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Doug Ford’s cuts to Toronto city council won’t save what he said they would

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During Toronto city council’s first meeting after the 2010 election, then-mayor Rob Ford slashed councillor office budgets in a symbolic act of penny-pinching. At this week’s first council meeting since the 2018 election, total office budgets increased despite political slashing by Premier Doug Ford, demonstrating that sometimes dramatic symbolic measures, even when they’re very disruptive, might not save you much money at all.

Huh? Well, first the biggest news coming out of the meeting: councillor budgets for staff and office administration got increased. So much so that the total council budget for those line items under the new 25-seat council is more than $1 million higher than it was under the previous 44-member council.

We’ll be dealing with the complications and consequences of Doug Ford’s cuts to Toronto city council for some time, but the projected savings have already begun to disappear, Edward Keenan writes.
We’ll be dealing with the complications and consequences of Doug Ford’s cuts to Toronto city council for some time, but the projected savings have already begun to disappear, Edward Keenan writes.  (Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)

In the old alignment, before the premier forced a reduction in council’s size, each councillor had a budget of $241,000 per year for staff members and $34,000 a year for office supplies and administration costs.

On Wednesday, with the new councillor representing wards almost twice as large (and, in some cases, with more than twice as many constituents), those budgets got increased. Now they’ll have as much as $482,000 to hire staff, and $50,000 for supplies and administration.

You can do the math. Staff and office expenses for 25 councillors will now cost $13.3 million; when we had 44 councillors, it was $12.1 million.

This was entirely predictable. And necessary.

Everyone — including Ford and his government — insists that good, responsive service to constituents needs to be a top priority for elected officials. At city hall in particular, the entire system is set up so that city councillors’ offices are the main troubleshooters and hand-holders for any complex interaction. Development applications, speed-bump approvals, neighbour disputes, liquor licence applications — all of these are mediated by city councillors, and a surprising number actually require councillors to bring forward bylaws to get done.

If you double the number of constituents a councillor is serving, you’re doubling the number of calls they are going to get, the number of development applications they need to negotiate, etc. That requires, logically enough, double the number of staff, and more office cash.

This isn’t what Ford foresaw when he cut the size of council. He predicted more than $25 million in savings over four years. To get to that number by cutting 22 councillors (the number was supposed to rise to 47 councillors, Ford cut it to 25), you’d need to include both the councillor salaries and their staffing and office costs. That isn’t what’s happening.

Now, the city will indeed not incur the roughly $110,000 salaries of those 22 councillors, which comes to just under $10 million over four years. But the city will now spend almost $5 million more on expenses for the 25 councillors. Instead of $25 million in savings over four years, we’re looking at something significantly less.

In response to a request from the Star, a city spokesperson estimates the total council budget — salaries, staff, travel and expenses — for the 47-councillor model was projected to be about $3.4 million higher than the new cost for a 25-member council. That’s about $13.6 million over four years.

You and I can agree, I hope, that $3.4 million a year is a lot of money. But these things are relative.

If you’re running a city government, those dollars get eaten up pretty quickly. If you wanted to cut TTC fares to return that savings of $3.4 million per year to citizens, you could do so by reducing fares by about half a cent per ride. Save that up after a year of commuting and you could buy yourself a coffee.

Saving money is good. I wouldn’t blow off the value of banking seven-figure sums for other city purposes. I’m just saying annual savings of $3.4 million for such a drastic change to the city’s government is pretty modest.

And the change is drastic, make no mistake. The other big agenda item at this week’s meeting was trying to figure out how to fill the city’s 485 committee, board and agency positions from a pool of only 25 councillors. Having each councillor serve on 20 different committees doesn’t seem likely to work. Council approved an interim strategy recommended by staff, while planning a council committee to study the issue and figure it out for the long-term. Which may well reveal more hidden costs to the restructuring.

We’ll be dealing with the complications and consequences of a smaller council for some time. The projected savings, meanwhile, have already begun to disappear.

Edward Keenan is a columnist based in Toronto covering urban affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @thekeenanwire

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Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline. 

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors. 

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity. 

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement. 

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level. 

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet. 

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.

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