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Newsstand: November 6, 2014
A photographer in British Columbia hid in the bushes and snapped a photo of a grizzly bear inspecting a camera he had set up on a tripod. It's true what they say―nowadays everyone thinks they are a photographer, even bears. In the news: six pedestrians were hit by cars in less than 24 hours, Maria Augimeri thinks that cheap construction bids cause more trouble than good, the end of the Buffalo Bills home games in Toronto, and an online push for Doug Ford to enter the Ontario PC leadership race.
On the heels of beginning a new safety campaign, Toronto Police are issuing another warning for drivers and pedestrians to be careful after six people were struck by vehicles in less than 24 hours earlier this week. On Tuesday, five accidents occurred between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., with two pedestrians being listed in critical condition following their separate incidents. A sixth pedestrian was hit by a car on Wednesday morning and sustained minor injuries. Toronto’s general manager of transportation services Stephen Buckley says that crossing times at intersections are being changed in an effort to make road safer for pedestrians. Buckley says that assumed pedestrian speed is being slowed down from 1.3 to 1.0 metres per second in order to give people more time to cross streets. November is considered to be one of the most deadly months of the year for pedestrians, due in part to shortened daylight hours and variable weather conditions. There were nine pedestrian fatalities in November of 2013, and while there were 32 pedestrian fatalities this time last year, Toronto has seen just 23 this year.
Toronto Transit Commission board chair Maria Augimeri thinks that the City gets what it pays for when it accepts the cheapest bids for construction contracts. Case in point, nobody should be surprised that service on the Spadina subway extension will likely be postponed past the already-delayed target of fall 2016. “If you really are concerned about the public interest and you are truly concerned about tax dollars, you don’t look for the lowest bid, you look for the most intelligent,” said Augimeri after issues with contractors and sub-contractors were revealed to be among the setbacks currently slowing down the $2.5-billion six-stop extension project. Augimeri went on to say that City contracts should be awarded on a point-based system that would favour Canadian-content companies who also present clean health and safety records. For now, the TTC is weighing two options to meet the target of opening the subway extension in 2016. It is considering opening the extension without service to the Pioneer Village station—which is behind schedule—or running trains only as far as York University, which would leave the northern stops of the line to open at a later date.
Terry and Kim Pegula, the new owners of the Buffalo Bills, are working to end the ongoing series of home games played in Toronto. During an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, the Pegulas said their priority is to have all home games played in Buffalo. Their intent is to nix the ongoing deal with Rogers Communications, which was put on hold in March after concerns were voiced by Bills’ management and players that fan support was lagging at the Toronto games.
Finally, a new website and Twitter account have popped up encouraging Doug Ford to pursue a bid for leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. The site, which is said to be run by “grassroots people who believe Doug Ford is the only choice to save the Ontario PC Party,” looks eerily like the site created during his recent mayoral bid. The site also features testimonials from such luminaries as former provincial PC leader Tim Hudak, Sun Media journalists Mike Strobel and Sue-Ann Levy, and mayor-elect John Tory—because Ford clearly has yet to milk that gag for all it is worth, clearly.