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“Everybody suddenly has a Jakobek-like amnesia about the event. ”
Councillor Howard Moscoe on the 12 per cent pay raise pols are now too embarrassed to admit they gave themselves in secret.
Crystal myth
The massive Swarovski Christmas tree adorned with 4,000 crystals in the Eaton Centre has been luring shoppers in droves to the crystal giant’s store. The sign posted next to the tree says Swarovski is donating “net proceeds” from the sale of two of its annual Christmas ornaments to the Children’s Wish Foundation. But don’t be dazzled. That doesn’t mean the $50 and $245 you’ll shell out for the ornaments goes entirely to the charity. Only about 20 per cent is being turned over. Good cause, yes. But not exactly crystal-clear advertising.
Licence to drop out
Now McGuinty’s Libs are taking policy cues from right-wing radio station CFRB. Or is it just a coincidence that the Grits’ plan to take away dropouts’ drivers’ licences came to light a few days after the corporal punishment cabal who typically tune in to Bill Carroll kicked the idea around? Forget the plan. Where it’s been tried it’s had zero effect. The Grits would be far better off funding programs like Regent Park’s Pathways to Eduction, which buses young people to school and gives them $1,000 a year toward post-secondary education.
Khadr questions
If Paul Martin really wants to tell the U.S. where to get off, he’ll refuse to extradite Abdullah Khadr, eldest son of the late al Qaeda symp Ahmed Said Khadr. The Americans claim Khadr admitted to the FBI that he bought arms for al Qaeda. So why didn’t they arrest him while he was in Pakistani custody? Hmm. And how can we be sure Khadr’s alleged admission is reliable, given the U.S.’s history of complicity in torture? Or that he’d be given due process by the U.S. government? Questions, questions.
Cops know coin
We’re not sure if this coin is the Canadian Mint’s idea of a joke or someone with a metal press has a hate-on for cop spending. But after last week’s announcement that the force is requesting a budget of $753.1 million for 2006, $37 million more than last year, we can’t say we disagree with the sentiment. And $22 million of that is for the three-year pay deal recently struck with the police union. The department needs to do a better job of finding efficiencies. Right now, cops aren’t on duty when they’re needed most, and it’s costing us big bucks.
