A secession plan for Toronto?
Premier Doug Ford’s abrupt move to reduce the number of council seats from 47 to 25 at this late stage in our election period is literally gerrymandering (NOW, August 2-8) and calls into question our city’s capacity for self-determination.
Ford’s unilateral move makes the upcoming vote illegitimate. And given the timing of the announcement mere hours before the deadline to enter the mayor’s race, some also suspect that Mayor John Tory withheld the plan to gain personal advantage. Had we all heard about it when Tory did, anyone still considering a mayoral run would have had at least two weeks to prepare an alternative proposal for Toronto’s countermove.
Even if you think that drastically cutting the size of city council is a good idea, it is a decision that we as Torontonians should get to make.
Having a serious look at secession is strong and more appropriate.
Alykhan Pabani, Parkdale
Time for Trudeau to stand up to Ford
George Elliott Clarke makes excellent arguments for why the feds should step in and put a leash on Doug Ford. It doesn’t matter whether Ford is trying to disempower a huge bastion of opposition to him in Toronto, or get revenge on those who disparaged him for his sad tenure as a city councillor. Justin Trudeau can stand for orderly government, and make it clear that he will not tolerate anyone who abuses power, particularly one who slipped in with only 40 per cent of the vote.
John Kneeland, Hamilton
Canada flirting with fascism
As Enzo DiMatteo’s Anatomy Of An Online Hate-fest (NOW, August 2-8) illustrates that certain demographics seized upon the Danforth shooting to promote Islamophobia through Twitter.
But he stops short of calling it fascism, suggesting Canadians are too polite to use such a word. This is not Canada’s first flirtation with fascism. Rewind to 1933 when Nazi sympathizers in Canada unfurled a banner bearing the swastika after a baseball game at Christie Pits. Rewind farther to 1918 and the anti-Greek riots that lasted several days and eventually resulted in the creation of Danforth’s Greek neighbourhood.
In fact, Canadian history is rife with examples of xenophobia and discrimination. The vitriol directed at the Danforth shooter is not a blip on the radar.
Carolyn Watson, Toronto
One certainty about Danforth shooting
Regarding the mass shooting on the Danforth (NOW, August 2-8). A budding nurse and synchro swimmer have been killed. Our world is dimmer for it. Their lives have been destroyed. Was the shooter sick? Was it ISIL that made him stray? I cannot be truly sure. But there’s one truth that endures – access to smuggled guns increases grief by tons and tons.
Randall Jeffrey Pancer, Toronto
Setting record straight on synagogue reno
Thank you for including the First Narayever Congregation in your extensive and valuable Hidden Toronto cover feature (NOW, July 26-August 1).
Firstly, our congregation is not a reform one. Rather, we are not affiliated with any of the Jewish religious streams, including reform.
Secondly, and most importantly, the proposed expansion of our building is driven primarily by accessibility. Currently, several flights of stairs prevent entrance to religious services, social events and washrooms inside the building to visitors with mobility constraints.
We greatly value the historical nature of our building and have worked diligently to preserve as much of it as we can as part of our renovation plan.
Avi Schonbach, Co-President, First Narayever Congregation
Visual literacy promotes T.O. history
I really enjoyed Richard Longley’s finds in your Hidden Toronto issue and I expect that many others did too. Photo-based articles like this support both visual literacy and, ultimately, heritage preservation in our city. Thank you, NOW, for both making me aware of the hidden visual gems I pass in the street and for supporting the cycle of heritage and cultural engagement and visual literacy.
Leslie Thompson, President, Architectural Conservancy of Ontario
