| The Audit

An appraisal of the month in money

A penny-bypenny reckoning of the month in money

$81

Price for a pair of Justin Bieber’s new Crocs. The yellow foam clogs—which come with Jibbitz charms for decoration—sold out almost immediately online.

$2,131

Average monthly rent in the GTA, down almost 13 per cent over the past year as pandemic-wary tenants flee to the suburbs.

$250,000

Funding earmarked by city council for a committee that will consider renaming Dundas Street—the namesake of anti-abolitionist Henry Dundas.

$922,000

Value of grizzled NHL veteran Joe Thornton’s one-year contract with the Leafs. The signing marks a homecoming for Jumbo Joe, a St. Thomas native, as the burly forward enters the twilight of his career.

$2,800,000

Amount fundraised for a drug treatment for two-year-old Eva Batista, who suffers from spinal musuclar distrophy. Provincial health care does not cover treatments involving Zolgensma, the life-saving medicine.

$9,000,000

Value of the sprawling Markham mansion where local developer Wei Wei allegedly operated “Mackenzie No. 5 Club,” an illegal underground casino. When police raided the premises, they found $1.5 million in booze, $1 million in cash and 11 firearms.

$31,000,000

Amount the city unnecessarily spent on snow removal contractors in the past five years, according to Toronto’s auditor general. Losses included $24 million on gratuitous standby payments and $7 million on overpayment of contractors for uncompleted work.

$134,000,000

Estimate of Covid-related losses claimed by Crosslinx—the company building the Eglinton Crosstown LRT—which recently filed a lawsuit against Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario. In response, Metrolinx said that Crosslinx is behind on construction and trying to blame the pandemic.