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Newsstand: September 16, 2015
It's hot outside again. Quit playing with our feelings. In the news: Mulcair says something that some people think is controversial, Syrian refugees reach Toronto, and Uber Toronto releases data for its one year anniversary.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair is facing scrutiny after calling the Toronto “Canada’s most important city” at a Vancouver campaign event Monday morning. In response to a question about Toronto’s potential bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Mulcair said, “I think that seeing Canada’s most important city, Toronto, getting those Olympics—I think that’s a door we should keep open.” Many took to Twitter to voice concerns about the comment, which Mulcair has said multiple times before. Moncton, N.B. Twitter user @bigpicguy who said, “Sounds a tiny bit pompous. Glad Mulcair thinks Toronto is the most important city in the entire country. WOW.” To date, Montreal is the only Canadian city to have hosted the Summer Olympics.
Thirty Syrian refugees touched down at Toronto Pearson International Airport yesterday morning in an emotional scene between those fleeing violence in their homelands and the sponsors that brought them here. The refugees, who arrived via Lebanon, are but a small fraction of the four million refugees who have fled Syria since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war. The Conservative government has pledged to bring 10,000 refugees to the country over the next three years, while the NDP and Liberals have promised spots for significantly more refugees.
This past Sunday marks Toronto’s UberX services’ one year anniversary, and what better way to celebrate the new year with a data release of the company’s services. According to Uber, who posted the data to its Toronto blog, UberX “driver-partners” made more than $50 million dollars, drove more than 34 million kilometres, and serviced more than 4.4 million trips since the same time last year. Uber also stated that the average income per driver is approximated at $3,125, and that the number of drivers is steadily increasing, with “several thousand” joining within the past few weeks.