Flood control
Toronto Water is assessing the idea of imposing a storm levy on homeowners based on how much of their property is pavement rather than green space. Pay up if you aren’t permeable.
Keeping hope alive
While we await the city’s first-phase report on the bid to jet-ify the Island Airport, due in September, MP Olivia Chow is leaving no stone unturned. She’s circulating a petition asking the feds to block any changes to the tripartite agreement that would allow an expansion. Sign on at oliviachow.ca.
Female freedom
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen who survived a Taliban shooting astounds the world with a stunning UN speech on behalf of girls’ education, invoking Gandhi and Martin Luther King and promoting non-violence and reconciliation. Truly a heart-stopper.
Small retail
The proposed merger between Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart is a free-market travesty and a disservice to consumers. Just what we need – more monstrous in-your-face food and pharma monopolies. We’re betting the wimpy Competition Bureau will go for it.
The Libs
The tragic death of a child at an unlicensed day care has highlighted the fact that there are only enough licensed centres in Ontario for 20 per cent of kids. The only decent news is that Ombudsman André Marin is probing the oversight of under-the-radar centres.
Justice
Put on your hoodie, go to a convenience store for nibbles and if you’re young, male and African American, you’re in a life-threatening situation. That’s the take-away from the electrifying acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of unarmed Trayvon Martin. Violent deaths of young black men are epidemic on both sides of the border. Who in the power seats will take this on?