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Morning Brew: Doug Ford doesn't want charity events shutting down DVP, mayoral campaign audit rejected, Toronto Health wants to license spas and tattoo parlours, raccoons are here to stay, and McGuinty is the second least popular premier in the country
Even though Sunday's Ride for Heart raised almost $4-million dollars for the Heart and Stroke foundation, councillor Doug Ford says there has to be a "better way" of running charity events without shutting down Toronto's major expressways. Ford would like organizers of the ride and other big events to meet with city officials to figure out if there is a way to move them to a park or other large venue. Ford would like to see a new policy set for next year. He also suggested that the 100 kilometres of proposed bike paths throughout the city might be a good alternative.
Mayor Rob Ford already has too many audits going around, so apparently he doesn't need another one. A city committee unanimously rejected another rejection for an audit review because they already have ordered a generous review. The latest accusation basically mirrored those made by other Toronto residents that have made requests. The committee has assured a thorough review if passed — that is if the mayor doesn't get his appeal to halt the process.
I think this was overdue. Toronto Health says it wants to license the city's spas and tattoo parlours, which have been self-regulating up until now. Public Health has decided that by licensing tattoo and piercing studios, it will help reduce the spread of diseases such as Hepatitis. The problem is they can only inspect known spas and tattoo parlours, and as we know, there are a lot "underground" parlours that aren't known to the City. The new rules will be discussed at the next Toronto Public Health meeting on Tuesday.
The Globe and Mail has an article on our furry friends (foes?) and apparently Toronto is the raccoon capital of the world and that you can find 50 times as many of them here as you would in an area of the same size in the country. Toronto raccoons love our backyards for shelter, our green bins for food, and they don't even have to compete with any other predators--except for shovel-wielding residents. And contrary to popular myth, raccoons don't transmit rabies or other diseases, they won't attack your children, and they're not Satan incarnate.
IN BRIEF:
- McGuinty is second least popular premier in the country
- Canada Post rejects union's latest offer
- Royals beat Jays
Photo by awl61 in the blogTO Flickr pool.
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He should be thankful there's a organization out there raising research money for his brother's inevitable artery clogging.
If he can produce those, I'd be happy to use that venue instead of the DVP.
Ford said it may be that an event as big as Ride for Heart can’t be moved off the DVP/Gardiner.
“You can’t put it in a park,” he said. “On the other hand, if there’s a walk and there’s under 1,000 people, maybe we could do it in a walk along the lake, or put it in one of the big parks and go from there.”
Attack the brothers Ford for the real terrible ideas they have and things they do. There is no need for the Star or BlogTO to twist things to make them look evil, they'll do it on their own.
I have lived in Toronto long enough to know that when the Ride for Heart, a marathon or a parade is going on I don't drive downtown. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that the TTC/GO is a better option on those days.
I bet if it was a Buffet Marathon or Pie Eating Contest he'd be giddy about closing the DVP.
Streets! That's what they are!
Don't worry blogto, I solved your problem. We'll have them on streets.
He's merely saying it to garner the approval of 905 motorists that are tired of the congestion caused by these charity events.
The brothers have been notorious for this (and they're hardly the only politicians guilty of it).
Constant claims to change things they have no control over or things that aren't actually broken and knowing they have no power to change those things. And people love them for it.
It shocks me that it doesn't bother people that their political grandstanding is really deceitful when you think about it.
You mean they rejected another APPLICATION.
I have friends who live in Ottawa, and while they have raccoon problems too, their green bins are different: they're equipped with a <a href="http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/recycling_garbage/green_bin_program/faq_en.html";>"two-stage latch. While it’s possible for humans to operate with one hand, tests have shown this model of green bin poses a challenge for most four-legged creatures."</a>
Perhaps Toronto could try something like this.
Also, the raccoon population grew exponentially during the garbage strike. We should be doing everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen again, for that and many other reasons.
If the people who do the roadworks and the people who put on the events can get organized ahead of time, others should be able to arrange not to be there.
I find that the whinners in Toronto are the people who voted for Ford and are complaining that others are holding him up to a certain ethical standard, like reminding him of his campiagn promises.
You can buy a trap at a hardware store and use it, but disposing of an animal has to involve releasing it somewhere rather than killing it.
@Dave McD - the lefty losers huh? I wish the righty tards would realize how badly they f@cked up and open their bloody eyes. The polls you mention are bs, if you knew anything about them you'd know that they poll old people with landlines (mostly suburbanites, mostly conservative, mostly sycophantic for ford). If you were paying attention you'd also know that ford is polling at 57% in his beloved suburbs, not 70% as it supposedly was months ago.
Ford is currently being audited for election fraud, whereas miller did not commit election fraud. It's actually well reported that he used his family business to fund his election campaign among other issues, which is illegal. Maybe you should read a newspaper or stop sucking ford's dick for a minute.
No one here is whining but you, tbh.
Seriously, get your head out of your ass. IT's ludicrous that you call people lefty losers and then a few sentences later call them right wing birthers (that's the term you're looking for there, btw). It's even funnier when you take a look at ford's campaign placards (signs) and realize that, wait a minute, they were designed to look JUST LIKE US republican candidate signs. In fact, ford unabashedly aligned himself with the American Republican party during the campaign, his entire idea re: privatisation wreaks of American style republicanism. You can't support ford but be against US Republicans, of which birthers are a part. Your guy stands for bigotry, homophobia, ignorance, sloganeering, dishonesty and he lacks the necessary integrity and competence to be a leader of any sort.
Just admit it, you have no idea what you're talking about and you practice blind faith when it comes to ford. He could kill yer dog and you'd say, well, ford knows best, my dog must've been sad and wanted to go.
I AM a real Toronto citizen tyvm, i seem to care about this city a lot more than any ford supporter could claim. Ford hates this city, he loves the suburbs, hates the downtown. You have things backwards bud.
One cannot build a world class city with the slogan "stop the gravy train" or "respect for taxpayers". Ford lacks the vision to make Toronto great. Miller brought us Luminato and Nuit Blanche, two very successful events. Even Mel Lastman had the Yonge street party. Neither mayor said "we can't afford that" they seemed to go "How can we make this happen?" That's the difference.
Close a 400 series highway, even on a weekend and you'll run into problems a lot larger than the minor annoyance of having to take Lakeshore to go to your BlueJays game.
The Obama birth certificate issue was based on intolerance and ignorance. There was always proof that he was a citizen, available for anyone to see, but 'birthers' either ignored it or said it wasn't good enough. Many of them now are claiming the long form document was forged or changing their focus to his academic credentials.
In the case of Ford's campaign finances there has been more proof than not suggesting he broke campaign rules. Those bringing the issue forward are doing so with numbers and facts that aren't easy to dispute especially when Ford and his lawyers have provided no evidence to support their assertion that there was no wrongdoing. The issue calls into question Ford's entire way of thinking: down with city hall corruption.
Think about that. This guy was potentially campaigning that city hall was corrupt at the same time he was fudging numbers to illegally increase the amount of money he could spend on his campaign.
Read the article. They used to have the ride on Lakeshore, but it isn't big enough. Show me another street in Toronto that is that wide, has that few businesses and homes directly on it and doesn't require motorists to cross it to get to other destinations.
The 400 series highways are transportation conduits. Huge amounts of goods travel these roads. The Gardiner and DVP? Not so much.
until:
They are used primarily for commuters to get to the downtown core....commuters that generally don't need to go downtown on a weekend.
The word need has a wide range and debating its value would start into personal values.. such as the need to be near a burning police car during the G20...
The pot shot at commuters deflates a good point.