The TTC is introducing a new clipped corner metropass, which can only be a step towards eliminating the free metropass for the blind. The move by the TTC to clip the corners of metropasses is being made to "assist blind and visually impaired transit users when entering the TTC through automatic entrances and turnstiles."
The CNIB Metropass ALREADY has a clipped corner
The clipped edge indicates the direction the pass needs to be swiped at a turnstile for easy entry and would be helpful for blind Torontonians, if they didn't already have the feature on their metropasses. The anual metropass distributed by the CNIB already has a clipped corner, and has for years.
So what is the purpose of heralding a feature for blind people on a card blind people dont use?
Mayor Rob Ford,
photo courtesy Miami-Dade Police Department
Owners of various Poutine trucks outside City Hall have been hoarding gravy in recent weeks worried that Rob Ford's pledge to "stop the gravy train at City Hall" was a literal move to stop the use of gravy in Poutine trucks found in front of Nathan Philips Square. Gravy, a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking is a vital component in Poutine, a French Canadian delicacy featuring fries, cheese curds, and the aforementioned sauce. The tasty delight is a favourite of many left-leaning city councilors on lunch break.
Rob Ford, the new Mayor-Elect of Toronto assured the truck owners and worried citizens that he would indeed "stop the gravy train at city hall". When pressed as to whether gravy used in poutine would be safe, Mr. Mayor repeated his cliched rhetoric several more times until he became winded and shrugged.
Political analysts point to Mayor Ford's bizarre endorsement of the KFC Double Down, and his promise to replace bread with meat in all toronto sandwiches as proof he would never put the breaks on the flow of gravy on City Hall poutines.
The new mayor of Toronto will be George Smitherman or Rob Ford.
I ran into my roommate Happy Hardcore, he asked if I was going to the polls. He said he was going to vote this time because "we can actually effect change on the municipal level". He hasn't voted in any recent federal or provincial elections, Once telling me he didn't believe in the process, but today I realized that he only votes when he thinks he has a chance of winning. Our riding of Trinity-Spadina is a left-leaning area and typically votes NDP or Liberal. He's beyond right-wing but I'm sure he thinks he's progressive. He would probably identify with the Tea Party if we had one in Canada (here in Canada, The Tea Party is just the name of a band that sucks). I guess our votes will cancel each other's out, but I have to think there can't be that many assholes who will actually vote for Rob Ford.
Rob Ford beat his wife, and it disappeared. He got drunk and belligerent at a Leafs game, then denied it was him till it was proven he was lying. He drove drunk in Florida and was arrested for possession of Marijuana, again denied it had happened untill it was proven he was again lying. None of his ideas make sense and his math is ridiculous. If he becomes mayor it will be bad times for the city of Toronto.
Mayoral candidate Rob Ford wants to end the TTC/CNIB metropass program, which Ford sees as just another "perk" of being blind in Toronto.
In recent debates and speeches Rob Ford said he would cut the wasteful 21,000 free metropasses the City distributes annually, which includes 3700 metropasses for blind Torontonians. Carol Goar at the Star wrote this articlewhich clarifies where all those wasteful passes go.
The CNIB metropass program offers a year long pass to registered clients living in the GTA. Hundreds of people show up at the CNIB in early January to receive the new pass. I volunteered with the CNIB and helped to distribute the passes. In every single case the old pass was collected, the clients CNIB card number was written on the new pass and the clients name and client number along with the new pass serial number were documented. If a client had moved out of the GTA they were denied the pass. The process is tedious but necessary to ensure the integrity of the program and is required by the TTC. I personally repeated this process over 1000 times, first at the CNIB and then at a local seniors community. Due to the nature of blindness many clients are seniors, although it does affect both young and old, rich and poor, although more of the latter.
Rob Ford is too narrow minded to consider the difficulties faced by others in this city.
Having participated in the distribution of the passes I have seen the power these passes give to the blind of Toronto. I have also felt this power. As a blind Torontonian the metropass gives me access to the city I would otherwise not have. I cannot get a drivers license. I am very thankful to the City of Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission, and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
I have made attempts to contact Mr. Ford, but as of yet my calls have not been returned.
