Month: September 2016

The Liberal government says it will remove the Ontario portion of the HST from hydro bills. In Ontario, the provincial portion of the 13 percent HST is eight percent. It was just nine months ago that Ontario scrapped the Clean Energy Benefit, which provided a 10-per-cent reduction on all parts of electricity bills, including the HST. But the Liberals aren’t through with spending. They announced a commitment to create an additional 100,000 licensed child care spaces for kids aged four and under over five years, starting in 2017. The government also promises to put a new emphasis on math skills after half of all Grade 6 students failed to meet the provincial math standard this year, continuing a steady decline in test scores over the past five years.

Services for former Toronto police chief William McCormack were held at St. Paul’s Basilica Monday. Here is an excellent summary from the Toronto Police website.

The family of fmr Toronto police chief Mike McCormack has arrived for the funeral service pic.twitter.com/RR7EsY0PlJ

— Cindy Pom (@CindyPom) September 12, 2016

WATCH LIVE: Funeral for former police chief William McCormack https://t.co/sfPSR2hcob pic.twitter.com/Gf4O5sFlok

— CP24 (@CP24) September 12, 2016

PHOTOS Funeral for former @TorontoPolice Chief Bill McCormack https://t.co/YAJnK5aBt0 pic.twitter.com/hpw23GUeEh

— Kevin Masterman (@tpspix) September 12, 2016

Stephen Harper has accepted an affiliation with the large multi-national law firm Dentons. The former prime minister and his firm, Harper & Associates Consulting, will work out of Dentons’ Calgary office and be engaged as a consultant with the firm’s worldwide staff and clients. Although Dentons is huge, it is far from being a household name. Check out Dentons by Wikipedia

Prince George and Princess Charlotte will join their parents on a tour to Canada which starts a week Saturday, Kensington Palace confirmed today. The three-year-old Royal and his one-year-old sister are expected be the star attractions when they touch down in Victoria with William and Kate on September 24. The visit is confined to British Columbia and the Yukon with George and Charlotte being based at Government House in Victoria with their nanny Maria Borrallo. The royal kids will be photographed as they arrive and leave the country and will also be seen during at least one official engagement during the trip.

It will be nice but cooler to begin the week and temperatures will start their slow downward slide as the days of Autumn approach.

A smokey fire of tires and railways ties caused a spectacle in Mississauga at Dundas Street East and Cawthra Road in Mississauga at around 5 p.m.

Fire at Dundas & Cawthra @MissiNewsRoom @MississaugaFES @CP24 pic.twitter.com/CJhjEomHVJ

— MathieuMatics (@mathieumatics) September 11, 2016

The Leaside Wildcats held their FUNdraiser skills event Sunday at Leaside arena. Girls with a competitive sense and skating skills were there to see just how far they might go toward winning a berth on the Junior Wildcats team in the years to come. Big sisters from the big-league Cats were there personally to coach the tykes (7 and under) novice (9 and under) and atom (10 and under) girls. Below we see the Atoms in part of their exercises.  Watch the little girl in the gray jersey and red socks with the word “Fierce” on the back. Not her family name but it looks like she may live up to that description just the same.

https://youtu.be/TkgEiRkuEF8&start=99&end=168

A fire alarm brought crews running from the McRae Drive fire hall midafternoon Sunday when bells started ringing at the Winners store in the SmartCentre on Laird Drive. The alarm was a false one but it took a while for staff to trickle back into the store as customers waited while the manager shouted “Back to work!”

Following her apparent fainting while leaving the 911 ceremonies Sunday, her doctor has announced that Hillary Clinton has pneumonia. Her campaign tour is temporarily suspended.

Video has been posted on YouTube showing a bus driver using a cell phone as he wheels his vehicle along a City street. The TTC says it has identified a driver in question. A 12-second video posted to YouTube by user C Stan on Saturday shows the driver tapping on a mobile device with one hand and steering with the other as the bus travels down a house-lined street while oncoming cars pass by. TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told CBC News in an email that the video was brought to the TTC’s attention on Friday. It was taken on the 20 Cliffside route in Scarborough, and Ross believes it was shot late Thursday afternoon.  Mr. Ross said the self-evident: “This is a very serious matter and the TTC is treating it as such given the enormous responsibility it has for the safety of its customers and all road users.” YouTube

Fourteen large-breed dogs have died at a Saskatoon boarding kennel when a heating malfunction caused an upstairs room to overheat. Cause of death is said to be heat exhaustion. The dogs were all pets of customers of the Playful Paws veterinary and dog boarding facility in the City. The animals included a border collie, Newfoundland lab, golden retriever, catahoula and a border collie/German shepherd puppy.

ICYMI: 14 dogs found dead at a kennel after an overnight heating malfunction #yxe #cbcsaskhttps://t.co/JfMbP9Jn9F

— CBC Saskatoon (@CBCSaskatoon) September 11, 2016

A young man was shot outside a club on Mowat Street in Liberty Village about 4 a.m. Sunday morning. The victim, 20, has life-threatening wounded after he was shot in the face outside the bar. In a second incident, police are searching for suspects in a shotgun shooting in Scarborough shortly before midnight at Kingston Road and Overture Road. A man aged in his 20s is seriously injured in this occurrence.