Photo of Howard Moscoe at March's OCAP protest by Miles Storey. His forty-six friends include Adam Giambrone, Bob Rae, Adam Vaughan, David Miller, John Tory, Dalton McGuinty, and the Ottawa Citizen. His political views are "Left wing and a prayer." He's interested in "Friendship" and "Networking." His lone activity is "sculpting wooden birds." He cleans "council furniture with the Mayor's toupees at the start of council meetings." His favourite TV show is the Glenn......

Ontario considers electronics recycling fee. The proposed fee, already in operation in other provinces, would get tacked on when you purchase electronic items and would pay for provincial electronics recycling centres. It's a simple, feasible solution to a problem we need to deal with, and we have evidence it already works, so six months from now it will likely be the focus of a maelstrom of public debate as people declare that an extra......

The above video—not safe for work unless you're using headphones—was shot by the late Peter Walker and is a clip from Min Sook Lee's documentary Hogtown: The Politics of Policing (winner of the best Canadian feature prize at Hot Docs 2005). Uploaded to YouTube fewer than three weeks ago, it's been passed around online over the last few days, since being linked to by Toronto Life's Philip Preville in a Friday blog post. The......

TTC workers may opt for a work-to-rule or slowdown campaign rather than an out-and-out strike—moves which could include actions such as refusing to collect fares, adhering to rules of the road, and not wearing uniforms. Union President Bob Kinnear's comments indicate that they'd prefer the less drastic action so as not to antagonize the public. Hmmmm, let's see...empty pier...tearful relatives waving goodbye from the wharf...yep, sorry, Bob, that ship has definitely sailed. Controversial city......

When we named councillor Rob Ford as one of 2007's Villains for his consistent insensitivity, political grandstanding, and outright idiocy (witness statements like, "I can't support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it's their own fault at the end of the day," and, "If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you won't get AIDS probably"), we couldn't have......

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......

City councillor Rob Ford has at times been accused of making a career out of saying tremendously stupid things, but we here at Torontoist fully back his latest proposal to automatically name all new streets in Toronto after dead soldiers, even if the dead soldiers aren't from Toronto. If anything, we think Rob Ford doesn't go far enough. Sure, families of Canadian soldiers killed in action receive an immediate $250,000 death benefit plus an......

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. That’s right. We said it. Hate is a villain. Torontonians spend a whole lot of time complaining. It’s only......

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. Rob Ford has said some remarkably stupid things during his tenure as a City Councillor. We could harp upon......

Torontoist has been saying for years that City Council provides better bang for your buck than any other piece of live entertainment in this city. At absolutely no cost (unless you count, you know, taxes), you can attend this extravaganza that combines the spectacle and epic scale of a mega-musical with the manic energy of a really good Fringe show. Each run lasts two consecutive days a month but is often held over to......

Despite loud public complaints, Toronto City Council has begrudgingly approved Astral Media's street furniture bid with a few conditions: reduce the total amount of per square foot advertising, guarantee that all billboards follow city bylaws, estimate how much energy will be used illuminating advertisements, and ensure there is no loophole in the contract which would allow Astral to screw the city over. The council was more enthusiastic about endorsing a $159.5 million taxpayer-financed office......

City budget passes: 7.9 billion smackers for the year. Noteworthy: city councillors decided that keeping their free golf passes was extremely important. I don't think most of Rob Ford's proposed budget cuts are anything but hamfisted, but come on, City Council—pay for your own goddamned golf game, willya? TTC worker killed, causing shutdown of the city's busiest subway line for an entire day. Most interesting note: he was part of the only asbestos removal team......

It's hardly a newsflash to report that Toronto's bike lanes consistently need a lot of work. Putting aside the City's abysmal recent history implementing the official Bike Plan and ignoring the imbecilic comments from Councillors Ford and Ootes, bicycle lanes are often more dangerous than they should be, and much of the fault lies with how these dedicated lanes are maintained. Bicycle lanes require particular care because of where they're designated. The curbside location......

Each weekday for the next two weeks, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. View the full ladder here. Some highlights from Saturday's matches: 416 trounces 905 (95-12): In perhaps the most dramatic victory of the evening, the Toronto area code showed up the surrounding suburbs in a true show of telecommunications muscle. Miller's Hair buries Zombie Walks (59-47): The closest......

For all time we spend slagging councillor Howard Moscoe even on the worst of days he doesn't come close to the Mouth of Etobicoke, Rob Ford. Many of us have been loud and boorish at a sporting event but only Rob would hand out his City Hall business card to the couple whose evening he ruined. Many councillors don't like the poor but only Rob goes out of his way to attack community grants of......

Everyone is talking about how TTC Operators will now turn a blind eye on those who are evading fares. The union is complaining about the rising number of assaults and "passenger rage." TTC Chair Howard Moscoe says that people still have to pay their fares. The Sun's story is here and has some wacky numbers like the fact that assaults have gone up over 30% in a decade. The Star's piece has more of the......

One of the cabbies stabbed yesterday sadly did not recover from his wounds and died in hospital yesterday. The fact that his killer was caught on tape and his picture is now everywhere is only small consolation. The Boulevard Club has withdrawn its application to take over a chunk of Parkdale beach. Sadly the Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club and the Palais Royale parking lot are still in the works and threatening west side beaches.......

Have you looked at City Council lately? Rob Ford? Denzil Minnan-Wong?! Frances Nunziata?!! Surely there must be better people out there, people that won't make us roll our eyes everytime we watch council by debating the merits of peanuts in city vending machines, or name calling fellow councillors. Think you can do better? Well, here's your chance. Dave Meslin, founder of the TPSC, has started up City Idol (CTV please don't sue them). Over the......

The nuts down at City Hall are at it again. But not the nuts you might think - both Denzil Minnan-Wong and Rob Ford have nutting to do with this one. It's Councilor David Shiner, Ward 24 - Willowdale, who is the nut in this case. He wants to ban the sale of peanuts at city-owned facilities like hockey rinks and community centres. The councilor says the threat of allergies is a good enough reason......

This is more inflammatory Rob Ford-esque reaction to a mildly embattled Mayor Miller. Let's get a few things straight here: a) Fantino would never run. b) Nevermind never getting elected. Regardless, it looks as if the grass-roots campaigns have started. The above poster, around the Queen + Duncan area, looks too ironic to mean anything, but then again so do the average Rob Ford statements.......

Councillor Rob Ford is at it again - drawing attention to himself and his economical ways, that is. The frugaliste has got his no doubt extremely inexpensive panties in a twist over the delivery of a $4700 scanner/copier/printer/fax machine to his office. Apparently, some councillors are saying they were unaware that they were getting new equipment. Ford was incensed because he doesn't want to part with his $150 machine. As for Torontoist, we didn't know......

One more word out of either Councilor Rob Ford or Lindsay Luby, and David Miller is going to turn this car right around. Mssr Miller was prompted to scold both councilors yester day after the two adults, pictured, took to exchanging child-like taunts in chambers this past Tuesday. The spat began with some sort of pot hole complaint, and ended with an emotional Luby confronting Ford off the record. It verbal jabs started when the......