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Newsstand: March 19, 2013
March is apparently going out like a lion too, huh? In the news: Toronto's business community supports new taxes for transit; some councillors are concerned that the city won't get a special deal for casino payments; new zoning bylaws are being considered for "erotic" massage parlours; one councillor is calling for a ban on killing coyotes in the city; and unsanctioned butt injections are a bad idea.
New broad-based taxes and fees are necessary to support public transit in the city, says the Toronto Region Board of Trade. The board is focusing on plans to raise the millions needed for the Big Move, the multi-year transit expansion plan proposed by Metrolinx. “We must act; the cost of doing nothing is much more expensive,” said Toronto Region Board of Trade president Carol Wilding. “We are falling behind our competitors.” The TRBD report is due at the end of June.
Yesterday’s news that Premier Wynne won’t support a special deal for a Toronto casino could spell trouble. Some councillors supporting a casino want to keep fighting for the city to get a higher cut of its revenues, and others say they can only support a casino in Toronto if it brings at least $100 million to the City every year. Achieving that number seems to hinge on Toronto getting a larger share of hosting fees for the casino than other cities in Ontario have been offered.
Toronto may change its bylaws to differentiate between actual massage parlours and those offering “happy endings.” A city-wide zoning bylaw going before council next month would create a category called “Body Rub Service” allowing businesses to offer “services involving the kneading, manipulating, rubbing, massaging, touching or stimulating by any means of a person’s body for the purposes of appealing to erotic or sexual appetites or inclinations” while also establishing new definitions of non-erotic massage and wellness centres and placing restrictions on where in the city erotic massage businesses could open and operate. Currently, only 25 body-rub parlours are allowed under municipal rules.
Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre), in a motion that comes before the Licensing and Standards Committee this morning, is proposing a Toronto ban on feeding and killing coyotes. “Coyotes are no threat to people,” he told the Toronto Star. “They’re not going to steal your baby. They’re not going to attack you. They are actually very timid creatures.” De Baeremaeker’s motion comes a month after police shot and killed a coyote in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood.
In today’s bit of news that should be obvious, Toronto police are warning that underground (heh) buttocks injections are dangerous and to be avoided. So if someone wants to charge you thousands of dollars to inject synthetic filler into your buttocks in their home or a hotel room, in the name of physical enhancement, just say no.
