That’s right, you read it here first … Rob Ford will be attending Pride after all! Here’s the official statement:

Gotta say I was starting to lose faith in our new(ish) mayor, but it looks like he’s gonna come through after all. And he’ll even be dressed for the occasion!

That’s the spirit! I dunno if I’d have the courage to strut around with assless chaps and a hand betwixt the pillows, but good on Rob, eh?

We owe a debt of gratitude to Paula Corbett of Bad Bunny Puppets for convincing Rob to be a part of the parade. She and our risqué mayor will be hanging out in front of St. Lawrence Market’s north hall for the next couple of days and, of course, you can drop by her site to pay your respects for all her hard work too.

Almost a full year after they were added to Jarvis Street, the Rob Ford administration is looking to take out the Jarvis Street bike lanes to make room for — guess what — cars! Here’s a mass email that was received recently from his office on the topic:

Thank you for your email regarding the bike lanes on Jarvis Street. I appreciate hearing from you.

Toronto’s economy loses billions of dollars every year from gridlock and traffic congestion. We need to make the situation better – not worse. The Jarvis Street bike lanes experiment has been a failure. Ninety-four percent of commuters now face longer commutes on Jarvis Street. Over 15,000 commuters each day are suffering from longer travel times, for the sake of 600 additional cyclists.

The City should remove the bike lanes as soon as possible and improve travel times for thousands of daily commuters. City staff have been directed to develop a low-cost plan to do so. Bike lanes were never intended to be installed on Jarvis Street. The original Environmental Assessment recommended against installing bike lanes – but City Council amended the report to approve bike lanes anyway.

As promised during the mayoral election, I am dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts. Please feel free to contact my office again at any time.

Yours truly,

Mayor Rob Ford
City of Toronto

Just in time for ye ole road toll debate to rage up again!

Now, I am usually not public with my dislike for out new MAYOR (Robert Ford, ick!) but this one I MUST be vocal about. Now, I keep my personal issues with this chubby guy between Ollie and I but Ford’s latest elitist stunt has PISSED ME RIGHT OFF.

Now, he could have said a multitude of things such as “my wife is sick” or “I have a headache” but this one takes the cake.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/06/22/mayor-ford-chooses-cottage-over-pride-parade/

A lame, elitest excuse such as a weekend to the cottage is no reason to skip out on this city’s MAJOR LGBT event, one that rakes in MILLIONS OF $$$, dollars he is bound to spend elsewhere, such as the refurbishment of his office, y’know, making it BIG ENOUGH to fit his large rear into.

If you ever find out just how the PRIDE dollars get spent, please let me know. I am already choosing my words for my letter the Mister Mayor’s office.

Cheers,
SarahD

You remember Senator Anthony Wiener, right? Sure you do! He’s the guy that tweeted pictures of his junk to a few women, presumably in the hope that he’d be able to hook up with them, and ended up being front page fodder as a result. If you’ll recall, the revelations surrounding his conduct made more than a few headlines and it was really only yesterday that he finally decided to resign, putting that tidbit on most newspapers’ back burners.

Well, if you they thought that was explosive, wait’ll they get a load of Parkergate!

That’s right … Parkergate; just like Wienergate but this time involving a local Toronto politician, John Parker. Well, just like Wienergate, except there was no (visibly) erect penis involved, just the tweet that Parker was surrounded by “hot chicks” while attending a recent plaque unveiling ceremony. Here’s the disgustingly full transcript (you might want to have your kids to leave the room now):

Delighted and honoured to help unveil eight new Toronto heritage plaques and meet hot chicks in the bargain. I love my job.

Can you believe that shit? “Hot chicks”?! What the fuckety fuck?!

The outrage was immediate and palpable. Here’s just a small sampling of the ensuing backlash:

The tweet was erased despite his initial refusal to apologize. Parker, known for his light-hearted tweets, blamed the media for making city hall a place where fun won’t be tolerated.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/06/21/john-parker-hot-chicks-tweet548.html

The insolence!

Although the event went off without a hitch, the councillor made waves later in the day when he expressed his view of the overall event on the popular social networking tool Twitter.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/06/20/toronto-politician-tweets.html

The gall!

Pulled out of a meeting at his City Hall office, Parker said the focus should be on the eight plaques unveiled Monday to honour Torontonians, not something he posted on Twitter.

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/20/councillor-tweets-about–hot-chicks

Bastard!

Heritage Toronto communications director Rebecca Carson said, with a laugh, that she believed she was one of the “hot chicks” in question. She said Heritage executive director Karen Carter might have been another.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1011996–heritage-employee-surprised-by-councillor-s-hot-chicks-tweet

Sickening!

Parker (Ward 26, Don Valley West) said the constituents who have contacted him about the flap have been supportive.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1012552–parker-apologizes-for-offending-with-hot-chicks-tweet

Go back to Nazi Germany!

The Don Valley West councillor noted the number of people following his Twitter account has gone up in the wake of the story.

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/21/councillor-apologizes-for-hot-chicks-tweet

Scum-sucking troglodyte!

When does a Tweet cross the line? When it involves “hot chicks” and a city councillor.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/rob-ford-asks-parker-to-apologize-for-tweet/article2068241/

Arrrrrggggh!!!!! *running out of the room screaming*

Well, thankfully our mayor stood up and took offense right away, calling on Parker to apologize. I couldn’t actually find anyone else that was publicly offended but that’s probably because of the extreme trauma that’s been inflicted on them. I also couldn’t find a reference to who the “hot chicks” were, but obviously…

…ahhh, I can’t do this anymore. It’s soooooooo stupid! The reason I couldn’t find the offended parties is because, for all intents and purposes, they don’t exist. The various women interviewed for articles expressed, at most, surprise, but not much else. Seriously, even if they took offense, who among them would step forward to positively identify themselves as the “hot chicks” in that tweet? Only Rob Ford, it seems. And since he wasn’t there, I can only assume he took exception to not being included in that group. Well, sorry, Rob … maybe if you manicured your bikini line now and again.

John sums this up best: “I think I’ll be aware of the hazards of slow news days.”

Yup.

The Toronto Star reports today that in their hour-long “Red light test” (at what appears to be somewhere around the intersection of York and Queen’s Quay), the majority of cyclists broke the law and ran the light.

Unbelievable! I mean, who would’ve been able to guess that something like this could happen in a city like Toronto?!

There were probably even more laws broken but the numbers shown in the video are enough in and of themselves.

No longer relegated to credit or bank cards, a new bank note being released by The Bank of Canada this November (more to follow in 2012) promises to seem just as flimsy and worthless as the mag stripes you destroy in your back pocket today. Progress!

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and Canadian Blood Services is
partnering up to host Ontario’s biggest single blood donor clinic. The goal:
to collect 500 units of blood in one day. That means we need donations from
500 people. It’s happening at the ACC on Monday, June 20, from 10am-7pm.

Why? Because we need to raise awareness and educate. Despite the fact that
50% of the Canadian population can donate, only 3.7% do. In Toronto, only
1.8% donate. Toronto needs to import 50,000 units of blood a year to meet
the needs of patients in this region. So we need Torontonians to step up,
rally together and donate. Because let’s face it – the status of one’s
health can be unpredictable and you never know when you or someone you love
will need it.

Call 1-888-2-DONATE to book an appointment at The Big Save.

Here’s the link and our Facebook page:
www.blood.ca/thebigsave
www.facebook.com/CentralOntarioBlood

I can’t decide if he’s guarding the dust or that coned-off hole with the sapling popping out of it.

Hmm….now where have I seen this bicycle before?

Oh yeah, now I remember: “Spontaneous act of art ordered removed from Dundas Street.” Maybe Mayor Ford isn’t trying to remove street art for the purpose of beautifying the city, perhaps he just wants it for his own living room?

Thanks for Councillor Mark Grimes for snapping that first photo, the Toronto Star for the second one, and to Rob Ford for providing the irony.