Busy day? Here are five stories popular with Globe readers to help you catch up.
Toronto’s taxi drivers threaten to strike over Uber during Pan Am
Because Toronto doesn’t have enough traffic woes, taxi drivers are threatening to grind the city to a halt during the Pan Am Games.
Toronto’s taxi drivers want the mayor and police to crack down on the ride-sharing company Uber, which cab drivers allege operates an illegal taxi service, Ann Hui reports. If they don’t, taxi drivers are threatening a strike that could shut down some of the city’s most crucial corridors in the middle of the games.
Sam Moini, a spokesman for the Toronto Taxi Alliance, which represents more than 2,000 cab owners and licence-holders, said a taxi strike is “absolutely the last thing that we want.” Still, he said, “when people feel that they have nothing left to lose, they become dangerous. We don’t want that to happen in Toronto.” Mr. Moini said that his members have seen a 40-per-cent to 50-per-cent drop in their incomes as a result of Uber.
Mayor John Tory issued a statement urging all sides to work out a solution. “Strong-arm tactics and veiled threats will not accomplish anything.”
Paul Bernardo applies for day parole in Toronto
One of Canada’s most notorious killers has applied for day parole in Toronto.
The families of Paul Bernardo’s murder victims, 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy and 15-year-old Kristen French, received a letter last week advising them of his application, their lawyer Tim Danson said.
Danson told the families that while it’s Bernardo’s legal right to apply, there is no chance he will ever see the outside world again. Still, they are devastated.
“It was — I don’t even know what words to use — but really upsetting for them. It just brings everything back and they have to re-live things.”
What you need to know about WestJet’s latest bomb scare
What is going on at WestJet? The airline has seen five bomb-threat hoaxes this week – the latest coming Thursday night on a flight from Las Vegas to Victoria. Nothing suspicious was found in any of the incidents.
A spokesman for WestJet says the company is continuing to work with law enforcement and the airline will not comment on the “rumours and speculation” that have been triggered.
There haven’t been any arrests, though the potential punishment could include jail time.
Airlines’ basic approach to handling threats is the same: each must be taken seriously, Edward McKeogh, President of Canadian Aviation Safety Consultants, told The Canadian Press. Besides inconveniencing passengers, these hoaxes can easily cost an airline tens of thousands of dollars.
Greek referendum: What to expect after a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote
Greeks will head to the polls on Sunday to vote on a question some have criticized as confusing. It is translated as:
Should the plan of agreement be accepted, which was submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund in the Eurogroup of 25.06.2015 and comprises of two parts, which constitute their unified proposal?
If Greece votes yes:
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has strongly hinted he would step down. It would be political suicide for Tsipras to implement a program he has repeatedly called a “humiliation” for his country and which he has vehemently opposed. If he resigned, a cross-party interim government would likely be encouraged to continue talks with lenders and keep Greece afloat until elections are held.
If Greece votes no:
Tsipras’s government has said it would immediately resume talks with creditors. Euro zone policy makers have warned that a ‘no’ vote would signal a rejection of the euro and shut the door on the prospect of further aid from creditors. This would leave Greece in uncharted territory and isolated within the euro zone bloc. Greece’s financial crisis could then deepen rapidly, with banks unlikely to open amid the uncertainty.
A poll conducted this week showed both sides in a dead heat.
Nine-year-old boy hauls 600-pound sturgeon out of Fraser River
Keegan Rothman made the catch (and got the photo) of a lifetime while on a fishing trip in B.C.
The nine-year-old from New Jersey, who only weighs 80 pounds himself, managed to reel in a 600-pound white sturgeon after wrestling it for two hours, Kat Sieniuc reports.
What was going through his head? “Am I going to lose it? When am I going to get it in? I’m so tired. If the drag didn’t fit right, I would have gone overboard.”
Keegan began fishing at four years old and holds a youth record in the United States for the sheepshead fish, his dad said.
Keegan and his father released the massive fish after taking pictures and video.
“If you kill them all there won’t be a population any more,” Keegan said. “There won’t be any more to catch.”