news
Newsstand: October 6, 2010
Illustration by Matt Daley/Torontoist.
Welcome to wet Wednesday! In the news, you won’t have to pay for Sun News TV, innocent stuffed animals get stolen, and Joe Pantalone may finally be ready to jump on the angry train.
Quebecor Inc. has backed off from asking the CRTC for special accommodation for its soon-to-be-launched Sun News TV. The owners of the proposed right-wing news station had originally wanted a Category 1 license mandating that it be provided to virtually all cable and satellite customers. After being rebuffed, they reduced the request to a special status which would require carriers to offer Sun News, although consumers could choose not to subscribe. Quebecor has now agreed to settle for a garden variety Category 2 license, which means no one has to carry it or watch it. Free market’s a bitch, huh guys?
Some bright news on the economic front as Ontario’s newest cottage industry continues to expand. NDP leader Andrea Horvath plans to introduce a bill in the provincial legislature calling for yet another G20 inquiry to add to the six already underway. Newsstand demands an escalating series of meta-inquiries to look into all the other inquiries, as well as a program of public self-examination and re-education for all police, protesters, and officials involved in the summit.
The apartment that was the source of the high-rise fire in St. Jamestown last month had been ordered cleaned up by public health officials back in July. Toronto Public Health had told building managers Greenwin Property Management to take action on the unit, which firefighters reported was “jam-packed” with possessions at the time of the blaze. Hoarding is a known problem in the building, with nineteen other residents currently not being permitted back into their homes until a clean-up is conducted.
A large number of stuffed animals placed around the city to publicize a campaign against child abuse have been stolen. The stuffed bears and kitty cats were left downtown attached to benches and lampposts with plastic ties, and have a tag asking passersby to text the word “care” to 82442 to donate a toy to a child. Officials running the campaign are asking anyone who has a purloined plushie to return it, no questions asked. You know, it would be poetic justice if these were magical teddy bears that came alive at night and ripped the thieves to shreds with razor-sharp fangs and claws; however the company that donated the stuffed animals says they’re just regular toys with no special powers.
The Paddington Bear of the Toronto mayoral race is a little cranky himself these days. Following yesterday’s reports that leftish councillor Joe Mihevc would throw his support behind George Smitherman, Joe “Small Wonder” Pantalone said that the decision was “incomprehensible” and said that Mihevc “should be ashamed of himself.” Pantalone maintains that he is the candidate who can derail the Ford anti-gravy train, although polls disagree. Stay tuned for Pantalone’s big announcement at 11 a.m. today, rumoured to be an endorsement from Mayor David Miller.