News: June 2009 Archives

WHERE: Dundas Street at Ossington.

High Park, Trinity Bellwoods on city list of possible trash sites (National Post): "High Park, Cummer Park, Trinity Bellwoods and virtually every other Toronto park could turn into garbage drop-offs if a week-old strike by civic workers drags on indefinitely, according to a list of possible temporary trash collection points obtained today by Global News." [Previous coverage on Torontoist: A City Within a Garbage Dump.]

The passing of the King of Pop last Thursday inspired different reactions. Tweeting about it and frantically downloading his discography were two popular ones. In Toronto, rather than mourn, people celebrated his legacy by moonwalking all over Yonge-Dundas Square. And we suspect a slew of tribute shows are already in the works. Torontoist got in touch with some well-known local fans who were eager to share their tales of MJ worship with us.

WHERE: Queen Street West and Bathurst Street.

With his intention to shove the Ontario PC party back to the right, newly hatched leader Tim Hudak demonstrated that he is the true heir to Mike Harris. But what kind of son will he be? Will he fit the mould of the creature in the Toho studio's Son of Godzilla film or will he be like the comical sidekick, Godzooky, from the animated US Godzilla TV series? In a city that never recovered from the "Common Sense Revolution," the answer to that question will suggest future perils for Toronto.

New Tory leader tells union chiefs to 'get a grip' (Globe and Mail): "Tim Hudak, the new leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, took a shot at public-sector union leaders yesterday, making it clear on his first day in the new job that he is the heir apparent of former premier Mike Harris's Common Sense Revolution." [More coverage in the National Post and the Toronto Star.]

Currently flying circles around the downtown core, far above Pride partiers and amongst the stray balloons floating up from below and the news helicopters hovering above, is a small plane carrying a "FAIR CONTRACT FOR CITY WORKERS NOW!" banner. As we noted when an anti–Tamil Tiger banner flew in May, this sort of stunt isn't cheap: an aerial banner from local company SkyWords costs about $500 for half an hour, and today's plane has been out for a good forty-five minutes so far. We were plane-spotting from too far away to see the reactions of Pride-goers, but the sky didn't seem all that happy: since the plane's started going around, the sky's gotten a darker and darker shade of gray.

WHERE: Dundas Street West and Ossington Avenue.

WHERE: Neil McLellan Park (Runnymede Street and Bloor Street West).

The ongoing city workers' strike? Abuse of process? A mayor drunk on power? Socialism run amok? Cleaning up the Humber River? The haunting terrors of the MFP scandal? Pick your pet political cause of choice and someone, somewhere—or more accurately, one of the city councillors present at today's debate—will find a way to turn a discussion about streetcar funding into a discussion thereof. Mercifully, the umpteen hours of debate will eventually come to a close, a vote will be held on the actual matter at hand (we'll skip the introduction of motions that are promptly ruled out of order for being, inconveniently, on one of these other subjects), and a verdict will be rendered.

WHERE: Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue.

City Council is holding a special meeting today to debate funding for what has turned out to be a rather controversial fleet of new streetcars. Relocated from City Hall due to the strike, councillors convened at 10 a.m. at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to work through an agenda that consists of precisely one item: whether to rejig the TTC budget by delaying other planned capital expenditures and reallocate that money to 204 new Bombardier-built streetcars.

Streetcar tab soars as Miller's gamble fails (Toronto Star): "Toronto will have to pay $417 million more for new streetcars after the federal government refused to buckle under pressure from Mayor David Miller for stimulus cash." [More coverage in the Post and CBC.]

After the Osler Playground (and Trinity-Bellwoods, and Dufferin Grove) garbage bins all got unexpectedly emptied yesterday, we're changing how Strike Watch is going to work a bit: instead of just tracking the change at one location, as we started to earlier this week, for the rest of the strike we're going to be hopping around the city, snapping different garbage and recycling bins each day. Our Miles Storey took the photo above of the bin at Queen Street West and Markham Street at 12:30 p.m.; like most other bins throughout the city, it was initially sealed shut with plastic wrap, but that's since been pulled off.

The Toronto Star is repenting. On Tuesday, they published "Toronto making me mad as hell" by Vinay Menon, one of the most head-shakingly bad excuses for an article we've ever read in a major daily. To wit:

We're not sure what the City's nineteen new waste drop-off sites'll be when they're announced today, but our money's on at least these three parking lots: the set around Ellis just south of Lakeshore Boulevard West, George Bell Arena's, and Étienne Brûlé Park's. The group—tracked down and captured for Torontoist yesterday and today by photographer Christopher Drost—have all sprouted bright blue fences around them, and as of this morning, one, Étienne Brûlé Park, is already accepting solid waste (securely wrapped) and organic waste (emptied into a bin on-site), but no recycling.

Their large rallies have come and gone, but Toronto’s Tamils have yet to vacate the downtown core. Permanently located on the corner across from the U.S. Consulate, they continue to protest for all but fifteen minutes each day. During their only break at 9:30 every evening, they stand with candles along the east side of University Avenue to reflect on the lives lost during the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war.

Long strike feared as city bakes (Toronto Star): "Make serious progress on a deal by this weekend, or settle in for a long, bitter strike. That's the outlook from both the City of Toronto and Canadian Union of Public Employees, whose 30,000 city workers walked off the job at midnight Monday." [More coverage in the Globe and Mail and the National Post.]

Well, this'll probably force a slight change of plans. As you can see, what once was full now is empty: there's distinctly less garbage in the bin outside of Osler Playground today than there was yesterday, and that's because—surprise!—the City is actively directing non-union employees to empty garbage bins from inside some parks.

For a while, it looked like the furry little critters inhabiting Toronto's waste-addled sidewalks and gutters were the only ones getting a break this week. It's bad enough to have the trash piling up in the city's green spaces, themselves untended for the duration of CUPE local 79 and 416's labour action; it's worse that there's such incensed, heat wave–crazy rage that motorists are taking it out on the picketers with their cars. But then we caught wind that the LCBO—our sweet, sweet LCBO—would throw down as well, possibly walking off the job this morning at 12:01 a.m. You can take our services, you can pollute our streets, you can thicken the bouquet of an already fragrant Queen West, but our booze? We're lucky the frenzied, last-possible-second shoppers at Queen's Quay and elsewhere didn't riot yesterday.

Public trashes strikers (Toronto Star): "This is all the union's fault. Scrap the sick-bank system. End the strike. The feeling among GTA residents is clear, according to an Angus Reid poll conducted for the Toronto Star." [More coverage in CityNews.]

It's not enough to have Toronto amass into a literal garbage dump or to bar kids from City-run pools and daycares—now they've stolen the rainbow from the sky.

Caught at 8:45 a.m. this morning, the accumulation of garbage outside of Osler Playground is, somewhat miraculously, mostly confined to where garbage is supposed to go; unlike some of the more dramatic messes in more heavily trafficked locations downtown, the garbage bin is full rather than overflowing. Of course, it can only get steadily worse: the neighborhood's scheduled garbage pick-up is tomorrow, and people like the Star's Royson James are saying that we should "expect the...strike to last well into next month and beyond." Which means that it may not be long before we need to switch to a wider-angle lens.

Well, that didn't take long: with the municipal workers' strike barely a day old, garbage is already piling up across the city, including in local parks. The above photo, taken early yesterday afternoon, shows a heap of refuse at Christie Pits; trash cans across Toronto are also starting to overflow, despite efforts by city workers to seal many bin openings with plastic wrap and signs imploring residents not to litter.

Ed McMahon passed away earlier today; an article about his life, by Lynn Elber of the Associated Press, opens by describing McMahon as "the loyal Tonight Show sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding 'H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny' for 30 years," and currently stands as the most-viewed new article on the Globe and Mail's website. The third most-viewed item? The Globe's obituary for Johnny Carson, written by their own John Doyle, published this morning and dated Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 09:03AM EDT—even though Johnny Carson died four and a half years ago.

'No hope' of settling strike this week, union says (Globe and Mail): "While city manager Joseph Pennachetti said Monday he was optimistic a deal with 24,000 unionized indoor and outdoor workers could be reached by the end of the week, the presidents of two civic union locals offered little hope the largest municipal workers strike in Canadian history could be settled swiftly." [More from the Star, the CBC, and CTV. Previous coverage on Torontoist: Strike Watch: Day One.]

The city workers' strike, effective as of midnight last night, likely won't be a pretty one. With broad and wide "service adjustments" to garbage collection, child care, and, perhaps worst of all, our ability to ride ferries to the Island; with massive Pride festivities near; and with stories trickling in of picket-line confrontations, there's word of talks between unions and the City but not much word of progress.

"I was assaulted by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas and his security guards. I am bleeding. Please, I need to file a police report. No joke."

On Friday, the City of Toronto announced the ten finalists for their anniversary song contest. The winning entry, to be announced on August 21 at the CNE, will get five thousand bucks and, the City's press release gushes, "bragging rights as the songwriter of Toronto’s 175th anniversary song."

Toronto city workers on strike (The Globe and Mail): "Toronto residents will be without garbage collection, daycare and a wide range of other services starting today after a legal strike was called by the city’s 24,000 unionized workers. The job action by locals 79 and 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, came just a few minutes after a 12.01 a.m. Monday strike deadline, with city and union negotiators unable to seal a deal on five separate collective agreements. " [More coverage in The Star, The Post, and The Sun. The City of Toronto's complete strike plan is online.]

Clubland crawlers will notice a new visual distraction while wandering the east end of the Entertainment District this weekend. Where partiers once stopped into the northwest corner of Richmond and Duncan to dance to 1980s tunes at Whiskey Saigon, they will now be urged by a refurbished classic neon sign to dial up 1050 AM or 104.5 FM.

Police charge four in debit-card scam (Globe and Mail): "Toronto police have charged four men suspected in running a debit-card-skimming scam across the GTA. Early last year, skimming equipment was installed at 20 different locations in Toronto, as well as York, Durham and Peel regions, police say. Losses so far are estimated at $150,000."

Hey, what do you know—it's Google's Street View car, stuck in traffic! (Lesson learnt, we suppose.) The above photos, captured recently by Torontoist's Nick Kozak, provide a rare close-up of the roof-mounted device used to capture Street View's 360-degree shots, which looks unnervingly like the love-child of Bentham's panopticon and WALL-E.

Yup, it's that time again. With sun umbrellas spread wide open, customers in shorts and shades, and pitchers of the finest local brews waiting to be poured, Toronto's patio season is back in full swing―at least for most bars. But unfortunately for a few, and a few very near and dear to our hearts (and livers), some outdoor havens are left stuck in limbo.

Brace for strike, Toronto residents told (National Post): "With Monday's strike deadline looming, Toronto residents are being told to brace for uncollected garbage and shuttered day care centres, even as city officials said they are still hoping for a settlement with indoor and outdoor employees." [More from the Star.]

ART: Kris Knight’s new paintings suggest to us what might happen if the cast of Blue Velvet turned up at our cottage at the end of November, intending to stay. His new exhibit “Farewell Log Cabin” turns the clock back to the winter season, a time when cabin fever sets in like an old sock on the collective Canadian soul. Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects hosts the opening reception tonight for this disturbing and beautiful solo show, on until July 18 at the gallery. Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects (1082 Queen Street West), 6–9 p.m., FREE.

Harper, Ignatieff hash out EI deal in bid to stave off election (Globe and Mail): "Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff are working on a deal to spare Canadians from a summer election that would see them appoint a blue-ribbon panel to help resolve their differences over boosting employment insurance benefits." [More from the Star and Canwest.]

Extreme makeover for John St. (Globe and Mail): "Under a massive makeover plan to be launched Tuesday by the local Business Improvement Area, John Street would be turned into a promenade linking five of six planned “character precincts” and creating a new north–south spine for a neighbourhood that is best known today for its rowdy Richmond Street club zone."

Watching an Allan King film is like being uncomfortably trapped inside a series of someone else's highly personal moments. Devoid of narration, his documentaries often feature long, uninterrupted takes of critical human events, but never with any whiff of sensationalism.

Last month we reported on the activities of an alliance of individuals and community groups called The Clean Train Coalition, who at that time were just beginning their effort to promote public awareness of some of the environmental hazards, including increased air pollution from diesel exhaust, posed by a rail expansion plan by Metrolinx, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area's new regional transit authority. The plan, currently in its third round of public "open house" commentary periods, will receive community input until the close of its provincially mandated public assessment period on July 30. If the plan were to go ahead unchanged, the result would be the addition of enough tracks to the rail corridor between Union Station and Malton to enable carriers to increase VIA, GO, and freight train traffic to several times current levels. The plan would also would establish a convenient rail link between Union Station and Pearson Airport, to be operated by a private carrier.

Ignatieff to announce Liberals election intentions (Globe and Mail): "Michael Ignatieff faces the latest test of his leadership mettle Monday when he'll announce the Liberal party response to the current Conservative economic report card."

It was twenty years and one week ago today that the Toronto Blue Jays played their first-ever game at the stadium formerly known as SkyDome. They lost 5-3 to the Milwaukee Brewers; Paul Molitor, who’d be the Jays’ World Series MVP four years later, got the first-ever hit at the new ballpark.

Rain puts damper on Bolt's flash at Toronto meet (CBC): "Despite the conditions, the star of the Festival of Excellence, world record holder and triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt, still managed to give the soldout crowd some excitement, generating a buzz the sport of track and field hasn't seen in Canada in more than a decade."

The subway has significant delays or issues from time to time, whether technical, human, or weather related. I can see the screens or hear the PA while I wait on the platform. But riders already on the trains rarely get announcements about problems on the other line, which makes it frustrating to arrive at Yonge/Bloor or St. George to discover that platforms are packed, trains are turning back a few stations away, or running fifteen minutes apart. Why can't the TTC make effective system-wide announcements so commuters know whether to switch to a bus or streetcar to en route, or continue to another crossover station?

Best friends' last moments captured (Toronto Star): "Thursday was becoming Friday, the NBA game was over—the Boston Celtics victorious—and it was time to head home. Dylan Ellis offered to give his best friend, Oliver Martin, and Martin's 22-year-old girlfriend a ride." [More coverage in the Globe and CBC.]

Well, this is awkward.

On Monday night, the Gladstone Hotel held the first of three cross-Canada net neutrality discussions established by SaveOurNet.ca. Speakers included SaveOurNet co-founder Steve Anderson; Rocky Gaudrault, CEO of TekSavvy; Mark Surman, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation; Derek Blackadder, a national representative with CUPE; Raymi Lauren White, of Raymi the Minx; and Sass, of zucket.com. The panel discussed a variety of internet-related topics, including throttling, public infrastructure, and the oligopolies of Bell and Rogers, but most of the debate focused on the movement’s deepest problem: how to sell the concept of net neutrality to average Canadians.

Bob Rae denied entry to Sri Lanka (National Post): "Mr. Rae, who had been critical of how the Sri Lankan government had conducted military operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) before declaring victory on May 18, was being held at Bandaranaike International Airport near Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, according to AFP. P.B. Abeykoon, the controller general of immigration and emigration, told AFP that Mr. Rae was 'barred from entering the country,' adding that he had 'intelligence information that he is supporting the LTTE.'" [More from the Globe. Previous coverage on Torontoist: Torontoist vs. Torontoist in… Tamil Protests.]

Derek Ballantyne—housing activist, former CEO of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), and now COO of Build Toronto—was awarded the tenth Jane Jacobs Prize yesterday afternoon in a small, affection-laced ceremony at the Munk Centre for International Studies. Though award distribution often brings with it a share of bluster, this particular event was laden with warmth and humility, with speakers eager to share credit for their accomplishments and visibly grateful to the woman who gave the prize her name.

Top Tory curses Toronto (Toronto Star): "Toronto's only application for money under the federal government's $4 billion infrastructure stimulus fund was met with a profane dismissal by Transport Minister John Baird yesterday."

Head of eHealth Ontario fired amid contract controversy (National Post): "Ontario Health Minister David Caplan said [yesterday] he was firing of the head of eHealth Ontario amid a growing contract controversy at the provincial agency tasked with creating electronic health files." [More coverage in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.]

The "Night In The Big House @ THE DON JAIL," scheduled for tonight, was to be the rave of the season. But a note posted to the Facebook event page on Thursday morning called it off: "As of 10am on Thursday, June 04, 2009 the Ontario Realty Corporation, an arm of the provincial government and the agency that controls the Old Don Jail has cancelled our event on Friday, June 5, 2009 and ALL other events for the Old Don Jail in the near future."

A few days ago, we saw a handsome red-winged blackbird, with its distinctive red and yellow shoulder bars, happily chirping away in a tree in a backyard. Then, like something out of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, it dive-bombed towards us, shrieking as it spread its wings and raised its talons. Frightened, we ran inside—ceding the backyard to our winged foe. If, like us, you’ve recently been traumatized (or embarrassed) by a red-winged blackbird, don’t worry: you're not alone.

Talks halted as city, CUPE cite other's bad faith (Toronto Star): "A dispute over sick time has derailed talks between the City of Toronto and its biggest union local, with each accusing the other of bargaining in bad faith." [More coverage in the Globe and the Post.]

It turns out that if you want to be a successful poet and $50,000 richer, you better consider going by your initials. The ninth annual Griffin Poetry Prize winners were announced last night at the Fermenting Cellar in the Distillery District, with A.F. Moritz winning the Canadian award for his book of poetry The Sentinal and American poet C.D. Wright winning the International prize for her book, Rising, Falling, Hovering.

Last night's Pug Awards for the city's best and worst new architecture had it all: Big buildings! Big winners! Big ideas! Big plans! And—thanks to Councillor Adam Vaughan—big awkwardness!

Humane Society president should resign, foes say (Globe and Mail): "With an animal cruelty investigation under way, the board of directors of the Toronto Humane Society will be meeting in the coming days to address allegations of animals suffering and poor shelter management." [More coverage in CP24 and CityNews.]

For a Torontonian, walking through downtown Detroit on an ordinary Saturday afternoon is an eerie, Rod Serling–esque experience: where're all the people? Nobody’s around. From time to time a rolling vehicle will pass by, on the lookout for a safe lot. It is a desolate, almost post-nuclear dystopia, where every storefront and sidewalk is as deserted as a Chrysler dealership. Even ten or fifteen minutes out from the downtown core, there aren't many locals in sight. Perhaps the odd drifter hustling tourists in a near-empty McDonald’s or Burger King. The savvy eat in their parked cars, while roving police cruisers outnumber pedestrians and pleasant chatter by a wide margin. Portraits of yesteryear glories hang wherever you go, and you’d like to think this famous city has more heart than a Michaëlle Jean snack, but downtown NoMo-town is undeniably a lifeless, soulless scene.

Earlier this morning at their head offices, the TTC announced changes to its Metropass fleet, with the aim of making counterfeiting, as Chief General Manager Gary Webster put it, a "tougher issue for the bad guys"—and with the not altogether unintended consequence of making the passes a little nicer to look at now, and a lot nicer to look at as of April next year.

Today doesn't mark any kind of numerically significant anniversary for the fire that destroyed six buildings near the intersection of Queen Street West and Bathurst Street on Feburary 20 of last year. There's no nice, round number of days, years, or months to occasion this post. The timing here might be inconvenient, but then so was the fire's. (5 a.m. on a Wednesday?) So we're not totally out of line.

Toronto councillors seek to sue on public dime (National Post): "Toronto councillors could soon be able to sue each other, the media or members of the public for libel and have their legal bills covered by the city under a policy approved yesterday by the executive committee. Although councillors can currently defend themselves from libel actions with taxpayer money, a policy permitting them to launch defamation suits with public funds would be a Canadian first, according to a city report." [More from the Toronto Star.]

                                   

As Emirates flight 241 approached the runway on its inaugural flight into Toronto yesterday afternoon, a few audible gasps could be heard from the crowd gathered against the windows of Terminal 1. There was no debate: this aircraft was enormous. For most, it was the first time they had seen an Airbus A380—the world's largest passenger aircraft—in person, and Toronto is currently the only city in the Americas where the airline flies the plane. For the VIPs gathered, the excitement also came with some stern words for the federal government.

From General to Government Motors (Toronto Star): "Ontario's $3.5 billion share of the rescue package for General Motors has helped push the provincial deficit to at least $18.5 billion, a record amount that is almost one-third higher than the McGuinty government's projection made in March." [More coverage in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and at the CBC.]

For almost a year and a half now, some of Canada’s major ISPs, including Bell and Rogers, have defended their throttling practices by arguing that excessive BitTorrent traffic is crippling their networks. Open-internet proponents, like Michael Geist, SaveOurNet.ca, and even Google, have questioned the telecoms' motives and asked the CRTC to step in and stop throttling. Geist further argues that throttling, high prices, and slow speeds, are reducing Canada’s competitiveness in the new digital economy. Today, a report released by the OECD on broadband growth and distribution, revealed that Canada’s broadband services are among the slowest and the most expensive in the developed world. In terms of price per megabyte, Canada ranks twenty-eighth overall, just ahead of Mexico and Poland. With the CRTC’s July traffic-management hearings fast approaching, net-neutrality advocates are working overtime to spread awareness of the issues and rally Canadians behind their cause.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to shout at your coworkers to shut the hell up because you—unlike those gabby, inconsiderate fools—are actually trying to get some work done? Chances are the yearning has crossed your mind, before being promptly snuffed out by the fear of getting your walking papers in the process. That second part of the equation—the self-restraint—seems to have been overlooked today by one unfortunate CBC Newsworld translator who, during an announcement by Minister of Public Safety and MP for York-Simcoe Peter Van Loan, suddenly stopped providing French-to-English interpretation in order to yell "I can't hear! Fuck!" at one of her (by now probably former) colleagues.

Nothing’s official yet; so far there’s just a rescheduled game between Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls. It would appear, however, that the move was made in order to free up Toronto FC and BMO Field for what would be the biggest occasion in the fledgling team’s history: an exhibition match against Real Madrid on August 7.