There’s no need to plough through the many leads produced by everyone else.  Here’s what he’s been doing. Mr Ford and his brother, Doug, say the so-called accountability offices at City Hall are “tripping over each other to keep busy” and ought to be abolished. These offices are relatively recent creations overseen by Toronto ombudsman Fiona Crean, Toronto lobbyist registrar Linda Gehrke, and integrity commissioner Janet Leiper. Give their jobs to a lawyer for a fee, the Mayor says.  This after some over the top criticisms of City Medical Officer Dr David McKeown.  He called the doctor an embarrassment for recommending that speed limits be reduced to protect pedestrians. The Mayor retracted that but still thinks the idea is loopy and that the doctor is overpaid at $294,000 a year.. Then it was revealed that he and his brother had a meeting with 20 councillors of similar sympathies to plan their strategy for the remainder of the municipal term which expires with the general election in November 2014.  

The McGuinty cabinet ministers are fleeing government. Energy Minister Chris Bentley, long seen as an heir apparent to Premier Dalton McGuinty, will not seek the Liberal helm and is quitting politics after the next election. Yesterday, Finance Minister Dwight duncan said he is retiring from  life.as an MPP. Toronto Star

One City Councillor is raising the spectre of an Eglinton LRT that has its stations so far apart the TTC will still have to run buses on the street to move the people who live there. Gord Perks sees that possibility because the master agreement between the TTC and Metrolinx, the Ontario planning arm, gives the final say in the location and number of stations to Metrolinx. Perks calls the agreement “a disaster for Torontonians”. He predicted a move at Council to order the City Manager not to sign the agreement between the City and Metrolinx if it gives the provincial transit agency the final say over how the transit lines are built in the City. Parks told the Toronto Sun that the agreement  gives Metrolinx sole authority to remove stations, remove stops, change the distance between stations and stops and decide what goes above and below ground,  It will mean we have a line (on Eglinton) with very few stops, that is more oriented towards regional transit and that we will still have to run a bus every 30 seconds on Eglinton to pick people up that actually live in these neighbourhoods, Perks is said to have told the Sun. “We will wind up in a circumstance where we will have to operate a regional rail line and a local collector line — one on top of the other — and pay for both.”  Perks he is quoted by the Sun.  Metrolinx has responded that it is  the owner, the builder and the funder of the projects. Toronto Sun

There have been two incidents of swarming on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 near Eglinton Ave. East and Bayview Ave. They occurred over the late afternoon-early evening period abut 45 minutes apart. Police report them separately however and there is no suggestion they are connected.  Two 18 year old youths reported that  about 5.30 pm. they were in the area of Bayview and Eglinton  when they were approached by four male suspects. The suspects made a demand for the victims’ cellular phones. The victims complied. The suspects then fled. No injuries were sustained by the victims.  In an earlier incident, which occurred about 4.45 pm, a 13 year old and a 14 year old boy said they were in the area of Eglinton  and Bayview when they were approached by five male suspects. The suspects made a demand for the victim’s property. The victims complied and the suspects fled the scene in an unknown direction with the victim’s cellular phones and a necklace. The victims did not sustain  

Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has decided against running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party and will also not seek re-election in his Windsor-Tecumseh riding. Duncan announced his decision at a Wednesday morning news conference. He said he will support his friend and former Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello if she chooses to seek the leadership. Pupatello, a 16-year member of the legislature who retired in 2011 before taking a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year.  CBC.ca