Newsstand: February 20, 2015

Will it ever be warm again? Will the sun ever shine through and warm our cold hearts? Stay tuned to find out. In the news: the city saved $100 million less than it thought by using "efficiency experts," a call for better regulation of third-party training companies, and the TDSB is still under scrutiny.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

A new auditor general’s report found that the city saved around $16 million by bringing in independent efficiency consultants. That’s a far cry from the $110 million city manager Joe Pennachetti estimated those experts brought in. Of the nearly $100 million included in Pennachetti’s overestimation, the report found that about $60 million came from a one-time transfer of funds, while $34 million had previously been identified by city staff. City Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park) said he was unsurprised by the findings and that “there’s been a poisonous thought in Toronto’s politics that our government is wasteful. It’s never been true. There’s no gravy. There never was gravy.” Perks further suggested the best, if not only, way to improve City of Toronto services now is not to cut them, but to raise taxes.

Following the death of a firefighting student during a training exercise, third-party companies offering job and skills training are coming under scrutiny. Oshawa MPP Jennifer French wrote a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne about better regulating such companies. According to French’s letter, the Ministry of Labour doesn’t oversee such companies because trainees are not employees of that company, and the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities also doesn’t have any regulatory powers over such companies.

Provincial Education Minister Liz Sandals is disappointed with the report she received on Thursday about the progress of the Toronto District School Board. The board has been tasked with deciding on which of its many empty or “underutilized” schools to close down and sell, as well as with curtailing TDSB’s top staffer’s job. The board is also being criticized for maintaining its veto power over the hiring of superintendents and principals.