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December 19, 2011

News

HUGE PRICE TAGS ATTACHED TO CRIME BILL

Provinces not interested in shouldering implementation costs
Tom Cardoso
Poltical Reporter The omnibus crime bill is projected to cost significantly more than the Conservative government has so far revealed, and half the burden for putting more young offenders behind bars could be downloaded onto the provinces, documents obtained by The Globe and Mail suggest. As provincial governments wrestle with deficits in a stalled economy, no one is interested in taking on extra costs. Ontario and Quebec have both said they expect Ottawa to cover all new expenses associated with Bill C-10. British Columbia, which lobbied for some of the tough changes in the legislation, now says it is concerned about the potential downstream costs. But a review of the federal government documents, originally tabled by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews in Parliament last

A local Torontonian getting ready to fire his long gun.

Unicornario Dabrowski/The Torontonian

spring, suggest Ottawa expects the provinces to shoulder a significant part of the costs of its law and order agenda. While the jurisdic-

tions are likely to request that the full extent of the projected increases be borne by the federal government, they would probably accept sharing

the incremental costs at 50/50, states an estimate on a bill seeking to toughen treatment for young offenders. Tabled in response

to a rebuke from former House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken in March, 2011, the documents offer partial estimates for the cost of

more than a dozen lawand-order bills previously introduced by the Tories, including several that were bundled into the legislation.

OCCUPY TORONTO CALLS FOR ROB FORDS EVICTION

Peter Parker
Local Affairs Reporter
Occupy Toronto demonstrators hosted an Evict Rob Ford march Saturday afternoon, leaving their encampment to march towards city hall, where hundreds of protesters, joined by union leaders, converged for a demonstration. An apparent response to calls by Mayor Rob Ford who wants to see the occupiers pack up the camp, the demonstrators took to the streets at about 2:30 p.m. from St. James Park. Lets all tell Ford that Occupy Toronto isnt leaving, its time for HIM to go! Occupy Toronto said in a statement on its website Tuesday. The statement also listed cost-cutting distributed flyers to onlookers. Im really against everything that Ford is doing or trying to do to the city, Maggi Redmonds, who joined the Occupy demonstrators, told CityNews.ca. We dont support him, we dont support his agenda, she said. We do support the occupiers and [Ford] should leave us alone. Demonstrators converged at Nathan Philips Square at city hall just before 4 p.m., marching back to their encampment at St. James Park after about an hour. Bylaw officers handed eviction notices to demonstrators Tuesday morning, threatening the closure of the encampment and ordering them to leave St. James Park between 12:01 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

TORONTO LIBRARIES REJECT CUT

Bryan White
City Hall Reporter Torontos library board has voted to reject Rob Fords demand for a 10 per cent cut, marking a clear split between the mayor and the board he chose to head one of the citys largest agencies. In an 8-5 decision, directors thwarted a proposal from board chair Councillor Paul Ainslie to exact savings by carving 7 per cent of the hours from 56 branches a motion supported by the mayors office that would have shed

An Occupier raises his Evict Rob Ford sign.

Tim Yap/Reuters

measures by Ford as a reason to march. Demonstrators travelled along Dundas Street and south on Bay Street to city hall, es-

corted by police officers on foot and bicycle. At a brief stop at Yonge and Dundas streets, demonstrators carried signs and

$5.1-million from the library budget. The mayor may have backed Mr. Ainslies motion, but some key allies did not. The eight dissenters included two members of the Mr. Fords cabinet-like executive committee, Councillor Jaye Robinson and Councillor Cesar Palacio, who said they the 10-percent command was simply too inflexible. The final board decision came following speeches from more than 20 patrons talking to the importance of the bookmobile and other services on the chopping block. Peter Dean, a Toronto Island resident, told the board that the bookmobile serves as the islands branch. The boards decision will go to executive committee before hitting the council floor in mid-