Running downtown this morning, I saw a woman speaking to a couple of good-looking young men outside the subway entrance. The closer I got the clearer it was to see that she was upset. The two men backed away and into the station. "This city is not your ashtray," she screamed after them. She was on a bicycle. She wore expesive jeans. She didn't seem especially crazy or particularly Cantabrigian. What she wanted, I think, is what anybody who loves her city wants: an end to litterers. Although, I'd settle for ones as handsome as Toronto's. This city is one worth defending against gum wrappers and cigarette butts. In 2010, can anyone get elected on that platform? Can a Canadian?
Meanwhile, swaths of Toronto are under construction. Like many Western cities, this one seems to have an endless appetite for condo high-rises. That includes the film festival. Sunday the public got to explore the TIFF Bell Lightbox, the festival's brand-new permanent headquarters. If the films' general lack of excellence, this year, has got people down, there's some comfort to be found in the Lightbox. Its five-story base sits at the corner John and King streets, which has recently been named Reitman Square. Indeed, it's those Reitmans; Ivan and Jason Reitman's family made a major donation (inside there's a plaque dedicated from Ivan and his sisters to their parents). As the local press has pointed out: Better Reitman Square than TD Banknorth Square or AT&T Square.
