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Newsstand: June 11, 2013
This weather makes us feel like we took a time warp back to March. We don't like it. In the news: Ford shuffles his executive, the mayor gets a legal victory, casino consultants are expensive, and fake turf remains controversial.
Councillor Jaye Robinson (Ward 25, Don Valley West) was booted from Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee yesterday, removing the only remaining woman from the 13-person group. Robinson recently publicly advised the mayor to take a leave of absence in the wake of the scandal that emerged amid reports he was allegedly videotaped smoking crack cocaine. As well, Ford demoted another councillor, Paul Ainslie (Ward 43, Scarborough East). The mayor made no direct statement about the changes, but his brother and council member Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) said they had been in the works for a while. Robinson is expected to hold a press conference this morning.
Busy day for the mayor yesterday—in addition to his executive shuffle, Ford had a legal win when he was awarded partial costs in a failed libel suit. An Ontario Superior Court judge ordered George Foulidis, owner of Boardwalk Pub, to pay the mayor and a failed council candidate more than $160,000 in legal costs, related to his unsuccessful $6-million suit against Ford. The mayor and Bruce Baker had sought full costs of more than $267,000.
Toronto’s casino debate, which ultimately ended in council voting against a proposed downtown casino and expanded gaming at Woodbine, cost the city at least $370,000, according to city manager Joe Pennachetti. Released yesterday, a letter by Pennachetti in response to an inquiry from Councillor Mary Fragedakis (Ward 29, Toronto Danforth) about the cost of the city’s casino debate stated that there were $313,000 in consultant costs and $57,100 in public consultation costs, not including HST. The Ford brothers called for a reopening of the discussion of a new casino at Woodbine on their weekly Sunday radio show.
U of T wants fake grass, and if they don’t get it they’ll make the city pay…literally. The University of Toronto promised yesterday to send the city a bill if city council rejects the school’s proposal to install fake turf on its back campus ahead of the Pam-Am Games. A vote on the proposal is expected to come before council this week. Mayor Ford is expected to argue against a motion to designate the school’s field as a cultural heritage landscape.