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Newsstand: April 22, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
There is nowhere to run, nor anywhere to hide, from this magical morning. But why would you want to do that? It’s the best of all Fridays, and a stat holiday, silly! Today: a City union files a grievance over the plan to privatize garbage collection, Jack Layton walks the stations of the cross, and a Conservative cabinet minister speaks out against a party decision (gasp!). Also, advance voting starts and street food leaves fancytown.
Toronto Civic Employees Union Local 416, which includes the city’s garbage collectors, has filed a grievance against the City for its attempt to contract out collection west of Yonge. The City unveiled the contentious plan on Monday, and on Thursday, union head Mark Ferguson held a news conference with union leaders from other cities where unionized garbage collection has saved money. They say the city’s plan to contract out won’t help Toronto save any gravy whatsoever.
While things are mostly quiet on the campaign trail today, Toronto-Danforth MP and NDP leader Jack Layton is going strong. Layton is riding a wave of success in Quebec, and will attend St. Francis of Assisi’s annual Good Friday procession, where participants act out the stations of the cross around Little Italy.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Peter Kent, who represents Thornhill, is criticizing his party for allowing a Tamil Tigers supporter to run as its Scarborough-Southwest candidate. A surprising move, since we all know dissent makes h4rp0r angry!
What better thing to do with your holiday than get your voting all squared away and wrapped up (if, of course, you’ve decided which of your neighbourhood’s charming characters tickles your fancy)? Today is the first day of advance polling for the May 2 federal election, and these days, everyone can vote in advance—not just sailors, railwaymen, and commercial travellers like the olden times. So get out there and do it already. Or do it on May 2. It’s up to you. (Side-note: Only one in three voters under 25 typically exercises their right to vote. Sad sack.)
With all the fuss about street food these days, it’s comforting to know that you can always get a hot dog when shopping for overpriced consumer goods on the Mink Mile. Right? Wrong! Savour it while you can, friends, because hot dog carts will soon be no more on Bloor Street West in Yorkville. The sidewalk redesign in that neighbourhood has included new street furniture, which sounds very nice, except a city bylaw doesn’t allow vendors to park their carts within a certain distance of them. The vendors are understandably pissed, considering they’ve waited through an eternity of construction on that strip only to get the unceremonious boot.