Julie Hamp

Toyota’s poster executive for diverse hiring, Julie Hamp, has been arrested in Japan for trying to smuggle 60 Oxycodone pills into the country by mail order. Ms Hamp is an American who is the highest-ranking woman in the automaker’s history.She has denied the allegation. She told Tokyo police that she did not think that she had imported narcotics. Toyota  declined to comment beyond saying it was looking into the matter, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether Hamp had a lawyer. Ms. Hamp is the Chief Communications Officer of Toyota North America and Group Vice President at Toyota Motor Corporation. She has had similar positions at PepsiCo and General Motors. The arrest cast a pall over efforts by Toyota’s chief executive, Akio Toyoda, to diversify top management at the world’s largest auto maker by sales. Hamp, 55, is the first woman to hold the title of managing officer at Toyota and handles corporate communications.  Oxycodone is a legal prescription painkiller in both the U.S. and Japan, but Japanese law tightly controls imports of the drug and other narcotics. It is also tightly controlled in Ontario where Oxycodone deaths multiplied in the early years of the century. Those found guilty of importing Oxycodone illegally face one to 10 years in prison. A package addressed to Hamp is said to have contained 60 tablets. It was intercepted by customs officers earlier this month. The tablets were placed at the bottom of the package, a person briefed on the case told MarketWatch.

Black smoke from a rooftop fire in Parkdale added drama to evening

Toronto firefighters were finally able to access the roof of this apartment on Springhurst Avenue, near King Street West, to bring this fire under control. This shot is from the phone of a motorist on the Gardiner about 6 p.m. Inset shot was tweeted by John Podolec of CTV.

Yes, it is a cheeky thing to say but not such a foreign idea to those who insist that carding has ruined their lives. These fearful statements may be factual in every case. It was former mayor Barbara Hall at the historic meeting of civic leaders last month who said that carding was “destroying people.”  What would comfortable Leasiders say if the police walked up and started asking their kids why they were cluttering up Sunnybrook Plaza? The answers mostly would be “12-inch Sub” or maybe “the Metro hot tray”. But never mind. What such an improbable interaction might do is shed light on just how tough it is to be carded. We make no judgment.  Today the carding drama saw Mayor Tory all over the place on the topic. Instead of calling for a complete end to carding (as he was pledged to do last night)  Mr. Tory voted for the return of something called the 2014 policy. It was never implemented but apparently it permits police to speak to people  Cops have to tell a subject he can walk away, record data in a uniform way and provide a receipt. Seems reasonable but we shall see. The end to carding would be a blessing if everyone could agree that it was not critical to crime fighting.  And it seems curious the subject isn’t before the Supreme Court. Toronto wants to know what Beverly Mclaughlin might say.