Rating: NNNNN
Cover no reader’s pick
I may be overreacting, but I am so disgusted with your choice of cover last week (NOW, July 26-August 1).
I love NOW Magazine and I do have a sense of humour, but this picture is not funny at all.
Anne Smyth
Toronto
Testing lake’s outer limits
Perils of a waterfront paddler (NOW, July 26-August 1) missed that Toronto is almost unique among big cities in being adjacent to an ideal body of water for water sports.
Had your corresponded paddled just a bit further east, he would have found the outer harbour, accessible from Cherry Beach at the foot of Cherry Street.
On a summer day he could have found kayakers, rowers and sailors all enjoying great waters free of large boats within sight of downtown’s office towers.
Lee Smolin
Outer Harbour Sailing Federation
Run over by sailboats
Thanks for your article about the perils of paddling our waterfront. I am a rower. Most of my time is spent making sure I’m not about to be run over by all manner of watercraft, all bigger than mine and often piloted by people unaware of low craft like kayaks and rowing shells.
The worst are the silent sailboats whose pilots are concentrating on sailing and not on what’s in the water.
I especialy agree that in many spots high concrete barriers make escape impossible. The Eastern Gap is the worst.
Cherry Beach is also very dangerous due to concrete debris and rebar just under the surface. These can damage any craft and should be removed for everyone’s safety. I’m behind your asking for “trails” to protect kayakers, canoeists and rowers.
Marvin Schlichting
Hanlan Boat Club member
Cops will be cops
RE Come clean, Chief Blair (NOW, July 26-August 1). As a centre-field usher at the National Soccer Stadium during the FIFA U-20 on the day of the bust-up, I can shed some light on what actually occurred.
The problems that would accumulate at the VIP gate after the match between fans, players and police started around the 70th minute of the match between Argentina and Chile.
Our own Canadian soccer experts agree that it was one of the poorest-officiated games they had ever seen. In the dying minutes, it simply boiled over.
My own section began to resemble that of a anti-G8 rally, with people being shoved this way and that.
I was punched during all of this, though not seriously injured. Parents with small children left in droves.
The in-house security could not contain the situation. Surrounded by incensed fans, the police made the only logical decision they could.
It is important to remember that our officers are not required to be soccer aficionados, accustomed to the passion of the beautiful game, nor are they necessarily politically savvy. They are police officers, after all.
Michael Hughes
Toronto
Chile reception
I was shocked to read the biased news articles in NOW on the clash between police and the Chilean soccer team.
It’s clear the writers weren’t watching the games, or they would have seen a team that has not a chance of being considered clean and innocent.
Against Portugal, Chile’s team’s antics so riled up the Portuguese players that one punched a Chilean player. In the game against Argentina, one of the Chileans was thrown out of the game for kicking an Argentine player who was on the ground.
These actions don’t correspond with the team’s claims of innocence. I think the team is an embarrassment to soccer and the country of Chile.
If a policeman erred in judgment in using the taser on a player (which, it must be made clear, is not proven), even then we should not rush to judgment.
Alex Laney
Toronto
Having faith in Tory
NOW calls it a “vote-grabbing proposal,” but in my opinion John Tory deserves respect for standing up for principle in his pledge to extend fair funding to non-Catholic faith-based schools (NOW, July 26-August 1).
Since the funding would only be for 53,000 children, compared with over 650,000 attending fully funded Catholic schools, his initiative is clearly a matter of fairness rather than votes.
These schools exist today outside the public system. Bringing them into the public system will increase integration and ensure appropriate regulation while solving a long-standing gross unfairness. The families in question pay full education taxes.
Michael Orr
Toronto
Medpot misdemeanour
Health Canada’s further under mining of the Medical Marihuana Access Program should be considered a crime in progress (NOW, July 26-August 1).
By striving for a constitutional minimum and phasing out personal cultivation, Health Canada ensures exemptees will continue to be forced to use its controversial bunker weed, a substandard cannabis product contaminated by the inclusion of seeds and stalks.
Wayne Phillips
Hamilton
Taxing questions for Miller
Is King Miller nuts (NOW, July 26- August 1)? Taxes, taxes, taxes. This burg ain’t worth it. Is he raising money for a sleeper cell? Somebody watch that guy. Can we put an ankle bracelet on him?
Steve Mielczarek
Toronto
Eco cost of organics
Wayne Roberts chants the organic mantra loudly by noting that in the developing world “smart organic methods” currently in use in rice paddies have led to a dramatic increase in organic food production (NOW, July 26-August 1).
There is, however, one specific issue that is currently being ignored by many who share Roberts’s views. Methane, or CH4, is a greenhouse gas that has doubled in the atmosphere in the past 150 years. It is the primary component of natural gas, given off by animal wastes and, interestingly enough, rice paddies.
While increased levels of food production in the developing world are very good news, it should be acknowledged that even from an organic standpoint, they come with an environmental cost.
David Maharaj
Etobicoke
Impressed by Indus
I was very disappointed by your review of Indus Junction (NOW, July 26-August 1).
I expected a little more depth from a restaurant review in your magazine than “enough with the rice and naan already” comments. What do you think are staples of Indian cuisine? Should they be serving pasta or tempura as sides?
I’ve eaten at Indus Junction a few times and have been impressed all the way from the appetizers (the crispy on the outside, yet creamy on the inside zucchini cakes were excellently paired with a tart and sweet chutney) to the desserts (the homemade cheesecake was to die for).
Bernice H.
Toronto
Green lining in park plan
RE Park going off the rails fast (NOW, July 26-August 1). Downsview park is in a unique position to build a community from scratch. Yes, it does not need to adhere to municipal and provincial planning standards, but if you examine the surrounding area you might think this is a good thing.
The area has been long neglected. Now there are plans for the subway.
We only need to watch the feds to ensure they indeed build an economically viable, socially just, accessible and environmentally friendly place.
If this becomes the case, it will be a park for sharing with Toronto and the world. Let’s hope it becomes a model to follow.
Christopher Caldwell
Mississauga
Idle traffic, seeing the light
Loved your air issue (NOW, July 19-25). One thing the city and NOW did not address is that most idling is not done by occasional idiots but at traffic lights. Apparently, the city deems it necessary to synchronize lights to control speeds.
But other cities are using a new program to keep traffic moving with fewer lights and signs. It’s proving to cut down on both accidents and travel times. This pollution-, frustration- and time-saving method can start working immediately.
Scott Robinson
Toronto
Ignoring Suburbia
Why did NOW magazine fail to print anything but a brief listing about the release of Greg Greene’s film Escape From Suburbia (NOW, June 28-July 4)?
Escape From Suburbia is the sequel to a hugely successful independent film by a local artist (who’s gay!) about a topic with implications NOW’s readers expect you to cover. Too predictable?
As someone who reads your magazine, delivers it proudly and queried your editors three times about writing about the film, I am especially disappointed. But not as embarrassed as I was when the filmmaker asked why the paper I’m so proud to work for ignored his work. Again.
Patrick Slimmon
Toronto
