Author: Rita Smith

Candidate for Mayor of Toronto Rob Davis says the front-runners are not "royalty" and should not expect they will be allowed to dominate the debates. Photo: YouTube
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Candidate Rob Davis irked by restrictive debate format

Rita Smith

TORONTO, ON – Mayoral candidate Rob Davis – Toronto’s first Black city councillor and a three-term council member – today called on the city’s civic organizations and media to ensure equitable access to debate platform exposure on a wide range of issues.

“Toronto has a diverse population with wide-ranging interests and priorities.  For democracy to thrive, it’s important that our public discourse affords equitable exposure to ideas from candidates reflecting the regions and communities that make up our city – and not just ideas from perceived front-runners,” said Davis.

Davis issued the call after the Toronto Region Board of Trade and TVO informed candidates of a restrictive format for their May 25th debate that gives an unfair advantage to sitting councillors and other candidates who have high name recognition in the early stages of the campaign.

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What are the odds I would win a framed print of Bob Coglianese's famed photo of Secretariat winning the Belmont Stakes during my Year of Secretariat? 100 per cent, apparently, given the power of thought. (Photo credit: Debra Sherman)
Opinion/ColumnRita Smith's Blogs

Inspired by achievement: the Year of Secretariat

Rita Smith

2023 is the 50th Anniversary of one of the greatest athletic accomplishments in history: Secretariat’s Triple Crown remains an inspiration for all ages   I had been dreading the arrival of June 9, 2013. I didn’t even realize I had

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Speakers list for the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Heavy Duty Truck emissions reductions rules online hearing May 2nd. Image: EPA
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Rules for electric trucks while electric infrastructure does not yet exist make no sense: Truck and Engine Manufacturers

Rita Smith

The EPA’s virtual public hearings for the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking took place on May 2 and 3, 2023. On a Speakers’ list packed full of representatives from the Lung

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Some of the CAF members Christianson represents refused the Covid shot and have been released or disciplined; others took the vaccine and are suffering disastrous side effects. “These are previously healthy men and women, now facing medical emergencies and injuries that have left them disabled for life,” Christianson told the National Citizens' Inquiry. Photo: NCI
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Loss of trust will doom military, lawyer for CAF members says

Rita Smith

“Being forced to take this into my body by a superior officer was like being raped over a desk at basic training all over again.”

This quote from a female member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was provided to the National Citizens’ Inquiry (NCI) at the April 26th hearing by Catherine Christianson, a lawyer representing hundreds of members of CAF in their efforts to obtain justice in their fight against Covid-19 policies.

Some of the CAF members Christianson represents refused the Covid shot and have been released or disciplined; others took the vaccine and are suffering disastrous side effects.

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Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Redman provided a detailed overview of what goes into writing an Emergency Plan for fire, flood, terror attack or pandemic. "They burned all the plans for COVID," he told the NCI. Image: NCI
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Former Canadian Armed Forces, Emergency Management Officer slams Canada’s COVID response

Rita Smith

13 provincial plans, federal plans written, shared, updated regularly by professionals were tossed aside during COVID, Lt. Col. (Ret.) David Redman tells the NCI Plans developed by Canada’s best professional Emergency Management Officers (EMOs) were discarded at the start of

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Ontario Line construction on Queen Street begins May 1; work is expected to take 4 years

Rita Smith

Starting Monday, May 1, no vehicular traffic will be allowed on Queen Street in the heart of downtown Toronto.

There will only be pedestrian access to Queen Street, from Bay Street to Yonge Street and Yonge Street to Victoria Street, for an estimated four and half years. This diversion is to accelerate Metrolinx’s construction of an Ontario Line connection to TTC Queen Station.

“Richmond, Adelaide, King and Dundas are going to be packed for next four and a half years,” says 36-year veteran Taxi driver Jafar Mirsalari. “Drivers will need to go further north, or way down south, to avoid it.”

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Toronto City Hall Photo: Toronto.ca
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Isn’t going from 5,500 Taxis to 86,000 VFH is the opposite of “Net Zero”?

Rita Smith

Do Torontonians actually trust their Council to create a “Net Zero” program which reduces emissions without decimating the downtown core? The same Council that voted for “Net Zero” while increasing the number of licensed vehicles for hire by a factor of fifteen – from 5,500 to 86,000?

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At a time when Canadians needed vision and capability, they got bullying and gaslighting, Beaudry told the NCI. Image: NCI
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NCI is “The best thing since the Convoy”

Rita Smith

Canada’s COVID response was not based on any kind of science, Risk Assessment professional Dean Beaudry told the National Citizens’ Inquiry on April 26.
“I cannot imagine how we could have done a worse job,” Beaudry noted in astonishment at one point.

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