Newsstand: September 13, 2011

When Tuesday comes down the pipe, it can only mean one of one things: it's Tuesday. Oh, and also that there is new news: the City reacts to the staff report of a thousand cuts, the TTC gets set to release a grim budget report of its own, the premier may be joining you on your morning commute, G20 trial for Alex Hundert and others gets underway, and a proposed ban on cupcakes in schools.

By Sarah-Joyce Battersby • Illustration by Kyra Kendall.

The staff report on potential service cuts is in, and it’s a doozy. Over the course of 26 pages, the city manager outlines cuts that could save the City around $100 million in 2012, cutting a slice out of the projected $774 million budget shortfall for next year. Everything from puppies, santa, zoos, farms, libraries, and daycare are under threat. And the money saved from these proposals would just be “scraping the surface” of what needs to go, according to the mayor. Watch for some battles to go down at City Hall next week as the executive committee welcomes public deputations on the report on Monday, and full city council debates the matter starting September 21.

Not to be outdone, the TTC is putting out a report of its own, and it’s also a bummer. In order to reach the 10 per cent reduction in their budget demanded by the City, the TTC will have to cut services and employees while raising fares. In one of the more ghastly suggestions, the report suggests ending wheel-trans access for dialysis patients without a mobility device. Not bringing the estimated 1,800 dialysis patients to their 210,000 combined yearly visits will save $5 million.

Here’s a silver lining for the sad sack transit commission: city council is reconsidering a ban on election ads in the TTC. Current bylaws ban election signs or ads on City property, including the TTC but excluding bus shelters. It’s all very confusing, as bylaws can be. Also, allowing ads would mean more money for the transit commission, and even though the move might involve having to stare at Dalton McGuinty’s face for 30 minutes before you get a coffee in you, that’s a price we’re willing to pay.

A preliminary hearing for 17 G20 defendants got underway on Monday, but you won’t hear much about it. Alex Hundert, one of the 17 people accused of conspiracy charges (and one who is also charged with additional charges of counselling others to commit offences) says the publication ban imposed on the proceedings is an obvious example of the Crown’s and the police’s desire to silence public dissent and shut down any organizing.

And an advocacy group is advocating that public schools ban private fundraising because of the discrepancy between “have” and “have not” schools. In a report, Social Planning Toronto says the 20 richest high schools raised almost 1000 times more than the 20 unrichest ones. The school board says they are looking into the issue.