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Newsstand: October 3, 2011
Monday morning. The day of the week most likely to develop a crippling inferiority complex. Please, for the sake of the entire week, try to be nice. In the news: the Toronto Sun's surprising endorsement, election-related vandals strike mid-town, the raw milk debates continues, and the City's top cop may be joining the ranks of the unemployed.
In a review of the “Big Three” running for premier, the Toronto Sun is endorsing option #4—nobody. In the Sun’s humble opinion, not one of Ontario’s potential premiers are ready to tackle what the paper identifies as the two biggest problems “imposed on the ordinary, hard-working people of Ontario by runaway government spending”—high debt and taxes. But don’t fret. The Sun is here to help. They have promised that no matter who is the elected Thursday, they will “continue to fight on your behalf for significant tax relief and real debt reduction to make Ontario the proud, fiscally sound province we all deserve.” Phew. Now that’s a relief.
For those of you who are into the whole public endorsement thing, pledge allegiance to the Liberal party and live in the Mount Pleasant and Eglinton or Yonge and Eglinton areas, you may have woken up this weekend to vandalized lawn signs or slashed tires. Homes on Hillsdale Avenue, Belsize Drive, Anderson Avenue, and Eastbourne Avenue were hit Saturday and Sunday by the seemingly anti-Liberal vandal.
Farmer and raw-milk crusader Michael Schmidt is off milk—and all other sustenance—as he enters into a hunger strike following his conviction of 15 criminal offenses charged under the province’s Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act. This ruling came Wednesday, reversing a January 2010 acquittal. In November 2006, Schmidt launched a nearly month-long hunger strike that ended after supporters promised to continue the fight to legalize the sale of unpasteurized milk.
Toronto police chief Bill Blair may need to consider updating his CV (expert tip: perhaps leave the whole G20 thing off). Following his very public stance against the proposed budget cuts, the head honcho’s job is being threatened. City councillor and vice-chair of the Police Services Board Michael Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre) told the Toronto Star in a weekend interview that if Blair can’t offer the budget cuts city hall needs, then a change in leadership may be required. While Blair’s contract keeps him in his post until April 2015, it doesn’t sound like it will be easy for him to play nice with City Hall. (Expert tip #2: perhaps leave Mayor Rob Ford off your list of references.)