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Newsstand: April 14, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
Wake up! News is happening! Fart jokes not just for boys says TDSB, Harper hopes to pose with folksy ethnic people in Etobicoke, High Park goes up in flames, Ro Fo and Co. have lost interest in special interest groups, Waterfront CEO splashes back, and Parkdale enacts the buddy system.
Aboriginals, tenants, cyclists, and children have to stop expecting City Hall to listen to their every little issue if the mayor and his crew successfully warp the findings of a staff report. Rob Ford, Doug Holyday (Ward 3, Etobicoke Centre), and other predictable players claim volunteer advisory committees for special interest groups waste money and overwhelm the City with diverse problems. But they’re yadda yadda yadda-ing over the part in the report that says cutting the committees would have no financial impact. “There’ll be savings, believe me,” says Holyday. Just believe him, folks, would ya? The mayor’s office declined to comment, but let’s play a game and guess which Fordism he can use on this one: Who needs advisory committees when the mayor’s on the phone all day every day talking to people about their problems?
And no, that’s not the city going up in flames. It’s just a controlled burn in High Park. Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation is burning up some old grass and twigs. So stay calm and keep your windows closed.
Stephen Harper will be in Etobicoke today, and hopefully so will some Arabs in ethnic costumes. A staffer for Etobicoke Centre Conservative candidate Ted Opitz sent out an email seeking people in “national folklore costumes” to sit front row at a Harper/Opitz photo op presumably in a bid to secure votes from the notoriously nebulous ethnic population.
Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) is still yammering on about Waterfront Toronto being too expensive this and too slow that. Meanwhile, the tripartite organization’s CEO has responded to Ro Fo and Co.’s complaints, calling them “not well-informed at all,” and reminding the gang that development takes some time since “you can’t just call somebody up and say start digging the hole.”
The Toronto District School Board needs more time and research before it will make a decision on starting up some private school-esque “academies.” The academies are like specialty channels but for education, with themes like all-boys, all-girls, choir school, and sports school. Some trustees are wary of single-gender classrooms, it seems, because they are sensitive about promoting gender stereotypes. In the words of one trustee, it’s okay to indulge shared affinities for fart jokes and science fiction, but not okay to assume those affinities are held by boys only.
A candlelight vigil was held in Parkdale Wednesday night in memory of George Wass, the 62-year-old man who died after being attacked in the west end neighbourhood. Wass’ attacker is believed to be responsible for a string of beatings in the area, and police are advising local residents not to walk alone at night.