news
Newsstand: November 29, 2010
Illustration by Jeremy Kai/Torontoist.
Welcome to Monday, and the end of the Vaughan by-election campaign. Also in the news, the TTC worker photographed napping dies after stroke, potential panda habitats from TCH, fighting fines with fire risk, and Roncy is almost ready.
George Robitaille, the TTC worker who was photographed napping in a ticket booth last January, has died of a stroke. The photograph of fifty-five-year-old Robitaille went viral and came to symbolize passengers’ complaints about TTC staff. But according to his union president, Robitaille was a model employee in his twenty-nine years on the job. He was enthusiastic, focused on customer service, and he was even called a hero for saving a passenger’s life. Robitaille was embarrassed about the reaction the photo got and the effect it had on his co-workers. His union boss says the fallout from the incident impacted the deterioration of Robitaille’s health in the past few months and he had taken medical leave. After the photo was taken, Robitaille revealed he was taking medication for a heart condition, medication he blamed for his drowsiness that January day.
A couple in the Woodbine and Gerrard area are fed up with the vacant house next door. They say the house, owned by Toronto Community Housing, has been broken into multiple times, and they’re afraid neighbourhood children who play in the empty house could get hurt. The property is one of twenty single-family homes owned by TCH that was supposed to be sold, but the transfer is in limbo. Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) says selling property is simply beyond the capability of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. Maybe Mammoliti could just solve two problems at once and fill the houses with pandas.
Speaking of TCH, a University of Waterloo professor who has been tracking the progress of Regent Park’s revitalization says some residents fear the neighbourhood will lose its sense of community. Some families reported feeling pressured to leave and not come back, and others said they felt TCH was picking and choosing tenants who were “good enough” to receive new units in the first phase. But Professor Laura Johnson remains hopeful that the project can be a success, if developers consult with original residents.
Some Toronto homeowners are disabling their fire alarms for fear of a costly fine for false alarms. Councillors have vowed to relax the zero tolerance bylaw, but that could put a big hole in the fire department’s budget. They’re projecting $6.5 million in annual revenue from false alarm fines.
Election Monday marks the end of an intense by-election campaign in Vaughan. The campaign has been closely watched, with some political observers calling the race between Conservative Julian Fantino and Liberal Tony Genco a proxy battle between the parties ahead of a likely federal election in the spring. The Tories hope a Fantino win will demoralize Iggy and the Libs. But support for Fantino has waned with his conspicuous absences from public debates and refusals for interview requests. Fantino claims he’s been too busy canvassing voters, but it looks like he even needs help with that part, recruiting buddies like Don Cherry to make some calls on his behalf.
The Toronto Star reveals more executive appointments on the impending City Council. Traditionally underrepresented areas like Scarborough will get more exposure with five councillors in the executive. North York will have four, and Toronto two. We already know Rob Ford will appoint many like-minded or willing-to-act-like-minded councillors to the inner circle, but he may offer an olive branch to the council’s left wing: centre-left councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East), who served as David Miller’s budget chief, is apparently being considered for a position too.
And hot on the well-heeled heels of Bloor Street’s revitalization, Roncesvalles might reopen by this weekend, with streetcar service returning later in December. Surely fans and foes alike of the redesign will at least be happy to see the construction end.