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Newsstand: February 6, 2015
The Supreme Court of Canada will rule today on doctor-assisted suicide for the terminally ill. It's like the 90s all over again (you know, because they last visited this issue 20 years ago). In the news: a fifth measles case has been confirmed in Toronto, three police officers have been suspended following a sexual assault complaint, an app for Toronto parents in need of a babysitter, Billy Bishop Airport's emergency preparedness is in question, and Toronto-area booze deserts: are you in one?
A fifth case of measles was confirmed in Toronto this week. All five cases—two children and three adults—appear unrelated and none of the patients have recently been travelling, which Toronto Public Health said in a statement “indicates measles is currently circulating in Toronto.”
After a complaint about a sexual assault, three Toronto police officers have been suspended from duty. The Globe and Mail reports that “a source with knowledge of the matter” said the officers were suspended with pay, and that the complaint was made by a woman parking enforcement officer, a civilian unit within the Toronto Police Service. TPS spokesperson Mark Pugash told the Globe he couldn’t discuss the case due to the confidentiality offered by the Police Services Act. Pugash did say that when complaints against officers lead to criminal charges, those charges are “in general” (the Globe’s wording) made public.
A new app created in Toronto allows parents to connect with babysitters. It’s touted as being similar to Uber, the taxi app that’s become increasingly controversial for its labour practices and surge pricing. However, DateNight seems similar to Uber really only in that the two connect people who need a service (in this case, parents) with people providing it (babysitters). Babysitting, especially in a big city when you work for strangers more often than not, can feel dangerous for both the young women who populate the field and the parents leaving their children with near-strangers. DateNight offers both sides a chance to look at reviews and the peace of mind that potential clients or babysitters have made it through at least a rudimentary weeding-out process.
In the wake of this week’s Taipei airplane crash and the release of a more than 20-year-old report questioning the emergency preparedness of Toronto Island’s Billy Bishop Airport, some people are raising those same questions again. Among those people is Brian Iler, a lawyer and longtime critic of the airport’s readiness to handle disaster. One measure the report calls for is a bridge connecting the airport to the mainland. However, that debate has long since been put to rest. Without that bridge, emergency response crews will have use of the upcoming pedestrian tunnel, and the Toronto Police Marine Unit told the CBC it would “establish a command post on the water.”
Food deserts are an important issue that needs urgent solutions. Booze deserts are obviously not as severe, but they do point to problems in the distribution of alcohol in the city. Metro’s investigation of Toronto booze deserts finds a rather large one between Bloor West Village and Eglinton West, and others in the Beaches and in Rexdale.