It’s come to this. Bill O’Reilly and Piers Morgan sitting with psychoanalysts and others to try to explain Rob Ford. Some will consider it funnier than late night comedy. Surely the only thing left now is a question for Jay Carney as to what the president will do about the mayor of Toronto. The migration of our mayor’s pig-headed behavior to “analysis” at Fox and CNN was low on enlightenment. It centred mainly on the puzzlement of those at these all-news juggernauts to understand how such a thing could happen. “Can’t they get rid of him?” Bill O’Reilly asked reporter Martha McCallum. It did cause a cringe to hear Piers Morgan remark that one doesn’t often hear a man say he smoked crack cocaine while in a drunken stupor. This is a vulgarity some will say is uniquely probable from the mouth of our embattled chief magistrate. Listen, maybe the president does have a solution. It would be a nice break from the Obamacare shambles.
Three news women among those laid off at Rogers
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Three of Toronto’s best-known women broadcasters are among the 94 people laid off by Rogers Media this week. Left, Barb DiGiulio is a veteran of 22 years with Rogers. Her inside reporting for the Fan 590 earned her the station’s nickname Barb Wired. Also getting a pink slip was 680 News entertainment reporter Gloria Martin (centre) and news reporter Ann Doose (right). Things must be tough at the Rogers broadcast shops. In May, Rogers made similar cuts, laying off more than 60 workers across its media operations and shutting down its 24-hour breaking news station CityNews Channel in Toronto. Recently, Rogers announced a digital all-you-can-read subscription service called Next Issue Canada that allows subscribers to pay a monthly fee for access to new and old issues of its magazines.
Day Seven of the Crisis at Toronto City Hall
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Wednesday was Day Seven of the Crisis at City Hall. That’s our short hand for the collision between Mayor Ford with the entirety of city council since the revelations contained in Chief Bill Blair’s news conference on Thursday, October 31, 2013. Our story resumes following Mr. Ford’s admission Tuesday that he had smoked crack cocaine.
- Ford loyalists Frances Nunziata and Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly ask the mayor take a leave of absence. He refuses.
- John Parker (Ward 26) expresses concern about the legal basis for the John Filion motion which would clip some of the mayor’s powers.
- In Ottawa, the Justice Minister, Peter MacKay and both opposition leaders ask the mayor to step down and get help.
- A demonstration in Nathan Phillips Square calls for the Mr. Ford’s resignation
- Premier Kathleen Wynne again expresses concern but says city councillors have “certain tools” at their disposal to deal with the crisis.
- The Mayor’s brother, Doug, is uncharacteristically silent. It is said he was blind-sided by his brother’s crack smoking admission.
- Brooks Barnett, a policy adviser to the mayor resigned. He apparently left on his own advice.
- Finally, the Police Chief’s charity gala has gone ahead at the Liberty Grand event centre without the presence of the mayor. It just seemed a good idea for him to stay away. Organizers also pulled the mayor’s silent auction prize of dinner with Mr.Ford off the table.
Haywire Wal-Mart website gives crazy low prices
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Wal-Mart sold kayaks for about $11 and computer monitors for about $9 on its website Wednesday. It appears the online sales site had a fit of technical price-cutting that was totally unauthorized. The online store has now been shut down. Wal-Mart says that an error caused a number of products to be priced absurdly low or high. “We’re working quickly to correct” it, said Ravi Jariwala, a Wal-Mart spokesman, adding that there would be “intermittent site unavailability” until then. Jariwala said the company hasn’t decided whether it will honor prices for items already ordered.
Qatar Holding fund invests in BlackBerry debt
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Second shoe drops on the failed buy-out by Fairfax Financial as middle east money moves in. 4-traders
Josh Matlow says Mayor Ford must resign
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Josh Matlow (Ward 22) has called for Mayor Ford to resign. Mr. Matlow’s news relesase to this effect may been seen here
Rogers lays off 94 employees at TV, magazines
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Rogers Communications has laid off 94 employees across its media division as it reworks operations to react to lower advertising revenues. The cuts are spread across the country at the broadcast TV divisions of Citytv and OMNI, as well as radio stations and magazines like Maclean’s and Chatelaine. Maclean’s
Torstar Corp reports loss of $70 million in Q-3
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Torstar Corp. reports a third-quarter loss at September 30, 2013 of $70.8-million. That is a decline in revenue of 7.7% — down to $328 million from last year’s $355 million. The losses occurred in both the media division and the publishing division, Harlequin. The romance novel arm of Torstar was a a gold mine for the firm for decades. The digital reader revolution has had a killing effect on Harlequin sales, as it has had with other publishers. The newspaper business continues to suffer from diminishing advertising sales. The Toronto Star’s publisher, John Cruickshank said it is too soon to gauge the success of the online paywall recently placed on the Star’s website. He said the revenues gained from this move were about what had been expected but he did not speak on how the decision had impacted the number of so-called unique visitors to the site, the measure used to establish online advertising rates.
Twin snow leopard cubs debut precedes the snow
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No snow yet but something much better. Twin snow leopard cubs, a boy and a girl, are now on display at New York’s Central Park Zoo. They were born this summer and are making their first full-time public appearance this week. Officials say they’re the first snow leopards to be born at the zoo. The twin cubs weigh 30 pounds and were born to mother Zoe and father Askai. The cubs will eventually weigh between 65 and 120 pounds. The cubs have not yet been named.
Murray Newbigging property worth $5,500,000
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A well-known family business of more than 60 years in our area has had the value of its property established in a recent sale. The Murray E. Newbigging Funeral Home at 733 Mt. Pleasant Rd. traded hands in a transaction that closed at the beginning of the year for $5,500,000. The business continues at this address.
Nov.11 ceremony set for Mt Pleasant Cemetery
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Next Monday November 11, 2013, there will be a Remembrance Day Ceremony at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, 375 Mount Pleasant Road. It is being conducted by the the Royal Canadian Air Force and will begin at 10 a.m. For information you may contact Master Warrant Officer Normand Marion at Normand.Marion@forces.gc.ca .
Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau suspended, expelled
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The Senate has voted to suspend Patrick Brazeau, Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin without pay and without perks for a period of two years. The three are accused of claiming improper living and travel expenses. They will retain their health, dental and life insurance benefits. But the disgraced senators must leave the government premises and not return for the specified period. The vote was 50-29 in the Conservative dominated Red Chamber. In the Commons, Prime Minister Harper endured another question period grilling today, this time about a letter that shows the RCMP is seeking documents that “may potentially be evidence of criminal wrongdoing” by some in the Prime Minister’s Office. In particular, investigators are looking for emails related to a “script” Duffy said he was given by the PMO to cover up the fact that Nigel Wright, Harper’s chief of staff at the time, gave him $90,000 to repay his disallowed expenses. For the time being however, the suspensions would appear to end the soap opera of “sue process” and accusations that have embroiled the Senate all summer.