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MAYORAL RACE
• Mammoliti joins Toronto mayoral race [ Globe & Mail ]
• John Tory won’t run for Toronto mayor, source says [ Toronto Star ]
• Veteran Toronto politician Ootes to retire [ Globe & Mail ]
• Ootes ready to pass the torch after 21 years as city councillor [ Toronto Star ]
• Pitfield eyes political comeback [ Globe & Mail ]
• Pitfield seeks a return to city council [ National Post ]

DOWNTOWN AQUARIUM
• Downtown aquarium planned for Toronto [ Globe & Mail ]
• Plans to make big splash with aquarium at CN Tower [ Toronto Star ]
• Something fishy this way comes [ Globe & Mail ]

TRANSPORTATION
• Long commute takes even longer [ Toronto Star ]
• The GTA’s slowest highways [ Toronto Star ]
• Commute times longer, study finds [ Globe & Mail ]

OTHER NEWS
• Jackson not saying yet whether she will run again for mayor of Vaughan [ National Post ]
• Details:  Lost Light [ Eye Weekly ]
• Toronto’s tech to-do list [ Now Magazine ]
• For city’s dogs, danger still lurks [ National Post ]
• Home prices bounced back in 2009, figures show [ National Post ]
• Cramming 2010 street thugs into a 1950s-era jail [ Globe & Mail ]

11 comments

  1. One more for the mayoral race:

    In today’s 24 Hours, Thien Nuynh has an article / interview with Adam Giambrone. Here’s a quote from the end of the article:

    I try to catch him off guard: “Will you run for mayor?”

    “I’ve made my decision and I’m putting together my campaign team. I expect to make a formal announcement in the next few weeks.”

    You can read the 24 Hours paper online in a very annoying full-page view format. This article is on page 4.

  2. The aquarium idea is… interesting. There is an excellent set of case studies out there from cities that have recently developed for-profit aquariums. The Toronto media (or perhaps Spacing, which could do a much better job) should take a detailed look at these in terms of architecture, urban context, size, schlock/education value, ticket price and financial success to see if there is a direction to push Ripley’s in. Yes, it’s Ripley’s and it’s going to favour cheesy/expensive over educational/civic but there will be public hearings and a little pressure may yield results.

    It’s a little sad that by going the for-profit route we’ll forever be in the shadow of true public institutions like the Vancouver Aquarium or Georgia State Aquarium, but I suppose something is better than nothing in tourist-deprived Toronto. Can’t wait for that $50 combo aquarium-CN Tower ticket. Maybe for $100 you can go to those two and the ROM in 2015…

    Some relevant newly built for-profit aquaria to study, for better or for worse. (Note the world-class nature of these cities):

    Myrtle Beach, FL – http://bit.ly/5FnfF2 (Ripleys)
    Gatlinburg, TN – http://bit.ly/4Rl6cT (Ripleys)
    Newport, KY – http://bit.ly/8S0PGb
    Denver – http://bit.ly/6IbSdf
    Camden – http://bit.ly/6GCbHc
    Dallas – http://www.dwazoo.com/d/
    Houston – http://bit.ly/5ljUTJ (restaurant!)

  4. re: aquarium
    I lived in Victoria BC which has an aquarium in the bottom of a boat in the harbour. It’s sad, really sad, to see the fish and other animals in there. Before I could support this whole ‘sea-N Tower’ idea, I need to be assured that viewing it won’t feel like I’m looking at fish and animals in a glass jail.

  5. I have been to the Ripley’s in SC. I think that something similar would do well. The only thing I would like to see is a reasonably large tank devoted to freshwater species.

  8. I heard Loirinc on CFRB the day after his Tory column appeared. He talked eloquently about being why political hosts of media show need to be up-front when it comes to “journalistic” endeavors.

    Since Glen is asking for apologies, I’ll ask for my own: when does Spacing and its readers get an apology from you for writing off-topic in the comments section of most posts? Just because you have a pet issue — an important one, no doubt — doesn’t mean it has to be applied to every post about the election or city hall.

  9. I am sorry Alan.

    In this instance I did not mention Toronto’s punitive/job killing commercial property taxes. At least it was half related to the topic at hand.

  10. Glen… I don’t see why Spacing should apologize for merely voicing rumors that were running rampant a while back regarding Tory’s mayoral intentions…

    At the same time…. Alan, when did you become the judge of whether or not Glen’s comments were off topic? I might not always agree with Glen’s comments, but there have been numerous instances where I’ve thought that his comments on a given article brought up issues that expanded the discussion in a way that hadn’t been touched on in the original piece.

  11. samg,

    Perhaps it was just me but that article came across as John Tory should come clean and announce he is running, lest he gain an unfair advantage.

    If John Lorinc/Spacing honestly believed he was not going to be a candidate I doubt they would have done it.