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Newsstand: May 2, 2013
At long last, it's budget day. Only a few hours from now, the finance minister will ride through town showering us all with coins. In the meantime, here's some news: the Leafs get rocked, the mayor gets in hot water, the city gets its delayed casino meeting, and shark fins get un-banned.
That small crash you heard outside last night was the sound of the wheels starting to fall off the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bandwagon, after the Leafs got smoked by the Boston Bruins. It was bad…so bad even Peter Mansbridge took a shot (and scored, just like Boston did four times). Torontonians can still brag about having way more expensive ticket prices than the Bruins though, so that’s something. Meanwhile, Mayor Rob Ford has confirmed Boston’s mayor won’t be making a friendly playoff bet with him. Ostensibly it’s because of all that’s happened in that city over the last few weeks, although we’re pretty sure Thomas Menino just feels bad taking such easy money.
Speaking of the mayor, another citizen has filed a complaint against him for his behaviour, this time in response to something Ford said on his weekly radio show. Lawyer Viresh Fernando has complained to the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council after Ford threatened to read out the names of all councillors who support transit taxes every week on his show. It’s a little unclear what exactly is wrong with re-hashing information already in the public sphere, especially when regular listeners of the show have probably already etched those names into their kitchen walls with steak knives anyway. On the other hand, it’s been weeks since this city had a good Ford scandal to talk about, so this will have to do.
Mark your calendars, stock up on popcorn and get ready to call in sick the day after Victoria Day, because May 21 will be the day the whole crazy casino debate finally comes to a head. The mayor has set a special council meeting/royal rumble that day just to discuss the issue, with the possibility of a few smaller card matches beforehand including the rumored return of Rey Mysterio Jr. Rogers TV is also reportedly considering offering its usual council live stream as a pay-per-view service, although the legal implications have not yet been fully explored.
After witnessing defeats in Toronto and on Parliament Hill, Mississauga councillors are giving up on enforcing a shark fin ban of their own. Let’s make sure we remember that the next time they get all huffy over how Toronto isn’t the only big, important city in the region.