Both City Hall and the Gardiner Expressway will be closed this weekend. In the case of the Gardiner it’s maintenance from the DVP to Highway 427. City Hall is labouring under an emergency repair job following yesterday’s electrical room fire. Press release
Ford’s class attack suckers the Empire Club
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If he had written a script for them, Doug Ford could hardly be more pleased with the wounded response of the Empire Club to his wild appeal to class warfare at the club’s expense. A spokesperson is defending the club as a place of fair-minded discussion of public events. Honestly. Get a grip. If the Empire Club held its debate in a City park with a free barbecue Mr. Ford would still find them snooty fat cats who are out to screw the people. He must be the defender and guardian of the people to weld Ford Nation together. It does seem desperate.
Mr. Ford’s class warfare campaign — Part 2
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Doug Ford has pulled out of the Empire Club debate of mayoral candidates scheduled for this noon hour (Friday, September 25, 2014) saying by email that he is a candidate of the people and that the Empire Club is an elitist place where ordinary people are not invited and cannot afford to go. Tables apparently cost $800 each for the debate. The naked appeal to envy and resentment seems breathtaking. Ford’s withdrawal comes less than an hour before the event was to take place. It is clear, however, based on his slashing attack earlier this week on John Tory’s pedigree, rather than his ability, that Doug Ford believes this desperate tactic can win the election for him. Class warfare Part 1 Ford suckers Empire Club
Thorncliffe parents seek outdoor hockey rink
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Thorncliffe Park parents have raised $4,000 to go towards the $25,000 minimum cost for the City to construct an outdoor skating rink in the community. It is a proud thing to know that peoples from so many places where hockey is not played wish to have their children schooled in Canada’s national sport. CBC
Effort to re-light City Hall looks like all-day job
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Mid-morning reports on the efforts to get City Hall re-lighted suggest the job is going slower than hoped. Cam Woolley on CP24 guessed that hard-pressed Hydro crews might miss the noon-time resolution mentioned overnight. It will, apparently require five mobile generators which are not yet connected, said Woolley. Four generators are said to be on scene with another coming from Quebec. CP24 At her Twitter account Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27) described the shock of the frightening explosions and blackout. Proof that partisan gibberish is never too far away on Twitter is a Tweet asking if the Councillor will be blaming this incident on Ford Nation. Oh well. Twitter
Airline beagle a 4-legged lost and found wonder
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TSX: Stocks can go lower — and get cheaper
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Reuters Another punishing day in the markets. Reuters will try to tell you why but their best shot seems to that old bogeyman “negative sentiment”.
Ford (Motor) Square? It’s just not reasonable
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It is entirely reasonable for people to just hate the idea. Why permit a change of name for a place that honours a civic treasure. The Toronto Maple Leafs, just to sell cars. But the public plaza located outside of the Air Canada Centre in downtown Toronto will be renamed after the automobile company anyway, it seems. Unless, somehow, it begins to seem unreasonable to the boys in Detroit.
Blowing more smoke than usual at City Hall
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Blowing smoke took on a new meaning at City Hall this afternoon in rather a frightening incident that ended with no one hurt. It began during a training program, according to fire officials, as civilian wardens were being taught what to do during a real fire. A ladder fell onto a transformer in the municipal electrical room causing a nasty short circuit. City Hall had to be evacuated and there was a report of low level smoke inhalation. It does not appear that anyone was hospitalized. The short caused a total blackout at the 27-storey building and forced the cancellation of all services and events including civil marriages. And the outlook for tomorrow is not clear yet as hydro workers assess the damage and how to fix it. More pictures City’s news release.
Witness video of Brampton shooting linked here
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A man has been shot to death in a confrontation with Peel Region Police in Brampton after he was stopped in a car about 10 p.m. last night. The CBC recorded a very coherent witness named Richard Appleby. He was outside the Crabby Joe’s Restaurant on Kennedy Road during a break when the incident occurred. Mr. Appleby’s interview can be seen here.
THEN THERE’S THIS SUAVE GENT
HSC geneticist Scherer in running for Nobel prize
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Can class warfare win Doug Ford the mayoralty?
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It is certainly among the most unique and nastiest campaign tricks ever seen in Toronto politics. Doug Ford has unveiled an attack on rival John Tory as a man who is unfit to be mayor because he was born with a silver spoon his mouth. Yes, Tory is running for mayor without having served on council, but that will not be the bone that plugs the stomach of Ford Nation. No. Rather it is the view of Tory as a spoiled rich kid who has never had to work for anything in his life. Someone who has been parachuted into job after job in a way that none of them could ever experience. It is a picture that has been colour-adjusted and enlarged to excite envy and resentment. It’s a terribly twisted picture too but there can be no denying Mr. Tory’s privileged background nor the opportunities he has had in life. Today Mr. Ford planted that class warfare seed and then gave voters a thin excuse to believe that Tory doesn’t know how the City works. John Tory seems to be playing it cool but his reaction to this afternoon’s onslaught has been well sprinkled with the word bully.