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Newsstand: November 26, 2009
After a grizzly bear named Samson almost clawed his way from his thirty-five-year-old pen at the Toronto Zoo to freedom Monday night, frustrated keepers are planning to file a work refusal if the zoo refuses to move the bear out of his enclosure. The ministry of labour may have to launch an investigation. “It may also speak to that we have quite a large backlog in state-of-good-repairs—I think it’s close to eighty million dollars,” said Councillor Paul Ainslie (Ward 43, Scarborough East). “Maybe we should be spending more money on our state-of-good-repair than on new projects or expanding areas…we should be taking care of what we have already.”
Mayor Miller is endorsing a motion by Councillor Janet Davis (Ward 31, Beaches-East York) to give the general manager of parks and recreation final approval over how slots are allocated at eight city-owned arenas in an effort to allow girls’ hockey teams equal ice time. Greater Toronto Hockey League president John Gardner calls the move “disgraceful,” while Gord Thompson, chair of the board that runs North Toronto Memorial Arena, “really [doesn’t] know what this is about or why city hall feels they have to get involved in the management of the arenas, which are supposed to be independent.”
Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) is in China, attempting to secure a ten-year loan of a breeding pair of giant pandas from the Chongqing Zoo and the Chinese national zoo association. Toronto Zoo officials estimate that the exhibition of said pandas would draw an additional 450,000 visitors in the first year alone (with 150,000 more in the second year), bringing in an estimated $19.2 million over ten years. “You can’t do this without [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper now, and all we need from Harper is a letter that basically endorses us going after the pandas,” said Mammoliti.
And, finally, hissy fits were pitched as real estate agents lining up for condo spots were separated into two queues before preference was given to those who were not there first. Or something. “Different things were said but at the end of the day, the venue that was chosen was not well-suited to what took place,” said Andrew La Fleur, an agent with Re/Max Condos Plus. “There was no safe place to line up outside the hotel, so it was inevitable that things would break down.” Oh, and guess which line he was in.