Governor General Mary Simon

A 21-gun salute has echoed across the City as Governor General Mary Simon was received at the Ontario Legislature. The cannons were heard in neighbourhoods north of Eglinton in some cases.

Lots of different brands

Bears say goodbye, but why?

Kraft announced that the two cuddly bears on the front of its peanut butter jars would soon be gone. It was an April Fool’s joke published a full 24 hours in advance. We fell for it but then, it might just as well have been announced on February 15 or July 1, for that matter. Maybe they’ll give the sales receipts to charity.

Tien Ly, 46

Dallas Ly, 20

Toronto Police have identified the woman whose body was found partly dismembered near the corner of Eastern Ave and Berkshire Ave about 1.30 p.m. Monday afternoon. The remains of Tien, Lym 46, were in a plastic bag. Now police are seeking her son, Dallas Ly, 20, and say they are concerned for his well being.

Belsize Drive

The long-time residents association known as SERRA (South Eglinton Ratepayers and Residents Assocation) has changed its name to better reflect the area it represents. Its new name is South Eglinton Davisville Residents Association or SEDRA. Here are the executives of the newly renamed body.

The huge municipal union known as CUPE 79 is struggling with allegations of under-the-table payoffs between its two top executives as described below in a tweet Wednesday from the Toronto Star. They are David Mitchell and Jason Chan. CUPE 79 members serve as nurses, planners, clerks, social service employees, cleaners, court services staff, ambulance dispatchers, child care worker,s and many other occupations.

CUPE National asked for the resignations after being informed by OMERS that it had probed concerns that Chan — who sat on the OMERS “Sponsors Corporation” board — had been forwarding a portion of his $46,000 “annual retainer” for board duties to Mitchell.https://t.co/0P6i3CjWMQ

— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) March 30, 2022

Eastern Ave and Berkshire Ave

Police have reported a grisly discovery of a woman’s partly dismembered body in a garbage bag at or near the corner of Eastern Ave and Berkshire Ave Monday afternoon. The victim is described as having a light complexion, 5’2″, 118 lbs. with short dark shoulder-length hair. The woman’s remains have distinctive green-painted fingernails. She wore an Armani Exchange shirt (see pictures below). Investigators are appealing to members of the public who were in the area of Berkshire Avenue and Eastern Avenue between 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., who may have observed anyone pushing a foldable shopping cart filled with black waste bags to contact police immediately. Anyone driving in the area at that time with a dashcam is urged to contact the Toronto Police  Homicide Uni at (416) 808-7400. Local Facebook comments

Painted fingernails and toenails

Armani shirt

A special weather statement warning of freezing rain is in your Wednesday forecast. We’ve had a bit of a false start to Spring but Thursday’s high of 15º Celius may hold more promise for a stretch of better weather.

Kids with cancer land in Toronto

Will Scotland be my new home?

“I hear it is very beautiful”

Is there any sanity at all left in the world? Late reports say that Russia will scale back attacks on the Ukrainian capital as talks continue. The heartbreaking cost of Putin’s apparent megalomania is seen among the children being housed in adjoining countries like Poland and Romania. Five Ukrainian kids with cancer are now at the Hospital for Sick Children. And a planeload of orphans has arrived in Scotland. It was a huge challenge to get them there.

Two parents and three children who died in a smokey house fire in Brampton Monday have been identified as dad Nazir Ali, mom Raven Ali-O’Dea and Alia, 10, Jayden, eight, and Layla, seven. The cause of the fire remains undetermined but family members suggested that the home on Conestoga Drive did not have working fire/smoke alarms.

QEW near St. Catharines

Minister Caroline Mulroney has confirmed that six sections of four-lane highway will become permanent 110 km/h roads. The province launched a pilot project in 2019 to boost the speeds on certain areas of highway across the province. Canadian Press says it has learned that those speed limits will now be made permanent as of April 22. The roads in question are the Queen Elizabeth Way from Hamilton to St. Catharines, Highway 402 from London to Sarnia, Highway 417 from Ottawa to the Quebec border, Highway 401 from Windsor to Tilbury and Highway 404 from Newmarket to Woodbine.

Mayor worries in advance about Ontario Line disruption

Mayor Tory took the chance to say he’s worried about the impact of construction as he and Premier Ford attended the groundbreaking for the 16-kilometre Ontario Line Monday. “It is a subject of huge concern to me,” Tory said about the disruption to local businesses. And the high-rise tower mushrooms that follow new transit lines have already begun in Newmarket.

NDP and Liberals make replacement workers illegal

Unions are applauding pending legislation that will make “scabs” or replacement workers illegal during a union strike. The NDP/Liberal deal promises to introduce a new law by the end of next year that would ban such workers in the federal sector.

The province of Ontario and the federal government have signed a $13.2-billion agreement to lower the cost of child care to parents to an average of $10 a day by September 2025.