Flim-Flam Man

How to deal with this man? He has changed so much, but has he, really? Or does he just shed principles like so much unwanted weight? Let’s see…

The media narrative during this strike has been essentially two-fold: 1) the workers of the City of Toronto are over-privileged scum with a bad case of entitlement, and 2) Mayor Miller is just a really incompetent boob. Even Marcus Gee, the Globe’s ever-present court jester, who started his strike coverage just absolutely fawning over Miller the way he used to do over George Bush has turned against him lately.

Translation Required

At Mayor Miller’s press conference today on day 30, he said he was frustrated by the glacial pace of negotiations and that things could be resolved if only the union would begin to “bargain seriously.” Seriously.

So we had to look this up in our handy Politician-to-English dictionary. Turns out, what he meant was that things aren’t going his way and why don’t the unions just give up already? It isn’t fair!

They’re Here…!

And our descent into plague-ridden medieval life continues…

Toronto Sun Database Servers On Strike

Tragedy struck the Toronto Sun today as the hamsters who power the database servers abandoned their posts demanding more cedar chips and better quality cheese.

Just after an infinite number of monkeys touch-typing away at an infinite number of Commodore 64s got finished with the latest Get-back-to-work-you-lazy-SOBs screed, the system went haywire. 

Update: it seems that the culprit was a large Norway rat who was on a reconnaissance mission from a nearby Makeshift “Miller” Dump and chewed through the wires causing mayhem and panic among the monkeys in the newsroom. We look nervously forward to all future Toronto Sun editorials ending with the words, “Can’t connect to mysql.”

{End the Toronto strike right now | Toronto Sun}

Family Blames City Workers’ Strike For Death

By: Vanessa Lu
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

photo by: RENÉ JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR

Alejandro Martinez says the ambulance took at least half an hour to get to partner Jim Hearst, seen in photo. “I don’t want to see this happen again.”

Jim Hearst’s loved ones blame the city workers’ strike for his death by an apparent heart attack, saying an ambulance did not come to his aid for at least 30 minutes despite three 911 calls.

The city says ambulance response times for high-priority urgent calls have not been affected by the walkout, even though under an essential services agreement the service is running at 75 per cent staffing.

Read the rest on the Toronto Star’s site:

{TheStar.com | Family blames city workers’ strike for death}

Miller Attempts To End Strike By Force Of Will

680 news is hopeful that the Mayor’s foot somehow contains power that the two barganing committees lack.

Thirteen days and counting without garbage collection and a slew of other city services that is costing families money and creating a major inconvenience.

However, there could be hope on the horizon. Mayor David Miller is putting his foot down, telling the city’s workers it’s time to end the strike.

Left foot or right foot? We can dance, but we gotta know…

{Mayor David Miller says garbage strike needs to end – 680News}

How Is That My Problem: McGuinty

Province won’t step in

By Bryn Weese

Solidarity forever or solidarity be damned.

City officials confirmed yesterday 132 would-be striking workers have requested to cross the picket line and report back to work.

As labour leaders told a scorching Nathan Phillips Square rally that the municipal strike, now in its fourth day, would last “as long as it takes,” Premier Dalton McGuinty said he wasn’t ready to step in and end it.

{Province won’t step in | Toronto Sun}