|
Good article: Too many rules......Toronto - the city fun forgot
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Jayx1 |
| quote: |
Toronto - the city fun forgot: Granatstein
Rules, rules, enough with the darn rules on everything from skating to plastic bags
By Rob Granatstein, Editor
It became crystal clear the fun police and the nervous nellies had won when, last fall, the city demanded seniors get a permit to walk in the park.
But that’s just one sign of a city where it’s “rules gone wild.”
Where the regulations and legalese governing everything people in this city can do is actually choking off the fun and livability of Toronto.
Where police officers make OT whistling Dixie, and protecting a hole.
“There’s a culture of fear here,” Coun. Kyle Rae said of City Hall. “There’s no independent personal responsibility ... the lawyers who feed on the minutia of our lives have won.”
It’s bureaucrats who are proving their worth with every new bylaw, he said.
As a family, we’ve bashed our head up against Toronto’s wall of rules again and again.
Public skating at Don Mills Arena is a torturous experience, where you’re not allowed to watch the Zamboni from the players’ bench, you can’t take pictures of your kid taking his first steps on the ice, you can’t use any sort of learn-to-skate device.
But, at Victoria Village Arena, another city rink, it’s no problem.
Just last week my son and my father were denied entry to parent-tot skating at York Mills Arena because there weren’t enough minders for the number of skaters.
Let’s contrast that with life in Calgary, where we visit every year. We skate at the Olympic Oval, some of the best ice in Canada.
There, you can use learn-to-skate devices, you can even push your baby around in a stroller.
Pictures? Fire away!
And the Zamboni is cheered by the kids. This Christmas, Santa rode on the great ice resurfacing machine, waving to the tykes.
The list of rules at Toronto’s outdoor ice pads must have been drawn up by the law firm of Expand, Expound and Frustrate. Every word is worth extra. Every rule devised earns a bonus.
Early in the morning
In response, I take my son skating first thing in the morning, before anyone else, so we can actually have fun.
I guess we better give kudos to city staff for not locking the kids out of the rinks in off hours.
On the slopes, the rules in Toronto swamp Calgary, too. In Toronto, no boots on the ski hills/former garbage dump (I understand why — but it’s the bunny hill). In Calgary, at Canada Olympic Park, parents run down the hill alongside their giggling kids.
As the National Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer noted about the city’s ban on skating on frozen ponds, including Grenadier Pond at High Park, bureaucrats in Toronto leap ahead with rules before common sense has a chance to poke its head out.
And then there’s the rules on plastic bags. Mayoralty candidate Rocco Rossi turned it into a stand-up comedy shtick, where the city demands stores sell for 5¢ something that costs them less than a penny, “a product with the highest profit margin in the store ... while sharing in none of the proceeds” — and is prepared to spend millions to enforce it!
“Most companies usually find there’s gold in going green, but frankly, in this case, all Toronto taxpayers can see is red,” Rossi said.
He called the bag tax a symbol council is fiscally foolish.
I see it as rules crazy as well.
Meanwhile, the city does nothing to enforce its on-leash and off-leash areas in parks, leading to fury among residents whose kids are uncomfortable around dogs they don’t know.
Those are the rules.
Enough already.
It’s time for our city workers and city leaders to let it be.
We assume when we skate out on to a frozen pond there may be some risk. We know not to jump in front of a Zamboni.
We’ve been trained that plastic bags — an item recycled again and again by most — should be reduced.
So, take some of the chains off, already. Let us have fun. |
|
|
|
| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by miketg23
Yaaaawwwwwn |
i guess u must not live work or play in toronto? |
|
|
| miketg23 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
i guess u must not live work or play in toronto? |
Actually, I was born and raised in Toronto and own a condo on Richmond St. I have also lived and worked in Alberta and am in Edmonton right now.. Have you??? If you really hate Toronto and Ontario so much... JUST MOVE! Alberta is much more receptive to your right wing libertarian views. And judging by the excellent skating rink in Calgary, it's obviously such an excellent place to live.
Like many of your other threads, this one is a sleeper. |
|
|
| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by miketg23
Actually, I was born and raised in Toronto and own a condo on Richmond St. I have also lived and worked in Alberta and am in Edmonton right now.. Have you??? If you really hate Toronto and Ontario so much... JUST MOVE! Alberta is much more receptive to your right wing libertarian views. And judging by the excellent skating rink in Calgary, it's obviously such an excellent place to live.
Like many of your other threads, this one is a sleeper. |
or... we can try to change it by talking about its problems, organizing, becoming political and engaging people.
You may not care about some of the topics specifically discussed in that article. But id be very surprised if you have never been affected by the myriad of silly laws that exist in toronto. Or are you so used to it that you dont even notice anymore?
And if my threads are such "sleepers", why do u continue to read them and respond to them? Just wondering... |
|
|
| Dior Homme |
Jay I enjoy your topics discussed. Therefore I will ask who you are voting for in the next election and I will follow suit. lol
All these laws are terrible. Thank god i havent been a victim of any of them yet so far. Cash grab is key for the city of toronto! |
|
|
| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dior Homme
Jay I enjoy your topics discussed. Therefore I will ask who you are voting for in the next election and I will follow suit. lol
All these laws are terrible. Thank god i havent been a victim of any of them yet so far. Cash grab is key for the city of toronto! |
haha cheers... well its really too early to tell right now. But of all the candidates so far, Rocco Rossi is looking the most promising. But i havnt heard enough from any of them yet.
Mammolitti, Pantalone and Giambrone are out of the question for what should be obvious reasons. |
|
|
| miketg23 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
or... we can try to change it by talking about its problems, organizing, becoming political and engaging people.
You may not care about some of the topics specifically discussed in that article. But id be very surprised if you have never been affected by the myriad of silly laws that exist in toronto. Or are you so used to it that you dont even notice anymore?
And if my threads are such "sleepers", why do u continue to read them and respond to them? Just wondering... |
It's the constant sensationalism in your threads that I really notice. To say Toronto is not a fun city because of this article and to top it off by comparing to Calgary is just taking it over board. Have you ever been to there when the Stampede isn't on? We aren't the only city which has invasive laws. The hint is in the link itself.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/After+...900/story.html;) ;) |
|
|
| miketg23 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dior Homme
Jay I enjoy your topics discussed. Therefore I will ask who you are voting for in the next election and I will follow suit. lol
All these laws are terrible. Thank god i havent been a victim of any of them yet so far. Cash grab is key for the city of toronto! |
Nice way to make your voice heard... errr I mean Jay's |
|
|
| Jayx1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by miketg23
It's the constant sensationalism in your threads that I really notice. To say Toronto is not a fun city because of this article and to top it off by comparing to Calgary is just taking it over board. Have you ever been to there when the Stampede isn't on? We aren't the only city which has invasive laws. The hint is in the link itself.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/After+...900/story.html;) ;) |
aaaah so first you say my threads are boring...then you say they are sensationalist. So which is it? Either way you are still here! ;)
Yes everywhere has issues. But we tend to take all of those ideas and wrap them up in one neat little package.
The governments of ontario have never met a ban, fine, or a tax/fee they didnt like.
PS: i didnt compare it to calgary, the writer did. And if they have looser laws for skating id say we should follow that model. To deny that Toronto (and ontario) has a paternalistic, authoritarian issue means you clearly have your head in the sand. |
|
|
| miketg23 |
| Just because I find something sensationalist, does not mean that it interests me. I read your posts because I find that reading the opinions of those that oppose mine is much more interesting hearing what people who agree with me have to say. This post I found far less interesting than your usual rants which can often spark some quite heated debates. Some of which I join most of which I don't but always enjoy reading people's reactions. |
|
|
| nacarter |
Perhaps Jayx needs to ask, why all the rules?
I know he loves to blame governments of any level, but the real responsiblity for the rules nonsense is the litigious public, and the unscrupulous lawyers that feed off of them. Kid gets a nosebleed at the rink? That's a lawsuit - somebody other than the parent should have been responsible for their welfare. Kid breaks his leg on a toboggan hill? Hell, let's sue both the owners of the property for negligence (probably wasn't a sign outlining the potential risks of the hill, nor a waiver to sign before playing) and the manufacturer of the toboggan for selling a 'defective' product.
As for the York Mills rink in the article, I wouldn't put very long odds on a previous lawsuit or settlement that led to the rules. If it isn't the managment of the facility, then it would be the insurance company that can deny liability coverage without these idiotic rules.
Governments don't take a people's sense of personal responsibility - people give that up. |
|
|
|
|
