Torontoist » “The Ontario”

Ford Never Sorry, Sikh Refused Constitutional Right To Brain Injury, UN Must Not Be On Crack

Patrick Metzger — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:00:00 +0000

City councillor, unintentional humourist, and Torontoist favourite Councillor Rob Ford has grabbed himself some headlines again. He refuses to apologize for his comments on Wednesday, “the Oriental people, they’re slowly taking over…they’re hard, hard workers,” because his sweeping generalization was intended as “a compliment.” However, a spokesperson for the Canadian Council of Lazy Asians has said that the remarks were “deeply offensive.”
A devout Sikh man has lost his bid to overturn the law requiring all motorcyclists to wear helmets. The Crown rejected Baljinder Singh Badesha’s assertion that helmet laws infringe his religious freedom to wear a turban, arguing that non-helmeted riders were far more likely to be seriously injured in any accident, with the medical costs passed along to society. There’s actually a potential compromise here—if Badesha would waive his right to any medical treatment necessitated by his irrationality, then when he inevitably cracks his head open on a curb (or “joins the Gary Busey fan club,” as it’s known in biker circles), the rest of us can contemplate the folly of interfering with natural selection without having to pay for it.
In the misty Otherworld of U.S. politics, the Clinton team is demanding that the primaries in Florida and Michigan, which don’t count, should count, on account of she won them. The Democratic party may hold the primaries again, giving the tiny group of voters who choose from the tiny pool of candidates the ability to maintain the fantasy that this has something to do with democracy. The issue is particularly sensitive in Florida, where many people still think Al Gore is President.
The United Nations has slammed Canada for programs that provide free crack pipes to drug users in three cities, including Toronto. The Ontario Ministry of Health stands behind their programs, saying that they are essential for poor single parents and others who otherwise might not be able to afford recreational crack use.
A report to be released by the Department of Natural Resources says that climate change will lead to more “ice storms, torrential downpours, floods, droughts and landslides” in Canada. On the other hand, Canadian wines may be improved by the warmer weather, and it’ll help to have a little buzz going as the environment collapses.
Also, we’re getting a whack more snow this weekend, and you get to lose an hour of sleep to daylight savings time. Welcome to March, and sorry about everything.
Photo by Jamuudsen from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

ROM Threat

David Topping — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:50:05 +0000

Photo by David Topping.
A mysterious bag discovered in an alleyway beside the Royal Ontario Museum at about 7:00 p.m. tonight has shut down all traffic––pedestrian and vehicular––on Bloor between St. George and University and on Queen’s Park southbound from Bloor and Harbord.
UPDATE (10:45 p.m.): CTV is now saying that police have found “what appears to be a pipe bomb,” and that the building was (half-)evacuated (contrary to what we were originally told). They also mention a “A YouTube video entitled “Fake footage of the fake bombing at the ROM, Toronto” [that] appears to show two people staging the event.”
UPDATE (11:05 p.m.): CTV is now saying that it was a definite hoax, with police confirming that the bomb was not real (though there was something that was made to look like a bomb). The videos, however, do exist: the first one is displayed below; the second is after the fold. The videos––both uploaded by a user named toadmeat––are tagged with, among other things, “terrorism” and “recontextualization.”

An AIDS fundraising gala, beginning at 9 p.m., was cancelled as a result of the threat.
UPDATE (11:50 p.m.): Another video uploaded in January by the same user on YouTube––a rendering of the World Trade Center being crashed into by jet planes, though hearts flow out of it (and Osama Bin Laden stands and waves on the roof before jumping off) while Bob Dylan’s “The Man in Me” plays––contains this description: “My humble experiments with the 3D animation program 3D Studio Max at The Ontario College of Art and Design. Osama showing some love for NYC and using his Mujahideen ninja moves for good.”
The video, like several other uploaded by “toadmeat,” is credited to “Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson.” A quick search of Facebook turns up two listings for the name at OCAD, both with the same photo, both class of 2009.
UPDATE (11/29, 5:40 p.m.): We’ve interviewed Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson about the whole mess.
The second video and a few more photos are after the fold.

Photos by David Topping.

Condo Conflict, People Luckier Than You, TTC Considering New Services Not To Provide

Patrick Metzger — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:00:00 +0000

Police had to quell trouble at the One Bloor condo site yesterday, as queue-jumpers moved in on agents and spotholders who had been standing in line for as long as a week. Although the interlopers were ultimately forced to the back of the line, many of those waiting were still too late to buy a unit in the development. One dissatisfied linestander said, “When do I get my iPhone?”
A Caledon couple won $18.5 million in the Lotto 6/49 on Saturday, only hours after scoring a $13,000 jackpot at Casino Rama. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, delighted with the publicity, is preparing a new marketing campaign with the theme “Working Is For Suckers.”
Stephen Harper declared yesterday that there will be a public inquiry into decade-old allegations of corruption against former PM Brian Mulroney, only hours before the RCMP announced that they will also be conducting a review. A disgruntled Mulroney said that while the enquiries are a good start, he would not be satisfied until every agency, commission, institution, organization, man, woman and child in the country were formally investigating his activities.
The TTC is considering the possibility of someday maybe possibly introducing cellphone coverage into parts of the subway system. The move, which if approved could happen within our grandchildren’s lifetime, is part of an overall study designed to see how the system could be brought into the early ’90s.
In hockey, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 last night, which isn’t very interesting except that it gave the Sun the chance to use the gay porn headline “McCabe’s latest overtime gaffe proves costly as Canadiens ride hot goalie.”
Photo by William Self from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Come Together, Right Now…To End Poverty

Stacey Kityana — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:00:00 +0000

The Ontario Coalition For Social Justice and Make Poverty History believe there need not always be dissonance when electioneering and rock n’ roll meet. This Monday’s Vote Out Poverty gala at Massey Hall promises to be a “coming together of people from all walks of life and political allegiances gathering for an evening of entertainment united by a desire to reduce poverty in Ontario, Canada and the world,” and will feature a multi-partisan mashup of songsters and speakers. Mary Walsh is hosting, Stephen Lewis is keynoting, George Stromboloupoulos is Stromboloupoulizing, and Susan Aglukark, The Nylons, The Hidden Cameras, and Blackie And The Rodeo Kings are folking and/or rocking.
Videos about the experiences of Torontonians living in poverty will also be shown, and all the major political parties’ leaders have been invited to have their say, including the Greens. But Frank De Jong is not the only one being let in––unlike most big name benefits, this one is designed to be somewhat accessible to folks with low income. It’s suggested that you pay one hour’s wages to see the show, starting at $8.00, with all proceeds going towards covering the cost of the event, as well as anti-poverty initiatives.
Photo by destinelee on Flickr.

Ontario Loves Nukes, Canada Loves Felicien, Helmsley Loved Dog

Patrick Metzger — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:50:13 +0000

The Ontario government will spend around $27 billion on nuclear power between now and 2025 in a bid to keep the lights on in the province. If history is any indicator, the nuke plans will be characterized by inefficiencies, unanticipated delays,and massive cost overruns, but will at least ensure that future generations have access to a secure supply of radioactive waste.
14 teens have been arrested in a series of violent muggings in Toronto’s west end. Under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the youths cannot be named, or for the most part, punished, but many will probably be grounded for a good long time.
Famously awful and recently dead billionaire Leona Helmsley has left US$12 million to her Maltese dog, Trouble, meaning that the little white fluffball has more money right now than you’ll make in your entire life. Just something to ponder as you rummage through your pockets to see if you can afford the streetcar this morning.
In actual Toronto-related news, Canadian hurdler Perdita Felicien won the silver medal in the 100-metre hurdles at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, marking her comeback from a disastrous fall in the 2004 Olympics. Although Felicien was narrowly beaten by Michelle Perry of the U.S., the Pickering native still has a way cooler name.
Photo by c.hernandez from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Good Day For Blind TTC Riders, Bad Day For Investors And Citizenship Ministers

Patrick Metzger — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:30:24 +0000

Proving that New Democrats actually are allowed to have a sense of humour, former provincial cabinet minister and federal candidate Marilyn Churley commented on the dearth of women in the Ontario legislature by suggesting that there were not enough Janes and too many Dicks in provincial politics. You go, girl.
Speaking of dicks at Queen’s Park, Citizenship Minister Mike Colle has resigned after the Auditor-General revealed that his office had awarded more than 32 million dollars to ethnic and cultural groups with “virtually no controls.” See, it’s easy to get funding from the Province as long as you don’t want to keep a library open or something.
Following a two year battle by blind lawyer David Lepofsly, The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered that TTC drivers must call out all stops on their routes. The TTC’s argument that it would be “too dangerous” was rejected by the tribunal, probably because it’s stupid.
It’s been a nasty week on the stock markets, with the benchmark Canadian S&P/TSX index dropping by almost 5%. The sell-off was triggered in the U.S., where it’s beginning to dawn on investors that a collapsing housing market and a 9 trillion dollar national debt are the kinds of things that can eventually bite you in the ass.
Photo by jgrantmac from the Torontoist Flickr pool.

Crime, Tories Decline In Tandem, Nutrition Hotline To Be Underutilized

Patrick Metzger — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:30:09 +0000

The crime rate in Canada dropped 3% last year, hitting its lowest overall rate in 25 years, with the GTA one of the least criminally inclined of Canadian cities. Politicians and police agencies will want to take credit for the decline, but the explanation can more likely be found in recent census data which noted the accelerating codgerization of Canadian society.
The Conservatives fell 3 points in opinion polls last month, in spite of a cross-country tour by Stephen Harper. Apparently the angry android persona isn’t selling well—maybe the PM could take advantage of his natural stiffness by adopting the robot dance as his signature move at public appearances.
The Ontario government has launched a new EatRight telephone service to help provide information on food and health. Now you have somewhere to call and have the question “do these pants make me look fat?” answered in 120 different languages.
City councillors yesterday declined an opportunity to roll back their 9% salary increase as a response to the predicted fiscal crunch. The move led to heated debate between the “Let them eat cake” group and the opposing “Won’t somebody please think of the children” faction.
An out of control tractor-trailer crashed through a bus shelter and into a sporting goods store at the intersection of Warden and Lawrence yesterday, killing one woman and injuring her baby and several other people. The intersection was noted as one of the most dangerous in Toronto back in 2002.
photo by smlgphotos from Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Vintage Toronto Ad: Space-Age Grocery Shopping

Jamie Bradburn — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:30:01 +0000

Airy, high ceilings. Store shapes and frontages that smashed the standard box shape.
As grocery stores evolved from small neighbourhood branches into large supermarkets in the 1950s, new trends in architecture were seized upon to draw in consumers with the promise of a shining, ultra-convenient future. The unveiling of the design for the city’s new City Hall in late 1958 gave Dominion a prime opportunity to unveil sketches of new styles of supermarkets as the company hit its 40th anniversary.
As for Dominion’s future, it remained a coast-to-coast presence among Canadian shoppers until parent company Argus Corporation, under the watchful eye of Conrad Black, broke the chain apart in the 1980s. The Ontario remnants went to A&P Canada, Newfoundland’s eventually wound up with Loblaws, the rest to various parties. Black’s public comments about Dominion were made in his typical low-key manner—during a pension dispute with its employees, Black noted that “it’s sometimes difficult for me to work myself into an absolute lacrimose fit about a work force that steals on that scale…We are not running a welfare agency for corrupt union leaders and a slovenly work force.”
Of the store designs shown here, some never made it off the drawing board, while others were modified before becoming reality. Take a look at older Dominion branches (or those converted to Food Basics or other A&P Canada monikers) around the GTA and see if you find traces of these space age sketches.
Source: Toronto ’59: One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Anniversary

Kicked Out Of The Country, Caucus, and Canada’s Game

Amanda Buckiewicz — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:10:11 +0000

Ottawa denies entrance to Nelson Mandela’s wife. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was supposed to give a speech at a fundraiser gala last night, but was told that she was denied a visa because she had been previously convicted of kidnapping and fraud. The fact that she was allowed in the United States three weeks ago means nothing. Come on, the U.S. never lets anyone in!
The Ontario government is handing over $4 million to keep kids busy this summer. Schools in certain areas of the city, like at Jane and Finch, will remain open to provide activities for local kids during the summer months. The budget had originally called for $100 000 to go towards the project, but with the recent shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners, the government realised that these kids are worth much more.
Is your water contaminated? The province will release its results from tests on tap water in 35 cities either today or tomorrow. It was recently discovered that Queen’s Park had high lead in its water, prompting them all to switch to bottled water and killing the environment just a little bit more.
A Conservative MP was kicked out of caucus after voting against the Conservative budget. Bill Casey, from Nova Scotia, said that the budget meant his province had to make a choice between provincial equalization payments and benefitting from offshore oil and gas revenues. He is now sitting as an independant MP, and will be sleeping on the couch until he smartens up his act.
And the Senators play in Anaheim tonight in what could be the last game of the season. Will the Sens choke? Probably.
Photo by gbalogh from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

PostSecret Meeting This Thursday

Cal MacLean — Sun, 27 May 2007 19:20:17 +0000

Three years ago, Frank Warren printed 3000 postcards inviting people to share a secret with him. Long since he stopped handing these first postcards out at subway stations and art galleries, he continues to receive secrets from around the world. Each week, Warren posts some of these on PostSecret, the largest advertisement-free blog on the internet. He has also published three books compiling some of these secrets: PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives, My Secret (secrets from teenagers and college students), and The Secret Lives of Men and Women.
PostSecret is updated on Sundays, and this week Warren announced his upcoming appearance in Toronto. According to the blog, the details are as follows:

Place: The Ontario College of Art and Design (100 McCaul Street.)

Date: May 31st (Thursday)

Time: 8:00 pm

This is the only event planned for Canada this year so please arrive early, space is limited. Call my recorded message for more information about this free event, 1-647-477-8427.

In the recorded message, Warren describes that the event will include a multimedia presentation, a video, and book signing.
Look for Torontoist’s interview with Warren over the next few days. In the meantime, you can read more about the PostSecret project here or join the Facebook group for Thursday’s event.

Licenses Are The New Passports, Harper Slags Bains’ Family, Google Flips Microsoft The Bird

Karen Whaley — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:20:33 +0000

Toronto’s overwhelming reception of Al Gore yesterday prompted David Miller to toughen his stance on climate change. Mayor Miller promised an aggressive change in policy on pollution, transit and construction, which will be formally proposed in late March.
The Ontario government may have come up with a way around the new U.S.-Canada passport rules. A new super-secure driver’s license is in talks, which would feature “laser engraving, holograms, currency-like print quality and other security measures invisible to the naked eye”.
It’s official. Ontario’s Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Gerretsen isn’t giving David Miller any help with the Queen West Triangle condo project.
Stephen Harper made some inappropriate remarks about Mississauga-Brampton South MP Navdeep Bains’ father-in-law, who was interviewed by the RCMP in connection to the Air India bombing. Liberals were outraged, and mass booing ensued.
Prince Harry is being deployed to Iraq this spring. Hello Magazine will follow.
Google to Microsoft: “Suck on this, bitches!” Google is releasing a paid version of their web-based applications, a.k.a. Google Apps, just as Microsoft is persuading businesses to upgrade to the latest version of Office. Microsoft Office is notoriously sucky, and Google’s new software includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and calendar management. I wonder which one I’ll choose…
Photo courtesy of 2.8.

Gerald Ford Passes, Shopping For the Masses, and Hey! Less Violence!

Christopher Bird — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:15:00 +0000

Former U.S. President Gerald Ford dead at 93. Not really much to say here: he was by all accounts an extremely decent man who served honorably. (Unless you are of the belief that all politicians are by their very nature forked-tongue devils, which is not the most uncommon belief out there.) I suppose Chevy Chase has one less go-to joke in his arsenal, though, which makes this an extremely sad day for Chevy Chase.
Ontario energy officials are wary of Ottawa’s nuclear energy plans for Ontario. The Ontario provincial government at odds with the feds? That’s un-possible!
An estimated six million Canadians (half of them Ontarians) hit the Boxing Day sales yesterday. Of those six million, approximately six came out of the Future Shop/Best Buy sales thinking “wow, that was really worthy of the hype.” (No, no, I kid. Forty bucks off an iPod that’ll be sixty bucks cheaper inside of six months is a huge deal.)
Gun crime, murder and and shootings declined in Toronto in 2006, down from 2005. I think we can all agree that that is pretty good! (No, no, I’m kidding. Come on, there’s going to be someone who can tell us why this is bad. Come on! Somebody hit me with some sociology here!)
And the Leafs beat the Wild last night, protecting their precarious tied-for-eighth-place-in-the-East slot.
Image from – unsurprisingly – the Time online archive.