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Newsstand: September 20, 2011
Tuesday, what do you have to say for yourself? You silently vanquish Monday only to lead us into the murky unknown that is Tuesday. In the news: Executive Committee puts off the hard decisions after marathon meeting, NDP pledges money for transit, TTC unveils how it will cut 500 staff, and the SIU is busy these days.
After 20 hours and 205 deputants the Executive Committee has decided not to decide on many things. Many of the more contentious service cut proposals are being passed on to other departments or deferred until November. Cuts were made though. The committee accepted recommendations to close the least-visited City museums, sell off all theatres, and look for buyers for the Metro Zoo, Black Creek urban farm, and Exhibition Place. For now, daycare spaces and library branches were spared, and arts and community grants were handed off for other departments to manage. Among the deputant highlights were children being charming and singing songs to defend their treasured City farms. And another staple of Executive Committee meetings in this era, Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) said something silly, this time complaining about parents using their kids “as pawns.” But as we learned when Executive Committee broke into a song of its own, it’s Mammoliti’s birthday, so we won’t go too hard on him. You can relive all the magic on our live blog.
NDP leader Andrea Horwath is telling Rob Ford to put the brakes on TTC service cuts until after the provincial election. In a pledge the likes of which has not been seen from the Liberals or PCs, Horwath offered her party’s plan to fund 50 per cent of municipalities’ transit costs, if the municipalities pledge to freeze fares for four years. Horwath says she knows cities don’t exactly have the luxury of time to stall such decisions, but, pretty please.
Meantime, the TTC has unveiled a raft of service cuts and buyouts. In an effort cut their budget, the transit agency plans to cut about 500 staffers. 250 non-unionized employees will be offered buyouts, and an additional 232 union workers will be cut through attrition. In keeping with recently revealed service cuts, there simply won’t be enough jobs to fill.
The SIU has two new cases on their desks, as one man was shot and one man tasered on Monday. The shooting took place on Shuter Street at around 1:40 p.m. The injured man was sent to hospital with non–life threatening injuries after he was shot by an officer. Another man was tasered by police after a long standoff early Monday morning. After getting jolted by the Taser the man fell over the ledge of a third storey balcony and landed on the ground below. He was in stable condition by Monday night.