The TTC is looking at eliminating the free parking spaces allotted to Metropass holders at the 16 lots they own around the city. TTC Chair Adam Giambrone contended that the free spaces were costing the TTC more money than they brought in, which sounds like a valid argument until you remember that parking spots, like guns, are a God-given right. The Canadian Press is reporting that a new survey shows that these days Canadian... [continue]

The Maple Leaf Foods meat recall has been extended to encompass more than 200 products made by the Toronto facility, and is expected to cost upwards of $20 million. In completely unrelated news, millions of Canadians have decided that maybe they're just going to have a salad for lunch today. The Beijing Olympics have finally drawn to a close, and the games have been receiving mixed reviews. Torontoist also has mixed feelings about the... [continue]

More than 150 people have died after a plane bound for the Canary Islands crashed in Madrid yesterday. The plane failed in its first attempt to take off and passengers were initially told they might have to disembark in order to board a new plane. 19 people survived. One person has died and at least 16 others are ill in the aftermath of a listeriosis outbreak. The outbreak is believed to have originated at... [continue]

Canada increased its medal count yesterday at the Beijing Olympics with medals in trampoline and triathlon, as well as a silver medal in the Equestrian team jumping event. It was a real team effort, and everyone gets a medal...except for the horses who did all the damn work. Sure, the horses will tell you that they do it for the love of the sport, but a little recognition never hurts, you know? A man... [continue]

Four children aged approximately 8 to 9 years old were taken to hospital yesterday after ingesting or coming into contact with a pool cleaning agent—believed to be muriatic acid—at a Royal Canadian Yacht Club swimming pool yesterday. For those of you unfamiliar with the name "muriatic acid," you will be relieved to find out that it's just another name for plain old hydrochloric acid. Aren't you relieved? The area surrounding the Rogers Centre was... [continue]

Senior firefighter Robert Leek died yesterday and Sunrise Propane company employee Parvinder Saini is still missing following yesterday's explosions and blaze at a fuel facility near Wilson and Keele. Many residents were able to return to their homes on Sunday evening, though up to 3,000 residents were prevented from doing so because of concerns over asbestos. Two Montreal police officers were injured—including one officer shot in the leg—during a riot this weekend in a... [continue]

Federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion hints that Canadians may be ready for a federal election this fall. Still, Dion is hoping to receive a signed, notarized affidavit from every single Canadian of voting age assuring him that they are absolutely, 100 percent cool with having an election; otherwise it's off. The European Union's environment commissioner has put forward a proposal to ban seal products from countries that "practice cruel hunting methods," a move that... [continue]

The wireless spectrum auction being held by Industry Canada to sell off 300 spectrum licenses has closed, with 40% of the spectrum licenses being set aside for new competitors in the wireless industry and $4.25 billion in revenue going to the Feds. The Financial Post speculates that competition will increase and prices will decrease, and also notes that: "It is widely assumed that all new entrants will lease bandwidth space on Rogers' networks." Ever... [continue]

Toronto's city councillors have voted to change the rules governing their office budgets, which includes the elimination of alcohol with meals with staff, mileage compensation to and from City Hall, and compensation for raffle tickets or silent auction bids. On the bright side, Torontoist's corporate booze budget is at an all-time high. Statistics Canada recently released data indicating that Canada's crime rate is at a 30-year low, with reductions in violent crimes such as... [continue]

Omar Khadr's lawyers recently released video footage of Khadr's interrogation by CSIS agents in hopes that the video would embarrass the Prime Minister and garner sympathy from Canadians. Unsurprisingly, the PM's office wasn't hearing that noise. Clearly these lawyers don't know how hard it is to embarrass Stephen Harper. Speaking of Canadians in trouble in the States, Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page was arrested in Fayetteville, New York for possession of cocaine and marijuana.... [continue]

Federal Industry Minister Jim Prentice has demanded a meeting with the honchos from Bell and Telus so they can explain to him exactly why they decided to charge their pay-per-use users 15¢ per received text message, calling the decision "ill thought-out." Canadian technology users are consequently planning to demand a meeting with Minister Prentice to ask him to explain ACTA and Bill C-61, calling them "ill thought-out." Recently released documents have revealed that Canadian... [continue]

Two Toronto police officers, along with three correctional officers and a real estate agent among others, were arrested yesterday for producing and distributing marijuana during a takedown of 63 grow ops across the GTA. Torontoist has made a principled decision not to make jokes about police malfeasance, mainly because our real names are printed at the bottom of each post. Remember that time you were shopping and had to go to the bathroom really... [continue]

Photo by ettml from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. Although Torontoist has always been known for its sunny disposition and positive outlook on life, we have on a few occasions been less than effusive in our praise of the de facto real estate web search king, mls.ca. A poor (very, very poor) search function, crappy pictures (when available), and often useless information (telling us a property is in "C03" doesn't narrow it down very much)... [continue]

Many of you have sat behind, beside, adjacent to, or perhaps even in front of (on a particularly unlucky day) that one doofus at the ball game who will not shut up, constantly exhorting his precious "team" to "win the game." He is only able to continue this abominable behaviour due to a combination of the celebrated Torontonian reserve and mild inebriation of his fellow fans. You've probably seen him at the Leafs or... [continue]

Despite the fact that it's damn near impossible to find an unoccupied treadmill at the gym after work, the Toronto Sun is reporting that a large portion of Torontonians—one-third, in fact—are overweight. More disturbing (except perhaps to a small but dedicated group of fetishists) is the fact that one in nine Torontonians is considered obese. In total, 40.4% of Torontonians are considered to be over their acceptable weight, based on the Body Mass Index,... [continue]

Not satisfied with the long odds currently on offer at Ontario's casinos, problem gamblers have found a new way to probably not win an obscene amount of money. According to the CBC, problem gamblers who have voluntarily excluded themselves from casinos are filing a $3.5 billion lawsuit against the OLG, claiming that the system that is intended to keep them out of casinos doesn't work. The gamblers identify themselves to casinos under the "self-exclusion"... [continue]

Planning a trip in the next little while? Better make sure you don't have any illegally (or even legally) downloaded media on your laptops or MP3 players when you're crossing the border—if you don't want a hassle, that is. The Vancouver Sun is reporting that the Feds are "secretly" negotiating an agreement (known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement [ACTA]) with other like-minded countries, including the U.S. (surprise!), Japan, South Korea, and members of the... [continue]

We hope your package is ready. You know, your application to be one of the few, the elite, the highly trained, and (hopefully) strangely attired TTC Subway Musicians. Today marks the first day that applications will be accepted for aspiring banjo/didgeridoo/french horn virtuosos who plan to entertain (and likely make a small fortune from) the warm and receptive commuters who patronize the TTC's subway system. The Subway Musicians program has grown considerably since the... [continue]

If you're like us, you've been waiting to put that old shopping cart you lugged home from the grocery store one day to good use. Well, what if we told you that you could participate in an event that allowed—nay, encouraged—you to dress up in a silly outfit while pushing said cart in a death fun race? Enter the Idiotarod Toronto 2008. Based very loosely on the famous (mostly for icicle-encrusted beards) Iditarod Trail... [continue]

If you happen upon a group of tourists decked out in Chicago Bears regalia (with or without helmets) on your daily commute to work in the next few days, we think we may know the reason why. The Chicago Tribune recently informed its readers that a visit to Toronto would be well worth their while. The author of the article—who claims to have visited Toronto 137 times—recommends "10 Things To Love" about Toronto; let's... [continue]