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Newsstand: November 24, 2010
Illustration by Jeremy Kai/Torontoist.
It’s a Wednesday in November, which may be all the news you need. If not, be aware that Rob Ford is picking his committee heads, bedbugs continue to be all the rage, and it’s going to cost twice as much for your kids to recharge their 3D iPod holodecks.
To no one’s surprise, Rob Ford has picked the rest of his team at City Hall and they’re all literal or ideological allies from wards in and around the inner suburbs. While an official announcement won’t be made until the end of the week, sources say that former David Miller supporters have been shut out of all seven standing committee chair positions. Councillors with new jobs include Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) as head of the Community Development and Recreation committee, Cesar Palacio (Ward 17, Davenport) as chair of the Licensing and Standards committee, and relative centrist Norm Kelly (Ward 40, Scarborough-Agincourt) as head of the Parks and Environment committee. The first meeting of the new council on December 7 will see Ford and team make a triumphant entrance into City Hall riding lawnmowers and carrying barbeque tongs before heading down to the Home Depot parking lot for a tailgate party.
Liberal MPP Mike Colle has unveiled a twenty-point plan for fighting bedbugs in Ontario, saying that his earlier (now abandoned) private members bill, which would have required landlords to disclose their bedbug situation to renters, wasn’t enough to address the issue. The plan comes immediately after the rejection of a request from Toronto Public Health for provincial funding to combat bedbuggery, and proposes, among other measures, a provincial awareness campaign and tracking of infestations. At a press conference, Colle noted that “[bedbugs are] in our hospitals…our movie theatres…our transit vehicles…our taxicabs” before pausing and adding, “That chair you’re sitting in! This coat I’m wearing! The pad thai I had for lunch!” and racing out of the room screaming and scratching furiously.
In a shocking twist, the daughter of the woman killed in a violent home invasion in Markham on November 8 has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Jennifer Pan, twenty-four, has been charged in what was originally thought to be a random home invasion which saw her mother shot to death and her father seriously wounded by three armed intruders. Police are not giving any more details at present.
The principal of the Afri-centric school that opened amid considerable controversy earlier this year has gone on personal leave pending a board investigation following an unspecified complaint from a parent. Principal Thando Hyman-Aman has been at least temporarily replaced as principal by George Brown Jr., who is reported to be a “white male,” his last name notwithstanding.
The Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan announced by Energy Minister Brad Duguid yesterday projects hydro rates to rise by 3.5% per year, doubling prices for consumers in the next two decades. The province plans to spend eighty-seven billion dollars over twenty years, principally to bump up production of nuclear and sustainable electricity while eliminating coal-powered plants. Many people in the province use electricity in their homes and daily activities.