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Newsstand: December 10, 2014
In case you were wondering, if ever confronted with the choice, Mayor John Tory would pick fighting a gorilla over a bear. What about you? In less outlandishly hypothetical news: the environmental assessment meeting for the Billy Bishop airport expansion plans draws a hostile crowd, a group of seniors allege they were kicked out of a club because of Giorgio Mammoliti, a possible Go Transit fare hike, and Brampton mayor Linda Jeffrey wants to lower her salary.
A public meeting about the proposed Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport expansion on Tuesday night found the Toronto Port Authority on the offensive, as a mostly hostile crowd of nearly 500 people voiced concerns over the proposal. The meeting held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was focused around the environmental assessment process. When the floor was open to the public after a brief presentation, attendees raised areas of concern that should be addressed by the assessment ranging from jet pollution and the dangers of jet-fuel transport, to aircraft collisions with migratory birds. Several people made complaints about the technical language that was used in the presentations, which organizers promised to address at a followup meeting in January. City councillors Pam McConnell (Ward 28, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) and Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) were in attendance, as was councillor-turned-MP Adam Vaughan who said that he was troubled by new plans for a wall that would span the city-side of the airport. According to Vaughan, the wall will limit the view of Toronto Islands from Queens Quay, but without its construction, jet service at the airport will not be quiet enough to operate.
A group of seniors have taken a petition to the City’s integrity commissioner, alleging that they have been kicked out of a city-funded group because they did not support City Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) in this year’s municipal election. Approximately a dozen seniors received letters from the North Islington Seniors Club informing them that they were no longer able to maintain membership because their “behaviour and actions in recent months have gone against the values of the club…” All of the banned former members who have gone on the record say that they did not support Mammoliti’s bid for re-election, and now feel that they are being targeted for it. Club president Rocco DiGiovanni says that this is not the case; the members were barred from the club because they did not attend enough functions. Mammoliti issued a statement saying that any disputes or differences within the group have nothing to do with him.
Go Transit riders may not be the happiest people this morning, since Metrolinx has proposed a new fare hike that will roll out on February 1, 2015, if approved. The tiered increase would see fares rise between 10 and 50 cents, depending on the length of a trip. Discounts offered to Presto users will still be applicable. Metrolinx will vote on the new fares this Thursday. According to the agency, the increased fares will generate an estimated $23.5 million in extra revenue annually, which will go towards meeting increased demand for service.
New Brampton mayor Linda Jeffrey is set to lower her salary at today’s council meeting. Her motion put forth requests that her salary from both the City of Brampton and Region of Peel be lowered to $165,850, which is in line with the compensation received by provincial cabinet ministers. Former mayor Susan Fennell was chastised during her tenure for being the country’s highest-paid mayor, earning $213,000 per year. Fennell attempted to secretly lower her wage by asking the City treasurer to withhold a portion of her pay in 2013; however, the move was considered illegal, since salaries must be set and changed by council.