Morning Brew: suspicious fertilizer purchase, compensation for Toronto-area First Nations, City's secret parking ticket manual made public, Smitherman going to China, Starbucks in The Junction?
OMGWTFFERTILIZER! Some guy went into a rural store in Lincoln, Ontario and bought a typically large quantity of commonly-used ammonium nitrate fertilizer. The problem? This type of fertilizer can also be used to produce a bomb (bigger than Timothy McVeigh's Oklahoma City OMGWTFbomb), he didn't produce ID or leave his name (which is standard protocol for these kinds of purchases), and... the G20 meetings are coming up soon. On that tip, the fences are going up, and so are the messages from protesters.
Members of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations band have voted in favour of accepting a federal government compensation package totalling $145-million and related to Toronto and Burlington land purchases that date back to 1797 and 1805. 1,842 band members will each be compensated a lump sum of $20,000, plus $1500 per year. Tens of millions of dollars will also be injected into community development and needs.
The City of Toronto's previously confidential "Parking Ticket Cancellation Guidelines" (PDF) has been made public, and contains some nuggets of information that may be of interest to drivers in the city. Apparently getting a parking ticket cancelled is relatively easy if you have the right excuse. Whether you're delivering a pizza, going to church, are a city councillor conducting city business (or in some cases are simply confused about the bylaws), you have a good chance of getting off without paying the fine.
Mayoral candidate George Smitherman is headed to China, which has some of his fellow candidates crying foul. The Chinese government has invited Smitherman on an expenses paid trip to speak at an upcoming international "mayor's forum," a decision that Rob Ford calls "a little suspicious" given that "[Smitherman's] not the mayor." Giorgio Mammoliti also finds it inappropriate that Smitherman accepted the invitation in the midst of a mayoral race.
The latest concern over gentrification and proliferation of big business into grassroots areas is coming from residents of The Junction, many of whom are vehemently opposed to the international coffee giant setting up shop in their neighbourhood. What do NIMBYs in Toronto have against Stabucks specifically? Opposition to the coffee giant has been steady over the years.
Photo: "Double Ticket Time" by Steve 16:9 , member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
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