Diane (left) and Tessanne break it down at Jane-Finch at one of several rallies held across Toronto last weekend to raise the minimum wage. Full story on page 22.
Cityscape
Spruce Court Cooperative in Cabbagetown, the city’s first, is what Toronto’s affordable housing used to look like in the early 20th century. The 100th anniversary of the Eden Smith creation, noted for its human scale, was commemorated earlier this month with a plaque from Heritage Toronto.
Spotted
WHAT Greenpeace’s critical mass Ice Ride to save the Arctic
WHEN Sunday, September 15, from Allan Gardens
WHY The top of the world is melting. In the last 30 years we’ve lost three-quarters of the floating sea ice cover in the Arctic. Support the campaign at savethearctic.org.
Photo by R. Jeanette Martin
Income gap
$381,300
Average annual income of the top 1 per cent in Canada, according to the just released National Household Survey
$179,800
Average annual income of the top 5 per cent
$134,900
Average annual income of the top 10 per cent
$28,000
Average annual income of the bottom 90 per cent
Summer of Ford
Rob Ford released a Youtube video last week to commemorate another summer of living dangerously, further cementing his status as rock star mayor. What we learned: He can be a sweet guy (oh, if only!) He has a pretty good right foot for soccer. Can’t drum worth a damn. The mayor’s handlers have been spending an inordinate amount of time buffing his image lately. Is it part of a PR offensive before the next bomb in the crack scandal drops? Read John Semley’s take on the clown prince’s self-promo.
Hell’s bells
The Hells Angels are back in town. Vroom. The outlaw motorcycle gang booted from its former fortress/digs on Eastern in 2007 after an OPP raid are flying their colours on Carlaw, where they’ve opened a storefront operation selling Ts and all things Hellish. Local councillor Paula Fletcher assures us that authorities will be keeping close watch. The gang’s roots in Ontario go back only about a decade. Remember former mayor Mel Lastman’s famous handshake with a club member that sparked an online effort by the PR-savvy bikers to appear like a bunch of good ole boys? But according to York U’s Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime And Security, the group has been linked to organized crime activities in recent months, including a corruption scandal in Quebec, the pot trade in BC and Italian Mafia families in Canada and the U.S.
Photo by Ellie Kirzner
