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Newsstand: November 11, 2009
Hipster artbags looking for more variety in their late-night omnomnoms may be in for a nasty surprise: Six months after council slapped a temporary kibosh on all restaurant developments on Ossington, it appears as though there are more restrictions to come. “If resolutions passed at a community council meeting Tuesday go ahead when city council meets at the end of the month,” reports the Globe, “second-floor restaurants are a no-go on the street. Same for rear patios; side patios more than half the size of the restaurant; large, open doors and windows; and any restaurant larger than 175 square metres.”
Remember when we mentioned that Owen Sound was all upset about the Toronto Port Authority’s decision to change the name of the City Centre Airport to the Billy Bishop Memorial Airport in honour of the famous Canadian fighter pilot because they already have an airport with the same name? No? Well, it doesn’t matter—because they’ve gone ahead and done it anyways. And even that doesn’t matter—because critics are calling for the airport’s closing. “Yesterday,” reports the Sun, “opponents of the controversial airport, which has been in operation since 1939 but has come under fire recently from nearby residents, again criticized the port authority, which owns and operates the airport, for ‘mismanagement’ and ‘corporate revisionism.'” Well, at least they didn’t do it today, because today is Remembrance Day, and that would just be disrespectful.
“Soldiers, veterans and members of the public will gather today at solemn ceremonies across the Greater Toronto Area to mark Remembrance Day and honour the country’s fallen military heroes,” CTV News reports before launching into a rather expansive look at events happening around the city today. Everyone knows that we pause for a moment (that being two minutes) of silence at 11 a.m., but did you also know that the TTC does, too? On purpose? And that veterans and peacekeepers can ride for free today? Or that mail service is halted all day, City Hall is closed today, and the LCBO isn’t open until noon? All good things to know if you’re planning to get drunk and loudly get on a bus at 11 to go and see if the mayor got your letter.
And finally, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is calling Toronto a failure. Thrice. “In its case-study report on Canada’s largest city,” reports the CBC, “the Geneva-based OECD says Toronto has a poorly integrated transportation system, suffers from a lack of productivity due to a shortfall in capital investment and is not taking full advantage of its cultural diversity.” On the plus side, however, we do have the largest proportion of foreign-born residents of all the OECD’s thirty participating countries. So…um…suck it, Slovak Republic?