City
Morning Brew: Drivetest Employee Strike Threatened, Toronto Economic Report is Scary, Project Isis Nets Bling, Concern Over Fake Amber Alerts
Photo: "In the light" by eudaimon, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
The summer of strike threats continues, and this time its the workers at Ontario's Drivetest examination centres are poised to walk out. Their 2am contract negotiation deadline was extended this morning, which I suppose is a good sign. But if they don't reach an agreement by 2am Friday, all scheduled written and road tests will be canceled.
A sobering City report on our fiscal state is confirming what most of us in Toronto have been aware of for quite some time. Unemployment and welfare caseload are skyrocketing, and building permits and retail sales are on sharp declines. And while one of the nation's most important economic and cultural centers bleeds profusely, what is our federal government doing to help?
Some people aren't feeling the pinch of the recession and can still manage to live in high-end condos and drive luxury cars despite being unemployed. A raid following a long-term police operation called Project Isis in Durham netted a bunch of suspected drug dealers, along with all kinds of goods including guns, real estate, snazzy vehicles, and loads of narcotics and cash.
Howard Moscoe is looking to revisit and revamp a city by-law that aims to prevent for-profit used clothing companies from being mistaken for charitable organizations. The current by-law, which is supposed to force the companies to get licenses for boxes and clearly indicate on they that they are for-profit, clearly isn't working or being enforced at all.
It's hard to have much faith in humanity when people do completely scummy things like issue fake amber alerts that go viral and waste resources and put people who really are in need in further danger. Apparently the advent of online social networking tools is making this kind of problem worse, unfortunately.
And a TTC bus driver was left unharmed but shaken after being threatened with a knife last night. While protective plastic dividers have been installed on some buses, they're not on all yet, but there's no telling how effective they'll be or how they'll influence this kind of crazy passenger behaviour.
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Seeing those vehicles in use to service:
#82 Rosedale, #33 Forest Hill, #109 Marlee, #126 Christie and #127 Davenport are nothing short of extraordinary experiences.
While it's doubtless that these routes serve Toronto's seediest communities, I object to being treated, de facto, as a criminal.
I'm certain that non-racioeconomic-panic oriented, non-police-profile obtained statistics on violent crime on the TTC would suggest that many people pay $2.75 to get on the bus, and go somewhere.
They do not assault the driver (Queen streetcar drivers, ironically, aside) they use the service as a form of public transportation.
Toronto is not perfect, Toronto is not uncivilized.
Violence against TTC workers happens. This will reduce it.
You are still getting from point A to point B. Do those litle panic lights on the back of cabs offend you too?
In fact, on "Dangerous Finch" I've seen that they're often not in use, even at night, even when it's a female driver, even when the bus is full of dangerous offenders (read: Transit users)
A cab provides a level of intimacy in which some crimes are better facilitated, that said, I've never seen (a warning light) engaged.
Perhaps like the warning light, the presence of the shield, not it's implementation, will be sufficient.
The motive in cab-based crime is often financial, rarely if ever has a bus ever been "robbed."
A firm negotiation of the social contract is all that is necessary. No one ever deserves to be assaulted.
Why should the Feds help? Cities are creatures of the Province under the constiution. Go talk to Queen's Park for help. Also, why can't it be asked that the city do what is necessary and fix it's own issues without borrowing and begging for cash. All of these services are important to the city but so is responsible and prudent budgeting.
I don't know when and where they will use the shields, but I support their right to it. I suspect you will see them in action on the Yonge, Dufferin and the Bloor buses after 2am when the vehicles become very intimate. I am no expert on cab based crime, but given the recent news out of Buffalo, it appears that cab drivers are also assaulted by drunks and jerks.
-Dan Contogiannis
-Gabriel Anonymousopolus 2009
Here's a novel idea: let's import bus drivers from, say, Mexico City or Sao Paulo and show them how it's done?
why can't it be asked that the city do what is necessary and fix it's own issues without borrowing and begging for cash?
A: well isnt it just easier to ask for help?? no offence to any david miller lovers out there but we need a new mayor. this guy is a bit of a sleeze. and i think he is a bit uncapable in handling the city on his own, along with the city council. it seems there doing nothing right.
And your right it isnt the feds responsibility but it isnt the provinces either, toronto has a city council and it isnt working, we need to get some competent people on that council who maybe live near those areas and are maybe effected by it on a daily basis, instead of living in nearly 700K homes with nice marble floors. now i dont live in a bad house, in a bad neighborhood but i dont live in a ritzy area either.
thats my take.
love it, hate it, deal with it
Jim Young
USW Local 9511
President, Executive, L.M.C., and Grievance Committee Officer, Local Union Steward
Cell number: (647) 409 - 9511 Fax number: (905) 507 - 4793
Email address: jimyoung@rogers.com USW Local 9511 Website address: www.usw9511.ca