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Newsstand: June 21, 2011
Illustration by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.
It’s an internet-age-old story: politicians still aren’t 100 per cent on how to properly use the tubes. In today’s news: a Mississauga councillor jumps the gun in the push to try to replace Hurricane Hazel, a Toronto councillor tweets about loving his job due to all the hot babes, the Gardiner is crumbling again, and kids will get free glasses.
The pot is starting to simmer in Mississauga, where a forthcoming judicial inquiry into Mayor Hazel McCallion’s business dealings is leading to some speculation about who might use the drama to finally replace her. Coun. Ron Starr (Ward 6) posted a rallying cry on his website yesterday inviting supporters to join “Team Starr” in combating the “sour politics” at City Hall, which has been dominated by the 90-year-old mayor since 1978. Even though he asked for help canvassing neighbourhoods and handing out literature, Starr denied he was trying to start a mayoral campaign. The web page, which he called “a draft that went up inadvertently,” was removed after the National Post inquired about it.
We all know the city councillors just do it for the babes, right? While it may seem obvious to some of us (Giambroner, we’re looking at you), others are mad about a tweet to that effect posted by Coun. John Parker (Ward 26, Don Valley West) yesterday (it’s since been removed). After leaving a run-of-the-mill Heritage Toronto plaque-unveiling, Parker tweeted about the “hot babes” he met there, although the tweet has since been taken down. Mayor Rob Ford, of all people, has come out unimpressed with Parker’s comments, saying they were inappropriate and suggesting the councillor apologize. Parker said he saw no reason to say sorry, and blamed the all the fuss on those dang journalists: “If the lesson of the day is you can’t have any fun around here, then no one is going to have any fun,” he told the Globe. “If people are going to look for ways to take offence in circumstances where no offence is intended and no offence has been taken, if third parties insist on finding offence on their own, that’s a sad day for all of us.” Sad times indeed.
No need to worry that a huge chunk fell off the Gardiner Expressway yesterday—it’s totally safe to drive on, says the city’s acting manager of structures. The 4.5-kilogram chunk, weighing about the same as a bowling ball, fell off the raised highway Monday, hit a guardrail on Lakeshore Boulevard below and bounced onto the road. Drivers on the Lakeshore can’t feel good about that, no matter how safe the Gardiner itself may be. This is the fourth chunk to fall off the highway since 1997. In 2006, a highway ramp collapsed in Laval, Qc., crushing several vehicles and killing five people.
And, in less terrifying news: More kids who need glasses will be able to get them free from the province, if Premier Dalton McGuinty has anything to do with it. The program, which provides free glasses to three- and four-year-olds, was available in nine schools this year and will be expanded to 15 schools next year. If it’s not gutted by the election of Conservative Tim Hudak in the fall, it will be expanded to all 68 school boards in the province by 2015. According to the Liberal government, about one in six kids needs glasses, but 80 per cent don’t get their eyes tested before they are five years old.