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Newsstand: January 26, 2012
It's a Thursday fit for Ellen DeGeneres' birthday. So good thing it is. For her birthday, some Toronto-related news: Dalton McGuinty hesitates on new transit plan just as Mayor Ford crushes any renewed transit hope, a new report about the G20 planning suggests social media could have helped in the planning, and U of T's anti-racism office does a thing.
When he heard that some city councillors, led by TTC Chair Karen Stintz, were rumbling about changing the plans for the Eglinton underground LRT, Dalton McGuinty wasn’t moved. The premier said he’d wait for an official proposal about changing the plans before he made any decisions. Karen Stintz herself said the parties involved were “having good dialogue.” But it seems Dalton was right to hesitate. Mayor Ford’s idea of good dialogue goes like this: “I’m building subways.”
Yes, it’s true. The mayor (and his office) are flatly rejecting any plans or talk of making a portion of the Eglinton LRT steetlevel and using the savings to extend the Sheppard subway line and improve transit on Finch. Just, no. Mayor Ford says he promised the good people of Scarborough a subway, and a subway they shall get. Besides, he says, any leftover savings from the project beyond $650 million have to be returned to the cash-strapped province as per the unilateral arrangement the mayor struck with Queen’s Park when he first came to office and pulled the plug on Transit City.
An OPP report about G8 and G20 event planning blames poor communication for some of the bad planning and confusion on the ground over the course of the weekend of the summits. Officers weren’t always sure who to report to, some worked 20 hours straight, and a lack of coordination on the logistics side meant too many hotel rooms were booked. Next time, the report says, maybe all this could be avoided, if only the force had used more social media leading up to the planning. Quoth the Globe quoting the report: “A more aggressive approach would have helped to counter rumours … during the operational phase by adding to the number of followers and friends.” Yes, social media. Elixir of the gods. Saviour of all days.
The University of Toronto has something called an Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office, and everyone involved in this story behaved with the sort of benevolent boring reason that such an office would command. In promoting a recent show on U of T’s campus, the comedy duo behind The Black-Jew Dialogues show put up their traditional poster, depicting the two comedians, one black and one Jewish, donning the cultural garb of one another (an afro, a yarmulke, that sort of thing). Someone complained to the anti-racism office, and the comedians understood that it could be a sensitive issue for some and agreed to take the poster down. Just like that.