THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT TORONTO

Following on from the last post NOT THIS but THIS, I thought I'd better balance it out by griping about some of the things that have pissed me off.

Beggars and panhandlers

I accept that in any society and in any country/city there will be people who fall between the cracks and that they need to be supported. Even in Toronto which has an excellent health and welfare support system there are a few souls who for whatever reason end up not having a roof over their heads and need food and shelter.
But...
There are a hell of a lot of bastards who take advantage of the good nature of Canadians and make a living out of begging (or panhandling as it's known here). On every street corner there is a chancer with a sign, a cup or a cap out asking for money

The variations are endless with claims of needing money for family, for food, for medical expenses (Ontario health system is free) or made-up stories like "I'm stranded and can't get home because...".
It's all bullshit. I watched a video made by a newspaper with a reporter 'panhandling' for a week undercover on the streets of Toronto. In his secretly recorded chats with real beggars they told him they were pulling in from $150 to $750 a day. One bastard who made himself up to be older and more infirm than he was carried a (unplayed) guitar and had a dog (for sympathy) said he 'worked' three days a week, playing golf and attending gym/martial arts classes the other two - weekends he kept separate. This guy said he averaged between $500 and $100 a day with his best day being $2300! To me c***s like this are taking money away from those who deserve it.

Additional taxes

When buying anything in Toronto (except for grocery items and wine) the price you see advertised does not include GST and Provincial tax. This is so fucking annoying. Even when buying a cup of coffee the $3.50 advertised becomes $ 3.99 or something when you pay at the counter. It is archaic and smacks of petulance on the part of the business owner .."hey it's not us charging you this extra it's the government ..". Get over it. In New Zealand we had the same issues in 1985. We sucked it up. OK?

Tipping

What the fuck this is about I can never understand nor get anyone to properly explain it to me. You are expected to tip in restaurants, in taxis, getting a bloody haircut etc. Why? Can't the management or sole trader work out their pricing properly?
In a restaurant or bar it is bloody galling. You order a meal or a drink based on an advertised price and when the bill comes it has this price plus GST and a Provincial tax and then you are expected to tip on top of all that. 15% is seen as mean apparently and 18% is the new norm with 20% seen as 'caring' Well fuck me, I'll be glad to get back to New Zealand where good service is part of the job not a grovelling for a bit extra.

Cheese

It's crap. Sure there are 'boutique' cheeses, mostly European imports that are OK but they are hellishly expensive. The 'domestic commercial' cheese is a rubbery and strange coloured concoction that has no taste other than the artificial additions they inject (smoke, caraway, salmon etc). It doesn't grate properly, congeals instead of melts and basically ruins any dish it's added to. To add insult to injury it's not even packaged sensibly. Instead of the nice and user friendly blocks we get at home some marketing wanker has decided that it's best that this stuff is packaged in thin slabs so that when you cut a slice it is about an inch high (maybe they know it tastes like shit and don't want anyone discovering this by eating too big a chunk)

I'm looking forward to getting back to good old Mainland 'Colby' and other styles.

Potatoes

It's pretty hard to find good potatoes in Toronto. Whichever type is bought the result whether mashed, boiled, roasted, baked or 'chipped' is a pale imitation of what can be made at home using the valiant Agria potato (note spelling Dan). Potatoe?


Wine choice

Canada has a state-controlled liquor system and Ontario's version is named LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). It's like the old Licensing Trusts system in New Zealand (where only a pocket of them remain). The theory is that the state can control liquor consumption (health benefits) and return profits to the community (social benefits). The reality is a great and unwieldy monopoly system. As the single biggest liquor retailer in the world the LCBO can put great pressure on suppliers and can arbitrarily choose what wines it wants to stock. No real consumer choice here. If a supplier (read multi-national producer like Diageo, Constellation, Pernod Ricard etc) can stump up enough cash (sorry 'marketing support') then their brands/products can be reasonably continually available. If a smaller supplier has a good product (that the consumer likes) it has to go through a submission process (twice yearly) to be accepted. If the brand/product sells through in a year or 6 months that is no guarantee of further acceptance. The submission process has to be gone through again. This is why a consumer, on finding something he likes has no guarantee that it will be available the next time he/she visits the store. By the way the only liquor stores in Ontario are LCBO ones or wine shops owned by Constellation (which only stock Constellation's Canadian brands). Some choice huh?

(to be continued)