Welcome to Saturday. Supposedly it's relatively warm outside, but why bother with fresh air when you can have news?

The absolute best story to come out of the GTA yesterday evening is this one, about an 11-year-old Oshawa girl who got a new cell phone for Christmas (aww!) only to have Bell assign her a number that used to belong to an escort service (eww...), with predictable results. It seems to have been an honest mistake.

City Manager Joe Pennachetti wants to offer buyout packages to workers the City is about to lay off, partly as a way of avoiding the lengthy process of finding them other jobs as required by their collective agreement. The Sun headline is pretty much just as petulant as you'd think it would be.

Speaking of labour relations, Lockout Watch 2012 continues, as the City races toward the breaking point in contract renewal negotiations with its unions. Before the City can legally impose a lockout, they need what's known as a "no-board report" from a provincial conciliator. Last night the Post reported that a conciliator will be meeting with the City and CUPE Local 416 (outdoor workers) on Monday, and that they've already been in mediation with CUPE Local 79 (indoor workers) for weeks.

Just why is the Ford administration so eager to play hardball with city workers over their contracts? The Star's David Rider has a theory. He thinks the administration is trying to rid itself of red tape that would prevent it from outsourcing cleaning and security jobs, for a possible savings of as much as $26 million a year.

And over at the Globe, John Lorinc uncovers another way the Fords have been implementing their respect-the-taxpayer agenda lately: brother Doug may have been involved in goosing performance bonuses for executives at Build Toronto, a City subsidiary whose mandate includes selling off publicly owned land for profit. (BT’s chief executive denied that Ford’s influence was a decisive factor.) By dangling carrots in front of senior management, we'll get those assets sold right quick!

Blog image by DdotG, via Flickr.