Preville on Politics

The Toronto Lexicon, Entry No. 1

Posted on March 7, 2007 by Philip Preville

Billion (bíl’-yen) n 1. The cardinal number equal to 10 to the power of 9, most frequently used in reference to money. 2. A lot of money. 3. Not nearly enough money, esp. when it refers to money provided to the city by other levels of government. 4. The minimum amount of money Stephen Harper must spend in order to convince Torontonians he believes in public transit.

The Toronto Lexicon is an ongoing project by this blog to provide precise and accurate definitions of terms as they are used in local political parlance. Tune in for regular additions.

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Philip Preville

Veteran freelance writer Philip Preville lived much of his life in Montreal and Edmonton before he was lured, like so many Torontonians before him, by the promise of more work and a better living. A National Magazine Award winner and former Canadian Journalism Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, Preville writes Toronto Life’s politics column. He lives with his wife and one-year-old son in Riverdale, just close enough to the Don Valley Parkway that he can hear it when he steps outside his house—but just far enough away that it doesn’t keep him awake at night. On his office wall hangs a 1938–39 press pass belonging to his grandfather, Elias Gannon, who wrote for the Montreal Star.


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