Month: September 2016

Highway 401 mayhem in Cambridge, Keele St. accidents

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Seven people have been hurt and some are said to be in critical condition after an accident on Highway 401 near Cambridge. It happened in the eastbound lanes of the highway near Highway 6 shortly after 3 a.m.  A tractor-trailer struck a guard rail and a short time later, an SUV rear-ended the truck. Speed is considered to be a factor. And on the same highway near Keele Street a woman was found without vital signs after a collision in the westbound lanes. She has been declared dead. The westbound express lanes were closed for the investigation, but have since reopened.

Immigration to Canada up 33.3 percent in a single year

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Some 300,000 immigrants landed in Canada in the past year. It is the highest number since record-keeping began in 1971, Statistic Canada says. July to July figures show that 320,932 immigrants arrived. The largest element of these was the 25,000 Syrian refugees which the federal Liberals agreed to settle here. That number is a 33.3-percent increase over the prior year, when 240,844 immigrants came to Canada.

Baby escapes fatal defect courtesy “third genetic parent”

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Fertility doctors using a brand new technique to eliminate inherited disease have helped a woman deliver a baby with “three genetic parents.” The child who is now five months old, has the usual DNA from his mother and father, plus a small amount of genetic code from an unknown female donor. The method was carried out in Mexico by U.S. Dr. John Zhang and his team because the procedure is illegal in the U.S.

Ontario hints at cutting Bombardier out of subway action

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The Globe and Mail says Wednesday the Ontario government is offering bidders for work on the Finch Ave. West subway a chance to quote on the vehicles which will roll on the rails there. It is a slap at Bombardier — the more or less sacred manufacturer of Canadian streetcars and subways trains. Of course, Bombardier can’t get the job done. The Globe seems to think Ontario might act on its own to cut Bombardier out of the Finch Ave. action but it seems unlikely. It is safe to say the federal Liberals would do anything to prevent such a damaging decision to their status in Quebec.

“Microtransit” to replace 40-foot buses that are empty?

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Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong has discussed the concept of TTC “microtransit” prior to Wednesday’s meeting to explore this type of service. Things that stand out are Mr. Minnan-Wong’s concern about “40-foot buses that are virtually empty”. Transit overkill perhaps. It is a thought that has crossed the mind of more than one taxpayer. Minnan-Wong says that microtransit services are already employed in places like New York, Boston and San Francisco. In Kansas City they call it the “pop-up bus”. In KC and elsewhere, a seat on a pop-up bus may be ordered by app. But some follow a regular route. In San Francisco they are called Chariots. These buses are driven by municipal, unionized employees. You know who you are dealing with. CBC

 

Isreali statesman Shimon Peres succumbs to stroke at 93

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Shimon Peres

Shimon Peres, the former Israeli prime minister, president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, has died at the age of 93. The Israeli statesman suffered a stroke two weeks ago and died in hospital in Tel Aviv early on Wednesday. Most notably, he won a Nobel peace prize along with Palestinian Leader Yassir Arafat and former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin for attempts to reconcile Jews and Arabs in the Levant

Harris work Mountain Forms to be auctioned in November

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The 1926 Rocky Mountain oil canvas Mountain Forms, now owned by the Imperial Oil Co., will be auctioned in November at the Heffel Fine Art Auction House in Yorkville  Six of the top 10 paintings sold at a Canadian art auction in recent years are by Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris. He was born in Brantford in 1885 and died in Vancouver in 1970. Harris is a revered part of Canadian art history but his fame has grown in recent times after an international exhibition that took his work to places like Los Angeles and Boston. The exhibition was given added impetus by the role of actor Steve Martin, an owner of Harris art, who co-curated the exhibit. Guessing about the value of the canvas, a depiction of Mount Ishbel in the Rocky Mountain Sawback range near Lake Louise, runs to $3 and $5 million. Nice profile of Harris in Toronto Life 

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Mountain Forms