news
Newsstand: June 23, 2011
Another Thursday comes along with a painful reminder that we will never again get to watch a new episode of Friends. In the news: No homos for RoFo, no non-nationals at Toronto schools, no stopping cyclists, and a fake cop.
Rob Ford firmly believes in the traditional definition of long-weekend activities: family time at a cottage up north. Disappointing many and surprising few, the mayor has announced he will not march in the Pride parade this Canada Day long weekend. Toronto mayors have marched in the parade for more than a decade, and many progressive city councillors, gay rights activists, and people are reading into the mayor’s decision as not just a vote for cottages or family tradition, but yet another indication that this mayor is none too sympathetic to LGBT community. But hey, maybe he’s trying to spare us all the image of his belly in a super-soakered t-shirt? In that case, we should really be thanking him.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board is in hot holy water again after a trustee made some nonsense comments about an undocumented immigrant student trying to enrol in school. Despite Toronto school board policies and a provincial education act that allow access to school for non-status students, this trustee got all weird and brought up 9/11 for some reason. In an email thread about the 15-year-old’s difficulty enrolling in classes after trying at three different schools, Ward 6 trustee Frank D’Amico said, “Unless you’ve been on another planet for the last Decade, I will remind you, 911.” He went on to say he’d like to report the student to the RCMP and Immigration Canada. D’Amico later apologized, but immigration rights activists are demanding he resign for his comments. Also, do we really want a school board trustee who randomly capitalizes words?
The gotcha media is at it again, planting hidden cameras to get to the bottom of the big stories that really affect us all. The Toronto Star set up a camera at a traffic light to check up on cyclists’ regard for red lights. Setting the movie to some fun old-timey music and employing cutting-edge graphics, the Star has done a bang-up job uncovering the cycling story of the century: a lot of people on bikes ride through red lights. More than half the cyclists filmed by the paper in the course of an hour went through the intersection on a red light. Dun dun dunnnnn.
Speaking of people that aren’t the police, two elderly men were robbed last week by a man impersonating a police officer. The thief had no uniform and didn’t show ID, but old people can be so trusting. Real police are reminding the public that any real cop will gladly show you his ID card and badge if asked (unless it has anything to do with investigations stemming from the weekend whose name we dare not speak).