May 29 - Another glorious day in Toronto, and a really great day to skip work as Toronto buses, streetcars and the subway are not running due to a wildcat strike, and despite the fact that Toronto transit workers were ordered back to work, the system still isn't running.

This is definitely a laugh-cry stituation. Despite the personal inconvenience this may cause as I head for work tonight, our labour-friendly mayor certainly looked foolish on the news this morning and even as I write he is assuming a tough stance on CP24 but is coming off sounding petulant.

How could they do this to him? He's pro-union, by golly, and here they are making him look bad.

But there's some confusion as to what exactly triggered the shutdown:

Union officials warned of a possible strike on the weekend, claiming management was not properly addressing the concerns of employees.

Maintenance workers reportedly instigated the strike, and other employees followed suit.

The union earlier claimed management had locked out some employees, but management disputed the allegations.

[Toronto Transit Commission general manager Rick] Ducharme said the illegal picketers are waiting to hear from their union leader and its executives, who Ducharme has not been able to contact for negotiations.

The story is being updating continuously on the CTV link.

Obviously this whole mess is clearly Howard ("terrorists can't find Toronto on the map") Moscoe's fault.

13:16 - It's also Moscoe's fault that the time stamp on today's posts are screwy. Clearly I didn't write this at 5:17 a.m.! I'm adjusting the times now.

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May 28 - It was inevitable, I suppose, that rallies in the U.S. demanding rights for illegal immigrants would trigger similar ones up here. 500 attended a rally for immigrants' rights in Toronto yesterday:

The protesters, who gathered outside the OISE building on Bloor St., chanted "No one is illegal," and "Status for all." The rally and march was one of several across Canada yesterday.

"We want an end to the detentions, deportations and use of security certificates," said Zima Zerehi, a spokesman for No One is Illegal Toronto.

Zerehi said studies show about 500,000 illegal immigrants live in Canada with 80,000 in Toronto.

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May 12 - The Ontario government just passed the budget which included a provision increasing the terms for Toronto elected officials from 3 to 4 years. (It's disturbing that the budget included this provision and even more disturbing that the province could do this without even consulting the people of Toronto; in most if not all U.S. cities such a civic matter would be on a city ballot but what can I say? The amagamation of Toronto was also ordered by the provincial government. Centralized authority is a fact of life up here.)

Meanwhile, the minority Conservative federal government is honouring an election promise to reduce the Goods and Services Tax. It's going down by 1%, bringing the federal tax down to 6% (the provincial tax stays at 8%) (yes, people in Ontario pay 15% tax) but now it has been suggested that Cabbies could keep GST cut:

Councillor Howard Moscoe said yesterday that cabbies will have to pay $35 to have taxi meters adjusted to reflect the cut, which kicks in July 1.

They will also lose half a day of work while the meters are reset, he said.

"It just makes sense to leave the meter rates as they are," Moscoe said. "There are going to be those who argue that we're denying people their GST rebate, but in this case, it's not practical to do."

The issue of raising fares to offset the tax cut will be dealt with at next month's meeting of the city's planning and transportation committee. The city sets cab fares in Toronto.

Moscoe noted that the Toronto Parking Authority has already determined it will not pass the GST break on to its customers.

Surely had the federal government increased the GST the cabbies (and whoever services parking ticket machines) would have found the means to adjust the meters! And isn't the cost for adjusting the meters tax deductible?

Also, why do they need to raise cab fares to offset the tax cut -- the taxes are paid directly to the federal government and are not income.

This city is one weird place.

I have to be back at work at 3:30 this afternoon, so be sure to log onto Newsbeat1 regularly for news and pundit links.

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May 10 - As did many others, I tried to spread the word when Cecilia Zhang first went missing over two years ago and I feel I should follow-up with an account of her killer's trial, but his stark account of his motivations and the events that lead to her death are so selfish and desperate that I don't know how to reconcile how I feel about the human instinct to protect children with this man's willingness to use a child as a bartering chip in an extortion scheme concocted out of his desperation to stay in Canada rather than return to China.

Here's the link (Cece's night of terror revealed) and it needs no further elaboration.

May 13 08:37 - Joe Warmington's comments on the sentence of the accused says it all.

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