No surprise here. The release of expense information of Toronto’s city councillors — totalling close to $1 million — is always good fodder for the Sun. Its three and a half pages of coverage (excluding the cover) appear under the section header “Gravy Train.”
But what’s disappointing is its decision to focus on a Mr Leather Toronto event that raised $2,700 for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans Youth Line, including its use of a doctored picture (excuse me, a “photo illustration”) of Kyle Rae in a leather hat on its cover.
The story relates to a $421.18 expense claim made by outgoing gaybourhood councillor Kyle Rae for a city park permit. In the end, the city paid itself — the money came out of Rae’s expense account and went into the city’s parks budget.
But that didn’t stop the Toronto Sun from using almost two full pages, including the cover, to ridicule Rae for the donation. Classy.
Robert Tomas of Mr Leather Toronto sent a stinging letter to the Sun, partially reprinted here:
“As for a better story, you might consider writing about why a fundraising
event in a public park put on by volunteers and not generating profit other
than the donation for a registered charity, has to pay thousands of dollars
to off-duty police officers, who draw salaries from our taxes to keep peace
in the very same public parks,” he wrote.
Why you can trust Xtra
