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Newsstand: June 1, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
Welcome one and all to that merry, merry month of June. If you’re wondering what that strange feeling is, it’s called heat, and it’s not going anywhere. In today’s news: angry taxi drivers chase a city councillor, Doug Ford crashes a CFL press conference, and the City considers restricting kites.
Take note: this is how you go after a city councillor. Angry taxi drivers who are part of the City’s Ambassador program shouted at Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 34, Don Valley East) as the Licensing and Standards Committee met to review Toronto’s taxi licensing system. The drivers followed him out into the hallway, forcing him to retreat to his office. They accuse the Ambassador program, which was created as an alternative to the sometimes ludicrously high fees drivers were being forced to pay for Standard licenses, of forcing Ambassador drivers to work long hours with no way to make money should they fall ill or get injured. Mayor Rob Ford aims to bring an end to the two-tier cab system.
Some good news for all the folks who came out to protest the deportation of Alvaro Orozco: the gay Nicaraguan artist who came to Canada on humanitarian grounds will be allowed to stay, Xtra! reports. Initially denied his stay for failing to sufficiently prove his homosexuality, Orozco can now begin the process of becoming a permanent resident, and will be eligible to apply for citizenship.
Call him Mr. Good Timing: The Toronto Sun reports Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North), is no stranger to putting his foot in his mouth when talking about football, attended a CFL press conference when he wasn’t actually invited, and used the occasion to talk again about bringing an NFL team to Toronto. The mayor’s brother and adviser told members of the media that he believes the CFL and NFL can peacefully coexist, and that Toronto can expect to have an NFL team by the end of Ford’s four-year term. It might not have been the greatest occasion for the remarks, however, considering it was the CFL’s 100th Grey Cup Festival and all.
Good grief! The City is planning to restrict kite-fighting, the sport that’s a lot like kite-flying, except the kites are equipped with sharp string and the flyers aim to slice each other out of the sky, sometimes running into traffic to do so. The City had previously considered a complete ban on the pastime, which is popular in the South Asian community, after complaints from non-kite-fighters uncomfortable with the idea of having kites raining from the sky. Instead, kite-fighting will be restricted to certain areas.