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Newsstand: March 25, 2015
Once again, it is time for the news: the Toronto Public Library ends its used-book buying program, Ontario craft breweries want their own retail store, and a mayoral summit with Premier Kathleen Wynne.
After just four months, the Toronto Public Library will end a pilot program to purchase used books from city residents for its collection amidst complaints from authors that they were missing out on royalties from the sales. Toronto’s chief librarian Vickery Bowles says the project ultimately proved disappointing and had little impact on queue times for popular titles, which it had hoped to alleviate. Since launching the program on December 1, only 127 titles were purchased at a cost of $2,246, which Bowles admits exceeds what would have been spent on the same number of books using its regular acquisition methods. While a number of high-profile Canadian authors like Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje spoke out against the program publicly, Bowles says that their complaints were not a deciding factor in terminating the program. The program will wrap up on March 31.
Ontario’s independent breweries are asking Premier Kathleen Wynne to consider letting them open their own craft beer shops. On Tuesday, Ontario Craft Brewers made the appeal to Premier Wynne, saying that starting with just one location akin to the Beer Store could create more jobs within the province as breweries gain a larger means to sell their product to a wider audience. Finance Minister Charles Sousa insists that the government will not make any decisions about the future of alcohol distribution in Ontario until the panel convened to provide insight into maximizing provincial assets has a submitted a report. Torstar News Service reports that government sources are saying a new plan to allow beer and wines sales at some 300 supermarkets across Ontario will eventually be announced. These would be managed by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the Beer Store, which means that craft breweries would still have limited shelf space within the new retail locations.
Premier Wynne also took time to meet with nearly every mayor from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area on Tuesday at what she says was the first of many closed-door summits. Public transit was a hot topic of discussion, while mayors also touched on issues including economic growth and infrastructure. Mayor John Tory said the meeting was not a forum where he was seeking firm commitments from the province help further priority projects for the city, including his SmartTrack plan, but it was a positive discussion. To help build bridges between the province and municipalities, the premier says that meetings with the GTHA mayors will take place at least twice a year moving forward, and she has appointed former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion to be an advisor on GTHA-related issues.