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Newsstand: December 9, 2014
As daylight breaks over our fair city, there are things happening all around you that are worthy of your attention. So keep your head up, or you might miss something. On that note, let’s see what is going on in the news: A TTC pilot project improves route service on Dufferin and St. Clair, Alok Mukherjee refuses to apologize for his controversial Facebook post, and Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier learns that Nelson Mandela was not an athlete.
A new Toronto Transit Commission pilot project on both the Dufferin Street and St. Clair Avenue routes has shown dramatic improvements to service reliability for transit vehicles. According to the TTC, by adjusting schedules, using extra vehicles, and scheduling more supervisors, the St. Clair streetcar has shot up from a 60 per cent on-time rate to 95 per cent since October. According to Rick Leary, the TTC’s chief service officer, the pilot project emphasized that short-turning streetcars and buses before the end of a scheduled route were a last resort; instead, additional staff and vehicles were deployed to help alleviate delays. Initial figures prove the approach is working. Short turns on the St. Clair streetcar are down from more than 500 per week to just 30 per week since the the project began, while short turns on the 29 Dufferin bus have gone from 350 per week to 30. The project also made gains in eliminating delays to route service on both lines. While the TTC thinks that findings of the project will translate to other routes, it says the results cannot be replicated without an investment of more staff and vehicles.
Yesterday Toronto Police Services Board chair Alok Mukherjee refused to apologize for a controversial Facebook post last week, in which he shared an image that contrasted the small number of American deaths caused by ISIS and Ebola with the much larger number of deaths caused by American police officers. While Mukherjee said that he should have provided more context in the post, he maintains that he did not intend for the post to be a comparison with Toronto police officers. The police union has steadily called for Mukherjee’s resignation since the post was made public. Union leader Mike McCormack went on a media blitz yesterday saying that the social media post proves Mukherjee’s bias and that the union no longer has trust in him as negotiations over the city’s policing contract are set to begin at the end of the month. McCormick launched a complaint to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission, asking that Mukherjee be removed from his position. As for Mayor John Tory, he says that Mukherjee’s post shows evidence of dysfunction between the police and the board. Really? You don’t say…
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier has apologized for saying that former South African president Nelson Mandela was one of his favourite athletes. Yes. That actually happened. While being interviewed on the red carpet of a charity reception held before last Friday’s Toronto Raptors game to commemorate the first anniversary of Mandela’s death, Bernier was quoted, “[Mandela] is one of the most known athletes in the world and a lot of impact in any kind of sport that he did. Even playing hockey, everyone knows him. From being the type of person he was off the ice and on the ice. But you know he changed a lot while he was with us. He’s a tremendous guy.” Some careless editing saw Bernier’s soundbite included in a recap video of the event that was posted to the Toronto Raptor’s website on Saturday morning, setting the Twitterverse ablaze before it could be taken down. Later that day, Bernier acknowledged how badly he embarrassed himself. According to the Toronto Star, Bernier apologized for his comments, saying, “I’m embarrassed. I didn’t mean to offend him, his legacy. I got flustered with the red carpet and I was nervous.” Let’s call it a learning moment for Bernier, who should probably be briefed with speaking notes before all public appearances, and might benefit from a few high school history classes.