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Newsstand: February 14, 2012
On this day for lovers and other strangers, let us eat too much chocolate and not worry about it. How's about we focus on the news instead: the City's outside workers vote to ratify their new contract but not everyone's happy about it, Doug Ford wants to save the subways, fire chief steps down, and cops are still waiting for G20 overtime pay.
As is the deal with making deals, almost everyone involved in the ratification vote for CUPE local 416’s new contract is pretty pleased with the outcome, except the paramedics. They’re not at all happy that the new deal removes their right to strike without implementing binding arbitration for their potential labour disputes. But everyone else is so happy about the contract that union leader Mark Ferguson even said the paramedics’ unhappiness is just proof of how great the deal really is. As if paramedic frowns were like tears from a clown, and tears from a clown were a sad thing that had to happen to make other people feel good.
Perhaps inspired by the tireless fight to resurrect Transit City after Mayor Ford struck it down in the early days of his reign, councillor Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) has decided to launch a “Save Our Subways” campaign to resurrect the plan that had replaced Transit City before Transit City was more or less resurrected. The councillor says the campaign will have an office in Scarborough, and will borrow a page from the lefty handbook and “start some organization.” Good start. A more real start did happen at Monday’s executive committee meeting though, when councillors voted to have the City Manager make some recommendations on how to build a Sheppard subway.
Soon done are the days of the co-chiefing Bills. That is, unless the next Toronto Fire Services Chief is also named Bill, current chief Bill Stewart’s retirement will leave police chief Bill Blair the lone chief Bill in town. On April 30, Stewart will leave the post he’s helmed since 2003. And it looks like the Star decided, hey, what better way to thank this man for his service than to point out all the really big fires that happened while he was chief at the bottom of the article about his retirement. Sure, that’s one way.
And now news from the never-ending saga that was and continues to be the G20: Senior-ranking officers who worked overtime during the weekend are still trying to collect compensation for their extra work. Usually higher-up cops don’t get overtime pay because they have salaried positions, but the G20 wasn’t a normal situation, and the officers had the Toronto Police Services Board sign a memorandum of understanding that the officers would be paid, and the Feds would do the paying. But the Feds don’t feel like it. Oh, Feds!