news
Newsstand: June 16, 2010
lllustration by Clayton Hanmer/Torontoist.
Some good news for street hockey fans: the beloved pastime may soon be legalized. Didn’t know it was against the law? Neither did Public Works and Infrastructure Committee Chair Glenn De Baeremaeker (councillor, Ward 38, Scarborough Centre). “I didn’t know it was illegal,” he said. “That means most of us have been breaking the law all our life.” True. Councillors on the committee all voted in favour of working to ditch a never-used 1970s bylaw that stipulates a fifty-five-dollar fine for playing the sport. A report should be ready soon, but the new council will probably have to vote on it.
You trees have got to go! You’re dangerous! Protesters will likely be rabid and uproot trees for use as weaponry during the G20, so our leafy friends are getting the boot from the Integrated Security Unit. Fearing saplings along city sidewalks will be used as “huge bar[s],” summit security personnel will be removing them from the RCMP-controlled zone. They will apparently be replaced after the summit. Security is also toying with the idea of removing the sidewalk, because hulk-like protesters might tear it up and use large chunks of it to throw at passersby.
Trees aren’t the only things getting relocated, of course; about twenty cars standing at the Front Street taxi stand were impounded yesterday. Luckily though, the aforementioned Integrated Security Unit is cutting the drivers of said vehicles some slack and is covering the cost. More parking restrictions are sure to follow, so drivers beware. Police said, “this is pretty much going to be a one-time gesture just because of the confusion.”
Attention, shoppers. Those of you who don’t suffer mind-numbing headaches from the glaring lights, herds of people, and endless corridors in the Eaton Centre, will be glad to hear the shopping destination is getting a one-hundred-and-twenty-million-dollar upgrade. It’s the biggest since the mall opened in 1977. New lighting and dining areas are also being discussed—don’t worry, they won’t touch the glass ceiling—and development is scheduled to begin on July 1. The whole thing will take about a year and half to complete, or in Toronto speak probably at least three.
Ending on a heavy note, Aqsa Parvez’s father and brother will be sentenced to twenty-five years in prison today, after pleading guilty to the sixteen-year-old-girl’s murder. Ms. Parvez returned home to pick up her belongings on December 10, 2007 after running away a second time, but never left. Her brother Waqas persuaded her to get into a van with him. Her father, Muhammad Parvez, called 911 shortly after her arrival and said he killed his daughter. It is one of the first “honour killings” getting countrywide attention.