Newsstand: June 26, 2012

Good morning, and welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives! Just kidding, that's a horrible thing to say. In the news: Former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory might take another stab at the Toronto mayoral race; the Ontario government will announce today its plans for revitalizing Ontario Place; Mayor Rob Ford's director of logistics and operations David Price supposedly used to call the mayor's radio show on the reg'; and central Toronto and Mississauga-Halton area folks like to drink a bunch.

By Jodie Shupac • Illustration by Jeremy Kai

Word on the street (and also in the established newspapers) is that former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader and once would-be Toronto mayor John Tory, is considering giving it another go in the upcoming mayoral race. Myer Siemiatycki, a professor of politics at Ryerson University, speculated that Tory, if he ran, would likely position himself as a centrist candidate, taking votes from the right-leaning Rob Ford and any popular left-leaning candidates that decide to run [cough, Olivia Chow, Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina)].

If you’ve been jonesing for Ontario Place, today is a good day for you. This morning, the provincial government is set to announce what’s in store for the the amusement park, which has been partially closed for more than a year due to a drop in the number of visitors it attracts.

Mayor Rob Ford’s director of logistics and operations and longtime family friend David Price, supposedly called the mayor’s weekly radio show at least six times before joining his staff this past April. Apparently, Price made on-air jabs at leftie Toronto politicians like former mayor David Miller, and never identified himself by full name. Councillor Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) says he told Price to stop as soon as he learned of the occurrence.

And lastly, in drinking news, a new Statistics Canada report finds that, in the central Toronto and Mississauga-Halton areas in particular, people like their booze; in both places, 19.3 per cent of the population reported having more than five drinks at least once a month. To be clear, that’s five drinks in one sitting at least once per month, not five drinks over the course of one month. And if that sounds negligible to you, or just judgey, take it up with StatsCan. Or, y’know, go back to sleep, because you’re in undergrad.