Tag Archives: City of Toronto

02.24.14
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Random notes from the Caring Cupboard Annual General Meeting

It was standing room only at Caring Cupboard’s Talbot St. storefront Monday, Feb. 24 for their annual general meeting . . . an AGM board chairman Ward Houghton and several board members in attendance have not experienced in the past.

Uncomfortable would best describe the reaction of the board during the one-hour session terminated by Houghton with members of the general public – clients of the food bank and representatives of several community organizations including the YWCA and the Central Community Health Centre – still eager to vent their frustration and offer suggestions.

We’ll deal at length with the AGM later this week but here are a few random quotes:

“No one chooses to use a food bank.” – food bank client

“The way people are treated (at Caring Cupboard) is demoralizing . . . They are losing people, they are scared, they are terrorized.” – food bank client

“I want this noted. There is a problem here with the way people are treated.” – food bank client

“We have clients come in who are in tears. They are devastated. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.” – Judith Willey, CCHC

“As a board member I feel horrible. To hear your stories is horrible.”

With no formal complaint process, Houghton suggested clients or those denied food can contact him. His phone number is: 519-631-2212.

Since they are not listed on the Caring Cupboard website, here are the other members of the Caring Cupboard board: Marilynn Andrews, Anne Ashfield, Susan Cole, Rev. Mavis Currie, Maureen Ferguson, Jim Miller, Ken Money, Joyce Shippling, Ted Sturk, Tammy Tolman, Suzanne Van Bommel and Esther Wendel-Caraher.

12.21.13
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You have a cold, city council will have a code

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Mayor Heather Jackson’s announcement at the close of Monday’s council meeting is, if anything, long overdue. In fact, her first step in establishing a code of conduct for city council is a process that should have been jump-started ten years ago during the bitter debate over a new twin-pad arena for St. Thomas.
If you ever bump into former alderman Sharon Crosby, have her recount the tale of why she didn’t cast a vote on the final arena motion.
What prompted Heather’s motion to initiate a code of conduct – among several factors – is the drip, drip, drip of leaked information trickling out from in-camera council meetings.
That is why she has turned to CAO Wendell Graves and Human Resources Director Graham Dart to craft a binding document designed to keep this and future councils on the straight and narrow.
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11.23.13
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What didn’t make the grade is the real story

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The real insight come budget time is not the capital projects that receive council’s stamp of approval, it’s the myriad items that fail to pass muster.
There’s the true indication of how well departments are heeding calls from treasurer Bill Day to haul in the reins.
Here are some gems gleaned from the 2014 Part 1 capital budget that remain in limbo.
How about $400,000 for a baseball practice facility at the Centennial Sports Complex.
Then there’s the $600,000 skateboard park, $102,000 of which would be funded by ratepayers.
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08.18.12
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There’s life – and pressing concerns – beyond the GTA

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Two examples this week to illustrate Premier Dalton McGuinty’s complete disdain for life beyond the confines of the Greater Toronto Area.
From the don’t-bother-me-with-the-details file, McGuinty made it clear this week he’s not interested in observing first-hand the incendiary conditions at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre.
Not only will the Premier not accept a challenge from Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, to visit the beleaguered facility, he won’t comment any further beyond his observation two weeks ago on a visit to London.
“Obviously, there is more work to be done and I know this is a very important file on the minister’s desk.”
Where, for too long, the file has sat.
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02.05.11
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To lose hospital is to truly become a have-not community

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Over the last couple of weeks we’ve documented the back room wheeling and dealing last summer that led to the done-in-a-flash retirement/rehiring of St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital CEO Paul Collins.

The manner in which this was handled, and the lack of overwhelming consensus amongst the board of directors generated considerable response, including concern from readers on the impact of the pension shuffle on fundraising efforts in the community and at municipal council tables in St. Thomas and Elgin.

Never one to shy away from controversy, Bob McCaig checked in with City Scope to help stir the pot with the following observations.
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11.06.10
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Curbing debate now prescribed for health unit meetings?

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It was quite the mugging this week over at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health. Attempts by Central Elgin Mayor Tom Marks to raise uncomfortable questions at Wednesday’s board meeting were hijacked at the pass by the city contingent on the seven-member board.

Although Marks didn’t follow the prescribed protocol for new business, silencing a fellow board member seeking answers to the same questions asked numerous times in this corner illustrates the depths to which the health unit has sunk.

So, to what exactly was Marks seeking clarification?
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10.24.09
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Elgin trucking firm set to take on T.0.

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A transport company that says Toronto is blowing $25 million by rejecting its bid to haul garbage is taking out ads to persuade councillors to accept what it’s offering.

The newspaper and radio ads will run Monday, the first day of a two-day session at which council will decide on awarding a 10-year contract to truck waste to the Green Lane landfill near St. Thomas, Ont.

The works committee has recommended awarding the contract to Verspeeten Cartage Ltd., which bid $132 million. That was after city staff had disqualified a bid from ECL Carriers, which said it could do the job for $107 million.

Gregory Rumble, who heads ECL’s parent company, Contrans Income Fund, says his firm should not have been rejected. “We feel we have been disqualified unfairly and it’s going to cost the taxpayers of the City of Toronto $25 million over the next 10 years. That’s a lot of money to be thrown to the side.”
Full story

04.08.09
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Trash, trains and Talbotville

Ian McCallum

Ian McCallum


Posted by Ian:
One year ago, on May 17, in the St. Thomas Times-Journal, I dedicated a considerable portion of my weekly City Scope column to an interesting speculative exercise. I am reprising that column, and a follow-up response from a key City of Toronto manager, in the belief there are new developments with the property in question located south of Talbotville. Here is the initial observation …

Three intriguing tales of trash, trains and Talbotville have entwined themselves over the past month to the point you would swear they spawned from the same source.
Follow carefully as City Scope sifts through the facts for a common thread.
As reported in yesterday’s T-J, the Green Lane Environmental Group, owned in part by Bob McCaig, sold its waste collection, recycling and materials recovery business to BFI Canada Inc., in a move effective May 1.
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