have enough money to stimulate the economy. What’s Ford gonna do? FUCKING FIRE MORE PEOPLE.

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