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Newsstand: December 17, 2014
It would appear that fog is the new snow. In the news: a Ryerson student gets flack for encouraging people to give pizza to the homeless, the TCHC approves a $2.5-billion budget for 2015, a retirement home gets slapped with a $10,000 fine for operating without a license, and a woman is hit by a bus near Yonge and Eglinton.
A Ryerson University student who was given a class assignment to highlight the communication potential of social media is being criticized for starting an online charitable giving trend that urges people to take a photo of themselves as they donate pizza to a homeless person. Noura Al-Mutairi’s Pass the Pizza movement gained traction on Twitter and Instagram, and spawned acts of giving across Toronto and internationally. However, critics think that this new trend in giving, where beneficiaries from a charitable act become props in a photo, does not treat the homeless with dignity, even if the aim is to increase awareness about their plight. Street pastor Doug Johnson Hatlem works with homeless individuals across North America and says that initiatives like Pass the Pizza take focus away from supporting homeless people through housing solutions, and place pressure on them to sacrifice dignity in order to receive food they desperately need. Al-Mutairi says her intention is not to demean anyone through Pass the Pizza; she just wants a decent grade on her assignment, and to inspire people to give to charity.
The board of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) approved a $2.5-billion budget for 2015, which relies on two-thirds of the funding to come from the provincial and federal governments. It warns that if the funding does not materialize, some 10,000 residents could be forced from their homes. The City of Toronto has promised $860 million, and interim TCHC CEO Greg Spearn says that there is a willingness from both higher levels of government to provide financial backing; how much that will equal is yet to be determined. According to Spearn, though, the TCHC cannot make do without at least a $1.7-billion combined commitment from the provincial and federal governments. Third-party assessments indicate that, without the funding, 4,000 units will be in critical shape within the next five years because repair-budget cutbacks will be unavoidable.
The Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority has slapped a $10,000 fine and charges on a retirement home owner who has been operating without a license for over a year. A Toronto Star investigation revealed that owner-operator Elaine Lindo of In Touch retirement home in Weston was operating her facility after her license application was denied in July of 2013. She continued to provide services to elderly patients after concerns of abuse and neglect were brought forth by the License Appeal Tribunal. The Toronto Star alleges that seniors were living in substandard conditions at In Touch, and were left unattended in soiled diapers for hours at a time. Overworked and underpaid staff who were poorly trained were left to care for seniors, many of whom were suffering from mental and physical conditions. Lindo had been ordered to cease operations by November 28, and is due back in court in mid-January.
Yesterday a woman was struck by a Toronto Transit Commission bus near Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue East. While no word on her condition yet, reports say she was conscious when paramedics transported her to a nearby trauma centre.