[url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/proposal-to-privati... to privatize ski hills, campground would save city $715,000 by 2012[/url]
The staff proposal to contract out day-to-day operations at Centennial Park Ski and Snowboard Centre in Etobicoke, Earl Bales Ski and Snowboard Centre in North York, and Glen Rouge Campground in Scarborough is expected to save the city $179,000 this year and $536,000 next year, according to confidential budget documents viewed by The Globe and Mail.
The documents say that the "welcome policy" - which covers passes and recreation fees for low-income Torontonians - would no longer apply on the slopes if the city's parks, forestry and recreation division stopped running the ski hills.
The budget documents say that privatizing the hills would reduce staff by five full-time positions and 10.7 temporary positions. But Ms. Dembinski said the list of potential cuts provided by the city last week affected 360 people at the ski hills and the campground. Many of those employees are part-time, seasonal workers who might teach one or two ski lessons a week, a CUPE spokeswoman added.
Relatively small but it looks like the city may be looking to unload some of it's labour burden. My partner who is part of Cupe local 79 working at Earl Bales during the winter says that her wage would likely be reduced by close to three quaters should the deal go through.
