20 Comments November 20, 2014 at 4:30 pm

Extra, Extra: International Transgender Day of Remembrance, Rush-Hour Snow, and Transit Trolls

Every weekday’s end, we collect just about everything you ought to care about or ought not to miss.

Photo by Twitter user @Theo_Syrette.

Today marked the 16th annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance, which raises awareness and honours the victims of transphobic violence. And for the first time, this day was marked by a flag-raising at City Hall. The raising was delayed after the flag went missing (there proved to be a spare), and the event saw a protest from a group of activists concerned it did not represent the whole trans community. Mayor-elect John Tory was in attendance, as was former mayoral candidate and provincial cabinet minister George Smitherman, who commented that Tory’s presence there was a “signal of better days ahead.”

Yesterday’s snowfall served as a reminder to drivers that sometimes cars cannot, in fact, navigate hills, and that repeatedly attempting to navigate a hill can be a very bad idea and result in a 20-car pileup. When asked why so many people across the city had faced a messy commute, Steve Buckley, general manager of Transportation Services, explained, “The issue yesterday, quite frankly, is just a snow storm during rush hour always creates problems.”
Transit advocacy group TTCriders wants Torontonians to weigh in on who’s been naughty and nice this year in transit: voting is now open for its 2014 Transit Troll and Transit Champion Awards. Nominees for the former are Doug Ford; Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West); and Premier Kathleen Wynne. Those up for the latter are TTC CEO Andy Byford; the Fair Fare Coalition’s Sheryl Lindsay; Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul’s West); and writer, transit activist, and Torontoist contributor Steve Munro. Troll and champion will be announced December 4.