Inquiring minds want to know where members of the CRBA - our reigning parliament in the Duchy - were when the newest park reno - on the island at Trintiy and Eastern - opened yesterday. Like the previous event at Percy Street, it appears they donned their Cloaks of Invisibility for this one.

Despite some fanfare and a pre-opening flyer distributed in the area, relatively few local denizens turned up for the occasion. Councillor McConnell was there, however, and we can imagine she'll occupy considerable time in the eventual broadcast of this event next year on HGTV. Good free publicity considering the reno was pad for completely by private/advertiser contributions, we understand.

Come to think of it, these same inquiring minds are wondering what's up over at the parliament, or if it still exists, given the recent exodus of Duchy parliamentarians, gradual declne of their flagship website (more like cobwebsite, we say), and recent questions about CRBA activity on the CPLC.....

Returning from our most recent sojourn to The Outerworld, The One was horrified to note that our financially incontinent municipal officials are considering a tax (or   revenue tool) on alcohol.

Realizing that funds for golf memberships, dome passes, media centres and other important incentives have to come from somewhere (after all, 70% of the City's all-powerful Executive Committee - including our own Councillor McConnell - voted for them) our elected officials, or at least the hapless civil servants they're cowering behind, have been hosting a series of meetings where they've floated the concept of charging us more whilst offering us less. Surprisingly, the response from local peons has been overwhelmingly negative.

When presented with the potential scenario of hoardes of boozy City residents importing their favourite poison from the outlying suburban wilds, further contributing to traffic chaos, Mayor Miller was heard to petulantly mutter "That's ridiculous."

Not so unlikely, Oh Ineffectual One, when one considers the fact that increasing numbers of downtown residents commute to the suburbs daily. With employers moving from the highly-taxed city core in droves, we foresee a growing market for an alcoholic Underground Railroad, as it were.

At this rate, soon enough the only people in Toronto will be the "revenue tools" at City Hall.

Our civic "leaders" have once again demonstrated their marginal grip on the reality those of us in the trenches face by voting in a budget that, mathematically speaking, sacrifices some services for Toronto Residents to goodies like free TTC passes for councillors who can well afford them, on the premise, according to our own Councillor McConnell (who voted to continue feeding at the public trough) "...I think that what we were trying to do and what the TTC is trying to do is to get councillors who wouldn't normally use the TTC to get onto the TTC."  Has anyone bothered to see if this strategy is working?

Here are some other examples, based on Councillor Ford's motions and reported by CityTV:

• Free golf passes for council and staff: $15,000
• Councillors' food and beverage budget: $55,000
• Councillors' hospitality budget: $25,000
• Magazines/newspaper subscriptions: $14,712
• Free tickets to plays, concerts, etc.: $18,273
• Free TTC Metropasses: $5,622
• Free taxi chits: $18,115
• Gas and mileage expenses: $45,171
• Plant watering in city buildings: $100,000
• Newspaper clipping service: $40,000
• Reduce one councillor staff position: $2.8 million

Other perks: (continued...) »

Staff at From Where I Sit have learned that Councillor Pam McConnell's quest for political correctness is extending beyond the recent "gypsy moth" debacle, reported last week in the Globe and Mail. The councillor suggested that the term "gypsy" used in this context was potentially offensive to those of the Roma persuasion.

In a frank interview with The Right Honourable Dustoyavesky "Dusty" Florr, we learned that Ms. McConnell had suggested that one of their chief exports, the Swiffer , should be renamed because it could be seen as offensive to the Swiff populace.

"It's simply ridiculous," siad Florr, cursed with a lisp since birth, "We haven't had such a successful export since Swiff Cheese. We hear she's been trying to do the same with Dutch Treats, but if she thinks she's going to do it to us, she'll find out that she's up against some pretty Swiff competition. As the ambassador for Swifferland, I'm not willing to tolerate this incursion into our affairs."