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Newsstand: November 18, 2011
We've got to say, you're getting a great deal on this Friday. No, rust-proofing is extra. But it does come with some free news: the decision on whether the City can evict Occupy Toronto has been pushed back to Monday, the Premier joins the call for balls in the schoolyard, police raids on a drug ring targeted some innocent people too, and zookeepers want council to change its mind on the fate of the Toronto Zoo's elephants.
No one likes to work on the weekend, even judges. Actually, that might not be true, but whatever the reason, Judge David Brown has postponed his decision on whether or not the City can evict Occupy Toronto protesters from St. James Park until Monday. And then the reckoning comes. And if protesters think they can run to the warm and loving arms of the church if they are evicted, they’d better think again: St. James Cathedral will be complying with the judge’s ruling and not letting occupiers move camp onto grounds owned exclusively by the church.
Now on to another fundamental human rights case: that ridiculous decision by a Toronto principal to ban balls from her school earlier this week, prompting outrage and a student lunchtime revolt that no amount of nap time could quell. Even Premier Dalton McGuinty is now showing support for the kids, albeit in his own McGuinty-ish way. One thing is for sure: the school had better find a solution soon, before #OccupySchoolyard breaks out. Or something like Children of the Corn.
Anyone who has watched The Wire knows two things: cops of all ages and ethnicities listen to The Pogues, and police raids don’t do anything to stop the flow of illegal drugs onto the streets. But that hasn’t stopped Toronto police and other enforcement units from conducting Project Decepticon, a massive and awesomely named raid on homes associated with a drug ring stretching from Toronto to Belleville yesterday morning, which resulted in 27 arrests. But the real victims here are the innocent people who had police showing up at their homes by mistake. Well, them and the folks who had to wait an extra half hour to get their pot last night.
Those doggone zookeepers are at it again! With knickers still tightly knotted, keepers at the Toronto Zoo have presented city councillors with a petition asking them to reconsider their decision to send the zoo’s elephants to a California elephant sanctuary, and instead allow zoo staff to find a new home for the tusked behemoths. Others, including animal rights groups and Councillor Michelle Berardinetti (Ward 35, Scarborough Southwest), maintain the sanctuary is the best place for the elephants. There’s only one appropriate way to settle this: The zookeepers and animal rights activists must compete in a Showcase Showdown. On a bridge. Teetering above a pit of hippos. Hosted by Bob Barker.