Weekend Newsstand: March 21, 2015

In the news on this first day of spring: more than 500,000 Ontario tax forms have to be shredded due to a printing error, the TTC wants another company to oversee the remainder of the Spadina subway extension, and U of T grad students vote on a possible end to their strike.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

Ontario’s error-plagued Social Assistance Management System (SAMS) has encountered yet another problem. After leading to the disclosure of private information to third parties earlier this year, SAMS has now led to printing off around 650,000 T5 tax forms—which report welfare and Ontario disability support income—and so many held incorrect information that the entire raft of forms was discarded. The forms will be shredded to ensure the information therein stays private. The Toronto Star reports that in some regions of the province, employers have brought in councillors to help employees deal with the stress of working with SAMS.

The Toronto Transit Commission is going over budget and past schedule on the Spadina subway extension, and wants to hire an outside company to manage the rest of the project’s construction. Just how far over budget the project really is won’t be known until the end of the year, when TTC CEO Andy Byford will report on the costs of legal battles between the TTC and its contractors. The TTC says sole-sourcing the management of the project to another company is the most cost-effective option for the remaining construction.

Graduate students on strike at the University of Toronto narrowly voted in favour of a tentative agreement with the university on Friday. The agreement increases students’ funding package from $15,000 to $17,500 and guarantees tuition relief for unfunded students. (The funding package is only guaranteed for four years of study.)