Police Chief Mark Saunders has told a meeting of Leaside residents that it is necessary to transform policing of traffic in Toronto by the widespread use of modern technology. The chief noted that he has 360 fewer officers now because of budget cuts, creating the lowest TPS complement in recent years  What the chief called “the leveraging technology” of automatic cameras has been his priority since he became head of the service earlier this year. He also spoke of how changes in public attitude toward technology have changed the opportunity for leverage. “I can tell you that 15 years ago there was no public appetite for that. If I spoke to you about utilizing technology for traffic enforcement you would have shooed me out the door.” Frankly, said the chief, people are behaving a lot worse on the roads in 2015 than when he first became a policeman. “Distracted driving is killing more people than impaired driving right now. That’s a cultural change that’s going to take some time to resolve.

LOBBYING GOVERNMENTS

Chief Saunders said the Toronto Police Service has approached governments at all levels to talk about the importance of technology. What’s good said Saunders is that new cameras are cheap (maybe $1,000 each). They are indiscriminate, he said. They measure behaviour.  In countries where such cameras are used “drivers behave” he declared. “It’s not optional. You get the ticket and it reduces fatalities by 20 percent.”  In answer to questions, Chief Saunders said new and compact camera equipment will replace a few bulky and obsolete units now being used. At present, the cameras are obvious and the effect is to improve local behaviour temporarily at a few locations.

NUMBER ONE IN SAFETY

The chief was asked about the behaviour of pedestrians. He said that headphones and distracted walking were a concern but in terms of people injured compared to previous decades “there’s not much of a difference.” The chief made a plea for families to talk about good practice in both driving and walking. He emphasized the need for pedestrians to look before plunging into the road on a green light. He spoke of how safe Toronto is in relative terms. “We’re at 2.8 million right now in a very small geographic space. We get along really well. When you compare our City to all the other cities in North America were are still ranked the safest by far,” said Chief Saunders.

MOTION BEFORE CITY COUNCIL 

The meeting was organized by Councillor Jon Burnside and held at the Lea Room at Leaside Arena Tuesday, November 3, 2015. He has a motion before City Council calling for technology based traffic enforcement much like the ideas expressed by the Chief. Mr. Burnside reviewed community concerns and said he wanted residents to hear from the police about their challenges in meeting public expectations. Some residents in attendance were Carol Burtin Fripp, Patrick Rocca and Geoff Kettel.

Carrie Tse’s school of creative arts has a nice holiday opportunity for little ones. The Littlest Elf Workshop proceeds through November 12 to December 17, 2015. Carrie Tse of Bamboo Bay creative school of arts is a well-known and trusted teacher. Her studio is upstairs right at the corner of Bayview and Millwood.

Sears Canada has hired a veteran of the Canadian retail industry to be its president and chief merchant — a new position created to try to restore confidence in the struggling department store operator. Carrie Kirkman has most recently been interim president of shoe retailer Nine West Canada and was president of Jones Apparel Group from October 2010 until last April. Kirkman will work with Brandon G. Stranzl, who has been executive chairman of Sears Canada since the departure of Ronald Boire, who was chief executive and president of the troubled Canadian department store company for less than a year.

Owning enormous debt makes people behave in strange ways. It seems Ontario’s nearly $300 billion public burden has prompted the Liberals to throw out previously sacred principles in favour of wangling a couple of dollars in road tolls. So it is that HOV (or high occupany) gospel is being re-written to make HOT lanes (toll roads) the new holy truth of highways. It doesn’t help the air quality, but it might give Ontario some breathing room on Wall Street. It is said we will know by the end of the year exactly where the Liberal government intends to establish HOT lanes and what the fees will be for using them. But they are coming and those who can afford cars, fuel and licenses will become the new darlings of correct conduct. Phooey to those ride-for-free car-pool sillies. The transportation minister says the government will not be removing regular lanes to create HOT lanes. He dismisses concerns that the HOV lanes created for the Pan Am Games caused a 73 per cent increase in accidents compared with the same July-August period in each of the previous four years. “HOV lanes don’t cause accidents,” said Mr. Del Duca, blaming the spike in collisions on “motorists who aren’t paying attention to the conditions of the road.” Thanks for your concern minister.

It appears Bayview Ave. is hardly worth mentioning as far as our Metrolinx station-naming brains are concerned. The LRT station at Eglinton Ave. E. and Bayview will see the name Leaside ace out Bayview, according to naming plans so far. Leaside is a historic name and will no doubt please many.

MT  PLEASANT

There could be little dispute with this name for the pretty little former bank building that will be the station at this important street. The Second Cup is now gone and those who have a special appreciation of the 1920s Bank of Commerce building are hoping it  doesn’t lose the graceful Palladian front door in renovations.

WHY NOT COWBELL?

Why does this important transportation junction need a boring name like Eglinton (current choice) or Yonge. Why not a local name rooted in the 19th Century? No dozy straphanger will daydream his way past Cowbell station. Just to the east of Yonge is the Salvation Army North Toronto Citadel which will be expropriated for an LRT exit. It sits on Cowbell Lane, a sweet name hearkening to the time farm kids could hear the cattle being herded home from grazing on the then non-existent Eglinton Ave.

LAIRD

Laird is certainly the safest bet for the station at this intersection  It remembers one of the executives of the Canadian Northern Railway Eastern Line that created Leaside. It will be a heck of a hike to the reaches of the homes on Aerodrome Crescent because there is no station at Brentcliffe.

SUNNYBROOK PARK

This station in the valley was to be called Leslie and some will no doubt prefer that. Other stations to the east are set to be named after important institutions like the Science Centre and the Aga Khan Museum. Then there will be Wynford, Bermondsey, Wexford (which is really Victoria Park) Pharmacy, Lebovic, Golden Mile, Birchmount,  Ionview and Kennedy  Some people have bitterly criticized the choice of  Wexford over Victoria Park. Still, Wexford places the station better on a very long street.

Parents of a child in the East York neighborhood near Eastwood Rd. and Woodbine Ave. have found a thumb tack imbedded in a Kit Kat candy bar that was handed out at one of the homes visited by children. It was found Monday, November 2, 2015, at 5 p.m., as parents were checking a Halloween loot bag. No injuries were reported. The Toronto Police Service is asking parents to be vigilant and always thoroughly check all candy received from Halloween loot bags.

Ontario has reached a tentative deal with public elementary teachers, ending a work-to-rule campaign that began last spring. Most critically for parents and children, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario says it is advising its members to suspend their strike action. The settlement apparently means the government doesn’t have to follow through on its threat to dock the pay of teachers on administrative strikes. CP24

The little no-name plaza at the corner of Laird Drive and Eglinton Ave. E. is as good as vacant. Everyone is gone except Pizza Nova and they will depart Friday to open at the old Service Ontario storefront on the north side of Eglinton. The strip mall has been a neighborhood haunt and hang out for decades. Notice was given by Metrolinx for tenants to get out by October 15, 2015. Work will begin shortly on the main station for the LRT at this intersection. Over at Wiseys Pies and Bakehouse and the next door Starbucks things are even busier. The plaza held a Mac’s, Great Canadian Bagel, Second Cup, Mr. Sub and Pizza Nova.

There will be an opportunity to remember and celebrate the life of Ray Ratchford on Sunday November 8 at Original’s Ale House in Toronto. It goes from 1 to 3 p.m. Originals is located at 1660 Bayview Ave. in Ray’s “hood”.  Ray Ratchford memorial  Bayview regular Ray Ratchford found dead at home.