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Newsstand: April 15, 2013
All right, Mother Nature! Let's make this the week it actually feels like spring, okay? In the news: a downtown casino faces its first hurdle with city government this week, Ontarians find out the real cost of moving a Mississauga power plant today, and Toronto falls behind U.S. counterparts in putting women in management roles.
Today and tomorrow the city’s executive committee will consider the option of allowing a casino and entertainment complex to be built in downtown Toronto, its first hurdle ahead of approval. Mayor Rob Ford remains strongly in favour of approving a casino complex downtown, saying “I don’t know how you can say no to it” during his weekly Sunday radio show; a growing number of councillors plan to vote no. The executive committee will consider the points in the city manager’s report but that information won’t include a number for a hosting fee: Premier Wynne has said she won’t cut the city a special deal on profits. The public also gets its chance to weigh in today, but not everybody wishing to speak may get to do so—the mayor will present a motion limiting speakers to three minutes each and cutting deputations off at 8 p.m. today.
A report by Ontario’s auditor shows that costs for cancelling a power-plant project in Mississauga will be much higher than the figure of $190 million given by former Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government. The auditor will table a special report on the cancellation, already seen as expensive, in legislature on Monday, and the Globe and Mail reported that sources familiar with its contents said the tally will actually come out to between $250 million and $300 million due to significant costs from moving the plant from Mississauga to Sarnia.
Canada’s major cities are falling behind their American counterparts in placing women in top jobs, and the Toronto Region Board of Trade warns that the trend could impact growth. A new study from the board finds that Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary all fall behind U.S. cities in terms of women in management roles, with the exception of Dallas. Halifax, however, ranked fourth on the board’s list of 12 major North American municipalities. The report found that 39.3 per cent of management positions in Toronto are held by women, compared to 42.8 per cent for Boston, which ranked first.