Toronto Star

There's no longer any question: Toronto has officially gone off the rails. Whatever doubt lingered was dispelled this week when the city announced a deal has been signed with Leon's, yes, the furniture chain, to take over the Roundhouse, a designated national historic site. It sounds like a joke, except that it's true, and it's not funny. We all know that Toronto is broke, but this goes beyond comprehension, and enters into the realm of civic madness. The bureaucrats would have us believe the deal is good because Leon's and the builders who have actually leased the facility from the city – O &Y, Tenen and State Development – will clean up the structure, which the city has neglected for years. What they don't say is that when it issued an RFP (request for proposals) fully six years ago, it stipulated that renovating the building was a condition no matter who won.