Of basket weavers and mall walkers

Order of Ontario

ABOVE THE FOLD

DOUG FORD’s post-long weekend presser is, naturally, generating buzz…

The Premier mused about the possibility of changing retail rules that forces most shopping centres to close on Family Day, saying he wanted to go to Home Depot on the holiday Monday, but couldn’t. “I’ve got so many people wanting to go to shopping malls…I always say everyone deserves a rest, take your holidays, but there are a whole bunch of people that want to get that little extra overtime.”

Ford said he’s heard from the Retail Council of Canada, which reps store owners, that there’s demand to keep malls like Yorkdale and Sherway Gardens open. For now, he’s “just throwing that out there” and “will look into it and find out how realistic it is.”

Ford himself was working on the long weekend, including taking “thousands of calls” — (perhaps on his personal cellphone, records for which he’s fighting to keep under wraps) — from students upset about cuts to OSAP grants, which will be whittled down from 85 p…