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Newsstand: August 17, 2011
Listen, Wednesday, it's not that we don't love you. We just need to see other weekdays. In the news: a possible fine increase for drivers who park illegally, Ford to ask McGuinty for budget help, three more free nurses courtesy of the province, and an archaeological site makes way for a library.
Perhaps we’ve been having too much of a go at cyclists for not stopping at red lights and generally being asses on the road as of late. After all, drivers can be dicks just as much as anyone, and Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s) agrees. The councillor is going after inconsiderate drivers who park in no-parking zones on major roads in rush hour, effectively blocking entire lanes of traffic. He will be bringing to council next month a motion to fine such drivers $500 and have their vehicles towed. Perhaps after that, Matlow can go after people who think their hazard lights are a “stop anywhere for as long as you want” button.
If you’re reading this after Wednesday morning, well, first of all, we hope you’re enjoying the future and all its wonders. Second, you probably know exactly why Mayor Rob Ford asked Premier Dalton McGuinty to meet with him today. Maybe you can even confirm whether he did it to ask for money, as everyone here in the past seems to think, or just to catch up and swap stories about Ford Nation.
One thing’s pretty sure though: Ford won’t be asking McGuinty to give Toronto any more free nurses. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what the provincial government is doing by offering three more nurses to the City to look help stop the spread of bedbugs, all on the province’s dime. Three nurses instead of two—that’s a 50 per cent improvement over the province’s previous offer. But wait, there’s more. According to the province, if Toronto accepts the free nurses in the next 30 minutes, they will also receive a year’s supply of scalpels, IV drips, and gasoline to burn bedbugs. Where else are you going to get a deal like that?
Here’s a tough one for all you leftists out there. Remember that archaeological site discovered earlier this year near the Bathurst Street bridge, on a piece of land destined to become condominiums? Seems it’s now going the way of the dinosaurs as the site is being prepared for construction, while some of the masonry found during the archaeological digs will be displayed in a nearby park. Before you get all indignant about losing a heritage site to condos, remember this: there will be social housing built on the site, a nice break from the usual (people wanting to dismantle it). There will also be a library. And everybody loves libraries. Maybe it could even be called the Atwood Branch. So what do you think now, left-o?
We originally described the offer of three nurses as a 30 per cent improvement over two nurses, when of course it is a 50 per cent improvement. Apologies for our deficient arithmetic.