Sunday, May 26, 2013 — Clear 9°C
MB Toronto

Morning Brew: TTC orders new subway studies, a vigil for murder victim, a casino would hurt the Port Lands, welcoming the Urban Umbrella, and a Jays milestone

Posted by Chris Bateman / October 25, 2012

12 Comments

toronto subway tunnelJust when it seemed the transit discussion in Toronto was heading in a sensible, controlled direction a runaway TTC meeting last night seems destined to threaten months of progress. Councillors on the Commission's board ordered two new studies for Scarborough subway lines, reopening the LRT vs subway debate and threatening to draw momentum from the Downtown Relief Line. The master plan between Ontario, Metrolinx, and TTC that prescribes LRTs for the city is set to go before council soon. Councillor John Parker called the decision "stupid, stupid." Do you agree?

The man who murdered a woman in a Cabbagetown alley earlier this week may be a serial offender, police say. Video of the moments leading up to the death of 55-year-old Nighisti Semret were released yesterday in the hopes of catching the killer. Last night, residents held a vigil in the area.

Police are investigating Sun News journalist Ezra Levant after an on-air "rant" in which he likened Gypsies to "swindlers." Toronto's Roma Community Centre, who lodged the complaint earlier this month called the piece, titled "The Jew vs. the Gypsies," "overtly racist, prejudicial, and demeaning." A few days ago, the Sun distanced itself from a controversial Sue-Ann Levy tweet that implied US president Barack Obama was a secret Muslim.

Waterfront Toronto is opposed to a Port Lands casino, reports the Globe and Mail (though you'll just have to believe me unless you're a subscriber.) Waterfront Toronto CEO John Campbell said a casino would work against a "vibrant urban mixed-use environment" in a letter to the city's chief planner. Is he right?

Riding a bike on Lake Shore Boulevard under the Gardiner is risky business but not illegal, apparently.

A plywood shelter this ain't. An "Urban Umbrella" being assembled around the future site of the Ryerson Student Learning Centre at Yonge and Gould (the former Sam the Record Man block) promises to be light and airy in the day, illuminated at night, and stylish all the time. Oh, and it will stop bricks falling on pedestrians too.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the Toronto Blue Jays' first world series win and the CBC has a photo series for nostalgic fans to re-live the series, upside down Canadian flags and all. Here's the series' lost controversial lost triple play from game three.

IN BRIEF:

Photo: "Warp Speed" by cookedphotos from the blogTO Flickr pool.

Discussion

12 Comments

Sort By Oldest First / Newest First

Subscribe

BM / October 25, 2012 at 08:37 am
user-pic
Why can't the commission just make a fu***ng decision? This is exactly why we are in the state we are. @Karen Stintz - make a decsion please!!! Stop embarrassing toronto. BUILD SOMETHING.
Reply
James / October 25, 2012 at 08:41 am
user-pic
Karen Stintz is possibly one of the worst leaders of the TTC. Her and good 'ol Andy need to leave the corporation, and find work elsewhere; that is the only way the TTC will move forward.

As a result of them ordering two new studies, they're now going to spend who knows hundreds of thousands of dollars for people to come back and say "we don't know" instead of putting that money toward the actual construction of one of their many projects currently under construction.

It's ridiculous the stupidity of the people who are in charge. I hate to say it but Moscoe did a much better job than this twerp who currently runs things.
Reply
wasted / October 25, 2012 at 09:06 am
user-pic
How many studies is this again? Ridiculous.
Reply
Mike / October 25, 2012 at 09:27 am
user-pic
Why would acknowledgment of the 20th anniversary of the Jays' first World Series win come a day after? Did you guys really not know?

Reply
Chris replying to a comment from James / October 25, 2012 at 09:42 am
user-pic
I wouldn't go as far as calling her the worst - that's over the top. However, given the political capital she expended on getting to a decision to push for the Sheppard LRT over a subway, it seems ridiculous to decide, at this stage, to conduct a feasibility study. What exactly will this achieve at this stage, except open the door to start this fight all over again?

It's this kind of constant navel-gazing on transit at the City level that makes it so easy for higher levels of government to simply ignore Transit in Toronto - why bother committing the resources, when it'll take us 10 years to decide what to do with it?

I'm really disappointed in Stinz right now.
Reply
McRib / October 25, 2012 at 10:00 am
user-pic
fuck off TTC.
Reply
Rob / October 25, 2012 at 10:33 am
user-pic
Do what I did. Accept that we're not getting transit under certain administrations and do whatever you can to ensure they don't get elected.

But because of amalgamation, this isn't always possible. Don't give up hope. Or you can just move to a city that's not fractured like I'm planning to.
Reply
cathy / October 25, 2012 at 10:41 am
user-pic
Why so much angst over the Globe? You get access to 20 free articles a month, and they don't count articles if you get there from a search engine or some place like Facebook. You can also read it for free on the public library website.

Reply
Todd Toronto replying to a comment from Chris / October 25, 2012 at 10:48 am
user-pic
But this is the 20th anniversary of the Jays first World Series parade!

Bob Rae was booed into silence, City-tv trained its camera on the JumboTron the whole time, and then the nation (but not Toronto) went home and voted down the Charlottetown Accord.
Reply
steve replying to a comment from Rob / October 25, 2012 at 01:17 pm
user-pic
I agree, we are not getting transit with this admin. The people that use transit do not have a voice and will always be put down as a special interest group, even though they represent the majority of commuters and citizens
Reply
Lee Zamparo / October 25, 2012 at 01:47 pm
user-pic
Reserve your vitriol for De Baeremaker and Milczyn; they're the ones who proposed this. I can't imagine that this new study will find anything that the old study somehow forgot to find; have the facts and demographics changed so much in Scarborough over the last two years?

This seems like political horse-trading, and should be punishable by time spent in the stocks. Save your rotten fruit and veg folks.
Reply
realityCheck / October 25, 2012 at 03:38 pm
user-pic
Karen Stintz, a "world class" flipflopper. Toronto's very own Mitt Romney. Look in the dictionary under "chutzpah" and you will see her picture. As much as I can't stand Ford, I am frankly puzzled by the number of people who seem to think she would be a good Mayor. Clearly, her position has changed from a few months back. Still not clear though whether it's because she realizes the plan she foisted on Council back in April will do next to zilch for congestion or because she recognizes it will short-circuit any mayoral run on her part. In any case, neither she nor DeBaeremaker have the decency to offer a "mea culpa" for their support for a plan that they evidently wanted to walk away from just a few months later. I don't fault people for changing their mind, but it was clear that Stintz action back in the Spring had more to do with sticking it to Ford (who also had a bad plan himself) than it did with good transit planning. I don't fault people for changing their mind, but back in the spring she was saying her plan was a cost-effective solution that would meet Toronto's transit needs for decades to come. Then came the One City plan showing that Stintz and DeBaeremaker wanted to walk away from the plan they were instrumental in getting Council to endorse. Will be interesting to see how the Star spins this.
Reply

Add a Comment
Other Cities: Montreal