Fans of the masquerader’s elaborate outfits won’t be able to get quite as up-close and personal this year as they have earlier in the carnival’s 46-year history.

Only media, security, masqueraders and other select groups will be given free wristbands allowing direct access to the parade route. Spectators will have to stay behind fences and view the show from there.

Christopher Alexander, the carnival’s chief administrative officer, explained that people simply coming to see the parade couldn’t do so easily because there were too many people in the line of sight.

“This year we’re trying to keep the route free of spectators,” Alexander said, noting the change will allow people to get a clearer look at the action.

Mannequins wearing bright, feathered costumes were set up near the stage at the Ontario Science Centre, where sponsors and supporters spoke and the Toronto All Stars Steel Orchestra performed.

Christine Williams, Scotiabank’s vice president for Toronto East, announced that that bank is renewing its sponsorship of the festival formerly known as Caribana.

“In 2008, we became title sponsor of the Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival — the largest North American Caribbean festival of its kind. I’m proud to say that once again, Scotiabank has extended our partnership for another three years,” Williams said.

Alexander also announced several tweaks to the festival. There won’t be a stage in Exhibition Place, as there was last year, and the route of the Aug. 3 Grand Parade will start closer to the Queen Elizabeth building because of construction on the grounds.

From there, the route will continue along Princes’ Blvd., Newfoundland Dr. and Lake Shore Blvd.

And added attraction this year is a children’s play area and amusement rides for kids.

“It’s nicer this year,” Alexander said of the changes. “We’ve expanded the gated area of Exhibition Place, so we’ll be using the entire grounds. That’s a big change and I think people will be able to see more of what’s going on,” he said.

Alexander said he doesn’t have figures for 2012 but said the festival has been estimated in past years to have an economic impact on the city of about $400 million.

After a morning of debate Tuesday, council voted 40-4 in opposition to any new gaming sites in the city. The four in favour of gaming expansion were Ford and Councillors Giorgio Mammoliti, Vince Crisanti and Norm Kelly.

The vote came after city manager Joe Pennachetti released new figures showing the city would be paid a $40 million fee for hosting a downtown casino.

It’s far short of the minimum $100 million the city wanted under a revenue-sharing proposal with the province that Ford called a “pretty good deal.”

Ford attacked Wynne for what he called a change of attitude at Queen’s Park.

“It seems no deal is good enough for this premier,” the mayor said. “The fact is she simply doesn’t want a casino, at least not in Toronto.”

At Queen’s Park, Wynne brushed off Ford’s criticism.

“I don’t think this is a personal debate between me and any other politician in the province,” Wynne said. “I think this is about a principle, which is municipalities should be able to make this decision.”

Anti-casino forces who have fought a casino for the past year were delighted with the vote.

Read Matt Elliot’s Ford for Toronto column on the casino vote

Responding to media questions about a video that apparently shows Ford smoking crack cocaine, Wynne said she was worried about the effect the allegations are having on city council business.

“It’s concerning to me if there are issues — whether they’re personal issues — that get in the way of a . . . municipal government being able to do its business and being able to work in the best interests the city,” the premier said Tuesday at Queen’s Park.

While careful not to utter aloud the words “Ford” or “crack,” Wynne made it clear what she was talking about.

“When there is a distraction of a personal nature or a distraction that takes the council and the leadership away from . . . serving the interests of the city and getting the business of the city done then that’s a problem,” she said.

“And so my hope is that they will be dealt with on a personal level and at a council level as quickly as possible.”

Wynne, who represents the Toronto riding of Don Valley West, stressed she is premier of all Ontario.

“It’s my responsibility as premier, as head of the provincial government, to work with municipal governments and whatever particular issues a particular mayor or particular councillor is dealing with they will need to deal with those in the best way possible,” she said.

“It is up to me to deal with the issues that arise in the most responsible way possible and I will do that.”

The allegations against John Owen Slingerland, 90, were made by four men who said they were assaulted their family doctor – who was also a United Church elder and Cub Scout volunteer – in the then-tiny community of Mount Albert between 1959 and 1970.

“I do not accept the evidence of Owen Slingerland,” Justice Anne Mullins said.

The court fell silent as Mullins took 75 minutes read her verdict.

Slingerland, who retired in 1988, remains free on bail. Sentencing arguments from defence lawyer Faisal Joseph and Assistant Crown Attorney Jennifer Gleitman will be heard on July 8.

The retired doctor leaned on his cane and appeared stunned as he listened to the verdict on a special hearing device provided by the court.

He had been charged in 2010 and pleaded not guilty to all the charges of indecent assault of four boys, who ranged in age between five and their early teens.

During his trial by judge alone, Slingerland testified he gave medical examinations to boys in a church basement during a Cub Scout meeting to help them gain merit badges.

He denied ever touching the boys – two of whom were sons of a close friend – for non-medical reasons.

There were three dozen family members and supporters in court for Slingerland, as well as two of the men who alleged he sexually assaulted them.

The victims stared straight ahead and also appeared stunned by the verdict.

Court heard that Slingerland’s medical records, including his notes, were destroyed according to accepted medical practice after his retirement.

The judge noted that the victims described different styles of masturbation done by the doctor.

She also acknowledged that one of the complainants gave the wrong street for Slingerland’s office.

One of the victims told court that he felt like a freak and blamed his unhappiness on the doctor. That witness went on to join the Unification church and was married in a mass public ceremony.

Another witness moved to British Columbia, and said he was directed by God to pursue the case against the doctor.

“He gives a fantastical account of ghouls pursuing him,” the judge said, capsulizing arguments by the defence.

The judge also acknowledged that one of the victims was “not of robust psychological health.” He alternately said that he blanked out the offences from his memory and that they were etched into his mind.

The doctor was supported by his former receptionist, Doreen Oliver, 91, a longtime resident of the community.

She sharply refuted allegations by two of the victims that she had been barred access to the examining room during assaults.

The judge said she found it incredible that she did not recall any of the four boys.

“She appears to have left her loyalties and memories unexamined,” the judge said.

Two of the victims decided they want their names to be made public, while identities of the other two alleged victims are protected by a publication ban.

Environment Canada warned of the possibility of “large hail, damaging winds or heavy rainfall” in the areas around Caledon, Newmarket, Georgina, Uxbridge and Beaverton.

Storm activity is expected to increase through the afternoon. They also said that an isolated tornado was possible, but unlikely.

The mayor rose from his seat in council Tuesday morning to attack Premier Kathleen Wynne over the fact the city would only get about $40 million a year for hosting a large downtown casino.

But it wasn’t enough and Councillor Mike Layton’s motion to oppose any new gaming sites in city carried 40-4.

Many councillors wanted to see at least $100 million a year.

“Hosting a casino that does little for Toronto’s finances and simply makes the provincial government richer is not in the best interests of Toronto,” Ford told council.

The mayor said it would be fair if the province split the revenue with the city, he said.

“I think that’s a pretty good deal. However, it seems no deal is good enough for this premier. The fact is she simply doesn’t want a casino, at least not in Toronto.”

Recognizing council support wasn’t there for a downtown casino, Ford tabled a motion to advise Wynne and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation that council opposes a downtown gambling emporium.

Instead, Ford wants the province to focus on expanding gambling at Woodbine racetrack, which now has 3,000 slot machines. The city says it could take 1,500 more slots and 150 gaming tables.

If people were hoping Ford would address the latest scandal to plague him, they were disappointed.

There were reports in the morning that Ford would make himself available but as of noon it hadn’t happened.

Earlier, Ford ignored a crush of reporters waiting outside his city hall office on the chance he might comment on the alleged video.

Ford’s silence over the long weekend did not quiet the controversy after the Toronto Star and the U.S.-based website Gawker.com reported staff had separately viewed cellphone footage which they said appears to show Ford smoking crack.

On Friday, Ford slammed the Toronto Star report as a smear job and called it “ridiculous” but has said nothing more about the allegations.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath announced Tuesday her party will support the budget of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minority Liberals, averting a June election.

“It’s not everything we wanted. It’s not everything people have told us they need,” Horwath told reporters at Queen’s Park.

“But we’re proud to deliver results that will make people’s lives better and government more accountable,” she said, noting NDP MPPs will vote for the Liberal spending plan.

“We’re happy about that.”

A cornerstone achievement is a new Financial Accountability Office, modelled on the federal Parliamentary Budget Officer.

As disclosed last week by the Star, the premier refused to agree to Horwath’s call to boost the Ombudsman of Ontario’s power to encompass.

Instead, Wynne will introduce vague new “accountability measures across the health-care system.”

Horwath’s request the Liberals rethink carpool lane tool to bankroll public transit also fell on deaf ears.

Despite securing just one out of three of her post-budget conditions, the New Democratic leader was mindful she won concessions in Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s May 2 budget.

Sousa’s fiscal blueprint contained numerous NDP-influenced policies such as a 15 per cent cut to auto insurance, new funding for youth jobs and improved home care health services.

“We worked hard to deliver results,” said Horwath.

“We could have pulled the plug.”

Her announcement was a welcome birthday present for Wynne, who turned 60 on Tuesday. Speaking at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit in downtown Toronto, Wynne called Horwath’s announcement “excellent news.”

“I really believe we don’t need an election right now,” she said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has said all along he could not back the budget because the Liberals have lost any authority to govern due to the $585 million gas-plant debacle.

Should the budget have not passed, the minority Liberals would have been toppled, triggering an election costing $92 million and coming 20 months after the Oct. 6, 2011 provincial vote.

Half a dozen condominium developers have inked deals with the city and non-profit housing providers to offer low-income families and individuals affordable rental and ownership units in their buildings.

Proposed amendments to Toronto’s Official Plan to be debated by city council next month are designed to encourage more developers to play ball.

The changes come in the wake of a new province-wide campaign trying to put affordable housing back on the political agenda, as low-income families and individuals struggle to pay rent in the shadow of hundreds of pricey downtown condominium towers.

“It’s not a solution to the housing crisis,” says Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina).

“But in the absence of a real national or provincial housing program, we’re going to have to find a thousand other small inventions to try and see what works and what can be done.

“If one day Ottawa or Queen’s Park decide to get engaged, we’ll be ready to roll out these policies and models and deliver the housing we need.”

Some condo buyers may balk at investing in a building that includes units for low-income people for fear it will depress property values.

But Alan Vihant, senior vice-president of development for Great Gulf Homes, says he has had no pushback from purchasers at the company’s Charlie condo near King St. W. and Spadina Ave., which opened last fall.

Great Gulf offered the city four affordable rental units in the 36-storey building, along with other public benefits, in exchange for added height and density.

“At the end of the day, a lot of condos that are purchased are rented out,” Vihant says.

The affordable units are really no different, he argues, as they are scattered throughout the building and have the same doors, finishes and square footage as the rest of the units.

“As a strategy for affordable housing, I think it is actually much better to distribute a few units in every building as opposed to collecting 200 units of affordable housing and putting them all in one building,” he adds.

Encouraging affordable rental and ownership units in condominium developments will prevent downtown Toronto from becoming a “vertical suburb,” says Vaughan.

“We need a mix — from the person who works at the corner store in the base of the condominium to the person who cleans the office across the street,” he says. “They all deserve the opportunity to walk to work just like everybody else in the neighbourhood.”

Artscape led the way in 2007 in response to the loss of affordable live-work space for cash-strapped artists in the rapidly gentrifying West Queen West area.

It partnered with developer Urbancorp and community group Active 18 to include affordable ownership and rental units for artists in a traditional condominium complex.

Artscape Triangle Lofts, which opened in 2011 and occupies the first three floors of the 18-storey Westside Gallery Lofts condominium development near Queen St. W. and Dovercourt, was a pioneer, notes Sean Gadon, the city’s manager of housing development.

Gadon helped the project secure city benefits, such as property tax and development charge exemptions for those units, which are part of traditional affordable housing deals. It allowed Artscape to offer 48 below-market ownership units and 20 affordable apartments as well as gallery and café space for the artists. To keep costs down, the artists don’t share Westside’s pool or other amenities and use a separate entrance and lobby.

Actor Jane Luk still can’t believe she scooped an affordable apartment at Triangle Lofts.

A tenant since the building opened, Luk pays about $790 a month for her 600-square-foot apartment on the third floor — considerably less than the $1,009 monthly average for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto. The city defines rents as “affordable” if they are at least 20 per cent lower than the average for a given unit.

Luk had been living on friends’ sofas due to money woes before she moved in.

“I honestly thought I would have to move into my parents’ basement,” said the 40-something full-time actor, writer, producer and improviser.

“I just feel so relieved that I got in,” she says outside the condo’s brightly painted lobby over the clamour of construction crews working on condo towers to the east and north of her building. “It’s the only way I could live in the city and be where my work is.”

Although Luk says Artscape units with their exposed ceiling pipes and concrete walls, floors and pillars are “pretty bare bones,” the security of an affordable home and the support of fellow artists nearby allows her to focus her energies on her art.

Since Artscape, Gadon has worked with developers and non-profits to secure another dozen apartments and two dozen ownership units for low-income people. The strategy is beginning to offer the possibility of mixed neighbourhoods in Toronto’s growing vertical city.

But the numbers are still small. By comparison, about 285 affordable apartments in rental buildings are under construction or in the planning pipeline.

Councillors Vaughan, Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale) and Ana Bailao (Ward 18, Davenport) who chairs the city’s affordable housing committee, have been champions on the political side.

Together, they have been using Section 37 of the city’s Official Plan — which allows municipalities to grant developers increased height and density in return for public benefits such as public art, parks and daycares — to squeeze affordable units into highrise condominium towers.

Toronto chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat says it is time to make these “one-off” deals explicitly part of the city’s affordable housing tool-box.

Proposed changes would add affordable rental units in condominiums owned and operated by non-profit housing providers and affordable home ownership, built by non-profit charities, to the list of eligible Section 37 benefits.

“It sends a very clear message that this is something that is desired,” Keesmaat says. “So instead of stumbling through this on a case-by-case basis and essentially securing affordable housing simply by will and might, we instead have some more clarity on how it might work when we are going to do it.”

Across the province, Richmond Hill is the only other municipality believed to be using condominium development to add desperately needed housing for low-income people. It recently secured seven affordable rental units in three condo developments.

In Toronto, developer Great Gulf began negotiations in 2008 with the city to donate four condos to the Kehilla Affordable Housing Program.

The non-profit housing provider serving the Jewish community was the first to forge a deal with a developer to acquire condo units, for the nominal cost of $10 each.

Rents — ranging from just under $700 for two bachelor units, to between $700 and $900 for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments — cover condo fees, maintenance and administration costs.

“Will it be repeated? I would hope so,” said Kehilla’s executive director, Nancy Singer.

But she worries the city is jumping on this concept 10 years too late.

“If we had done this when 100,000 (condo) units were being built and if 1 per cent were developed like this, we would have had thousands of units of truly affordable housing at no cost to anybody,” she says.

“But you can’t look backwards, you look forward. The opportunity is still there.”

Other affordable housing in condominiums since 2011

The Bisha Hotel and Residences, 56 Blue Jays Way

Lifetime Developments includes a floor of rent-controlled apartments for hotel workers in its 41-storey hotel-condo project under construction on the old Second City site. It will include five three-bedroom units for families and two studio apartments for singles. Expected occupancy: 2016

Pace, 155 Dundas St. E., at Sherbourne St.

Artscape is working with developer Great Gulf to include 13 below-market ownership units and one rental apartment for artists in the 46-storey tower. Expected occupancy: 2015

Ten York, at Harbour St.

The 62-storey tower being developed by Tridel will include 12 affordable units managed as co-ops by the Co-op Housing Federation of Toronto. Expected occupancy: 2016

210 Simcoe St., north of Queen St.

Diamond Corp.’s 25-storey building near the Ontario College of Art includes four affordable ownership and one affordable rental unit owned and managed by Artscape for artists. Expected occupancy: Summer 2015

159 Wellesley St. E., at Sherbourne St.

Habitat for Humanity is working with Diamond Corp. to secure eight below-market ownership units for families in the 35-storey building. Expected occupancy: to be determined

Next-door-neighbour Robert Dimas said now that he’s been paying attention, he’s noticed her absence. Even the guy who cuts Burns’s grass hasn’t heard from her, but Dimas told him to keep going, even if he has to pay for it himself — he doesn’t want her to think the neighbourhood’s turned their back on her, even if they didn’t know her all that well.

“I’m sure she’s embarrassed as we all would be, wondering what the neighbours are thinking,” he said.

“But if anything we’d want to console her, reach out to her.”

CBC News reported Sunday night that police found new remains on the Ayr, Ont. farm that belonged to Dellen Millard, but forensics investigators have not determined whether the remains are human or animal. Police have never confirmed that Tim Bosma’s remains were found there.

Last weekend, the quiet cul-de-sac was flooded with police cruisers and camera crews after investigators discovered Bosma’s stolen black pickup truck parked in a covered trailer in Burns’s driveway.

Her 27-year-old son, Millard, has been charged with first-degree murder in relation to Bosma’s disappearance. Police have said Burns is not involved in any way; neighbours say Millard rarely visited his mom’s house.

Burns, who has lived at 32 Tinsmith Court for a good 10 years, has always kept to herself. Neighbours never saw much more of her than a friendly wave, but since last Sunday, they haven’t seen her at all.

Dimas doesn’t know where she is, but he hopes that doesn’t mean he’ll see a For Sale sign go up on the house anytime soon — she was a nice lady, he said.

Before the trailer showed up last Thursday, Dimas didn’t even know Burns’s son by name. Dellen Millard rarely visited his mother, he said.

But after the news broke of his arrest, Dimas recognized him in news photos — especially with the bright red Mohawk, as he frequently had brightly coloured hair as a kid, Dimas said.

On May 6, husband and father Tim Bosma, 32, left his Ancaster house with two men — one of whom police allege was Millard — for a test drive in a 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck he’d been trying to sell online.

Police say Millard and his unidentified accomplice murdered Bosma that night, burning the body “beyond recognition,” and stealing his truck.

Far from Tinsmith Court, neighbours on Maple Gate Court — site of Dellen Millard’s house in Etobicoke — said that police were still trickling in and out of their quiet street, just one more indication that the investigation into Bosma’s death is far from over.

On Friday, a man who has done work at a house on the street for years — and did not want to be named for safety reasons — said Toronto Police forensics officers were parked at Millard’s childhood home where his father, pilot Wayne Millard, had lived until his death in December.

In wake of his arrest in connection to Tim Bosma’s murder, Toronto homicide detectives are now investigating whether Millard played a role in the death of his father. The cause of his death last December has never been made public.

The worker said Hamilton Police detectives had come by to pick up surveillance video from the house next door on Saturday.

Hamilton Police were expected to wrap up their forensic analysis of two locations in the Waterloo Region owned by Millard on the weekend.

Millard, 27, of Toronto, faces charges of first-degree murder, forcible confinement and theft in relation to Bosma’s death.

Police confirmed last week that Bosma’s remains had been recovered, but were burned beyond recognition. The location of the discovery has not been confirmed, but an incinerator was seized at the farm property last week.

On Sunday night, CBC News reported that police found new remains on the farm property, but forensic investigators haven’t determined whether the remains are human or animal.

Calls to Hamilton police were not returned over the weekend. Waterloo Regional Police said they have no information relating to the report.

In addition to Bosma’s death, Toronto homicide detectives are now investigating whether Millard played a role in the death of his father, Wayne, last December.

Wayne Millard was reportedly found with a gunshot wound to the left side of his head.

Police are also exploring possible links between Millard and his former girlfriend, who disappeared last year. Laura Babcock, 23, of Toronto was last seen in early July. She also went by the name Elle Ryan.

At the time, Toronto police issued a missing persons alert. Now her disappearance is being investigated by the homicide squad, according to CTV News.

Millard’s lawyer, Deepak Paradkar, said these latest allegations are an attempt to “malign him in the court of public opinion.”

A lone police car was present at the rural Roseville Rd. property Monday.

A flatbed tow truck was also seen entering the property, leaving later with a small Bobcat excavator.

Bouquets of flowers were tied to the wire fence surrounding the farm.

A makeshift memorial with flowers, a photo and messages of condolence has come together on a gated-off driveway.

There was no visible police presence at the Waterloo Region Airport, where Millard owns a massive airplane hangar.

Barricades remain to block off the driveway and an employee for a private security company was on site.

Both properties have been the site of significant searches by police in relation to Bosma’s murder.

Police say video evidence shows Bosma, 32, was followed from his rural Ancaster home by an SUV-type vehicle when he took two men for a test drive May 6 in a truck he was trying to sell online. Police believe Bosma was targeted, but the motive for the crime remains unknown.

Police allege Millard and his unidentified accomplice killed Bosma that night, burning the body “beyond recognition,” and stealing his truck.

On May 7, Millard purchased a $627,524 condo at 70 Distillery Lane in downtown Toronto.

Ten days later, after his arrest, he transferred the condo to his mother for $1.

Friday, Hamilton Police posted a short update into the investigation, saying the forensic analysis of two properties in Waterloo Region and three vehicles seized by investigators were expected to wrap up over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Bosma’s friends have set up a website in his memory, inmemoryoftimbosma.ca, to celebrate a life tragically cut short.