by arthur Weinreb,
January 26, 2005
Two articles discussing two different bylaws of the City of Toronto appeared in the same edition of the Toronto Sun last week. The first article concerned the homeless situation in the city; specifically those who are sleeping and living in Nathan Phillips Square. The city has announced that, in addition to the $190 million that they are currently spending on the homeless, another $18.4 will be added. Part of this extra money is earmarked to pay for the hiring of eight additional outreach workers to "strongly advise" those that are sleeping outside in sub-zero temperatures to go into a shelter. apparently, if that fails, the homeless will be again strongly asked to leave, but not forcibly removed. although this is Socialist Mayor David Miller’s strongest attempt yet to rid Toronto’s public places of the sleeping homeless, it falls short of an active enforcement of bylaws to physically remove the homeless from the streets should they refuse to voluntarily go into shelters.
The second article dealt with the city’s bylaw requiring the licensing of dogs. The chairman of the Toronto Board of Health (we’ll call him the city’s doggie advocate because trendy lefties like such designations), Councillor John Filion was reported to have been shocked when he learned that only about 10 per cent of the city’s dogs are licensed. Horrors! and Filion is determined to do something about it, claiming that a lack of a license not only results in a revenue shortfall, but makes it impossible to return lost bow wows to their owners. Filion has promised action against these so-called deadbeat dog owners.
Here’s one thing that Filion and the gang at Toronto City Hall won’t do. They won’t spend millions hiring outreach workers to "strongly suggest" to pet owners that their dogs should be licensed. No, the Toronto Board of Health will undoubtedly hire more enforcement officers or "doggie cops" that will be added to Toronto’s complement of smoke police, tree police and various other "police". The city’s infrastructure might be crumbling; the roads might be congested, and it might take longer for a bus or streetcar to come, but Toronto has to be the greatest city in the world for a police force flunkie or cop-wannabe to live and work in.
The homeless are, of course treated much differently than dogs are treated. No one on Toronto City Council would dare suggest that dogs have a right to run loose outside when the temperatures are minus 40 with the wind chill like the homeless do. and for some strange reason, we have to keep track of dogs; keeping track of the homeless is a no-no.
For years the city mothers have resisted calls for an audit of the homeless to determine how many people are actually living on the streets of the city. The reasons for this resistance are obvious. Those in the homeless industry and their politician-supporters don’t want us to know that the numbers of homeless are nowhere near the amount that we are led to believe. If an accurate count was made of the city’s homeless, the first thing some smart-ass reporter will do is take a calculator, divide $208.4 million by the number of those living on the streets and announce to the world that Toronto could actually save money by buying a condo for each of the homeless.
Dog owners who do not bother to have their pets licensed can expect to see that particular bylaw enforced. after all, these people are only taxpayers; an unending stream of revenue in the eyes of many of those on council. They, like those who choose to cut down trees on their own properties or smoke in public places, can expect to see their actions met with enforcement measures while the homeless will be allowed to live on the streets as long as they strenuously object to going to the shelters. after all, they have rights.
Leaving aside the aspect of collecting revenue from dog licensing, having a licensed dog will allow dogs that are running around loose to be returned to the warmth and security of their homes. The juxtaposition of the two articles that appeared in the same edition of a newspaper show that Toronto City Council has more compassion towards dogs than they do to those who exercise their "rights" to sleep outside during the depths of winter.
Toronto is definitely going to the dogs; whether they are licensed or not.
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