Globe and Mail 

The “average” property tax increase for a home in Toronto will be some $83 but you aren’t living in an average home. Sigh. Wait for the bill to see what the total property. garbage and water increases do to your budget. Toronto Star  City release 

Erika Lamb, the 16-year-old skier from Burlington, has succumbed to injuries which occurred during a collision with a tree at Blue Mountain Ski Resort Tuesday. OPP  at Collingwood confirmed that Erika had died at Sunnybrook Hospital where she had been transferred by helicopter shortly after the accident. She had been wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. She was a member of the Milton Heights Racing Club and was attending an event the Collingwood-area ski resort for the Gooch Cup, hosted by the Toronto Ski Club. Alpine Ontario said the athlete was free skiing, not racing, at the time of the accident. There are many condolences posted to Twitter at Erika Lamb

 

Rosie DiManno in the Hamilton Spectator 

Police at 54 Division warn of a scam that involves unsuspecting people sending money to help a friend or relative who has an emergency in another City. An  area man was contacted by an unknown person who identified himself as his grandson and claimed to have been in an accident in Montreal  The caller said he had been arrested and was in a courthouse and required money to pay for bail  The victim of this fraud did send funds by Western Union and was also contacted by someone posing as his grandson’s lawyer in Montreal to obtain the confirmation number for the Western Union money transfer  Of course none of this was legitimate. The real grandson knew nothing about it and did not require money. Police urge members of the public to exercise caution and to speak with other family members before transferring funds to a family member who is reported to be in distress.

Shad, a congenial, award-winning hippity-hopper type of musician, will become the new host of CBC’s cultural affairs radio show Q, which will retain its name as it relaunches in mid-April. It seems odd the CBC will stick with a program name so associated with the discredited Jian Gomeshi but right or wrong, there it is. CBC says the 32-year-old is a multiple Juno-nominated artist who has drawn praise in Canada and the U.S. for his humour, passion and originality, winning in 2011 for Rap Recording of the Year. Born in Kenya to Rwandan parents, Shadrach Kabango was raised in London, Ont., going on to earn a business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a master’s degree in liberal studies from Simon Fraser University.

OPP say distracted driving deaths will likely surpass those of impaired driving for the seventh consecutive year. Police figures show that driver inattention has been the reason for 12 of 51 fatal collisions so far in 2015. It’s no secret most of it comes from the cell phone suite of activities ranging from reading the mail to calling your pals. The news comes as Ontario police launches their annual distracted driving campaign this weekend. “Distracted driving is a danger to all road users. Fortunately, these same road users are in a position to help put a stop to it,” said Chief Superintendent Chuck Cox, Commander of the OPP Highway Safety Division, in a media release.

It is a memorable moment in the public discourse of our country. Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau are seeking to find the essence of personal freedom on separate sides of an argument about the black face covering worn by some Muslim women. It’s called the niqab and is quite legal in Canada, unlike France where that cradle of European liberalism banned the garment some years ago. Here it’s just fine to shop, use your credit card or even drive a car, visibility notwithstanding, while wearing the niqab. There are constraints on the niqab however in swearing an oath or testifying in court. The issue became political fodder when a woman insisted on wearing her niqab to take the oath of citizenship. The government said no. Today Mr. Harper said that was offensive. He called the niqab the product of a culture that is “anti-women.”  In a speech Monday, Mr. Trudeau said Canadians, presumably including Harper, are free to believe the niqab is “a symbol of oppression.” But using the state’s power to compel Muslim women to give it up indulges “the very same repressive impulse.” And then the critical search for the essence of freedom  “It is a cruel joke to claim you are liberating people from oppression by dictating in law what they can and cannot wear.” said  the Liberal leader. So, does freedom lie with those who say the niqab a medieval constraint on women or in the embrace of the niqab as any woman’s choice (for herself and her daughter) in any circumstance no matter how formal in Canadian life.

This is all about technology that will probably be required at Billy Bishop (Toronto Island) after it grows to the size of Ottawa International Airport. That’s the reasonable estimate of the relatively early growth at the island if jets arrive. The island is a classic case of an airport where the runway leaves pilots with no crash room and there are dozens of them in the U.S. The so-called EMAS (Engineered Material Arresting System) consists of large blocks of material at the end of the runway which break up when a jet smashes into them. The friction will stop a loaded 767 abruptly but safely. The issue at the island is that once jets are installed, it will impossible to prevent every regional airline on the continent from demanding a piece of the runways. It will be crowded.