Flint Foto Factory
The fatal shooting of a 40-year-old man on Wednesday brought the
Chicago Police Department's official 2012 homicide tally to 500. This is
the first time since 2008 that Chicago has recorded more than 500
homicides in one year. This is only the second time since 2003 that the
murder rate has been over 500
Police say
the victim Nathaniel T. Jackson was shot in the head while standing on
the sidewalk in front of a convenience store in the West Side
neighborhood of Austin.
According to the Tribune,
homicides are up 17 percent , and shootings are up 11 percent over last
year. Local activists with a different process of tallying violent
deaths (including police-involved deaths) had calculated 500 homicides on Dec. 15.
Year: Total Homicides
2001: 667
2002: 656
2003: 601
2004: 453
2005: 451
2006: 471
2007: 448
2008: 513
2009: 459
2010: 436
2011: 433
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Arctic sea ice melts
Arctic sea ice has melted to a record low this year, say researchers at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.
According to scientists like David Barber from the University of Manitoba, what happens to Arctic sea ice is a huge indicator on what will happen to Canada and the world in terms of climate change.
“The thaw this year broke all the records that we had previous to this and it didn’t just break them, it smashed them," Barber told CBC News.
“The Arctic is changing so rapidly right now and that is connected to our global climate system, so it’s really a precursor to what is coming for the rest of the planet and it really should be an eye-opener for people.”
Scientists say that at this rate there could be an ice-free Arctic as early as the summer of 2015.
According to scientists like David Barber from the University of Manitoba, what happens to Arctic sea ice is a huge indicator on what will happen to Canada and the world in terms of climate change.
“The thaw this year broke all the records that we had previous to this and it didn’t just break them, it smashed them," Barber told CBC News.
“The Arctic is changing so rapidly right now and that is connected to our global climate system, so it’s really a precursor to what is coming for the rest of the planet and it really should be an eye-opener for people.”
Scientists say that at this rate there could be an ice-free Arctic as early as the summer of 2015.
Arctic sea ice melts to record low
Posted: Sep 20, 2012 11:04 PM ET
Last Updated: Sep 20, 2012 10:53 PM ET
Thursday, September 20, 2012
No TTC subsidy for new LRT
Stintz to Metrolinx: Don’t expect a TTC subsidy for new LRT
Metrolinx
Metrolinx plans to run light rail vehicles similar to this
on the Eglinton Scarborough Crosstown line, which the provincial agency
wants to operate separately from the TTC.
Toronto taxpayers, who paid $500
million to subsidize TTC operations this year, won’t help pay for
privately operated transit lines, Toronto Transit Commission chair Karen
Stintz has warned the province.
A day after the TTC got word that Metrolinx has decided to privatize the operation and maintenance of Toronto’s provincially funded $8.4 billion LRTs, Stintz took a hard line on the TTC’s contribution to their operating costs.
“If we’re not operating those lines, we’re not paying those costs … I don’t know where they’re going to get the money,” she said.
Stintz was responding to a suggestion from Ontario Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli that Metrolinx and the TTC are still negotiating an operating subsidy for the new lines.
Chiarelli defended the government’s decision to use a public-private partnership to build, design, finance, maintain and operate the LRTs, saying its Infrastructure Ontario agency had an “almost flawless” record of bringing projects in on time and on budget.
“There have been TTC projects that have been long overdue and sometimes much over budget,” he said.
Like most public transit, the new LRTs won’t cover their costs through the fare box when they open in eight or nine years.
“Every transit system in North America has some government subsidies to cover off the operating. That’s not unusual,” Chiarelli said.
“But the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown will save the TTC the cost of buses. So they will have a significant savings by not having to run the buses,” he said.
Shifting the bus savings to the Eglinton-Crosstown was the plan until the TTC was cut out of the picture, Stintz said.
“In the original model we would operate the line. So anything we didn’t spend on buses we would contribute to the Crosstown. The same applied to Finch and Sheppard and (the conversion to light rail of) the Scarborough RT. But if we’re not operating those lines we’re not paying those costs,” she said.
Although Stintz said she was pleased by Metrolinx’s assurances that TTC riders wouldn’t pay an additional fare to ride the new transit, “It’s still unclear how the TTC sets fares for a private operator,” she said.
“The fare and the fare-sharing is a future discussion,” said Jack Collins, Metrolinx vice-president for Rapid Transit Implementation.
But the parties have agreed in principle that it will be a one-fare system, “that whatever the TTC’s prevailing fare is in 2020, that will be the fare the customer pays,” he said.
The details will be part of the master agreement between Metrolinx, the city and the TTC, which isn’t yet complete, said Collins.
He downplayed concerns about the impact of integrating the LRTs with the TTC, saying it would work as seamlessly as the privately operated Canada Line, which connects with the rest of the Vancouver transit system.
How the two systems will collect and divide fare revenues is still undecided, said Collins.
Also unclear, said a Metrolinx spokesman, is how the private operator would move riders in the event of a service disruption on the LRT.
Although the TTC would have preferred to maintain and operate the LRTs itself, CEO Andy Byford said Toronto transit officials will be “100 per cent” co-operative.
“To do otherwise would disadvantage the customer, so there’s no way we’re going to do that. I don’t think it’s ideal having two operators … there’s potential for confusion, and that’s what we’ve got to avoid,” he said.
With nearly a decade before the lines open, “We ought to be able to get our act together in that time,” he said.
The LRTs will have to have their own control rooms and evacuation procedures so there’s no question of who is in charge in an emergency, he said.
Byford, who worked in a public-private rail system in England, said it’s safety-critical that the TTC and Metrolinx co-operate in the design of the stations where the subway and LRT will intersect, at Kennedy, Eglinton West and Yonge St.
While Metrolinx insists that a privatized operation is better for taxpayers, some transit watchers say it will be a mess for riders.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. They do not have the service planning tools or any of it to make this work.” said left-wing Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park).
“What lesson should we take from the (Highway) 407, eHealth and ORNGE? Don’t set up an arm’s-length decision-making body and have them set up contracts with the private sector.”
Adding a private operator to the mix will inevitably muddy the customer experience, said Toronto transit advocate and blogger Steve Munro.
At the very least, riders transferring between the TTC and the Crosstown will probably have to tap on and tap off with their electronic Presto fare card at the transfer point.
“Metrolinx is going to want to know down to the last detail how many people, and where they are actually riding their part of the line,” Munro said. “They’re going to be doing lots of tub-thumping for tap-on and tap-off,” Munro said.
A day after the TTC got word that Metrolinx has decided to privatize the operation and maintenance of Toronto’s provincially funded $8.4 billion LRTs, Stintz took a hard line on the TTC’s contribution to their operating costs.
“If we’re not operating those lines, we’re not paying those costs … I don’t know where they’re going to get the money,” she said.
Stintz was responding to a suggestion from Ontario Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli that Metrolinx and the TTC are still negotiating an operating subsidy for the new lines.
Chiarelli defended the government’s decision to use a public-private partnership to build, design, finance, maintain and operate the LRTs, saying its Infrastructure Ontario agency had an “almost flawless” record of bringing projects in on time and on budget.
“There have been TTC projects that have been long overdue and sometimes much over budget,” he said.
Like most public transit, the new LRTs won’t cover their costs through the fare box when they open in eight or nine years.
“Every transit system in North America has some government subsidies to cover off the operating. That’s not unusual,” Chiarelli said.
“But the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown will save the TTC the cost of buses. So they will have a significant savings by not having to run the buses,” he said.
Shifting the bus savings to the Eglinton-Crosstown was the plan until the TTC was cut out of the picture, Stintz said.
“In the original model we would operate the line. So anything we didn’t spend on buses we would contribute to the Crosstown. The same applied to Finch and Sheppard and (the conversion to light rail of) the Scarborough RT. But if we’re not operating those lines we’re not paying those costs,” she said.
Although Stintz said she was pleased by Metrolinx’s assurances that TTC riders wouldn’t pay an additional fare to ride the new transit, “It’s still unclear how the TTC sets fares for a private operator,” she said.
“The fare and the fare-sharing is a future discussion,” said Jack Collins, Metrolinx vice-president for Rapid Transit Implementation.
But the parties have agreed in principle that it will be a one-fare system, “that whatever the TTC’s prevailing fare is in 2020, that will be the fare the customer pays,” he said.
The details will be part of the master agreement between Metrolinx, the city and the TTC, which isn’t yet complete, said Collins.
He downplayed concerns about the impact of integrating the LRTs with the TTC, saying it would work as seamlessly as the privately operated Canada Line, which connects with the rest of the Vancouver transit system.
How the two systems will collect and divide fare revenues is still undecided, said Collins.
Also unclear, said a Metrolinx spokesman, is how the private operator would move riders in the event of a service disruption on the LRT.
Although the TTC would have preferred to maintain and operate the LRTs itself, CEO Andy Byford said Toronto transit officials will be “100 per cent” co-operative.
“To do otherwise would disadvantage the customer, so there’s no way we’re going to do that. I don’t think it’s ideal having two operators … there’s potential for confusion, and that’s what we’ve got to avoid,” he said.
With nearly a decade before the lines open, “We ought to be able to get our act together in that time,” he said.
The LRTs will have to have their own control rooms and evacuation procedures so there’s no question of who is in charge in an emergency, he said.
Byford, who worked in a public-private rail system in England, said it’s safety-critical that the TTC and Metrolinx co-operate in the design of the stations where the subway and LRT will intersect, at Kennedy, Eglinton West and Yonge St.
While Metrolinx insists that a privatized operation is better for taxpayers, some transit watchers say it will be a mess for riders.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. They do not have the service planning tools or any of it to make this work.” said left-wing Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park).
“What lesson should we take from the (Highway) 407, eHealth and ORNGE? Don’t set up an arm’s-length decision-making body and have them set up contracts with the private sector.”
Adding a private operator to the mix will inevitably muddy the customer experience, said Toronto transit advocate and blogger Steve Munro.
At the very least, riders transferring between the TTC and the Crosstown will probably have to tap on and tap off with their electronic Presto fare card at the transfer point.
“Metrolinx is going to want to know down to the last detail how many people, and where they are actually riding their part of the line,” Munro said. “They’re going to be doing lots of tub-thumping for tap-on and tap-off,” Munro said.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
‘Aryan’ Canada
John A. Macdonald wanted an ‘Aryan’ Canada
Mary Mah, 85, left, and Gim Wong, 84, both head tax payers, share a moment on June 16, 2006 before boarding a train from Vancouver to Ottawa to hear a formal apology.
Photograph by: LYLE STAFFORD, REUTERS
He did this not just in any piece of legislation, but in the Electoral Franchise Act, an act that defined the federal polity of adult male property holders and that he called “my greatest achievement.”
Macdonald’s comments came as he justified an amendment taking the vote away from anyone “of Mongolian or Chinese race.” He warned that, if the Chinese (who had been in British Columbia as long as Europeans) were allowed to vote, “they might control the vote of that whole Province” and their “Chinese representatives” would foist “Asiatic principles,” “immoralities,” and “eccentricities” on the House “which are abhorrent to the Aryan race and Aryan principles.” He further claimed that “the Aryan races will not wholesomely amalgamate with the Africans or the Asiatics” and that “the cross of those races, like the cross of the dog and the fox, is not successful; it cannot be, and never will be.” For Macdonald, Canada was to be the country that restored a pure Aryan race to its past glory, and the Chinese threatened this purity.
Lest it be thought that Macdonald was merely expressing the prejudices of the age, it should be noted that his were among the most extreme views of his era. He was the only politician in the parliamentary debates to refer to Canada as “Aryan” and to justify legalized racism on the basis not of alleged cultural practices but on the grounds that “Chinese” and “Aryans” were separate species. Even B.C. representatives who had been calling for Chinese exclusion for years objected to the supposed cultural practices of the Chinese, not to their biology.
In contrast, the second prime minister of Canada, Alexander Mackenzie, had earlier refused discriminatory proposals on the grounds that they involved invidious distinctions that were “dangerous and contrary to the law of nations and the policy which controlled Canada.”
Even members of Macdonald’s own government would have been disturbed by his comments. His secretary of state and Quebec lieutenant, Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, had been a member of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration that debunked common anti-Chinese prejudices. A careful reading of the Commons debates suggests that Macdonald’s comments actually shocked members of the House. Indignation over the introduction of race as a defining characteristic of Canadianness was strong in the Senate. So strong that Senators, including many Macdonald appointees, debated whether they could get away with voting the legislation down, even though it had taken Macdonald two years to get it through the House of Commons. The Senate ultimately did defeat further anti-Chinese measures in 1886 and 1887.
The 1885 act fixed in law the idea that, at the highest levels in Canada, “race” could be the basis for voting rights. As the Opposition predicted, once the genie of race was out of the bottle, it had far-reaching effects. Ultimately race would define citizenship, immigration rights, access to jobs and services. In typically haphazard Canadian fashion, by the late 1940s exclusions based on race had been extended piecemeal federally, provincially and municipally. These enactments caught up people from India, Japanese Canadians, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, African and Jewish Canadians as well as Chinese Canadians.
Meanwhile, invidious distinctions of race justified practices as diverse as the residential schools and the denial of shelter to refugees of the Holocaust during the Second World War, as one official notoriously said, because, “None is too many.” “Race” as a defining characteristic of political rights would only disappear in 1960 when so-called status Indians gained the right to vote.
John A. Macdonald’s Aryan vision lives on today in contemporary imaginings of Canadianness. As a recent Citizen editorial on the removal of an apparently Asian figure from the new $100 bill correctly noted, it lives on in the mistaken assumption that whiteness is neutral and that an Asian cannot represent Canadians. We also see it in the repeated assumption that most often imagines Joe Canada as white, if not as Macdonald’s “Aryan”.
In his announcement last week that the Ottawa River Parkway was being renamed for Macdonald, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird expressed the hope that it would stimulate Canadians’ interest in their histories. Perhaps interest in the histories of all Canadians would lead Baird and the federal government to reconsider whether in a multiracial, multi-ethnic society like that of Canada today, we should be naming public monuments after white supremacists.
How does the “Alexander Mackenzie Parkway” sound?
Timothy J. Stanley’s recent book, Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism and the Making of Chinese Canadians (UBC Press, 2011), won a Clio award from the Canadian Historical Association.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Parking ticket that’s illegal on Tim Hortons
Parking ticket on private land? It may be the ticket that’s illegal
Kaleigh Rogers/TORONTO STAR
Jonathan Sutcliffe, 23, holds up the convincing yellow ticket he received in a Tim Hortons parking lot in June.
They say no good deed goes unpunished and Jonathan Sutcliffe would likely agree.
Early last month, when a friend called him up and asked if he would drive him to the hospital for x-rays, Sutcliffe didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Anyone who knows me will usually call me to give them a ride because they know I don’t say ‘no,’ or ask for gas money,” he said.
“He needed my help and I was happy to help him.”
But after getting slapped with a heavy parking ticket the last time he accompanied a pal to Rouge Valley Centenary hospital in Scarborough, the 23-year-old decided instead to park in the lot of a Tim Hortons across the street.
When he returned to his vehicle 30 minutes later, Sutcliffe was shocked to find a yellow slip under his wiper. A closer look at the ticket showed it wasn’t issued by the City of Toronto, but by a private firm called Parking Control Unit.
The ticket — labelled as a ‘parking invoice’ — was for a whopping $250. However, details on the back of the ticket explained the price would drop to $25 if payment was made within 10 days — $50 if made within 28 days.
Sutcliffe’s first instinct was to look up the company’s website on his phone. He said the website “looked pretty ridiculous,” and his calls to the company were directed straight to payment options, so he decided to take the ticket home.
After looking online and finding other individuals who were questioning the bizarre tickets, Sutcliffe decided to go to his local police division to find out if the ticket was legitimate.
“The cop basically said: ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen these before. It’s garbage. It’s fake,’” Sutcliffe said.
He decided not to pay the ticket, but has held onto it in case the company or a collections agency tries to contact him. So far, nobody has.
According to Dave Vanrooyen, operations manager for Parking Control Unit, these notices are within the limits of city bylaws.
“The Impark way of doing business, which is giving consent on private property and posting the fee and posting the terms of use on the property, is legal,” he explained.
“So it doesn’t violate the consumer protection that the City of Toronto has.”
However, the relevant 2004 city bylaw states that agencies cannot issue tickets demanding payment in relation to vehicles parked on private property — only a municipal enforcement officer can do so.
There is one exception: Impark and similar lots are specifically and clearly commercial lots, so they are allowed to issue tickets enforcing payment on anyone who overstays their paid time.
However, all other private lots, such as a Tim Hortons, may only issue City of Toronto tickets. Any other form of parking notice demanding payment breaks the bylaw and should be reported, according to Bruce Robertson, director of licensing for the city.
“If that happens, they should phone municipal licensing and standards and make a complaint and we’ll look into it,” he said.
Sutcliffe was relieved to hear this and said he’ll probably make the call. For now, he’s been spreading the word about the iffy tickets through the Toronto page of online aggregator site, Reddit, warning other potential parkers to check their yellow slips carefully.
Early last month, when a friend called him up and asked if he would drive him to the hospital for x-rays, Sutcliffe didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Anyone who knows me will usually call me to give them a ride because they know I don’t say ‘no,’ or ask for gas money,” he said.
“He needed my help and I was happy to help him.”
But after getting slapped with a heavy parking ticket the last time he accompanied a pal to Rouge Valley Centenary hospital in Scarborough, the 23-year-old decided instead to park in the lot of a Tim Hortons across the street.
When he returned to his vehicle 30 minutes later, Sutcliffe was shocked to find a yellow slip under his wiper. A closer look at the ticket showed it wasn’t issued by the City of Toronto, but by a private firm called Parking Control Unit.
The ticket — labelled as a ‘parking invoice’ — was for a whopping $250. However, details on the back of the ticket explained the price would drop to $25 if payment was made within 10 days — $50 if made within 28 days.
Sutcliffe’s first instinct was to look up the company’s website on his phone. He said the website “looked pretty ridiculous,” and his calls to the company were directed straight to payment options, so he decided to take the ticket home.
After looking online and finding other individuals who were questioning the bizarre tickets, Sutcliffe decided to go to his local police division to find out if the ticket was legitimate.
“The cop basically said: ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen these before. It’s garbage. It’s fake,’” Sutcliffe said.
He decided not to pay the ticket, but has held onto it in case the company or a collections agency tries to contact him. So far, nobody has.
According to Dave Vanrooyen, operations manager for Parking Control Unit, these notices are within the limits of city bylaws.
“The Impark way of doing business, which is giving consent on private property and posting the fee and posting the terms of use on the property, is legal,” he explained.
“So it doesn’t violate the consumer protection that the City of Toronto has.”
However, the relevant 2004 city bylaw states that agencies cannot issue tickets demanding payment in relation to vehicles parked on private property — only a municipal enforcement officer can do so.
There is one exception: Impark and similar lots are specifically and clearly commercial lots, so they are allowed to issue tickets enforcing payment on anyone who overstays their paid time.
However, all other private lots, such as a Tim Hortons, may only issue City of Toronto tickets. Any other form of parking notice demanding payment breaks the bylaw and should be reported, according to Bruce Robertson, director of licensing for the city.
“If that happens, they should phone municipal licensing and standards and make a complaint and we’ll look into it,” he said.
Sutcliffe was relieved to hear this and said he’ll probably make the call. For now, he’s been spreading the word about the iffy tickets through the Toronto page of online aggregator site, Reddit, warning other potential parkers to check their yellow slips carefully.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
St. Clair West bottleneck
June 24, 2012
Solving the St. Clair West bottleneck
By John Lorinc
Notorious stretch of St. Clair West has planners trying to figure out how best to break the logjam
As tight spots go, the stretch of St. Clair West that ducks beneath the Georgetown rail corridor, between Old Weston Road and Keele Street, is as close to a traffic funnel as can be found anywhere in Toronto.Densely populated neighbourhoods fan out to the east. To the west sit acres of car-friendly big box stores, with more on the way. Since construction this year closed a shortcut around the area, cars, buses and trucks crawl through the underpass, which offers one lane in either direction. Streetcars use a dedicated right-of-way.
"You stand here for a little while and you'll get a glimpse of what the people deal with everyday," Don Panos, chair of the St. Clair Gardens BIA, said recently as he stood at the corner of Old Weston, watching trucks trying to make tight right turns as cars backed up towards Caledonia. "You just see how frustrating it is."
Council is considering how best to break the logjam, recently voting for an environmental assessment. One idea, favoured by the area's representative, Cesar Palacio, is to add two lanes to the underpass, but it's a highly complex venture that would take years to complete and would cost more than $30-million.
Traffic engineers say the problem isn't just the width of the underpass; it also involves the constricted layout of busy intersections at either end, which regulate the volume of traffic passing beneath the 80-year-old bridge.
During the construction of the right-of-way, the intersections were not built according to approved designs because the city wanted to cut the cost of the land acquisitions needed to widen parts of the roadway, TTC experts said.
"We have intersections that are not designed in accordance to what was agreed to," said TTC service planning manager Mitch Stambler. "Decisions were made that were outside the planning and EA process by the construction managers."
Gord MacMillan, the city's director of design and construction, acknowledged that pressure to complete the project made it impossible to buy the additional strips of land for new turn lanes. As well, city project managers encountered technical problems that didn't surface during the planning process, he said.
It's impossible to know if the original design would have eased congestion. Yet the question is not moot. Traffic will swell in coming years with waves of new development. Metrolinx's Air Rail Link, slated to run on the Georgetown corridor starting in 2015, will make it much more complicated to rebuild the underpass once it is operating.
How to open the bottleneck:
The Intersections
The city has started changing the signage at both corners to improve flow, and new $25,000 traffic controllers that can sense waits for left-turns will be installed later this year, said John Mende, director of transportation infrastructure. City staff are also looking to acquire land in front of the Delta Bingo to extend an right turn lane to reduce back-ups, with construction to begin in 2013. Mr. Palacio said the TTC is also looking at relocating the streetcar platforms.
The Underpass
The project is an engineering nightmare: the bridge would have to be replaced in phases because the rail line, which carries GO service as well as CP's main east-west freight trains, is extremely busy. Adding lanes means building a wider span with deeper piers. Also, the underpass will need to be lowered to conform to current building codes, raising the question of whether the new slope leading into the underpass could be too steep for streetcars, said Stephen Lipkus, executive director of Metrolinx's Georgetown South project.
Mr. Lipkus said if the city wants to widen the underpass, it makes sense to do so in the next two-and-a-half years, before the Air Rail Link begins operating. Mr. Mende said such timelines are "extremely aggressive." He also predicted the bridge reconstruction could take two years and possibly involve closing St. Clair.
The Streetcar
City, TTC officials and Mr. Palacio all agree that the St. Clair streetcar should not operate in mixed traffic in the underpass as a means of relieving congestion. Mr. Stambler said such a move would likely disrupt service along the rest of the line, and also has the potential to increase streetcar-vehicle collisions. Mr. Palacio wants the TTC to consider allowing its buses to use the right of way.
The Alternatives
The level crossing at Junction Road and Old Weston carries 7,000 vehicles a day and serves as a relief valve. It will be closed on and off until next year as Metrolinx builds tunnels for the GO/air link tracks beneath the Junction Road crossing. But the environmental assessment, city and TTC officials say, should also look at creating new crossings, either north or south of St. Clair, to provide drivers with other east-west routes.
Special to the Globe and Mail.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Toronto activists rally for May Day
ctvtoronto.ca
Community activists, supporters of the working class and
anti-establishment firebrands will take to streets across Canada on
Tuesday to mark International Workers' Day.Updated: Tue. May. 1 2012 4:31 PM ET Activists groups in Toronto have been urging residents to call in sick to work and join May Day protests demanding respect for minority groups, urging for improvements to public services and attacking corporate handouts. The gatherings are likely to cause delays and traffic jams on city roads. In Toronto, the main rally will be held at City Hall at 4 p.m. by immigrant workers' rights group No One is Illegal and Occupy Toronto. Shortly before 4 p.m. at least 200 protestors started marching south on University Avenue and towards Nathan Phillips Square. Organizers say the rally includes thousands of people on parade, music and balloons, and a 25-foot banner. "We are responding to calls from across North America to have a May Day rally. It is important because May Day is celebrated around the world but it isn't celebrated here," Lana Goldberg, a member of the Occupy Toronto movement, told CTV News Channel. "We want to celebrate in solidarity with workers around the world for worker struggles and also for immigrant struggles." The rally will be followed by a march several blocks west into Chinatown, where protesters will gather in Alexandra Park, at Bathurst Street and Dundas Street West, to protest the state of immigrant workers rights. Other events behind held in Toronto include a potluck garden party outside Queen's Park at 2 p.m. Occupy Toronto also plans a 24-hour occupation at a yet-to-be-announced location referred to as the "Heart of the Beast." A number of groups gathered outside Harper's office around the noon hour to voice their opposition to cuts to the federal public service and other austerity measures. CTV News Channel's Mercedes Stephenson tweeted that protesters held up cut-outs of federal cabinet ministers wearing T-shirts with critical messages. May Day protests in other cities include:
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