The Shock Doctrine, Toronto-style

[marmar]

from the Toronto Star:



David Rider
Urban Affairs Reporter


The final consultant’s report on city services suggests massive cuts to arm’s-length agencies, including closing libraries, cutting public health programs for AIDS prevention and student nutrition, eliminating $47 million in grants to arts and public health, and selling the Toronto Zoo.

....(snip)....

Suggestions include:

• “Rationalize the footprint of libraries to reduce service levels, closing some branches” to save up $13.3 million. Also, reduce daily hours and days of operations for all branches.

• Eliminate public health’s $6.2-million Community Partnership and Investments Program, and with it 685 student nutrition programs which provides meal subsidies for low-income children, 42 AIDS prevention programs and 38 community drug prevention projects.

• Sell Exhibition Place or privatize its operations.

• Negotiate into the contract with Toronto police officers the ability to have “one-officer patrols (and) reduced salary and benefits, retirement benefits and shift overlap.” Also freeze police hiring and entice older officers to take buyouts.

• Privatize some TTC bus routes, roll back service improvements on crowding standards and frequency of arrivals, consider eliminating “Blue Night” overnight bus service or charging a premium fare, contract out Wheel Trans and/or make criteria stricter for it so fewer disabled people qualify. Also sell off TTC parking lots.

..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1028231--libraries-child-nutrition-toronto-zoo-final-report-suggests-deepest-cuts-yet?bn=1