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Newsstand: October 6, 2011
Ordinarily we'd say something snarky now about how much Thursday just wishes it was Friday, but not today, friends. Friday's got nothing on this Thursday, for today's Thursday is an Election Thursday! In the news: there's an election today, police chief will have to cut now and later, new questions about the mayor's fundraising techniques, and partisan bickering has no place at the public works and infrastructure committee.
It’s Election Day in Ontario, and, as usual, the Man is trying to tell you what to do, sort of. Well damn the Man! And let us tell you what not to do. (Vote for the Tories, that is. That is, do not vote for the Tories.) Polls are open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., and you can find out where to vote here.
The mayor is in trouble again over campaign fundraising after his campaign finances are already in the process of undergoing a compliance audit. Now there are some, shall we say, irregularities cropping up in expense filings for Ford fundraisers held in the summer. According to expense disclosure documents, Team Ford managed to host three fundraisers at zero cost, including at least one at a swanky steak house. Go figure.
Police Chief Bill Blair’s budget proposal has been shot through the heart, and the Toronto Police Services Board’s to blame. Blair presented a budget with a 1.5 per cent increase, rather than the double-digit decrease requested of his and all City divisions. Even after appealing directly to the mayor on Monday, Blair has been ordered by the board to cut the requested amount. A “notably agitated” Blair told the board he cannot make such a cut in good conscience, but the only concession they could offer was an option to spread the cuts out over the course of two years. A likely much more agitated Blair will have to present the new budget (this time with cuts) to the board next week.
Members of the union that represents GO Transit bus drivers have given “very strong strike mandates” should their terms not be met in ongoing negotiations. If talks do stall, union workers could walk off the job on October 24, totally screwing regular commuters and those who had decided after years of deliberation that they were finally going to check out the Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland. Among demands on the bargaining table are higher salaries, with the union suggesting they get a raise too since management did and all.
So Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) and Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 34, Don Valley East) walk into a vote (you probably haven’t heard this one) and agree! Two guys you thought may never agree—if you keep track of their voting records in council—voted together against closing a portion of the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway for the cycling section of a proposed Ironman triathlon. The public works and infrastructure committee voted against the plan because it would annoy people for a not good enough reason those roads are only closed for charities and repairs. Council can still endorse the plan, though. So don’t go taunting Ironmen and then thinking you can hide from those freakishly fit guys on the DVP. They will find you. They are Skynet.