news
Newsstand: November 16, 2011
It's Wednesday, and we'd rather be fishing. Even in this weather. Yeah, it's that kind of Wednesday. In the news: occupiers want to evict Rob Ford, the province supports ending the Ontario Municipal Board, a school bans balls, and Caledon secures an equestrian venue for the Pan Am Games, but residents aren't happy.
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you might have heard something about the City trying to evict Occupy Toronto protesters yesterday, and the occupiers being granted an injunction that will allow them to stay in St. James Park temporarily. While the City and Occupy Toronto’s lawyers (yes, they have lawyers, and you’re definitely the first person to point out the irony there) duke it out in court on Saturday, occupiers and anyone with boiling blood and a free afternoon can join in a demonstration to evict Mayor Rob Ford from office.
The Ontario Municipal Board must be feeling like the fat kid in gym class right now, between city councillors wanting to disband it and now Ontario’s minister of municipal affairs supporting that move. But while almost nobody is sad to see the end of the board, which currently seems to exist only to make developers fall backwards into piles of money, the minister stresses the move would require consultations with all of the province’s municipalities, as some can’t afford to mediate their own planning disputes. So strap on your bullying shoes and grab your dodgeballs, Toronto. It’s time to kick some small-town ass.
Speaking of dodgeballs, guess what youngsters attending Earl Beatty Public School are no longer allowed to bring to school? “Hard balls” including soccer balls, footballs, volleyballs, and tennis balls have been banned from the school, located near Danforth and Coxwell Avenues, as of Monday. The reason? Because unlike in the past, balls hit people, and can hurt them when thrown. That smacking sound you hear is Toronto’s bullies simultaneously facepalming before they go shove some nerds in lockers.
Chances are pretty good you didn’t go to last summer’s BlackCreek Summer Music Festival, it being held north of Bloor Street and all. But apparently a few people did brave the trip to York University, including a bunch of musicians and singers that have still yet to be paid for their work in various festival concerts. When asked about the ethical implications of not paying musicians, as well as other people that worked at the festival, a BlackCreek representative shrugged and did a “sad violinist” impression that totally killed, but only because of the irony of the situation.
The town of Caledon is on board to host the equestrian events at the 2015 Pan Am Games, and all it took was a sketchy and possibly unethical deal with a local equestrian venue that will cost $5.4 million of the town’s money. Whether or not the dealings really are shady, one thing’s for sure: the drama is about 10 time more exciting than watching equestrian events.