Via Wikipedia

Amongst likely voters who have decided who they would vote for, 45.6 per cent say they would make Ford the next mayor.

Via CTV

It boggles my mind someone like Rob Ford can have so much support in the city. Why? Actually, wait, I’m not all that surprised. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of other candidates (all of them), but Ford is an illiterate clown. I am not going to dissect his platform in this post, but I do want to give you an idea of how the reported support statistics give us a skewed idea of his widespread support.

• There are 1.5 million electors in Toronto’s municipal election.
• Population of Toronto is close to 2.5 million.
• Voter turnout in the 2006 election was 39% – 585,000 in today’s population.

Assuming a similar turnout, I estimate that 46% Rob Ford votes will come from approximately 269,100 city residents (46% of 585,000). Based on that assumption, we are letting approximately 11% of Toronto residents elect Rob Ford to lead this world-class city.

Ford doesn’t seem all that popular once you break down the numbers. But obviously he struck the right chord with quite a few voters. There is no easy answer to who should lead Toronto -  selecting the right candidate isn’t easy when the choices are so limited. Unfortunately I don’t find the other candidates to be more promising so it’s a tough choice to make.

But, there is a real possibility of Rob Ford becoming a mayor. And that’s scary (to me).

Whether you support him or not, take a look at the data, do some research and take 15 minutes out of your day to make an educated vote – don’t let others do it for you. Otherwise you let the 11% minority opinion run your city for the next 4 years. I am an eligible voter and taxpayer and believe that he doesn’t represent the majority opinion in this city.

Statistics: City of Toronto, CTV
Photo: CCUE

Dale Kropf calls it Independence Day: On July 3, his five grocery stores in southwestern Ontario ceased to be Sobeys franchises.

Corporate policies prevented him from buying local products, he says, so he joined forces with four other former Sobeys franchisees and formed the independent Hometown Grocers Co-Op.

“We feel that local food, local presence is huge in our market and we wanted to take advantage of that,” Kropf says.
Canadians are increasingly subscribing to the “buy local” and “100 mile diet” philosophies due to concerns over imported food, Kropf adds. “The pressure was always mounting — the more recalls, the more bad press from China or wherever the product was coming from. I know that in our case, our private label pickles are made in Indonesia. I couldn’t believe that.”

As a franchisee for a large grocery chain, Kropf says, corporate policies stipulating that he only buy federally inspected meat prevented him from stocking local products. Most federally inspected meat in Canada comes from large corporations such as Maple Leaf, Cargill and Tyson.

Read more on CBC

Canadians who look in the mirror and see green may be environmentally colour blind, according to a new study.

Researchers compared how Canadians perceive their commitment to the environment and what they actually do about it in a study commissioned by marketing firm Cossette Communication and Summerhill, an environmental consultancy.

On average, people believed they were 20 per cent greener than their reported behaviour showed, the study found.

For example, close to 80 per cent of respondents said they use reusable drinking containers regularly, Cossette’s Nick Cowling said. “Yet if you are standing in the lineup at Starbucks or Tim Hortons or Second Cup and you look around, of course 80 per cent of people in the lineup are not doing that. They’re going to use the paper cup they’re given.”

Read the rest on CBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUGLIYMVOaw

More on illegal signs in Toronto.

Anyway, here’s what the pass will look like:

Bah! Same crappy design, but with more flare and shine. Has the photographer ever heard of white balance and exposure metering? I am not even going to bother this time.

But wait! There is hope! An interesting excerpt from the article:

Later this year the TTC will outline a plan to use art on its passes. Currently, the TTC uses a combination of art and photography when designing passes. The new art will be part of the overall pass design. The TTC will be issuing a request for expressions of interest in August. TTC customers can expect to see new art on Metropasses starting in April 2010.

Adam Giambrone, have you been reading my rants about the Metropass design? Hmmm? Please don’t screw this up – there are a lot of talented designers in the city who would love an opportunity to redesign this abdomination. Give me a shout, Adam.

University of Toronto made a pretty poor design decision by fading out St. Michael’s lower extremities in the hospital logo. To me it looks like he’s taking a leak. To others it might look like something else, not so uncommon amongst sexual deviants in Toronto downtown parks. Here is my artistic rendition of what I see every time I pass by the hospital:

There is also a massive billboard adoring the wall of the hospital – in this one steamy clouds are rising as St. Michael is taking a satisfying urban leak on our great city of Toronto. “$5 if you can hit the CN Tower!”

Below is what the original statue in the lobby of St. Michael’s looks like. This photo was taken by a Flickr user jp1958. If you have the time, you can  read a brief touching story about the statue and it’s importance to the hospital on St. Michael’s website.

Now, traditionally, St. Michael is portrayed treading on Satan or a serpent, carrying a banner, scales, and sword. A good example is a painting by Guido Reni.

Why did the University of Toronto and the hospital make this poor choice? Who knows, but it makes me wonder how many sets of eyes have seen what I see. And how many hospital admins thought this was a great rendition of the logo and rubber-stamped it all the way to the billboard.

Disclaimer: I have no doubt that St. Michael’s Hospital is a fantastic teaching hospital that does a lot of great work. I would not hesitate to be treated there in case of a medical mishap. Unfortunately, it does not reflect in their logo. It does not do their symbol great justice. Instead it opens up it’s interpretation to various wondering, perverted minds, like mine.

Greenwood  Maintenance Shop

Greenwood Shop is one of two heavy repair and overhaul facilities for the TTC. It is part of the 31 acre Greenwood Complex which opened in March 1960.The shop covers approx. 190,000 square feet and is the workplace of almost 200 employees. Major vehicle overhaul work and component rebuilds to support the fleet of subway vehicles is done here. The Shop also maintains the TTC fleet of workcars that are used by other TTC Departments in the maintenance of subway track, tunnels and wayside equipment.

Visitors will have a behind-the-scenes tour featuring machinery and equipment used in the overhaul and repair of big subway cars and the various work cars used by the TTC.

Eglinton Garage

Eglinton Garage/Division opened on March 31, 2002 and consists of 121,000 square feet situated on a 15.7 acre site. The garage services a fleet of 250 buses. The facility also features two bus wash racks, 12 indoor repair spaces and an outdoor bus storage area with a unique heating system which allows parked buses to be connected so that their engines are warm and ready to drive during the winter season.

A behind the scenes tour of the garage including a ride on a bus through the bus wash.

A ride through a bus wash!

More information on Doors Open Toronto and more places to visit.

P.S. Here’s a tip, City of Toronto – why not use a free open map API (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc) to place all of the locations on one map and give users an opportunity to print out customized lists instead of putting them all in one loooooong list. Even your downloadable PDF seems to be maintained by an accountant in Excel.

“The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.”

– Aldous Huxley

Toronto Before
A great Toronto-specific blog with historical visual comparisons.

Toronto Then and Now (Part 1, Part 2) by CityNews
A special prepared by CityNews to commemorate Toronto’s 170th anniversary.

Then and Now Flickr Pool
Probably the best place online for Then and Now shots. Especially for North American cities. When I visited, there were close to 1200 photos in the pool.

Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Siege: Now and Then (Part 1, Part 2)
A  great series comparing modern photos to photos from the siege of Leningrad during WWII.

Auschwitz Then and Now
A look back at Auchwitz that is a little less sentimental than the rest of the comparison sets. In this feature, the drawings from WWII are compared to new photos.

Sydney Then and Now
Some historical and modern shots of Sydney, Australia.

New York Then and Now
A collection of great shots of New York.

Then/Now Series by The New York Times
An interactive then and now feature by The New York Times. It features interactive photos that you can scrub to compare the two states.

London Then and Now Flickr Group
A Flickr group dedicated to recreating historical photos of London.

Thames Then and Now
A look at river Thames and how it’s banks have changed over the years.

Paris Then and Now
Ah, of course. How can a list like this be made without Paris?

Moscow Then and Now
To break the monotony of Western cities, I had to include beautiful Moscow.

Please feel free to share your own Then and Now finds in the comments below.