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Weekend Newsstand: October 8, 2011
This is it. It's the weekend you're going to get fit. And one and two and three and... Oh, forget it, let's make a few Irish coffees and read the news. Today: lots of stories to fight the post-election blues, Mayor Rob Ford renews his calls for TTC funding, the TDSB is looking at new ways to prevent students from dropping out, and the mayor's arts task force wants to know what to do with three city-owned theatres.
If you’re fidgeting, frantically looking for people to judge, and drawing Xs on everything in sight, there’s a good chance you’ve got post-election withdrawal, most likely caused by the realization that, for the first time in months, you have nothing to vote for on the horizon. Here are a few items to smooth the transition to a functional, election-free life: A Progressive Conservative strategist claims Ford Nation only exists on the municipal level and doesn’t influence other levels of voting, evidently completely forgetting the results of the recent federal election; Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak is upset that Torontonians overwhelmingly voted Liberal and says his party will be there to fight for you against the party you elected (unless you happen to be gay or trans, in which case your ass is grass); and defeated candidates Sarah Thomson and Rocco Rossi, who both also ran for mayor last year, share their feelings about losing, but, hey, props to them for actually sticking it out this time around.
Meanwhile, Mayor Rob Ford is quickly getting over the election he may have helped Tim Hudak lose and looking forward to the future: specifically, some cash for the TTC and his beloved ugly duckling, the Sheppard subway line extension. It’s possible that, with a minority government and an increased NDP presence at Queen’s Park, the provincial government will be more forthcoming with the money. But it’s too early to tell at this point, so here’s a video of a giant flying toy shark terrorizing a cat to tide you over until the action starts.
And now for something completely different (we’ve always wanted to say that): The Toronto District School Board is fed up with the number of at-risk students who drop out of school, especially how many of them are of Aboriginal, Caribbean, Latino, and Roma backgrounds. In a report to trustees, the TDSB is proposing several new ways to raise graduation rates, including developing specialized curricula for students of particular ethnic backgrounds, establishing year-round schools in some areas, and paying students to complete grades. That last one is sure to draw the ire of the Sun reader idiot complex, but the real problem with it is that it teaches children that work should be rewarded with money, leaving them ill-prepared to deal with the endless string of unpaid internships that will surely follow their years in school.
Remember when some city councillors somewhat cynically suggested setting up a way for citizens to contribute money to the city, given that so many of us seemed happy to pay more taxes? A Newstalk 1010 host set up a similar thing himself and has so far raised $1,300 for the city. He gave the money to Rod Ford during an interview Friday. So, yeah, there you go.
The task force charged with figuring out what to do with Toronto’s three city-owned theatres—the Sony Centre, St. Lawrence Centre and Toronto Centre for the Arts—is looking for input from the arts community, even people who don’t want to see the theatres sold to private owners. But the task force’s ears are also open to buyers, so if that’s the sort of thing that matters to you, make your voice heard.