Morning Brew: City to withhold Pride funding, pool repairs have residents steaming, city council commends policing of G20, McGuinty says we're scarred, call for protest photos and videos, subway tunnel fire forces emergency evacuation
For next year's Pride festival, the City has chosen to withhold its funding until after the party is over and on the condition that the all parade participants adhere to the City's official Anti-discrimination Policy. Finally we have some attempt at corrective measures being out forth. You know something isn't quite right when the two largest groups marching in the Pride parade are the polarized pro-Israel and pro-Palestine contingents, and require being flanked by police officers all the while.
Residents of Davenport are (really hot and) bothered that they're not able to seek cooling at the Giovanni Caboto outdoor pool in Earlscourt Park during this lengthy scorcher of a heat wave. Repairs were originally slated to be complete by the end of June, but more extensive repairs that were originally thought are needed and the pool won't likely be ready for another month.
City council donned police uniforms and stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier in front of a banner that read "Mission Accomplished" yesterday. The motion to officially commend the outstanding work of Police Chief Bill Blair and the Toronto Police force passed 36-0, despite growing pressure for a full-on public inquiry into the actions of the Toronto Police-led Integrated Security Unit during the G20.
Toronto has been so psychologically scarred by images of burning police cars and broken glass at the G20 protests that Premier Dalton McGuinty would rather not ever see this type of meeting in Toronto again. Similarly, there are a lot of people out there who feel they've been had their views tainted by sweeping, Charter-violating police powers and McGuinty's lack of transparency on the laws that dictate police powers, and would rather never vote for him ever again.
Toronto police have put out a request to the public for photos and videos depicting people committing acts of violence during the G20. Do you recognize any of these alleged unruly protesters of interest, who are accused of damaging property? Your photos and videos of police doing not-so commendable service, on the other hand (like searching people illegally, intimidating and arresting peaceful protesters, running people over with horses, shooting them with rubber bullets, etc.), are not exactly wanted at this time.
And a TTC subway train had to be evacuated in a section of underground tunnel between Dupont and St.Clair West stations on the University-Spadina line yesterday, after smoke was observed at track-level. No one was harmed in the incident, and the only commemorative souvenir they got was black soot on their clothes and hands.
Photo: "Parade of Sail" by TNT Studio, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
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