Dwight Duncan: the Santa of Queen’s Park

Someone had to bring Christmas to city hall this year, and, since it sure wasn’t going to be me, thank heaven for jolly Dwight Duncan. His transit funding announcement has lifted everyone’s spirits, including the press gallery staff at the Globe and Mail, who’ve written an unprecedentedly sunny story. They may have blown their wad too quickly, though: things could get even rosier because there may still be more uploading in the works. All of which means the civic discussion might actually get off the topic of money and move on to other issues. Such as the ones I raised in that deplorable toilet-bowl story of mine: staff gapping, contract oversight, city planning, collective bargaining. A balanced budget doesn’t make these problems go away, though it can help fix them, provided someone makes them an issue. No thanks required. Just doing my job. "