news
Newsstand: May 6, 2013
Lovely weather we've been having, eh? In the news: Ford wants the NDP to force an election, charges of TDSB misspending for underprivledged students, and sad news from the Toronto Marathon.
Mayor Rob Ford urged the provincial NDP to vote against the budget put forward last week by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minority Liberal government. Ford said on his weekly radio show Sunday “taxpayers want an election” and the NDP should give it to them by voting against the budget, regardless of policy; Tim Hudak’s PC party has already said they will vote against the budget. “The leader of the NDP party, Andrea Horwath, should just say no, listen to the taxpayers,” the mayor said. But a new poll by Forum Research found that 48 per cent of Ontarians want the NDP to support the budget and avoid an election; 36 per cent think the NDP shouldn’t back the Liberals, and 16 per cent had no opinion.
A new report from Social Planning Toronto says that the Toronto District School Board is diverting more than $100 million each year from funding programs for underprivleged students to balance its books. The provincial government provides extra funding for students deemed to be facing particular hurdles, such as coming from low-income families. The report says that of the $128 million in such funding given to the TDSB in 2012-13, only $40 million has been spent in the targeted areas.
A 47-year-old police officer was saved by the quick action of observers after having a heart attack at the Goodlife Toronto Marathon yesterday, but an 18-year-old woman unfortunately wasn’t so lucky; she collapsed and died a couple of kilometres from the finish line. The police officer collapsed near the finish line of the half marathon and was revived by the joint action of a doctor, a trained paramedic, and an on-duty police officer. Unfortunately the teenaged woman, who collapsed near The Boulevard Club on Lake Shore Boulevard West, was without vital signs; she was unable to be revived, despite the efforts of bystanders, and died.