Rob Ford: Let Captain John have cake!
Back in 1975, a entrepreneurial man sailed a ship across from Soviet Yugoslavia into Toronto’s harbour and setup what became one of our city’s legends. Regardless of it you like his ship or not, and regardless of you hated or loved the food, one has to have some respect for someone with the guts to try out such a venture.
Captain John kept this dream alive for almost 40 years living, working, and contributing to his city. Many people in the city of Toronto have special memories at Captain John’s , and some people have had horrible memories. Regardless, Captain John’s is a place with many memories.
When Captain John setup his restaurant it was considered to be a vessel. Later, when the city wanted to get rid of Captain John, they changed his taxation to consider his boat a structure. This resulted in exponential cost increases that help kill his ship’s business.
Now that his tax bill is too high for him to pay, the city is in the process of taking his ship away from him. Captain John’s ship is also his home. So, soon he will lose both his business and his home. His business would have been viable had his tax situation not changed. He could have got the investment to paint the boat and increase the quality and variety of his menu.
Now, that the taxes are due, the City of Toronto has sarcastically changed the designation of his business to being a boat. They are using harbour regulations to restrict him from moving the ship out of the port. Regardless of if you think Captain John’s ship should be preserved or not, I’m sure you can see the hypocrisy of this.
Are there are other businesses or organizations that the City of Toronto would also like to see go? Would it be fair for them to flip/flop on taxation rules to help push them out of business? It seems many of us that this is not how we want to see the city treating people. They have played every trick in the book- recently they even turned off his water supply.
The people of Toronto need to give a message to our city government that it is not acceptable to play tricks like they have to Captain John. It is time for a Toronto “Tea” Party.
We will be asking Captain John if he would entertain the idea of hosting a gathering on Friday, August 24 where group of people will come together and drink tea on Captain John’s ship. The city has cut-off the water, so we will each need to bring a bottle of water to this ship to boil for the tea. We will also need to have cups to drink out of, so bring one if you can. If you can’t, some of us will bring packs of disposable cups.
City Hall want’s Captain John to eat cake. So, if you wish to bring your own cake you are very welcome to. If you bring extra cake, we can share it with others. A donation to Captain John would be appreciated. As with the tea, it would be helpful if you could bring your own plates, knives and forks.
We want to give the city a strong message that it is not okay to be flip/flopping on taxation rules, and that we are not happy to see tax used as a weapon to shut people’s businesses down. People who attend the tea party will be welcome to participate in writing a letter to Rob Ford with out opinions.
Captain John charges $2.50 for his tea, so a donation of at least $2.50 will be required. If you wish to contribute more to Captain John’s costs, you are very welcome to do so.
We are tentatively setting the date for the tea party for August 25th at 1pm. This date will be confirmed in the next 48 hours. I will be posting a way to sign-up and reserve a seat for the party in the next 24 hours. Until then, if you would like to attend, please RSVP to me at: [email protected]
So, come join us for Toronto’s first Tea Party!
(not affiliated with the US Tea Party, this is only a party where people drink tea).
Related articles
