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Newsstand: January 23, 2015
As January draws to a close, we have two things to grit our teeth and hold on to until the spring comes: budgets and awards shows. If you happen to like politics and celebrity, this is your time of year. In the news: median incomes in Ontario—and especially Toronto—are falling, Sundance is seeing an influx of Canadian films, John Tory might have trouble passing his first budget, and a science demonstration gone awry leads to four people with injuries.
Incomes are falling in both Toronto and Ontario at large, and they’re looking even worse when compared to the rest of the country. Between 2006 and 2012, the median income in Ontario fell by 1.7 per cent, and in Toronto it fell by 2.8 per cent; every other province and territory except British Columbia saw an increase during the same time. (The research used median rather than average, because averages can be skewed by extremely high or low values; the median more accurately represents the wide swathe of earners in and near the middle.) Median incomes went up by 3.5 per cent nationally. Lost in the discussion about how Canadians are taking on more and more debt is the fact that, according to financial advisor Lynn Beamish, “people have to live on plastic, because there’s more month at the end of the money.”
Sundance, the film festival started by Robert Redford, opened yesterday. The festival has a reputation for screening independent films that go on to major critical success; this year’s Boyhood, directed by Richard Linklater and showered with award nominations, is an example of that. Among the showcased films this year are 10 Canadian ones, either productions or co-productions. From horror to environmental history documentary, Canadian films have a strong showing at this year’s festival.
City council won’t vote to approve Mayor John Tory’s first proposed budget, but there are already signs it’s not going to be easy. Even though the budget is still tentative as details are settled with the provincial government, both former mayor and current councillor Rob Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) and leftist councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) criticized Tory’s budget for using stopgap funding from the provincial government to give the illusion of a balanced budget. “Absolutely it’s not balanced,” Ford said on Thursday. “I’ve never heard of a line of credit to balance a budget.” Tory, meanwhile, claimed the move is “entirely reasonable” to use what he also called a line of credit in order to continue paying for “investments that [Tory] think[s] are urgent.”
Three students and a teacher were treated for minor injuries after a science demonstration at Royal Crown Academic School misfired on Thursday. The demonstration involved pouring drain cleaner into a pop bottle with water in it, but the bottle exploded and sprayed those present with chemicals from the cleaner. Toronto Fire Services said the teacher drove the students to the hospital, where they were all treated for minor injuries.