news
Newsstand: November 28, 2011
It's the kind of Monday that feels more melancholy than manic, but there's no getting around it. Time to get up and face the week! In the news: Today's the day when the long-anticipated 2012 operating budget is finally unveiled; Toronto massage parlours (allegedly) offer more than just rubs or tugs; the G20 city smashers smashed according to a smashy, smashy plan; students of the TDSB get cultured; and two sad losses for the Toronto police.
Hurray! It’s 2012 Capital Operating Budget launch day! It’s the day when the gravy hits the fan, or the chopping block, or something. There’s been quite a lead up to this launch with a number of controversial cuts proposed over the past few months, including cutbacks to social housing, the TTC and community libraries, the closing of City-operated museums, selling the Toronto Zoo, and laying off City employees. City manager Joe Pennachetti says Toronto is facing a deficit between $500 million and $600 million, and Mayor Rob Ford has urged all departments to cut spending by 10 per cent (except of course the police, because we all know the crime rate has been rising). The City’s budget committee will be meeting at 9:30 a.m. Stay tuned!
Toronto is a hotbed of opium dens…at least according to the always level-headed city councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West), who claims that this highly-addictive drug is being used by patrons at massage spas, salons or parlours that are licensed by the City of Toronto. Mammoliti, who sure seems to spend an awful lot of time talking about Toronto’s massage parlours, says parlours that are illegally operated as brothels are making money by converting rooms into opium dens. Brothels…Mammoliti…this does all sound familiar. He’s the guy who strongly opposes this type of thing…right?
In case you were wondering, yes, the G20 activists’ (often refered to as the Black Bloc) smashy, smashy during the G20 was carefully orchestrated and well planned. In fact, a secret recording obtained by an undercover OPP officer of the last pre-G20 meeting held by the super-organized-so-maybe-not-actually anarchists finds that the group spent “hours and hours and hours” discussing tactics. Good thing “explody, explody” or “bombedy-bomb-bomb” is tough to say, while “smashy, smashy” rolls off the tongue so easily (try it, you’ll see!).
The Toronto District School Board and the Art Gallery of Ontario are partnering up to provide free access for more than 250,000 students to the educational wing of the gallery, specialized curriculum resources for teachers, and a chance for students to view TDSB-owned art. The Board has quite an impressive and valuable holding of art, including works by the Group of Seven, Emily Carr, and Robert Bateman, among others. But shhhh…nobody mention this to the City when they whip out their deficit collection pots.
The Toronto police force is down by two members with the loss of nine-year-old patrol dog Luke and six-year-old narcotics and firearms detector dog Keno. Both were assigned to constable Eric Hembruff and died of an undisclosed illness last week. Service dogs in Toronto typically serve for about a decade before retiring, and it’s unusual for the force to lose a police pooch during their tenure. Perhaps this loss can help explain why Marley & Me was trending in Toronto on Twitter this weekend. #waterworks!