MB Toronto
Morning Brew: Where's Ford?, poll says casino fans are NIMBYs, Scotiabank tower sold, Gardiner drops chunks, Kensington plant car redux, and Batman squares off
Councillor Shelley Carroll, a potential candidate in the 2014 mayoral election, says Rob Ford should spend more time in his office and less time on extra curricular activities like his weekly radio show. Unlike other members of council, Ford does not make his schedule public and is less commonly at city hall. Councillors Doug Holyday and Denzil Minnan-Wong were quick to defend the mayor, saying he is always available by phone and working hard while out of public view. Shouldn't the mayor make an effort to be more accessible?
According to the The Star, the latest casino poll suggests many supporters of the project would turn into opponents if the proposed resort were built in their neighborhood. Those polled also found sixty-two percent want a referendum on the topic rather than letting council decide. Would you support a casino even if it was built near you?
What does $1.27 billion get you in this property market? How about two million square feet of office space in one of Toronto's landmark buildings, the Scotiabank tower and plaza at King and Bay. The famous red granite building was sold yesterday for a Canadian office property record. Scotiabank, like other major banks, will rent its headquarters from the new owners.
More concrete fell from the Gardiner Expressway yesterday - the third time this month - near lower Simcoe Street. No-one was injured but the aging highway's tendency to shed substantial pieces of its construction material is starting to get worrying, especially for people who regularly drive, walk or bike underneath. Scheduled repairs are due to begin July and could take ten years to complete.
You might be surprised to learn Warren Kinsella, the prominent liberal spin doctor, author and commentator, is in a punk rock band called Shit from Hell. Perhaps more surprising is Torontoist's thumbs up verdict of the band's latest release Why Do You Hate Me?
Toronto's very own Batman has been cruising the streets for several months now, entertaining and generally terrifying passers by with his throaty voice and sudden questions. This picture, though, suggests he might just have met his match. (via Reddit)
GUESS THE INTERSECTION
See if you can name this rickety looking intersection photographed circa. 1921.
IN OTHER NEWS:
- Blue Jays fall victim to Carlos Pena, Rays [CBC]
- NFL approves extension of Bills games at Rogers Centre [CityNews]
- City comes up with road hockey exemption plan [The Star]
- Pride grant in limbo as Queers Against Israeli Apartheid plan to march [Globe and Mail]
- Toronto-Peterborough commuter rail link to be studied [CBC]
- Kensington Garden Car Gets a Makeover [Torontoist]
- CP Rail strike looms; deal reached to keep GO trains running [The Star]
Photo: "Bell Cigarette Break" by theonewhodidntrun in the BlogTO Flickr pool.
Discussion
39 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
Classic NIMBYism.
There is nothing wrong with trying to maintain decent surroundings and quality of life within a community, especially when the majority of the community will not benefit from this proposal.
A feeling of NIMBY is nothing to be ashamed of and no apologies are necessary. The importance of having some comfort where you live cannot be exaggerated. Your home is the most important factor in your life and quite often your largest financial investment.
Maybe if everyone has a NIMBY view of casinos, the government should get the message and kill the idea. Works for me.
@grid: Ossington and Bruce it is. How did you get it so fast?
@Alex: Changed, thanks.
What?
All that said, another 4 years of a Council at war with itself is far from desirable, so the best outcome is to just get him out of there and elect someone more moderate, intelligent and with real leadership abilities, who can work with Council to actually get things done. Oh and someone not prone to red-faced temper tantrums when they don't get their way.
The key is to find that "anti-Ford" candidate and rally around them early, just like the Fordites will for their guy, and not risk vote-splitting by having 5 candidates who have exactly the same views, and who each refuse to step aside - that will only ensure 4 more years of Ford.
No matter how much of a joke we think Ford is, his r-election campaign is well underway, and you have to take his candidacy seriously if we want to avoid a repeat of the past 2 years.
I actually can't decide who would win in a fight between Batman and Darth Vader. I'm torn.
Really? Based on what?
I could take your comment more seriously if you simply suggested that Ford is no more "absentee" than Miller was, but, being a Ford supporter, you just had to go to the extreme and say he was the "most absentee mayor in history", a statement you couldn't possibly support with fact, thereby rendering your comment a complete joke.
Why do you Ford supporters insist on treating wild speculation or wishful thinking the same as fact? Emulating your hero, I guess?
Trust me - treat facts as facts, and speculation/opinion as just that, and you'll be a happier person for it. Plus, those voices you keep hearing in your head? They'll probably go away as well.
You're wishing an illness on somebody that is so great that he can't do his job?
Stay classy, bud. I'd tell you that you were a piece of shit, but you probably already know that.