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Newsstand: March 9, 2012
Friday once again rushes into the open arms that have been awaiting its arrival for longer than it can even know. In the news: more accusations of dirty tricks in Eglinton-Lawrence, the Prime Minister's in town, the commission in charge of finding funding for the Sheppard subway can't even fund its own paycheques, the mayor's a radio hit, and new smoking bans may soon be in effect.
First it was the robo-calls, now the CBC says they’ve uncovered evidence of voter fraud of a different kind. It seems that some 2,700 unregistered voters were counted on the voters list in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding in the last federal election. The Conservative MP who won the seat, displacing longtime Liberal MP Joe Volpe, says he’s open to an investigation by Elections Canada. But really, everyone can see what’s going on here: the dead have risen and they’re voting Conservative.
Speaking of the federal government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in town. He is expected to break ground on the island airport tunnel construction and to throw some money at the project. But who really knows what the future holds.
Speaking of tunnels, the guys Mayor Rob Ford appointed to find a way to build his Sheppard subway have not been getting paid for their work—their work being finding ways to get money to build a subway line. And the reason they haven’t been getting paid? There’s no funding for the funding-finding mission. That’s right, there isn’t even any money to pay for the the consulting group. And there hasn’t been for months.
Speaking of zany ideas the mayor has, it turns out the RoFo and DoFo radio hour over at Newstalk 1010 is doing much better with the brothers Ford in the booth. Ratings for the 1–3 p.m. Sunday time slot are up since the Fords took over hosting The City from previous host Josh Matlow (Ward 22, St. Paul’s).
Speaking of getting bumped, smokers may soon be banned from smoking in outdoor public spaces in the city. Inspired by municipalities that are banning smoking in outdoor areas like restaurant patios and pretty much any public space, John Filion (Ward 23, Willowdale) and Toronto’s chief medical officer of health say an increased ban on outdoor smoking would be a good thing for Toronto. Though no real moves to implement a ban are being put in place yet, it’s safe to say that if you love smoking cigars in the middle of large crowds gathered in public squares, you should cherish your inconsiderateness now, while you have a chance.
And speaking of being inconsiderate, some condo owners and renters are suing developers over the broken glass fiasco.