Fatal year for bikes
A deadly year for cyclists. Among the five fatalities on Toronto’s roads this year, the most since 98, is father and schoolteacher Tom Samson, who was killed in a hit-and-run at Davenport and Lansdowne on November 23.
Democracy divide
The voter suppression scandal inspires legal action and massive protests across the nation.
Photo by Eric Banwell
Ontario Place privatization plans
A study group headed by former PC party leader John Tory recommends a partial sell-off and redevelopment of Ontario Place. It’s unclear how or if the iconic water park’s Cinesphere and related pods fit into the privatization equation.
Gun registry killing
The HarperCons kill the federal gun registry, taking away a valuable tool that’s helped police save hundreds of lives. After signalling it would resist changes to the Firearms Act, Ontario falls in line, bending to a new law that doesn’t require gun sellers to keep records of purchasers.
Ford gets the boot, throwing the city into disarray
Rob Ford’s year of living dangerously enters the realm of the unthinkable – a judge finds him guilty of conflict of interest charges (related to his soliciting $3,150 in donations from lobbyists doing business with the city for his football foundation) and orders him removed from office. A high for political opponents, but uncertainty for the city.
Photo by Cheol Joon Baek
Heritage neglect
81 Wellesley East becomes another case of heritage destruction by neglect. Exploiting a loophole in heritage regs that allows demolition permits to be issued for commercial properties, heavy machinery was moved in to demolish the building after it was approved for historical designation by Toronto Community Council.
Saying cheese, Nazi-style
A photo surfaces of the mayor making nice at the New Year’s Levee with Jon Latvis, a former member of neo-Nazi rock bank Racial Holy War. Even weirder: Latvis got a sit-down with the mayor at a later date to discuss “transit” issues.
Bike lane snow job
Unbeknownst to cyclists, the city amends its policy on clearing snow from bike lanes, from within eight to 10 hours after a snowfall to 48 to 72 hours.
Mass exodus of city talent continues
Rita Davies, the city’s executive director of culture, leaves her post. Many are caught by surprise by a resignation that marks a new low point in the mass exodus of top ‘crats since Rob Ford took office.
Jarvis hit-and-run
Those in council’s mushy middle become willing accomplices in a hit-and-run to score points with the mayor, killing Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam’s efforts to save bike lanes on Jarvis.
Rough start for private garbage pickup
Privatized trash collection west of Yonge by Green for Life Environmental gets off to a bumpy start when the company misses huge swaths of the city. Early returns show huge jumps in public complaints.
Shark fin win, lose
Glenn De Baeremaeker makes an impassioned plea for banning the sale of shark fins in Toronto and floats a life-sized, remote-controlled shark in the clamshell to make his point. Council gives its backing, but a court later declares such bans outside the city’s jurisdiction.
Ezra Levant goes bananas
Sun News Network hatemonger goes bananas during a rant taking aim at Chiquita’s boycott of tar sands oil. Levant ends his 10-minute sound-off by telling the company’s VP, Manuel Rodriguez, to “fuck your mother” in Spanish.
Eaton Centre shooting politics
Big mouth Giorgio Mammoliti strikes again, calling for the death penalty before the facts are in and the bodies are cold in the aftermath of the Eaton Centre shooting.
Ford silent treatment
The mayor gives the City Hall press corps the silent treatment – he threatens not to talk to reporters in scrums in which Star reporters are present – after an altercation with the Star’s Daniel Dale at the mayor’s Etobicoke home. Dale was investigating plans by the mayor to buy a swath of parkland next door.
TDRC no more
The Toronto Disaster Relief Committee closes up shop after 14 years of fighting for the city’s homeless. Who’ll pick up the torch?
Ana Bailão’s case of bad influence
Davenport councillor extraordinaire Ana Bailão is pinched for DUI, harming her political rep as an up-and-comer. But what makes the episode more worrisome is that she was allegedly getting sauced with lobbyists pushing a Toronto casino in the hours just before police pulled her over.
