Month: July 2019

Trudeau Airport in Montreal/Karol Dahl Global News

People passing in and out of Canada at Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal Sunday faced huge lineups caused by what was called a national outage of the Canada Border Services Agency’s primary inspection kiosks and Nexus trusted traveller system. Arriving passengers had to fill out customs forms manually. The still-unexplained collapse ended later in the afternoon. Jenny Duncan, a spokesperson for Vancouver International Airport says YVR was notified of the outage around 7 a.m. Pacific Time and international flight arrivals began to get busier around 11 a.m. Passengers at Pearson’s Terminal 3 told CP24 that the outage is causing a several hour wait to clear international customs. At its peak, the congestion caused arrived flights to wait on the tarmac because there was no room for the passengers in the terminals.

Aircraft could not dock at terminal/Tom Podelec

Pink Lady at work

How’s your summer? A gal in a baseball cap carrying a pink purse is spending her July robbing banks on the US east coast. Then, a Manitoba survivalist has a cogent comment or two on the chances of Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky eluding the RCMP and the army. Not likely. Still with crime, the CBC wraps up that drug bust involving two Sunwing baggage handlers. Finally, the stunning Fortnite phenomenon. It’s a barely two-year-old E-game creation of Epic Games Inc. that seems to be swallowing an entire generation of male tweens in one gulp. Or had you noticed?

Switches cards at door

Service with a smile

Intercepts pizza delivery

Police have released pictures of three men suspected of pulling the old bank card switcheroo on unsuspecting pizza customers. Toronto police say that since mid-July they, and other GTA police, have been dealing with at least three felons who somehow “intercept” pizzas being delivered to homes. At the door, if the customers pay with a debit card the fiddlers gain both the PIN and the card, giving the owner a lookalike card. The accused then go straight to an ATM and empty the account. If you know any of these men call the financial crime units at (416) 808-7300. Earlier

A single ticket sold somewhere in British Columbia claimed Friday night’s $60 million Lotto Max jackpot. The draw also included six Maxmillion prizes of $1 million each, however, none of them were won. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on July 30 will be approximately $16 million.

Toronto actress Katie Griffin

Shooting New York series on Bayview Ave.

The movie and entertainment news site IMDb has now posted a brief notice of the Netflix future series Grand Army, a few scenes of which were shot at Passion Fruits on Bayview Ave. in June. Among those listed as appearing in the first six episodes is Toronto actress and animation voice artist Katie Griffin.

In need of relief

The Ford government scheme to replace the City’s Relief Line has been released to questions about its feasibility and cost. As described here by City News reporter Faiza Amin, the ambitious plan for a downtown subway and expanded GO train service has some Toronto skeptics asking about how it can all be done and the added cost. If the Ontario Line could be opened tomorrow however it would offer highly integrated TTC-GO connections and 90-second headway GO service downtown. Readers will groan to learn that “summer break” means Council will next consider the matter in October.

Toronto Police say that the disappearance and suspected theft of a pup named Gucci from outside the Loblaws store at Maple Leaf Gardens has now been classified as a m=isunderstanding. The dog has been returned to the owner.

Trust, small-office routine and a topic that can make the eyes glaze over (finances) seem to have been a recipe for a $2.4 million fraud at the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, says a former executive director of the body, Graham Brown. Brown spoke with a TorStar reporter for a story published on Thursday, the same day that Jennifer Robinson,  once the financial director of the OMHA, was set to be in court on the fraud. No word has come forward on that appearance.  Police have said that how the money was taken and how it was concealed are part of the investigation and cannot be revealed. OMHA’s Jennifer Robinson faces $2.4 million fraud rap