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Newsstand: November 14, 2014
Last week Interstellar opened and next week the second-last Hunger Games movie will open, so this week just enjoy your family and friends. And the news, of course: police are upset with a report on their carding practices, TTC chair Maria Augimeri would like to see the provincial government provide operational subsidies for the TTC, Premier Kathleen Wynne's government has strong words for the Beer Store, and Doug Ford is more popular than the PCs in Toronto.
A report on carding in the Jane and Finch area has both police chief Bill Blair and the police union upset. The study, conducted by the non-profit organization LogicalOutcomes, found that most residents were unaware of the changes made in April to the police carding policy, changes generated in response to charges that the policy targeted racial minorities. Although the revised policy requires that each person stopped by the police must be issued a receipt, according to the report, 85 per cent of those stopped in the area since June were not given a receipt. The report recommends removing some categories from the carding policy, such as “suspicious activity” and “loitering,” and keeping contact cards on file for two months at maximum. Blair said the report is “not an accurate reflection of what’s happening [in the area] today.”
Despite the provincial government’s Thursday announcement that it will allocate $162.8 million in gas tax for the TTC this year, about the same as last year, TTC chair Maria Augimeri (Ward 9, York Centre) says the province’s funding is not enough. Augimeri said the provincial government must resume providing operation subsidies for the TTC if the service is going to keep up with riders’ needs. That funding was abandoned under Conservative Premier Mike Harris, and the provincial government now offers capital funding for specific projects. Augimeri suggested the government show its commitment to TTC riders “by at least covering half of the Wheel-Trans budget,” which would be about $52 million. The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that Queen’s Park is considering a return to subsidizing the TTC. That report was denied by the government.
Premier Kathleen Wynne’s privatization czar, Ed Clark, has a suggestion for the monopoly Beer Store: either pay a tax for the benefit of running a private monopoly, or give up that benefit. “If we do decide to charge a franchise fee of some sort [and they say] they don’t have any room, they’re just right up against the wall here and they don’t have a dollar to give,” Clark said, “we’re saying, ‘Well, then that means you’re really saying is that this franchise that you have is worthless. Would you then give it up?’” Clark also suggested selling off Hydro One, the province’s transmission company. The sale of that, which could generate as much as $2–3 billion in a one-time payment, could help Wynne achieve her ambitious funding goals for things like transit.
Doug Ford, rumoured to be considering a run for the provincial Progressive Conservative leadership, won more votes in the mayoral election than the entire PC slate did in Toronto in June. Ford received 331,006 votes to the PC’s 218,589 votes.