Morning Brew: Torontonians less active, cracking down on vehicle idling, elderly man robbed as bystanders watch, CAMH smoking ban, fraudulent Canada's Wonderland tickets
Torontonians are significantly less active than other Canadians, according to a the 2010 Get Active Toronto Report on Physical Activity. Apparently the issue is lack of time, and physical exercise often takes a back seat to work, especially amongst the urban immigrant population. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that we're also amongst the lowest ranks in organ donation, given how weak our hearts and lungs must be.
The City is considering changing by-laws that govern idling of vehicles. Reducing allowed idling time to one minute (down from the existing three minutes) and ramping up enforcement efforts (they currently hand out just 76 tickets per year on average) could, in theory, have a positive effect on the environment (and city coffers).
A 79-year old man was robbed while riding the TTC subway this weekend, but his greatest concern isn't his financial loss or minor injuries - it's that no one on board the half-full subway car would react to his calls for help. Had someone simply hit one of the yellow emergency bars (which are found throughout the train but were out of the victim's reach), it's quite likely that the suspects wouldn't have been able to flee.
Even those that do it regularly know that smoking cigarettes is really bad for physical health. Now CAMH, the country's largest addiction and mental health treatment facility, is considering embarking on an experimental quest to ban smoking on its property. This may or may not work in their favour, given that tobacco is a common stress-reliever amongst both patients and staff. It may take quite some time for people to adjust to the rule change... and until then we'll likely be seeing huddles of people in clouds of smoke getting their nic fix on street corners nearby, and some degree of elevated tension in the builidings.
And police are warning the public about buying fraudulent tickets and passes to Canada's Wonderland after it was discovered that a 21-year old Toronto man was allegedly buying passes using a stolen credit card and reselling them to people for cash. Buying them from the source at full price is probably better than saving a few bucks but having to deal with lengthy explanations and police investigation when you get stopped at the park's entrance with a pass flagged as fraudulent.
Photo: "IMG_9379" by wyliepoon, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
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