The Globe and Mail has an interesting (and kind of scary) profile on Doug Ford, the older brother of Mayor Rob Ford. Apparently, If they had their way, the Ford brothers would be able to override the wishes of a council that didn't vote the way they wanted. "I believe in a strong mayor system, like they have in the States. The mayor should have veto power ... so he has enough power to stop council," Mr. Ford said. "The mayor should be the mayor. At the end of the day ... the mayor's responsible for everything." Ford added he's unrepentant about remarks he made to anti-poverty activists who stormed a budget committee meeting earlier this month. "I would be proud to say, 'Go get a job' to those guys," he confessed.

Looks like another heritage building bites the dust--with a lot of red tape involved. Even though city staff and the community council certainly do not want the John B. Maclean house demolished, they had no choice except to recommend the demolition permit be issued, because, as planning staff wrote in their report to council, "where a building permit has been issued to construct a new building on a property, the courts have held that city council cannot refuse the demolition permit." Yes, someone's going to be building something on that property but not with the first building permit they had originally asked for--though they still have to tear the house down anyway. Confused yet?

TB deaths amongst Toronto's homeless isn't improving, according to a 10-year study published in Wednesday's issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. About 20 per cent of homeless people with tuberculosis die within a year of diagnosis--the same amount who died 10 years ago. The study also found some key recommendations made by a provincial coroner's inquest in 2001 have not been implemented.

Looks like a York transit strike might happen after all. Employees in York Region Transit's southwest district have rejected a tentative contract settlement, meaning they may go on strike if a new deal isn't reached this weekend. This means the drivers and mechanics will go on strike Monday morning if a new settlement isn't reached before Sunday at midnight, leaving almost 28,000 commuters scrambling to find alternative transportation.

It seems everyone's got condos on the brain this week. This week's EYE takes a look at those people who are removing the hype surrounding Toronto's condominium market and changing the way we buy.

IN BRIEF:

• Bosh booed but the Heat still beat the Raptors
• Why LIam Neeson ran away to Toronto
• Bieber--of all people-- lauds Canada's health care system

Photo by syncros in the blogTO Flickr pool.