Amber Gero, a CFRB reporter, has been the victim of hideous racial bigotry. She was called a F—— n—–! There is no disputing this as absolute fact. This isn’t a question of he said, she said. What was said was clear as a bell and is corroborated by a third party, Suzette Francis, a member of the CFRB newsroom, who happened to be on the phone with Ms Gero at the time of the verbal attack. Of course the employee is now denying it, which means that he is accusing Amber Gero and Suzette Francis both of being liars. Although it is reported that an independent investigator is looking into the alleged incident, there is nothing alleged about it.

How or why this happened really doesn’t matter. What matters is that an employee of the North Toronto Memorial Arena had the unmitigated gall, not to mention absolutely no common sense or judgment, to direct such a vile expression of racism at another human being. The question now is what will be done? And, who will do it? Although the City of Toronto owns the North Toronto Memorial Arena, they do not participate in the management. Therefore disciplinary action is not within their purview. That task will fall to the Board of Directors who manages the facility.

According to Toronto’s Human Rights and Harassment Policy, the City of Toronto will not tolerate, ignore, or condone any form of discrimination or harassment, and that discrimination and harassment are serious forms of employee misconduct which may result in disciplinary action up to and including discharge. Now is the time to see if these lofty ideals are merely words or if they actually have any meaning. The action that is taken will state clearly who we are as a society and define what behavior we will and won’t tolerate.

How can Brenda Hogg represent her constituents when she clearly has no understanding their cultures, religions, and customs? Shouldn’t that be a job requirement?

Ms Hogg, Richmond Hill’s deputy mayor is claiming that she suffered gender discrimination on 2 occasions last year. One episode occurred when two rabbis refused to shake her hand at a Menorah lighting ceremony. On the other occasion Muslim men would not look her in the eye at an Eid celebration.

One would imagine that a person in Ms Hogg’s position would have taken the time to educate herself (or had her staff do the research) on what to expect at these types of occasions and to act appropriately. It is quite simple to find out that many people of the Orthodox Jewish faith obey the modesty laws. This means that out of respect they do not touch anyone of the opposite gender except for spouses and immediate relatives – parents, grandparents, bother, and sisters. Therefore the Rabbis could not shake Ms Hogg’s hand and observe the modesty laws. Just as at the Eid celebrations that there were Muslim men in attendance who would not make eye contact with Ms Hogg. It is their way. We don’t have to understand it, just accept it.

If Ms Hogg has no interest in learning about other cultures, then perhaps she is in the wrong job. We live in a multicultural society where everyone has the freedom to worship and to celebrate in their own ways. If Ms Hogg finds these occasions uncomfortable, then she should stay home in her own little comfort zone and never venture out into the real world.

Toronto tourism is in great shape! And that is fabulous news for the 100,000 people who work in the industry. In 2007:

Tourism Toronto’s active sales programs in the U.K., Mexico, and China are clearly delivering results. Internationally we are also trying to attract tourists from Germany, South Korea, and Japan. Realizing the importance of attractive high value travelers to the city, Toronto recently opened its first overseas sales office in London, U.K. as the hub for its international initiatives. This will complement the offices in Washington, D.C. and Chicago in the U.S., as well as the office in our nation’s capital, Ottawa.

Toronto’s meeting and convention business is experiencing unprecedented growth with 470,000 future room nights already booked – 46 future meetings with more than 1,000 room nights each – which is estimated to produce more than 250 million dollars in visitor spending.

These statistics are very impressive given that the analysts were predicting that the strong Canadian dollar and the new passport regulations would have dire effects on our tourism industry. The world is gradually finding what we all already know – that Toronto is a fabulous world class city!

There were many that said that they couldn’t do it and that they would fall flat on their faces, as so many had done before them. But Toronto’s Porter Airlines appears to be the little airline that could.

On March 31, 2008 Porter Airlines will begin its inaugural service to the U.S. with 7 daily roundtrip flights daily from Monday – Friday between Toronto City Centre Airport (TCCA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), located approximately 16 miles from midtown Manhattan. On Saturdays there will be 2 roundtrips and on Sunday there will be 3 roundtrips. One-way fares for the Toronto to Newark run start at $120.00 Canadian per person, plus taxes and fees.

Porter Airlines is looking to capture the short-haul market offering convenience, speed, and incomparable customer service. Many travelers are disenchanted with the well established airlines and Porter hopes to capitalize on that fact by giving the consumer many reasons to come over to Porter. They offer a simple fare structure with 3 options - Freedom, Flexible, and Firm – that offer choices including complimentary changes and cancellations, advance seat selection, and same-day changes at the airport. Another major time saver is that passengers clear Canadian and US customs at Toronto City Centre and Newark Liberty International airports.

In the era of no-frills travel, Porter Airlines is bucking tradition by providing passengers with complimentary premium snacks, wine and
beer, spacious seats with leather upholstery, and ample legroom. The newly renovated lounge at the Toronto City Centre Airport is now triple its precious size and offers wireless Internet access, refreshments, and a business centre. In addition, the terminal has increased the number of aircraft gates as Porter prepares to add more U.S. destinations to its growing network. Porter’s Frequent Flyer program will be launching in a matter of weeks.

Tickets are now on sale for the Toronto to Newark flights. For more information or to purchase tickets follow the link below to the Porter Airlines website. www.flyporter.com

It may not be – particularly if Premier McGuinty can sway public opinion his way. And, it appears that he may be doing just that. Already there are 2 Toronto District School Board trustees who want the board to reopen its vote on the Africentric school, citing that they did not know at the time of the vote that Queen’s Park would not be funding it. I can’t imagine that this was really a surprise considering that the board is looking at a deficit to the tune of 41 million dollars. Where on earth did the trustees think that the money was going to come from?

In the last election Premier McGuinty promised an inclusive public education system. An Africentric school hardly meets this criterion. So, instead of taking action and changing the law that gives the Toronto District School Board the autonomy to make decisions, Premier McGuinty is encouraging the public to put pressure on the trustees to overturn their decision. He did however make it abundantly clear that no additional funding would be forthcoming.

There has been much discussion and much controversy on what the opening of an Africentric school would actually accomplish. The yeah-sayers insist that it will stem the tide of black students dropping out or failing out of school. The nay-sayers cite the fact that there are over 30,000 black students currently enrolled in the Toronto District School Board. One or two Africentric schools are a drop in the bucket and instead a comprehensive plan must be put in place to address and deal with this problem. Research also shows that a student’s success at school is largely dependent on the level of support that he has at home. When the great tennis player Andre Agassi started a public school in his home town of Las Vegas in the poorest and most in need neighbourhood, one of the things that he required as an entrance requirement was a contract signed by the parents that they would commit to their child’s education. Please read the Parent/Guardian commitment at the school. http://www.agassiprep.org/about.html

Andre Agassi’s school now ranks among the highest in scholastic rankings in the state. Are we wrong in dumping the problem on the Toronto District School Board? Should we be looking to the families to commit to supporting their students? Should the Africentric School go ahead as planned or should the trustees reopen the vote?