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Newsstand: May 30, 2013
Oh Thursday, you sneaky bugger. Here's some news: another day, another powerful set of allegations against the mayor, a new break in the Anthony Smith shooting, the transit tax advocacy work starts at the Legislature, and councillors want to re-open the casino debate.
And here you thought those allegations against the mayor were on their way out. Well, put this in your pipe and smoke it. The Star is reporting sources within the mayor’s office say Mayor Rob Ford knew where the alleged video was pretty much from the get-go. With this latest explosive story, it’s shaping up to be a very interesting day at City Hall. Especially since Ford doesn’t have a highway flood to deflect questions anymore. If you’re wondering what the Ontario government might do about all this (municipalities are, after all, creatures of the province), the answer is: nada. But that didn’t stop the premier from saying the mayor needs to deal with his “personal issues”. The controversy doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so while you’re waiting for the latest development, why not learn more about the mysterious man who might or might not be playing a big role in all this? There’s a good profile on him here.
Meanwhile, police are set to address reporters later today about a development in the Anthony Smith case. You might recall him as a young man who was tragically killed earlier this year, but not before having his photo snapped with the mayor in his civvies, along with a couple of other dudes. However, the Globe says the big development will likely be that the RCMP arrested a man in Alberta, who’s being held in connection with the shooting.
Now that Metrolinx has passed its revenue tool recommendations on to the province, it’s up to Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberals to put some oven mitts on and start tossing that political hot potato around the Legislature to a whole whack of opposition MPPs who aren’t all that keen on making their constituents pay for transit expansion. So far Wynne isn’t saying whether she’ll try to reach a compromise on this with the NDP, who would rather corporations foot more of the bill for transit. But the Sun‘s got an idea for how to raise the money without forcing new sales taxes on people: sell drugs. At least there would be a tangible benefit to cough up the cash.
If you thought Toronto’s casino debate was dead in the water, well…it probably is. But that’s not stopping two city councillors from trying to re-open the debate on a casino at Woodbine, now that Vaughan city council has voted yes on a casino in that city. Councillors Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) and Norm Kelly (Ward 40, Scarborough-Agincourt) are worried a casino in Vaughan would cripple Woodbine.