Rocco Rossi says that if elected, he would swiftly do away with a number of projects that he considers "poorly planned". Rossi says he plans to scrap the TTC's new headquarters, the waterfront arena, the size of city council and the 5-cent bag "tax". Rocco sharply criticized the city's plans to build the arena, saying "the city is saying, 'Let's go ahead with an $88 million project that we only have $34 million of funding for.' That's nuts." Rossi said he wants to cut council to 27 members, including the mayor, from the current 45. Wait, what? No bag fee? Maybe he should make this his whole platform.

The venerable and (apparently) tireless Hazel McCallion announced yesterday her 12th, final run for mayor of Mississauga. In a surprise move, McCallion made a public plea to voters to support council candidates who would work with her as a "strong, stable team". McCallion has faced the scrutiny of a judicial inquiry which is investigating her regarding a conflict of interest in a $14-million land deal involving her son. In citing how "dysfunctional" council was during the last term, she made specific reference to a comment made by Councillor Carolyn Parrish saying past councils spent money like "drunken sailors". Parrish responded to McCallion's announcement yesterday, saying "The citizens of Mississauga are too sophisticated to blindly vote the way she tells them. "New ideas are sometimes messy. Debate is healthy." Old Hazel was even seen to fist pump during her announcement, prompting the question of "how soon is too soon" to begin using shock-and-awe tactics in an election.

The more than 900 workers at the Royal York Hotel on Front Street have voted 86 percent in favour of a strike if a contract is not agreed to before noon today. The potential strike comes just in time for this weekend's TIFF kickoff. Workers at TIFF's official "host hotel", the Hyatt Regency, also staged a one-day walkout last Friday after being unable to reach a deal with management. They returned to work Saturday.

If you like locally made freeze-packed burgers, this next warning may apply to you. Leadbetters (an Orillia-based company) Cowboy Beef Burgers have been recalled due to the threat of E. coli. The recall is voluntary, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has yet to reveal how many people have gotten sick.

The TTC is inviting Torontonians to name the boring machines that will dig out the new tunnels for the Spadina line extension. There's four machines in total, and suggestions can be submitted starting tomorrow. I'm not sure what the appeal of this exercise is, but I can imagine that -- counter to the TTC's desires -- it'd be possible to come up with some subversive names. Any ideas?

Photo by Jen Tse in the blogTO Flickr pool.