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Newsstand: September 23, 2011
By the time many of you read this, it will be fall. Are we even allowed to get excited about Fridays now? Here's the news anyway: the City accepts two free nurses it previously didn't want, Miller slams Ford and city council's mushy middle, and six small businesses at Downsview Park face eviction.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Toronto those two nurses Mayor Rob Ford and city council had refused to accept from the provincial government in June, despite assurances the nurses would be paid for entirely by the province. The change of heart came after the province told the City it could hire the nurses on contracts as opposed to making the two positions permanent.
Yes, city council has been doing a decent job of not letting itself be bullied by certain mayoral individuals as of late, but that didn’t stop former mayor David Miller from telling centrist councillors to, if we may paraphrase, stop being such cowards and start practicing what they preach. Miller’s call to action, which took place during an interview on Newstalk 1010 yesterday, was accompanied by criticisms of the mayor’s transit pipe dream plan and revenue-cutting actions such as scrapping the vehicle registration tax. We wouldn’t expect anything less. And so, in addition to teaching and law, Miller has found something else to do post-politics: punditry. Maybe he could even co-host John Tory’s show.
Miller has plenty of reasons to be proud of Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity–Spadina), though, not the least of which is Vaughan’s Free Press and Democracy motion, also known as the “stop mistreating the Star” motion, which city council has voted to refer to the executive committee. The motion would prevent the mayor from unfairly avoiding communication with the Toronto Star because he doesn’t like the paper. Under normal circumstances the committee would probably quash the motion to appease Ford, but the way things have been going at City Hall lately, we wouldn’t be surprised if the mayor had to write the Star an apology note instead.
We’ve always thought “The Port Lands” would be a great name for a political thriller, although “My Brother at City Hall” could make for a great sitcom as well. But whether it’s drama or comedy, the story of how the mayor came to turn against brother Doug Ford’s (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) waterfront revitalization vision, after a united effort from left-leaning councillors to save Waterfront Toronto’s initial plan, is a gripping one. Although if there really is a “rift” between the two brothers, it’s probably just because Doug doesn’t have much experience not getting his way with council, something Rob’s had 10 years to get used to.
Turns out it’s not just the Canadian Air and Space Museum that will be getting the boot from its current location in Downsview Park in six months to make way for a new ice rink. Six small businesses located on the site are also being kicked out, and they join legions of veterans, buffs, and people that only go to Downsview Park for massive Rolling Stones concerts in their outrage. For those of you that had never visited the Canadian Air and Space Museum in its current location before this media kerfuffle (don’t worry, we won’t tell), you still have the chance to go; the museum will stay open until its eviction in March 2012. After that, if the park’s promises are to be believed, you might have to walk to a different part of Downsview to check it out.