Councillors To Get Their Spending Wings Clipped

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Councillors To Get Their Spending Wings Clipped

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

It looks like the high flying Toronto City Councillors will finally get their wings clipped after years of ludicrous spending sprees. The councillors’ budgets which are capped at $53,100 per year have been used for exorbitant restaurant bills, copious amounts of alcohol, limos, and the like. These expenses hardly sound like the necessities of the day to day running of an office, yet nothing has been done to put an end to this abuse of budgetary discretion – until now.

A new proposed policy has been presented that would:
• cap claims for business meals at $500.00/year
• prohibit charging the city for alcohol consumed at business meetings
• prohibit councillors from giving donations and sponsorships to community events
• only allow councillors to expense legal fees after first consulting the city solicitor
• require councillors who pay for office expenses out of their own pockets to provide receipts
• have the city add details of councillors’ spending to its website

This proposed policy requires council approval next month before it can be enforced and it will be interesting to see how the council votes. The reality is that the public no longer has any trust for the councillors who have been abusing the system for years for their personal gain. Their budgets are meant to give them the necessary funds required to run a council office. They were never meant to give carte blanche to civil servants who want to live the high life. Are the councillors who have been abusing the system just going to be permitted to carry on as though no wrong doing has been committed? There should be some penalty imposed including paying back funds that were used inappropriately. What do you think should be done?

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Toronto’s Public Housing To Get A Power Surge Of Cash From Toronto Hydro

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Toronto Hydro is selling off its telecommunications unit – Toronto Hydro Telecom owns 450 kilometres of fibre-optic cable across the city as well as a Wi-Fi network – to Cogeco Cable Inc. for $200 million. With the proceeds of the sale Toronto Hydro will conduct a major upgrade of its distribution system and pay the City of Toronto a $75 million special dividend.

This $75 million will hopefully be invested by the city into improving its pathetic and often sub-human public housing which for years has been plagued (pun intended) with rodent and insect infestations, water damage, electrical problems, crumbling walls and balconies, mould, and the list goes on. Currently there are over 160,000 people living in pubic housing. The money is earmarked for use by Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) to refurbish 5,000 of its 58,000 units, retrofit 10 buildings with energy efficient systems, and to repair and bring back up to code 250 buildings that have been standing empty and derelict.

In case you think that the $75 million will fix public housing, think again. The estimated repairs 3 years ago were $225 million. Today the costs are estimated at $300 million. The estimates keep going up as the conditions in public housing continue to deteriorate while the city and the province continue to fight about who is responsible for repairing and maintaining these units. In the meantime the public housing residents have had enough and one resident launched a class-action lawsuit against the Toronto Community Housing Corporation last September, citing substandard conditions and an inability to get repairs completed promptly when required. The number of people who have signed onto the lawsuit has grown exponentially.

The $75 million is only a start and it is not yet a fait accompli - the decision to spend the $75 million dividend on public housing will now go before city council for approval and not everyone is happy about it. Perhaps the dissenters should spend some time in a public housing unit.

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More Restrictions Placed On Smokers In Ontario

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

The Ontario Legislature has now banned smoking in a vehicle if a child under 16 years of age is present. The proposed law applies to all motor vehicles, both moving and stationary, and it doesn’t matter whether the windows, doors, sunroofs, etc are open. It has not yet been determined what the fine will be if caught, but it is thought that each offense will carry a $250 fine. Lt.-Gov. David Onley must give the bill royal assent for the law to take effect and there is no word on when that will happen. Nova Scotia and British Columbia already have a similar law in place. Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are also considering a similar ban.

This is a blow for smokers who are already banned from smoking in the workplace and in all public areas. However this ban is designed to protect our children rather than be punitive to smokers. According to recent studies, second-hand smoke in motor vehicles can be up to 27 times more concentrated than in your house. There is also research to show that children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to suffer Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and severe asthma.

This would certainly seem to trump the smoker’s right to smoke in their vehicles. Not so says www.mychoice.ca, a non-profit organization funded by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers’ Council. This is a membership-driven association designed to allow Canada’s adult smokers have their say about how smokers are being treated. Their concern is that the government will eventually extend the smoking ban to private homes.

Do you think that it is more important to protect the rights of smokers or the health of children?

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Would You Pay $1 to Use a Public Toilet in Toronto

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Toronto will be getting 20 state of the art public washrooms – they automatically sterilize the floors, sinks, and toilets after each use. They are ultra modern, made of very chic and trendy stainless steel, and they are very expensive. It will cost $1.00 to use them.

Toronto has a great lack of public toilets and the ones that are available are more like outhouses than toilets. It is so problematic that many businesses in the downtown core require you to use a key to get into their washrooms to ensure that only paying customers are using their facilities. While I see their point, what’s a person supposed to do when the need arises? Have you tried to locate a public toilet in a park or just walking around in high traffic areas? In the downtown core if you are not near a department store or a big box store, you have a serious problem.

The toilets are being supplied by Astral Media and they will be responsible for maintaining them. There will be a 1-800 quality line manned by people 24/7 and they have pledged to have graffiti removed from bathrooms, bus shelters or benches within 24 hours of being discovered. They will also be providing new benches, bus shelters, garbage cans, and street furniture – 26,000 fixtures ranging from newspaper boxes to bike racks in public spaces. The program is being financed by ad revenue, with Astral making the profits on advertising revenue generated on bus shelters and information pillars. There will no longer be any advertising on garbage/recycling receptacles or benches. Astral Media has a 20-year contract with they city.

Would you pay $1.00 to use one of these new toilets? I think that it‘s going to be a hard sell and much more of a “got no choice”.

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Toronto Is Proud Of Pride

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Sunday, June 29th the Pride Parade will begin at 2:00 PM. This spectacular event is the culmination of Pride Week, which is actually not a week at all, but a full 10 days from June 20th to June 29th. Toronto’s Pride Week is one of the largest in the world and a great source of pride to Torontonians.

What began in the ‘70s as a way for our gay and lesbian population to become visible has gradually evolved into one of only eight “Signature Events” in the Toronto. Pride Week now hosts over 1 million people eager to take in this arts and culture festival that celebrates our diverse sexual and gender identities.

Some of the Pride Week Events that you won’t want to miss are:

• Pride Toronto Media Launch and Official Kick-Off Launch Party on Friday, June 20th
• Flag Raising Ceremony at City Hall Monday, June 23rd
• Pride Awards and Gala Dinner Tuesday, June 24th
• Community Fair & Marketplace Saturday, June 28th and Sunday, June 29th
• Pride Street Festival with 8 live entertainment stages and a great street fair from Friday, June 27th to Sunday, June 29th
• Family Pride on Saturday, June 28th and Sunday, June 29th
• Dyke March on Saturday, June 28th
• Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29th 2008

This fabulous event has been awarded the Best Festival in Canada award by the Canadian Special Event Industry two years in a row and is recognized as one of the Top 50 Festivals in Ontario by Festivals and Events Ontario. And, there will be fantastic entertainment too with Sandra Bernhard performing at Massey Hall on Sunday, June 22nd at 8:00 PM. All proceeds are going to Pride Week. If sporting events are more your style there will be an all-lesbian professional boxing match at 8:00 PM on Wednesday, June 25th at the Circa Nightclub.

Check out the website for all of the details: Pride Week Toronto

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Toronto Has Available Public Housing That Is Uninhabitable

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

There is something seriously wrong with the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), the second largest public landlord in North America with 58,000 units. Although it is estimated that 70,000 low income individuals and families are on the waiting list for affordable housing in Toronto, the TCHC is sitting with 1,422 vacant units, an increase of 14% from last year. This in itself is shocking. But, what is even worse is that the units are vacant because they are uninhabitable and are suffering from a variety of infestations including rats, mice, mould, and pigeons.

Of course this begs the question, “Why isn’t anyone cleaning up these properties and making them inhabitable again?” According to the chairman of the city’s affordable housing committee and a board member of the TCHC, they simply can’t afford to bring them up to standard without a $300 million contribution from the city of Toronto, the province, and the feds. In the meantime no one is doing anything and the situation is just getting worse.

Quite frankly I find this all amazing. Toronto is a city with very high property values and we are letting these valuable assets go to seed. In fact Councillor Case Ootes has recommended that the TCHC board sell off some of their lucrative properties and use that money to finance the repairs on the others. The estimates are that there are 300 apartments and houses that are empty and uninhabitable. It is totally absurd for the TCHC to be sitting on properties worth a fortune and just let them sit vacant, uninhabitable, and decaying. This sounds like gross mismanagement by the TCHC board. Why isn’t anyone investigating?

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Mayor Miller Takes Aim At Toronto’s Legal Gun Clubs

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Instead of going after gangs, criminals, and illegal weapons, Mayor Miller in another one of his ill-conceived plans to try to prove to Torontonians that he is tough on crime, is going after legal gun ranges and the legal manufacture of firearms. According to everyone on the planet except for our illustrious mayor, all that this will serve to accomplish is to penalize legal and law abiding gun owners and put gun clubs out of business, while having zero affect on gun violence.

The Scarborough Gun Club (single shot rifles only) at the Don Montgomery Community Recreation Centre would have to move outside the city limits and the CNRA Gun Club’s shooting range at Union Station would be closed. Neither of these clubs has ever been tainted by even the slightest hint of scandal. The Scarborough Rifle Club currently pays the city $3,155.00 for its permit and the CNRA Gun Club at Union Station pays $500.00 rent to the city. This absurd new law would do nothing to deter criminals but it would put an end to sport shooting. There are currently 15,000 members of the Canadian Shooting Sports Association across Canada. Target shooting is also an Olympic sport. Avianna Chao who is a member of the Union Station club, will represent Canada in the 10-metre air pistol and 25-metre sport pistol events in Beijing this summer. She and others like her will no longer have any place to train in Toronto if this new law is passed.

The real source of illegal guns used by criminals is the United States. Legal guns are not the problem. When is Mayor Miller going to stop all of his ridiculous posturing and start addressing the real problem? Then perhaps he can come up with some real solutions instead of these ridiculous schemes that have no effect on the criminal element what-so-ever.

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Toronto Will Finally Have Its Own Power Supply

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Believe it or not Toronto had no local source of power. Our power lines bring electricity from Pickering or Niagara, and they are working at maximum capacity leaving Toronto vulnerable to blackouts or brownouts. The Portlands Energy Centre, owned jointly by TransCanada Corp. and Ontario Power Generation, is set to open. The plant, located at Unwin Avenue and Cherry Street, has two natural gas turbines and will also have a third turbine brought online later this fall, powered by the steam produced from the heat of the other two.

The Portlands Energy Centre is expected to operate mostly during periods of high demand as opposed to on an ongoing basis due to the cost factor. Producing power from natural gas is more expensive than hydro or nuclear generation. The power plant will produce 340 megawatts at peak speed and will be in service during this summer’s high demand period. In September it will be shut down so that an additional unit can be added. This unit, slated to be in place and fully operational in 2009, will capture waste heat from the turbine and use it to generate more power, boosting the capacity to 550 megawatts (10% of Toronto’s power demand during extreme heat or extreme cold).

The power plant will be able to generate up to 25% of the power that Toronto needs and regular service is scheduled to begin on June 1st in spite of protests to stop the project. There are those that felt that the area should have been used for parks and homes instead of a power plant, but the protests didn’t gather much steam (excuse the pun).

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Tim Horton’s Anti-Homeless Stance Is An Outrage

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Teresa Lee happened upon a pregnant homeless woman. Instead of pretending that she didn’t see her and walking by, she engaged in an act of humanity and invited the woman in to Tim Hortons at King and Victoria Streets and bought her a meal. Ms Lee bought the woman some food, sat her down at a table so that she could enjoy her food and left for work.

This act of kindness so enraged a Tim Hortons’ employee that he followed Ms Lee out of the restaurant and told her that she shouldn’t have done what she did and that this particular Tim Hortons does not allow homeless people to eat inside – EVEN IF THEY ARE PAYING CUSTOMERS – because homeless people make a mess. He continued ranting and raving about the mess that she was going to make and who was going to clean it up. He was very insistent that even though her meal was duly paid for that she had no right to eat inside.

Tim Hortons spokesperson Rachel Douglas has stated that the homeless woman did not cause any problems on this particular occasion, but that she has been disruptive to customers and staff in the past. She went on to say that Tim Hortons does not have a policy on the treatment of the homeless. It is left to the discretion of the individual franchises. Clearly this franchisee is not capable of making these types of decisions. Maybe it’s time that Tim Hortons did have a policy on the treatment of the homeless.

Tim Hortons has since apologized to Ms Lee, but not to the homeless woman. Ms Lee does not find this satisfactory nor do I. This was not a minor indiscretion or a small mistake in judgment. This is a very ugly example of man’s inhumanity to man. If Tim Hortons fancies themselves a fine example of a Canadian company, then I suggest that they look in the mirror a little more closely. If they insist on banning customers that are occasionally disruptive to other customers and staff then I suggest that Tim Hortons bans all babies, children, and teenagers. Better yet, let’s show Tim Hortons what we think about how they treat people and take our business elsewhere.

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It Really Is A Dog’s Life

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

There is actually a boutique hotel for dogs, about a 45 minute drive north of Toronto called “Harry & Rupert’s Hotel for Dogs”. Even the website is written from the perspective of Harry & Rupert who are – yes you guessed it – dogs.
Make no mistake; this is not a boarding kennel. Or at least it isn’t like any boarding kennel that I’ve ever seen. The accommodations look very much like motel rooms and they are equipped with amenities that you would expect to find in a room for 2-legged guests, except for the water bowl and the obvious lack of a bathroom. Instead of a turn-down and a chocolate on the pillow the dogs get a homemade treat before bedtime. Each room has:

• comfortable and stylish bedding
• water bowls
• night light
• carpet
• 24 hr CCTV
• fire/smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring

It is recommended that dogs come with their own food, but it is not a requirement. Homemade food can be provided for an extra charge. There is a fitness centre on premises and an agility course should be available in the near future. Rates are $35.00/night, not including food. There are discounts for longer stays and there is even a frequent stay point system in place. Day care is also available for those in the area who do not require overnight accommodation.

I am a dog lover, but I wonder if a set up of this type is designed to assuage the guilt that pet owners feel when they must board their beloved dogs. I don’t think that comfortable and stylish bedding, a night light, or a TV would have made my dog any happier. After all a gilded cage is still a cage, isn’t it? Have you used a doggie hotel for your pet?

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