MB Toronto
Morning Brew: Ford skips mayor's meeting, Google continues to map the city, Riverdale Zoo still in danger, urban planners steer clear of Toronto
Rob Ford once again skipped the Federation of Canadian Municipalities annual conference, which took place in Saskatoon this year. In his place was the worldly Giorgio Mammoliti, who said that Ford is in constant communication with other municipal leaders. The mayor seemed to paint a somewhat different picture in saying, "I don't go to FCM. Since when do I go to FCM?'' SInce when, indeed.
It's anything but a secret, but the Grid has some new info about what Google has been up to with their latest Toronto mapping effort. Last summer the company revealed that it was using its Street View Trike to capture some of our city's hard to reach places, and now it looks like it'll being using its trolley technology to get inside local business as well. All cool, but when the hell are we finally going to see some of this documentation actually appear on our maps?
Lest we forget, some of Toronto's city zoos are still in danger of closure due to budget cuts. Advocates for Riverdale Farm are set to present their rescue plan to the city council, but it doesn't necessarily look like a slam dunk given the recommendation to maintain entrance fees and City ownership.
This is almost surprising given the usual city hall rhetoric, but Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday believes that city mangers and other non-unionized staff deserve a pay increase. Ok, then.
Perhaps that'll help with the problem that Peter Kuitenbrouwer diagnoses in his latest for the Post — namely the fact that urban planners don't seem to want to work in Toronto. Before we simply blame this on the current municipal leadership, it appears that there are a number of factors that contribute to this problem.
Remember that video of the Lemon Bucket Orchestra killing some time during a flight delay by playing an impromptu concert? Well, here is their homecoming.
OTHER STUFF YOU MIGHT CARE ABOUT
- Ford's park land purchase could be quashed Friday
- What's wrong, what's right with Toronto's libraries
- Victoria Park Station gets secure bike parking
- More about the Toronto Marlies (who are playing in the Calder Cup finals)
Photo by twurdemann in the blogTO Flickr pool
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Quit blaming "the city" or "council". OMB notwithstanding, the child in the mayor's chains is the clear culprit.
HAHAHAHAHHAHA
I'm not the one in the highchair voting against what Miller had done for the city like an ignoramus because they don't really know how to live in the 21st century. I'm not the one voting against their best interests by voting in a man who almost destroyed the much needed Transit City. I'm not the one who can't be bothered to learn about municipal issues, thus being coerced by themselves into voting for said bellicose solon of a mayor. I did NONE of these things to my city, and my soul is not stained. Can you say the same about yours?
If you're not like that, of course, I'll take it back, but if you are....
The election had what it had, people could have chosen the best if they wanted to. Of course, being like most North Americans these days, they choose to vote for an overweight bellicose solon who has no idea on how to run a city. And why do they do that? Because, like most North Americans, watching TV and vegetating is all that they can do, instead of learning about the issues in depth and being informed enough NOT to vote for anybody as stupid and obdurate as Rob Ford.
The Grid recently did a 'How To Improve Toronto' article, in which some prominent people were asked what could be done to improve the city; one of the improvements that I would have come up with if asked would be a study vacation for most voters, which would take them to Europe and Scandinavia and show them what life in highly effective countries (not the right-wing libertarian bullshit version of this idea!) is like, so that they could understand what taxes are, why they are needed, why the social services/public transit are supposed to be fully funded by the state and not privatized or cut to fulfill the objectives of a bellicose solon and his bogus non-existent 'gravy train', plus a host of other things that people should be expecting of their governments. Another one would be a version of 'Scared Straight' that would show them what life in fucked up places without the so-called 'gravy train' to help it is like followed by a lengthy session in which they are given chapter and verse for voting for anybody like Stephen Harper or Rob Ford.
All impossible ideas and concepts? Yeah, I guess that they are, but let's face it, the people have become incredibly dumb and heartless lately, that implementing them might make then THINK about things before they vote, instead of just being lead about by whatever anger they're brainwashed to believe by the mainstream media-that, and a mandatory civics test.