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Newsstand: December 8, 2011
Shake up those snow globes, gang, for it is Thursday! In the news: budget committee deputations get underway, Doug Ford tries to solve the problem the only way Doug Ford knows how, school boards are peeved at the mayor's office, Kensington's monks are on the move, and puppies.
Wednesday was a budget deputation day, hearing many a plea to keep abacination at bay. OK, so no part of the budget actually says anything about blinding people by holding a red-hot metal plate in front of their eyes, but there are some pretty grim bits like sweeping layoffs, closing homeless shelters, and cutting school nutrition programs. Almost 400 people signed up to speak out, and almost all of the 80 or so that spoke yesterday were against the cuts. More deputations go today, but after 9:30 p.m. anyone who didn’t get a chance to speak will have to send their passionate request for programs to be saved and alternative revenue streams be found in writing.
Councillor Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) thinks he’s found an alternative revenue stream: his pocket. The councillor was so moved by the deputation of the nutrition program coordinator at St. Maurice Catholic School (conveniently located in his ward) that Ford cut her a personal cheque for $1,000 to help cover the lost funding. Even though the cheque-giving did not involve any oversized novelty cheques or photo shoots the Star wasn’t invited to, the general consensus was that the whole thing was a bad idea. A nice gesture, but missing the point.
Speaking of being confused, the city’s two school boards say they were caught off-guard by all the cuts that will impact them in the City’s budget. Representatives from both boards say the cuts will ding their bottom line, disrupt school programs, and render recent investments—like swimming pool renovations—wasted. The boards find that last bit especially annoying, considering they had met with people from the mayor’s office days before the budget was released to discuss such construction projects. Not “might want to hold off on those” discussions, just “yeah, sure, sounds like a plan” discussions. A plan indeed, mayor’s office. A plan indeed.
The monk’s of Kensington’s Zen Buddhist Temple are packing up all their earthly possessions and preparing to move. Fed up with rowdiness and bottle breaking in the market, the temple is relocating to Bathurst and St. Clair. In the temple’s place? A Loblaws. (That’s nowhere near for sure or anything, but imagine.)
Finally, puppies! Scrunchy faced little balls of fat and adorableness were returned to a pet store after being stolen on Monday. Police recovered the four English bulldog puppies after two of them were listed for sale on Kijiji, and they lived happily ever after.