by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
March 8, 2004
a large blazing headline in the March 1 edition of the Toronto Star screamed "City in Chaos". Since the Star sees every non-white male, special interest group and minority ethnic group as a victim, it was easy to imagine that David Miller, Toronto's mayor and Chief Panhandler was again denied money from other levels of government or such an equally tragic event had befallen our great city.
But no. Haitian President Jean-Bertrand aristide had fled his country the day before and the city that the Star was referring to was Port-au- Prince. But readers of the doom and gloom Toronto Star could be forgiven for thinking that the city that the Star mentioned in its headline was in fact Toronto.
Describing the left and the right
In a column by the Toronto Star's Bruce Demara, about the right/left divide on Toronto City Council, Demara employed the terms "right wing" and "left wing" as well as "centre right". But when he went on to describe individuals, he resorted to the terminology of the liberally biased media. David Miller, the NDP mayor who is in bed with the unions and who thinks that the way to solve fiscal problems is by having other levels of government provide more funds, was described as "left leaning". Meanwhile Councillor Rob Ford was referred to as a "right wing firebrand". It is doubtful that we will ever have a councillor described as a "left wing firebrand".
More Sillytv news
Much like " Plan 9 from Outer Space", the 1959 movie that was so bad that it became a classic, Citytv's news programs just seem to get funnier and funnier. While never to become a favourite of serious news junkies, someone at the station should receive an award for "Best newscaster in a comedy series".
On February 27, Liberal MP Dennis Mills held a press conference to announce the results of his study of Toronto's waterfront. Citypulse carried the event live which saw demonstrators from the Ontario Coalition against Poverty (OCaP) delay the event by walking up to Mills and screaming for him to resign.
When all this was taking place, a befuddled David Onley kept asking adam Vaughan, who was at the aborted press conference, why the demonstrators didn't wait until after Mills' announcement to find out what plans the MP had for affordable housing before calling on him to resign. and once again Vaughan, who should have been there to report, had to take time out to enlighten one of City's newscasters as to what is happening in the world.
adam had to explain to the politically challenged Onley that last November Mills had promised OCaP that he would have a property on Gerrard Street turned into affordable housing within 30 days or resign. Needless to say Mills, being first and foremost a Liberal didn't keep his promise and that's why the protesters were at the press conference screaming for him to resign. It had nothing to do with the announcement he was making that day.
and if that wasn't enough, City aired a report from their Ottawa correspondent, aphrodite Salas, concerning Myriam Bédard, the former Olympic gold medal winner who was forced out of her job at Via Rail when she questioned the big bucks that were being paid to advertising firms for doing little or nothing. Bédard's letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin had just become public and Via Rail Chairman, Jean Pelletier had referred to Bédard as a pitiful single mother with financial problems. after Salas gave her report of Pelletier's comments, anchor Gord Martineau asked her if the Via Rail Chairman had been disciplined or fired and Salas said that he hadn't (he was fired a few days later). Martineau looked somewhat disappointed at the negative response to his question. Readers of this column or those that have followed Martineau's one dimensional career will remember that Gord's the guy who was never disciplined or fired for referring to Quebec singer, Roch Voisine, as a "homo". The guy has no shame--feigning indignation that nothing had happened to Pelletier when Martineau faced no consequences when he made similarly inappropriate comments. It just gets better and better.