We all know that the Toronto Star continues to have a love – in with all things Liberal. They just can’t leave it alone.
They miss Paul and Jean and Scotty and all of their former masters. They miss the daily press conferences and witty quips.
They’re the “windmill tilters” and the “Robin Hoods” for the all of the poor and disenfranchised people.
Sadly, Liberal news is hard to come by these days.
Since it was a slow news day for the Star on Sunday, they decided to do a full two page expose on a very serious problem that Toronto (the centre of the Liberal Universe) is now facing — “Why Banks Abandon the Poor”
The gist of the story is that there’s only one bank left in Regent Park. There used to be twelve.
Another serious social problem that the bad old capitalist bankers have brought to the poor and downtrodden of Toronto.
Did I miss something on the evening news last night? I don’t even think CBC had this story.
In keeping with “Fair and Balanced” reporting, The National Post “outed” the Star’s story.
They had a different take on the whole issue and they scolded the Star’s searing report with their own brilliant headline — “ The Toronto Star’s Smear on Banks.”
…It was a breathless piece of bank-baiting, a blood-sport reserved for far-left loonies who believe banks are economic criminals. Such views are generally confined to Marxist pamphleteers.
…Yet there it was, splashed on the front page of Sunday’s Toronto Star—along with the weepy, class-warfare-inspired headline: “Why our banks have abandoned the poor.”
…Two full pages were given over to one of the strangest conspiracy theories about Canadian banks since 1935, when Alberta premier “Bible” Bill Aberhart blamed bankers for the dirty thirties and proposed using his wild-eyed social-credit theory to effectively rob the banks and spread the proceeds to the poor.
…In 1980, goes the Star’s narrative, the Toronto neighbourhood of Regent Park had 12 banks. Now, we are told, it has only one.…But one look at the accompanying map shows that only two of the bank branches have been closed in the area since 1980; the other nine were all in other neighbourhoods.
..Moreover, the map (accompanying the paper version) is designed to exclude a Scotiabank branch that is just 600 metres from the housing community at the heart of Regent Park. In fact, as the photo below (only in the paper version) shows—taken from a Regent Park lawn—that bank is actually within view of Regent Park’s residents. Since when did every Canadian win the right to have a bank within 599 metres of his home?
…With two bank branches in the immediate vicinity, Regent Park has one bank branch to every 3,750 residents. The average in Canada is one branch to every 5,600. If anything, the community is overserved by banks.
… Canada is a socially progressive country that cares about communities—except for its evil banks. But wait a second: In 2005 Canadian banks donated no less than $126-million to Canadian charities, not to mention thousands upon thousands of hours in volunteer time given by their staff. Somehow, that got dropped from the Star’s hit job.
…And what is the solution to this non-existent problem of the “banks abandoning the poor”? Rather than promote the growth of small businesses as a key strategy in the area’s transformation into a mixed income community, a development that will generate a greater demand for banking services, the Star comes up with the most ludicrous solution of all—having the City of Toronto, cash-strapped and begging for money from Ottawa, subsidize our banks at taxpayers’ expense.
Yes, sir, that’s it — the good old Toronto Star/Liberal solution — blame the banks “cause they’re not there, but at the same time, expect taxpayers to subsidise banks even though this particular area is overserviced by banks? The mind boggles at this inspired thinking.
Look to your own cities and towns. How many bank branches have closed or amalgamated? How many people especially seniors, who often have no transportation, have to find their way to a bank that is clear on the other side of town? I didn’t see the Star beating their collective liberal breasts over this problem — probably because it does not make good socialist commentary.
Kudos to the Post for showing the hypocrisy of the Red Star’s story.
It’s as close to “Fair and Balanced” reporting that we will see.
