Morning Brew Sleeping Man Metrix X

Morning Brew: "Fire, brimstone and hookers," the GTA could be getting a national park, Liberals eye changes to condo laws, more falling glass, and Raptors lose

The Ontario Appeal Court ruled to decriminalize brothels, or "bawdy houses" as the law apparently calls them, to better protect sex workers. Perhaps the best line of the day came from Valerie Scott, a member of the appeal team, who hit out at the suggestion the ruling would send the province spiralling into a pit of smut. "We're not going to have fire and brimstone and hookers raining down from the sky," she quipped. In the wake of the ruling, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti reiterated his plan for a red light district in Toronto, perhaps on the Island, "because it's less accessible." Mammo is just the best, isn't he?

Also in sex, the Church-Wellesley BIA has cancelled this year's Fetish Fair in place of "several family-friendly "partnership" events" due to a decline in the event's popularity, according to Xtra. Earlier unsuccessful attempts to tone-down the event seem to be the motive behind the move. Does the move signal an identity crisis for the Village?

According to the Toronto Star, the valley and mouth of the Rouge River could be set for national park status if Thursday's budget speech goes as planned. If approved, the project will create the world's largest urban park — an area 15 times larger than Central Park. Championed by several activists and Cllr. Glenn De Baeremaeker, the protected area will comprise wetlands, watershed and forest all within an hour's drive of 7 million urbanites. Dun dun dun.

In case you hadn't noticed, there's loads of condos out there and the rules governing them could be set for a shakeup if the Liberals have their way. As reported by the National Post, MPP Rosario Marchese is introducing a private member's bill to amend the 1998 Condo Act with an eye to better handling of disputes and payment of reserve funds.

Also in condos, after two shiny showers in as many days, people are starting to get justifiably annoyed at the seemingly endless amount of glass falling from towers in the city. On Sunday, a broken window from the new Trump Tower closed a section of Bay for most of the day and there was more of the same yesterday on Queen west of University. Peter Kuitenbrouwer discusses the issue in the National Post.

In sports, the Raptors failed to throw the brown bouncy ball in the net as many times as the Orlando Magic, and that made them lose, 117-101. Tonight, the Leafs try and get that pesky black disc where it needs to go against Carolina at the ACC.

And finally, a case of verbal diarrhea if ever there was one.

TTC Update Incontinence Status

@ttcnotices, one the TTC's official Twitter accounts, let a fitting typo slip through the net yesterday after a delay on the Yonge-University-Spadina line. The mistake appeared on the official feed and the in-station CP24 TVs. Check it out. [via Reddit]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Illuminated tents coming to Fort York [Torontoist]
Cuts expected in today's provincial budget announcement [CBC News]
New polymer $50 bill released [Canadian Press]
Tight race forecast in Alberta's April election [National Post]
Rescued puppies! [The Star]

Photo by Metrix X in the BlogTO Flickr pool.


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