When telling the story of the Holocaust, one effective way to overcome our sheer inability to comprehend the scope and scale of such atrocities is to zoom in on one or two stories: share one particular experience, in all its brutal specificity, and we have at least a small way into the event—the small details illuminate the larger whole.

One theatre company from the Netherlands, Hotel Modern, takes a related approach in KAMP (CAMP). The production depicts a typical day at the Auschwitz concentration camp, but instead of zooming in into a closeup, it shrinks everything down, literally, into miniature. It’s the accumulation of thousands of small details that has the impact in this case.

Eleanor McMahon thinks it’s time to change the conversation around cycling in Ontario.

McMahon is the founder of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, who will be hosting the fifth annual Ontario Bike Summit this week in Toronto. She says that we need to stop talking about things like bike lanes and other bicycle infrastructure as a zero sum game between cars and bikes.

“We do polling, and our polling tells us that 89 per cent of Ontarians are both drivers and cyclists,” she says. “The notion that it’s cars versus bikes is overblown, and it’s really not working anymore. Deciding to change the conversation means going out of our way to poke holes in that idea and say from the get go ‘We don’t buy into that philosophy, and just because you say it, doesn’t make it true.’ ”

A throng of Runnymede-area residents gathered outside Fire Station 424 on Friday night and warmed themselves with Christmas carols and hot chocolate. If it were the middle of the day on a weekend, the whole scene would have seemed like a block party. Instead, it was a rally to save the historic firehall, slated for closure as a cost-cutting measure under the current version of the City’s 2013 operating budget.

“It’s set to close in January,” said Audrey Robinson, a local volunteer with Friday’s rally. “We don’t know what will happen to the property. Hopefully not sold to developers, but there’s a possibility, of course.” It’s the latest west-Toronto landmark up for liquidation under Rob Ford, following last year’s bid to close the High Park Zoo. The case for closing the 1929-vintage firehall has to do with redundancy. With four neighbouring stations, number 424, Ford has said, is “expendable.”

Runnymede residents disagree.

Though the City maintains that first response times would barely be affected by the station’s closure—overlap with neighbouring units renders 424 mostly obsolete, officials say—local residents believe that the station is still important. “There are other stations in the neighbourhood, but this particular station covers this part of the community,” Robinson told Torontoist, “and they get calls daily. A woman right on Runnymede here placed a 911 call last night because EMS wouldn’t get there on time. She was in delivery, going into labour, and [personnel from Station 424] delivered her baby for her. Because they got there in under two minutes.”

Those anecdotal examples aside, area councillor Sarah Doucette (Ward 13, Parkdale-High Park) points to harder, more statistical indications of the station’s importance. “This fire station on first response covers 5,200 students in our local schools every day,” she said during Friday’s rally. “There’s an awful lot of students in one place.” And with residential development underway on Bloor Street across from High Park, the overall population is likely to rise.

Councillor Doucette speaks to residents about the impending closure of Station 424.

Those future condo high-rises will need all the fire services they can get, according to Doucette, because they’re trickier for firefighters to enter. “They don’t just get to the front door of a single-family home,” she said. “They have to then climb the stairs to get to the fire. So by the time they get to the fire, the seconds are counting, and you probably need a second truck. What happens if a Swansea truck is out and they need a backup? Runnymede is the backup.”

As the caroling continued, Doucette spoke a little louder. “This is not what we voted the mayor in for,” she said. “He said no service cuts.” In contrast to Ford’s typical narrative about taxes being universally awful, Doucette said her community is willing to pay more. “They’re quite happy to pay their property tax, maybe increase it a little bit to keep this hall here,” she said. “That’s what I’ve been hearing. You know, if we put this back in the budget, what will the property tax have to increase to? Right now they’re looking at 1.95 per cent.”

The station, a fixture at the corner of Runnymede Road and MacGregor Avenue, also has some heritage appeal. It has stood in the same place since the end of the 1920s. It’s one of the most recognizable firehalls of its kind in Toronto. Residents say it’s an invaluable icon of Runnymede’s past. But even that consideration pales before the very real, very urgent overarching concerns about public safety in a growing neighbourhood.

Doucette remains optimistic. “That’s one thing I love about my neighbourhood,” she told us. “I mean, when the pools were going to be closed, everyone rallied and we came up with a business plan. When they were going to close the Swansea Memorial Library, we saved it within, like, four hours of it being closed. At High Park, we had the Jamie Bell playground rebuilt within months of the fire.

“This is what this community is all about,” she said. “We all work together, and it’s such a good feeling.”

All photos by Himy Syed.

A Toronto resident, all dressed up to share their thoughts about the 2012 budget. Photo by Laura Godfrey/Torontoist.

In cities around the world, the idea of “participatory budgeting” has taken off in recent years. Started in Porto Alegre in 1989 and implemented in various ways in New York and Chicago, the process gives a portion of the budget over to citizens to set their own priorities. Some councillors, like Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East) and Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s) support this idea, arguing it empowers citizens, and promotes civic participation and government transparency.

We don’t have participatory budgeting as part of our budget process right now, but that doesn’t mean residents don’t get a say. You can share your thoughts with your local representative—many are holding community meetings in the coming weeks—and speak at the special meeting city council is convening soon. (You may also, if you wish, groan despairingly.) And while that may not sound like much, as we saw during last year’s all-night budget meetings, it can put enough pressure on city council to force significant changes to the budget before it’s passed.

Here are the key dates to watch out for as Toronto debates its $9.4 billion annual operating budget, and its ten-year, $15.25 billion capital budget.

December 3–5: Budget Presentations
This is the fine-print portion of the proceedings, when City staff explain the budget department by department, and answer questions about specific pieces of the budget posed by councillors. Nuanced details—things that don’t quite make the headlines, but can have real day-to-day effects on how a program or department works—emerge during this stage.

December 10–11: Public Deputations
This is your chance to speak as a formal part of the process. Anyone can sign up to address the Budget Committee, to share thoughts or concerns about the budget. So far this year’s budget has proved to be a much less controversial document than last year, when the core service review motivated hundreds of people to speak to cuts as wide-ranging as student nutrition programs and water fluoridation. Shaping up to get attention this year: the multi-million dollar police deficit; a 104-employee cut in the fire department (including 91 front-line firefighters); spending $505 million over 20 years to repair the Gardiner; and the elimination of the $104,000 Global AIDS Initiative.

You can find out more about how to participate in the budget process on the City’s website.

December 14: The Police Debate
Currently the police service faces a $19.1 million shortfall. Police Chief Bill Blair argues that since 90 per cent of the $927 million police budget is tied up in salaries and benefits, the only way to achieve the City’s budget target would be to lay off front-line officers, which he refuses to recommend. He has gone so far as to suggest he will explore legal remedies to preserve the force’s complement (the number of officers Toronto has is outlined by the provincial government, so there is an appeal mechanism he can pursue). Budget chief and new police board member Mike Del Grande (Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt), on the other hand, has been particularly vocal in arguing that TPS needs to get more efficient. The police board meets on December 14, and they’ll need to settle on the final budget number they put before council.

To help deal with overflow, some residents watched the 2012 budget debate from the City Hall rotunda.

December 12 or 17: Property Assessments
The City gets the final word on how much it can expect from the property tax assessment (CVA) uplift. Staff anticipate this number will be higher than they have accounted for in the draft budget, meaning there will be some new money on the table. The City’s top civil servant, Joe Pennachetti, is strongly recommending that this money be saved for reserves, and not go to the police department to help close their shortfall. (And by “strongly” we mean: he said Toronto would be better off cutting the budget elsewhere or raising property taxes, rather than spending the property assessment money on the police.)

January 7: The Rob Ford Factor
On December 5, Mayor Ford will ask for a stay of the decision that he be removed from office. If that is denied, Ford will vacate his seat on December 10; in that case the budget advanced by his administration in his absence may have a harder time making it through council without changes. If (as most observers anticipate) the stay is granted, Ford will remain in office pending the outcome of his appeal, which will be heard as early as January 7—right in the middle of the budget process.

January 10: Executive Committee
The final draft of the budget goes to the executive committee. This is essentially the mayor’s cabinet, so even if there have been some changes from the original draft, it is likely to look more or less like what we’ve seen by now.

January 15–17: Final City Council Debate
Last year, this became a major showdown, as a centre-left coalition of councillors decided to reverse many of the mayor’s proposed budget cuts. Though the budget itself is less dramatic this year, some councillors are trying to find ways to distance themselves from Ford, which makes this budget ripe for change as well.

In recent weeks, Mayor Rob Ford seems to have shifted his apparent mantra slightly, from the ever-popular “When in doubt, make noise about subways,” (that one was pretty cute), to “When in doubt, make noise about the upcoming 2014 election.” Similar, right? But subtle. It turns out he has been drafting a “budget guidance” letter to city manager Joe Pennachetti that lays out a three-year plan to freeze property taxes and garbage fees, plus build new arenas and pools using private sector dollars.

The letter, unfinished, has been obtained by the Globe and Mail, which forecasts a likely onslaught from a city council that worked so hard to overturn the conditions of this year’s budget. The article also cites municipal politics expert Myer Siemyaticki’s thoughts that Ford’s developing budget proposal indicates an early start on campaigning for the next election.

In a word, too soon.

Staff will wade into the dreaded bedbug issue at today’s Toronto Board of Health meeting. More specifically, they will address a staff report that warns the expiration of one-off provincial funding to combat the public health issue will probably increase bedbug infestations around the city. Yeah, that checks out. No money to combat bedbugs=more bedbugs. The funding largely aided the city’s most vulnerable, such as those living in poverty or people with mental health issues.

While the St. Lawrence Market seems an unlikely source of controversy (’cause it’s so goddamned pleasant there, is all), long-time vendors and customers were furious at this weekend’s news that Jorge Carvalho, the market’s manager for 16 years, has been moved to the city’s real estate services section. Mysteriously, the shift comes shortly after the market got a nod from National Geographic, which referred to it as the world’s best food market. There’s also the elaborate market re-design project (something something, glass, something something) slated to be finished in 2014.

As we mentioned last week, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health David McKeown thinks that pedestrians should get a leg-up (heh) on crossing the street, to potentially minimize accidents. Today, the good doctor will pitch to the Board of Health a proposal to reduce the city’s speed limit by 10 to 20 kilometres an hour.

Toronto budget committee chair Mike Del Grande (Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt) may get some dirty looks at the proverbial water cooler today, though from who and how many, it’s hard to say. In the spirit of fat-trimming, Del Grande says that at today’s budget committee meeting he’ll propose freezing pay levels for all City staff earning upward of $200,000. It’s not totally clear how many individuals occupy this lucky category, or how much “coin” (his words) would be saved by this measure. According to a provincial salary-disclosure list, however, the number of folk who earned this sum or more last year is in the neighbourhood of 30 (including those working at agencies, commissions and boards).

If you didn’t get the memo that the nine city councillors who dwell in the murky space between staunch Ford-ites and hard-and-fast lefties are no longer “mushy” but “mighty,” well, it’s probably in the mail. Headed by Councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence), said councillors held their first official get-together yesterday, with plans to meet again, apparently. Though they didn’t emerge with concrete policies, there was an agreement to defer talk of transit—because, enough already, am I right? (Not their words.)

And…we’re still talking about it. Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 10, York Centre) is proposing a North York Relief Line, with two new lines to carry suburbanites to the north and east ends of the city. Apparently, it’s a somewhat modified, somewhat scaled-back (and according to some transit experts, somewhat smarter) variation on Mayor Rob Ford’s never-realized darling: the Sheppard subway extension. Huh. After floating the idea, Pasternak hooked up with fellow mighty middles, but stayed mum on transportation specifics.

Lastly, Aren’t We Naughty—the Queensway sex shop—has triggered a debate about whether “adult” stores can be part of an area’s image cleanup, and whether condoms and lubricants can be conflated, morally speaking, with other, er, erotic aids.

In anticipation of next year’s city budget negotiations, Toronto Professional Fire Fighters Local 3888 put up a YouTube video Tuesday to remind the public that their positions are essential. Backed by an urgent orchestral soundtrack reminiscent of a cinematic battle scene, the video presents a photo montage of Toronto Fire Services (TFS) crew members in action; superimposed onto these images are captioned statistics.

“For 2010, TFS had 276,729 unit responses,” reads one caption. “Fire Underwriters Survey states we are currently staffed at 2/3 of the standard compliment of staff for Fire Code enforcement,” says another. The city needs more fire fighters, these stats imply. Not less.

The video came out the day after a Toronto Star report of TFS lags in dispatch time, which stated that Toronto trucks average eight minutes or more to get to a fire call when the standard is six minutes or under. Fire chief William Stewart attributed that service gap, in part, to the department’s funding situation.

“With what’s been going on in the city over the last few months, and with several negative comments made about our profession in the last few months, we felt this was one way for us to address the concerns that we had,” says Damien Walsh, vice-president of TPFF Local 3888, told us today. Following interest from a number of the union’s members, Walsh says the video was put together over the last few weeks.

Who are they hoping sees it? “Well certainly our members, and the public,” says Walsh. “We’d like to think both.”

City firefighters have been uneasy since July’s City-contracted KPMG core service review, which eyed TFS as one of the first services to face potential downsizing. It’s what led them to hire former Rob Ford advisor Nick Kouvalis to help with their messaging, in anticipation of layoffs in the 2012 budget. Now, that possibility feels even nearer. While TPFF Local 3888 isn’t expecting their small social-media push to become an overnight viral sensation (it is devoid of cats, after all), it’s become the group’s collective shout in the dark.

“It certainly provides a morale boost for our members who feel that they have been a little underappreciated in the city lately,” says Walsh. “And we see it as an educational tool for the public for them to be able to see what it is that firefighters do.”

Poor Dwight Duncan. Only a couple of weeks into his reassignment as Ontario finance minister, and already the wheels are starting to come off.

Remember last month when the Big Three political parties were fighting for the premier’s golden nameplate in an election that they would all eventually lose? When the campaign started, things were looking up for the provincial economy; maybe we weren’t quite ready to run the marathon but we were yanking out the IVs and getting wheeled to the hospital door.

Confident that Ontario’s literal and figurative fortunes were poised for the ascent to mediocrity, Grits, Tories, and NDP all waxed eloquent about increased spending on healthcare and education, rampant job creation, and for god’s sake no tax increases on working families.

Of course the promised largesse was based on the economy performing as predicted, or maybe a little better. But in September, RBC downgraded their projections of Ontario’s GDP growth for 2012 from 3.1% to 2.4%, with TD prognosticators suggesting 2.3%. Nevertheless, none of the parties changed their assumptions, which were uniformly optimistic at 2.7 to 2.8% annual growth for the next couple of years.

Still, not a disastrous gap. Trim a little fat off the budget, start cutting our own hair, and honey, we can keep the Volvo.

But what a difference a month can make. For a variety of reasons, including the Greek aversion to paying taxes and Italy’s incompetent libertine of a prime minister, European economies are starting to swirl in the bowl, and are making a fair bid at dragging the rest of the world down with them.

The Euro-crisis isn’t the only factor at play here, it’s just the most currently dangerous flare-up of the debt wildfires that are slow-roasting the global economy. But whomever you blame, the local picture isn’t getting any prettier, with 54,000 full-time jobs lost in Ontario last month. Duncan now says that economists are predicting economic growth of only 2.1% for Ontario next year, and even lower growth in fiscal 2013. With corresponding decreases in tax revenues expected, the Ontario government will have to make hard choices about how to allocate their dwindling stash of loonies.

Opportunities for meaningful cuts in the budget are limited. Healthcare accounts for over 40 per cent of Ontario government spending, and no politician will risk headlines about babies and seniors stacked like cordwood in hospital hallways waiting for the last working MRI machine. Education, which accounts for another 26 per cent or so of the the budget, is a barely less explosive topic.

Elimination of the budget deficit, notionally scheduled for fiscal 2018, will be pushed back, increasing government borrowing costs and interest payments.

With Duncan firmly fixed between a rock and a hard place, spending on your favorite government programs and institutions is going to be under the microscope.

That work has already begun. In March, when things still looked relatively rosy, Don Drummond, economist and comrade-in-alliteration to Dwight Duncan, was appointed to head a commission tasked with reviewing the Ontario public service and determining where costs could be cut with minimal impact on services.

However, as Rob Ford has learned, efficiencies aren’t always easy to find, especially when the discovery process is opposed by well-funded and combative labour unions (the Ontario Public Service Employees Union has already called for the Liberals to “Decommission the Drummond Commission”). And if we can’t lose some inefficiencies, we’ll be saying goodbye to something else, maybe a few clicks’ worth of subway track or an all-day kindergarten.

Right now, the finance minister may just be envying his colleagues across the aisle, who can watch the unfolding fiscal squeeze secure in the knowledge that they aren’t expected to do anything about it except complain. Because even it it’s not Dwight Duncan’s fault, this is what he signed up for.