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Newsstand: March 3, 2010
Illustration by Roxanne Ignatius/Torontoist.
George Smitherman is willing to contract out Toronto’s garbage collection and some of the TTC’s bus routes, in addition to those ski slopes we mentioned yesterday. The catch, he says, is that he would only approve of privatization if it saves money for taxpayers without leaving them out in the cold. “I will be their protector,” Smitherman told the Star. Please note that the only way to say those words without at least cracking a smirk is to do a full-on Batman impersonation. The Star does not mention any smirk. Just saying.
The members of the TTC’s blue ribbon panel on customer service have been announced. The panel will take up the transit agency’s problematic rider relations, and hopes to deliver a report this June. So what does it take to become a blue-ribbonee? Tweets like this seem to help: “I excel in the art of getting things done. Communications and social media are my forte. Public transit is my ride.”
It looks as though that Jack Layton clip Torontoist posted first on Sunday is really making the rounds. The video, showing Layton apparently shoving a woman’s arm out of the way so he can beam directly at a television camera, has shown up over the past couple days at Maclean’s, the Sun, and the Globe (all of whom credited us), the Star and CBC (who did not), and a host of other media outlets. It’s also, of course, come to the attention of Layton’s press secretary.
Canada’s immigration minister deleted all reference to gay rights from the study guide published by the government to help immigrants prepare for Canada’s citizenship test. The document originally included information about the 1969 decriminalization of homosexuality and constitutional protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation. A spokesperson for minister Jason Kenney said that, despite the government’s efforts to be “inclusive,” there just wasn’t room for gays, beyond a photo of Olympic swimmer and gay-rights activist Mark Tewksbury. Kenney, as the Canadian Press points out, is the politician who, when gay marriage was going up for parliamentary debate in 2005, joked that gays in Canada were free to marry, as long as their spouse was of the opposite sex. Clever, no?
Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, the Facebook group that amassed a huge base of members and garnered worldwide attention for its protests against the Harper government’s legislative lockout, has launched a new, more permanent mission. Organizers, rebranding as Canadians Advocating Political Participation, have launched the site CanadaParticipates.ca to campaign for greater civic engagement across the country. The Globe post above includes a video from CAPP that sums them up nicely (and was largely shot in Toronto).
Here’s something neat: The Globe‘s business section has found itself in the odd position of recommending its readers buy stock in Torstar, the parent company of a direct competitor, the Star. Normally, this would be an uncomfortable conflict of interest—wanna bet they found a way around their problem?
Leslieville was besieged on Tuesday by a trio of tiny teen tollbooths! The three boys, aged thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen, were collared by police after allegedly mugging at least two grown men by standing around their victims and blocking their way until they were paid off. Parts of this story sound like they must have been culled from the pages of some whimsical graphic novel, but it’s best to reserve judgment until all the facts are available—one of the boys is accused of assaulting the victim after robbing him.