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Morning Brew: Howard Moscoe won't run for re-election, Smitherman discusses green energy, Twitter-fueled panic over alleged TIFF bedbugs, Fort York funding issues, gay tourism conference in Toronto, the Jays beat Rays
Howard Moscoe will not be running in the upcoming election. The 70-year-old public servant has decided to move on to other opportunities, although he hasn't said what those are just yet. Over his 30-year career, Moscoe was known for a number of things, including his colourful quips, such as "Rob Ford couldn't pass gas in council without 23 votes."
George Smitherman discussed ideas to make Toronto a "green energy district" last night. His ideas include refocusing Toronto Hydro to produce 500 megawatts of green energy in the residential and private sectors, as well as creating environmental jobs. Smitherman also spoke about using Build Toronto and Invest Toronto to convert areas with high commercial vacancies into areas that employed clean energy. With all this talk of clean energy, I have to mention this. If we're going to look at Rob Ford's faults, we might as well consider who else has skeletons in the proverbial closet.
Twitter, or more accurately a sensationalist Tweeter, is to blame for all the rumours about a bedbug infestation at the Scotiabank Theatre. Helen Spitzer developed itchy spots on her back and thighs after seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World at the venue last week. She claims that it was her goal to warn others of the possible infestation, but when a friend of hers tweeted that TIFF was in trouble, the bedbugs story went viral. The rumour, however, is reportedly untrue and TIFF will go off itch-free as planned. Spitzer maintains she still has bedbugs. Bed bugs... not theatre bugs.
Reyal Jensen Jardine-Douglas, who was shot and killed by Police on Sunday suffered from mental issues but was apparently not displaying violent tendencies at the time he was shot. The bus that Jardine-Douglas was on was stopped by police who confronted the man and asked if he had any weapons. As the man reached into his pocket he was shot by police. A small knife was recovered as evidence.
Plans to re-create Fort York are $4-million over budget. Much like the eight-storey ice rink, the plans for Fort York are ambitious and the funding is not fully accounted for. Currently, there's about $10-million that needs to come from private funding. "This is where the country was allowed to survive as a country; this is where Toronto became Toronto," Joe Pantalone said in support of the extra cost.
Toronto will host the first conference regarding gay tourism in November. The conference will examine ways to draw gay, lesbian, and transgendered tourists to Canada, by marketing cities such as Toronto as tolerant and accessible. The gay tourism market is estimated to be valued at about $70-billion, money that might help fund Fort York or the new ice rink.
The Jays spanked the Rays 13-5 in Tampa last night. The win came from 10 runs in the 6th inning.
Photo by louise@toronto in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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um, why, exactly? sorry, not sure i understand the relationship between clean energy and a 4-year old story about a candidate's admitted drug use.
i don't even like smitherman all that much but this seems absurd.
There's all this talk about all the bad stuff Rob Ford has done, and yes it's bad, but smoking a little pot is another ballpark from being addicted to "party drugs".
That was four years ago, Rob Ford's is almost a decade ago, and he's getting heat from it still.
I like the candidate, Smitherman, but I want people to be objective in their decision. I don't even like Ford, I just don't like watching one man get crucified for something dumb when other people do the same thing.
Yea, he's got great ideas, but he is a reformed and admitted drug addict. I don't see Stephen Harper or Obama saying they're good people now but they used to be addicted to "party drugs".
Clean image now, but not so clean then.
Honestly, what the hell, Bryan?
And to be fair, having a drug problem and being open about it is much less relevant than having a drug/alcohol problem then <b>lying</b> about it. You see the difference, right? Clinton almost got <i>impeached</i> for lying about personal affairs.
"Bullshit journalism" involves looking up and questioning the personal lives of who you are electing for mayor.
And I never said I don't like Smitherman, I said he has had an admitted drug problem you can draw your own conclusions from that.
But if you've looked at the post or the star, ford's personal life is a topic of conversation. And thus the personal lives of other candidates are relevant. Yea, ford's a liar don't vote for him. Smitherman was addicted to party drugs, I'm not voting for him either, whether he admitted to it or not. Just not my cup of tea. If Joe Pantalone comes out saying he smokes crack, I might like his policy but I'll probably rethink my decision you know? Relapse rates are high when it comes to drugs and alcohol, you know?
I both liked the article, and agree with you.
A vote for him is basically just a vote against Ford.
and yes, if we're going to compare candidates drug/personal problems let's go ahead and do so. ford's personal life is only a topic of conversation because he's consistently dishonest about it, only reluctantly admitting to a dui or altercation at a hockey rink when confronted with incontrovertible proof of its happening.
and your comments about ford and smitherman relapsing are equally confounding. neither ford nor smitherman have a drug or alcohol problem. ford certainly has a belligerent jackass problem. smitherman did too much e and coke in the late 90s, hardly what one would call an addiction.
Nobody cares so much about Ford downing two litres of wine with his fiancee and smokin' a spliff. The DUI is irreprehensible but, mostly, it's the adolescent lying about it all.
The mayor of Toronto doesn't have enough individual powers to go hog wild with legislative changes (needs 23 votes from council) but he does have the power to be honest with the people.
Ford honest? Hell no.
Note that Smitherman's problem is a decade in the past, before he entered public life, and that he admitted it himself.
Rob Ford has been consistently dishonest about his problems with alcohol, drugs, and the law. He lies until he's caught, then lies about the lies he just told. Moreover, his issues seem rather more current and, perhaps, unaddressed. It was just four years ago that he was ejected from a hockey game for verbally abusing other spectators.
They contract out for the bedbug problem. They would have to trust that company and all its employees not to say a word. They would also have to risk them coming public in the first place when asking them to stay silent. Which, frankly they probably wouldn't, because the repercussions of THEM being caught could also ruin THEIR business.
It's amazing how quick a conspiracy theory can fall apart when you look at the repercussions it would have on all people involved and the likelihood that they would go along with it despite those enormous risks.
It would be beyond a stupid move on Cineplex's part.
The issue is that you wrote, "With all this talk of clean energy, I have to mention [completely unrelated news item]."
Then you go on to explain that you're including this unrelated news item in an effort to appear even-handed. Just what in the hell do "skeletons in the closet" have to do with green environmental initiatives?
Your thought process here seems to be "Gee, there's an awful lot of intelligent policy talk coming from Smitherman's campaign and a lot of really stupid shit about Ford in the news. I should take it upon myself to level the playing field by pointing out that hey, he's not perfect."
This is spun, opinion-driven bullshit.
Both irrelevant.
Smitherman has a millions-of-dollars management problem.
That is the only point relevant to candidacy brought up so far.
Now if you linked an article to Ford's stance on energy or something of that nature, then maybe that would fly but what you did was bush league.
Sometimes, I miss polishing a good line.
Ultimately, I am just surprised that two big players in the mayoral election are a man with anger issues and an ex-addict. Don't you think there's a ton of people at their level who got there without punching anyone out or snorting coke?
I'd like to think so.
I don't like to throw around words like 'stupid as hell' often but, seriously, this article is just jaw-droppingly bad and stupid as hell.
And to those hating on Bryan, it really is not that big of a deal. People need to be reminded that this is a blog.
Yeah sorry Bryan, I have to agree that not only was it a stretch but a low blow. You simply cannot compare one candidate outting his own skeletons while another candidate outright lied and backpedalled when confronted - a common Ford theme. Especially when the comparison isn't even apples to apples. Electing an official who made a responsible choice to tell voters about acting inappropriately that did not effect anyone but himself is completely different from a candidate lying about a DUI. Ford knowingly took the lives of others in his immature hands when he made that decision and then lied (poorly) about it when confronted.
And let's also keep in mind, not only did he lie about the DUI, the DUI itself is because he was basically obstructing justice by refusing the test. Bad decision after bad decision.
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While I was writing this you've just nailed that coffin shut Bryan. You know this isn't your personal blog and that some people do think you have a responsibility to be objective? Even despite the lack of an example in your predecessors.
Indeed, mark. Maybe you should write here.