City
Morning Brew: January 27th, 2009
Photo: "winter sunlight" by allan0709, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
There's another massive storm brewing to the south, and it's heading our way. We're expected to mostly be spared, and get just a brushing (5-13cm of snow) over the course of 14h. Places directly in its path have much more to worry about.
Talk about an opportunity to set an example. During this recession, will Toronto City Councillors vote to freeze their salaries, or will they vote to accept what was already coming their way (annual increases tied to inflation)? Mayor Miller has already said he won't be taking a raise, but he's expected to vote in favour of keeping the increase in place for his colleagues.
There's still no word on why the Loblaws at Dupont & Christie was closed by Toronto Public Health. I'm really hoping to learn what happened sooner rather than later, so I can share the news with the people who joined me in gorging on food purchased from there. Repeated phone calls to the store this morning resulted in a busy signal.
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Was the raid on Ontario farmer Michael Schmidt's raw milk "cow-share" unconstitutional? Unless serving cinnamon buns to fellow officials during the raid is a violation of basic rights, I think Schmidt is not going to have much of a case.
The Island Airport owes "taxes", and the City and the Toronto Port Authority may end up going to court over who owes what. The curse of the inner-city airport continues.
And in completely non-Toronto news... a woman in Bellflower California became the second human in recorded history to give birth to eight surviving babies at once. Apparently she plans to breast-feed the litter entire family. Clearly her challenges have just begun.
Discussion
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I can not believe I voted for this coward.
People are allowed to eat raw fish, meat, even poultry, if they want. why not raw milk?
The industry of food is a travesty, and we should be allowed to chose unprocessed if we want.
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To you write for the Toronto Sun, because your tact stinks of it.
Remember when the Mayor said <a href="http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2003/12/19/lawsuit-threat-has-mayor-fuming/?printerFriendly";>cancelling the bridge would only cost a toonie</a> but cost the city hundreds of thousands in legal and Federal taxpayers $35m to make the legal case it caused go away?
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/577968
What happens when that trust is misplaced? When a farmer neglects to refrigerate or properly store the milk. Both farms might be identical, but one has a farmer that cares about quality and health issues and the other that doesn't give a shit (or worse yet, someone who THINKS they know about quality and health issues, but is deluding themselves to the extent of their own knowledge)
What happens on a larger scale? What happens when Beatrice releases it's own line of unpasteurized milk? What happens when mass production gets involved and a small slipup goes unnoticed and makes thousands of people sick?
The issue is where to draw the line and when all you have is varying shades of grey between factory farms and Michael Schmidt's cow rental service, it's a hell of a lot easier and safer just to disallow it completely.
And you're right when you say that this is just the government trying to protect it's massive dairy industry. If people started getting sick from legal, unpastureized milk, it would damage the -entire- industry, small farmers and mega corporations alike.
http://www.blogto.com/city/2009/01/dupont_christie_loblaws_closes_early_remains_mum/
If the bridge had gone ahead to the tune of $20, Toronto Port Authority estimates not mine, it would have cost the Port Authority and their partner Porter Airlines the $20 million for the bridge, plus the millions they put into the new terminal, plus the millions they put into the new docks, plus the millions they put into the new ferry.
If it wasn't for the $35 million settlement that Mr. Dowling derides, the Toronto Port Authority and Porter Airlines would be a lot further in the hole coming up with their own infrastructure funds to start the business.
So when Mr. Dowling chides the mayor for the $35 million settlement, he may want to consider how much it helped the Port Authority and Porter to get the planes off the ground and at a cost that Mr. Dowling can afford.
Mr. Dowling has his cake - a cheapshot criticism - and is eating it - a taxpayer subsidized airport that allows him to fly economocally.
I see the primary issue as one of fairness, because I see no reason the people of Rexdale and Malton should have to breathe all of the pollution from the transportation facilities on which our prosperity depends. I also want to keep Toronto's medical transportation system running smoothly. And, not least, I want to see the city government spending public time and resources productively, on things the local government actually has some responsibility for. Surely the time has come to move on.