So much so, in fact, that he’s going to make it an election issue — unions (that support a casino) are awesome!

Doug Ford says he regrets hiring Karen Stintz for the TTC chair role:

… the biggest mistake we ever did was put her in the TTC.

We? You mean the royal “we”, as in “we, the Most Gracious and Fecund Robert Bruce Ford, do thus proclaim!”? Maybe “we” as in Rob Ford ain’t runnin’ shit?

I don’t like the sound of either.

Option one, that’s just a living nightmare. Perish the thought.

Option two, that’s a hand up the ass, meaning there’s a not-so-secret shadow government trying to run things. The man with the brownest hand, at least to the public, is Rob’s own brother. Gross.

I’m not going to go back through the blog to re-hash some of Giorgio Mammoliti’s past, erm, weirdness, but maybe there was something buggy going on with his brain? It was revealed today that he had to have preventive brain surgery to “disconnect” a potentially clotting mesh of blood vessels in his head, so that could certainly be a possibility. Here’s hoping he recovers!

…sometimes someone hears you.

An Open Letter to Canadians

RBC has been in the news this week in a way no company ever wants to be.

The recent debate about an outsourcing arrangement for some technology services has raised important questions.

While we are compliant with the regulations, the debate has been about something else. The question for many people is not about doing only what the rules require – it’s about doing what employees, clients, shareholders and Canadians expect of RBC. And that’s something we take very much to heart.

Despite our best efforts, we don’t always meet everyone’s expectations, and when we get it wrong you are quick to tell us. You have my assurance that I’m listening and we are making the following commitments.

First, I want to apologize to the employees affected by this outsourcing arrangement as we should have been more sensitive and helpful to them. All will be offered comparable job opportunities within the bank.

Second, we are reviewing our supplier arrangements and policies with a continued focus on Canadian jobs and prosperity, balancing our desire to be both a successful business and a leading corporate citizen.

Third, our Canadian client call centres are located in Canada and support our domestic and our U.S. business, and they will remain in Canada.

Fourth, we are preparing a new initiative aimed at helping young people gain an important first work experience in our company, which we will announce in the weeks ahead.

RBC proudly employs over 57,000 people in Canada. Over the last four years, despite a challenging global economy, we added almost 3,000 full-time jobs in Canada. We also hire over 2,000 youth in Canada each year and we support thousands more jobs through the purchases we make from Canadian suppliers. As we continue to grow, so will the number of jobs for Canadians.

RBC opened for business in 1864 and we have worked hard since then to earn the confidence and support of the community. Today, we remain every bit as committed to earning the right to be our clients’ first choice, providing rewarding careers for our employees, delivering returns to shareholders who invest with us, and supporting the communities in which we are privileged to operate.

I’d like to close by thanking our employees, clients, shareholders and community partners for your input and continued support.

Sincerely,

Gord Nixon
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Royal Bank of Canada

http://www.rbc.com/newsroom/2013/0411-rbc-statement.html

I honestly didn’t expect there to be a second part to this saga, but here we are.

In the first part I did some basic math to show that the new EI measures implemented by the Harper government are designed to eventually impoverish anyone who uses the system to supplement slow times in their industry (seasonal workers, construction workers, etc.)

Now it’s been revealed that on top of this measure, the appeals process has been taken in-house so that if you have a problem, who do you complain to? The people who caused it.

The government policing itself? Well that doesn’t sound like it could possibly  have any issues. In fact, it should be so easy that they shouldn’t even need so many people to make it happen.

Classic Ford hypocrisy — bellow about the entitlement of government employees, then secretly create a brand new, highly-paid City Hall position, ask a fellow football coach to fill it, and when asked to comment, tell the newspapers to go fuck themselves. Except the Sun, of course, because they report on what they’re told, they do it how they’re told to do it, and they don’t ask any questions (now that’s a newspaper!).

So what exactly qualifies Dave Price for the position? Go fuck yourself.

What does the position entail? Go fuck yourself.

How much will Mr. Price be making? Go fuck yourself.

How did Ford decide on Dave Price? “I don’t want to get into personnel matters”, Ford says.

In other words, I’m Rob Fucking Ford and I’m not accountable to anyone. Go fuck yourself.

Rob Ford’s failures are easy pickings; they’re numerous and obvious. But every once in awhile, he also registers a victory which would be incredibly disingenuous of me not to mention.

Like yesterday’s vote, for example.

That Council item, made a top “priority” by Rob Ford, centered around the food concessions in the currently-under-renovation Nathan Phillips Square. Up until recently, those consisted of chips, chocolate, and fizzy drinks offered while the skating rink had blades on it. The rest of the time, the place was shuttered and the only place to grab a bite was at one of the food trucks parked on Queen Street.

But yesterday, led by Ford, Council flipped on a previous decision to not allow a local food chain to move in, and essentially greenlighted Hero Burgers for the location.

I need to point out that I have nothing against Hero Burgers. After Big Smoke and Gourmet, Hero is easily my third choice for tasty burgers (within walking distance). So I don’t have any issues with another Hero location opening up in front of City Hall. But it is interesting to point out the context…

Rob Ford made fatty fast food a top priority and managed to shove it down the City’s throat in record time. His push for subways was, and continues to be, a dismal failure. His repeated “guarantees” to remove or reduce the Land Transfer Tax are a lesson in how not to get things done. His constant threats to sic “Ford Nation” on various politicians is more or less a joke. And so on.

But let’s give credit where it’s due: when it comes to accessibility to greasy foods, you can expect Rob’s full support, undivided attention, and unrelenting determination. Rob also works tirelessly in other areas, like helping homeless Torontonians with a few temporary beds — and by that I mean being the sole dissenting vote against the simple, humanitarian measure.

The Toronto City Life Flickr Pool is being brought back!

If you have any photos of Toronto (or related subjects), please feel free to submit them to the Toronto City Life photo pool on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/torontocitylife/

By submitting your photos to this pool, you are giving us permission to feature and subsequently use / display them on our blog indefinitely. Should you change your mind, or should you have any other feedback, please contact us at any time.

Hurray! Now that Rob Ford has been shown that laws and rules don’t apply to him, he’s once again free to use city resources for his own personal pet projects like the Rob Ford Football Foundation.

Yesterday it was revealed that Chris Fickel, a Ford office staffer, had sent out a solicitation email to Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School (note how those rich, elite public schools are not part of Ford’s ongoing efforts). Fickel is a regular part of Ford’s program, regularly appearing in photos with the teams, driving a city hall car to practices and games, etc.

In Fickel’s defense (not that he needs one), the email was sent from a GMail account. While it was time-stamped 4:37 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, the fact that Rob Ford is regularly and mostly absent from his duties indicates that this may not actually have been done “on city time” (which, according to Ford, is any time he says).

And who gives a rat’s ass anyways — Rob Ford says it’s okay so just shut the fuck up and accept it.

Don Bosco, Rob’s old alma mater and the shining jewel in his infamous football foundation, is set to produce an official “will of the people”, of sorts, as both school staff and the community recently tossed around their feelings on the mayor’s involvement in the institution’s sports program (he coaches football there).

This follows a very public airing of grievances against Ford’s characterization of the community (and especially its black kids), as being poor, disadvantaged, and basically one step away from becoming drug dealers, pimps, and whores. Ford said similar things about other schools in his foundation, places like Forest Hill where the average income hovers at around $100K. Yeah, I know, it’s not rich by today’s standards, but it ain’t exactly no skid row neither.

And that reason is why the Don Bosco folks are talking about potentially putting the mayor out to pasture. The article didn’t impart the impression that the community is roiling with rage, but there’s definitely disquiet and unhappiness at being made out to seem like a ghetto (which it most certainly is not).

In case you can’t read between the very wide lines of this story: Rob Ford’s own school is claiming that the mayor misrepresented them, and are mulling kicking him out because of community disquiet. And these are his people, his old school, his old community.