The showpiece transit project all the way to the City Above Toronto is turning into the Disaster Beneath Contempt.  It was revealed today that analysis of the Spadina subway extension, with its terminus at the Vaughan City Centre, is two years late and more than $400 million over budget. It was supposed to be built for $2.5 billion and open this year. Today Mayor John Tory was feeling the heat, even though he could hardly be blamed for whatever man-sized sloppiness caused this embarrassment. He says he is furious and vows to review of all “mismanaged” city projects. He even talked of stopping the project at York University and finishing the subway to Vaughan later. That remark seemed to gore a different ox at Queen’s Park, where Transportation Minister Stephen  Del Duca represents the riding of Vaughan. He said no such delay would occur.   CP24 Twitter 

This video is beautiful in a number of ways. It shows a touching series of human contacts through what is essentially an X-ray view and then surprises onlookers at the gender of the people they were seeing. It was done in Santa Monica, California, which brings us to the weather and the beach. Yeah. Beautiful. The video is said to have viewed some nearly 29 million times on YouTube.

Parliament today saw and heard the short video made by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau before he attacked the House of Commons on October 22, 2014. It was recorded in a parking lot at 464 Metcalfe Street in the capital and, as RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson said, Zehaf-Bibeau was “purposeful and lucid”  as he delivered his little lecture. For all of that, the self-styled avenger is revealed as a crackpot world statesman who invokes the much-loved “suicide pact” justification for attacking the west. He talks about how Canadians must stay to themselves and leave his comrades in Iraq and elsewhere to live under religious law. There is no mention of lopped off heads or the worldwide Caliphate that will dispense with democracy and Western Civilization. (Can you imagine an ISIL wrecking crew at the Art Gallery of Ontario?) The suicide pact justification?  That’s when we force them to kill us by trying to stop them from killing us.

The former CIBC building at 180 Laird is nearing its renovated completion as a Local Public Eatery, an outpost in Leaside of a western Canadian chain of casual restaurants. The building was constructed by the Imperial Bank of Canada to serve employees and businesses across the street in the 1930s. In 1960 the Imperial Bank merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce to create the CIBC. The coat of arms of the Imperial bank may still be seen over what was the front door of the bank but which is now a small front window onto Laird Drive.

With a name like Elton McDonald, Toronto’s once-mysterious tunnel builder may have a head start at parlaying his unique hobby into a new life. The self-effacing young man who quietly fulfilled a childhood dream of building a tunnel for himself and friends is finding celebrity among the media. Is there a niche for this type of work? Elton has been interviewed by the Toronto Sun and then this morning by Kiss 92.5 Radio. “I just want people to know that I meant no harm at all,” McDonald  told the Sun. “It was not meant as a bad thing.” In fact, since he began working in construction at age 17, he said it was his “dream” to build something like that. He built the underground hideaway on land adjacent to his family’s home right near York University.“It was just something I always wanted to do,” he said. “I knew I could do it. It was kind of a fun project for me and some friends.” McDonald projects a  sweet innocence that obviously charmed the police. No matter what they say now. cops were quite concerned about this unexplained chamber. After meeting the builder, it seemed police were prepared to take the secret of McDonald’s name to their grave. It is nice for the City and sober-sided publications like The South Bayview Bulldog to find a pleasant dreamer like Mr. McDonald behind the curtain.

Karen Stintz

Karen Stintz has emerged from the darkest part of winter to write a kind of manifesto for the corner of Eglinton Ave. West and Yonge Street. The former mayoralty candidate, Ward 16 Councillor and TTC chair says the “forlorn wasteland” of TTC lands on Eglinton between Duplex Ave. and Yonge should ultimately become a park. Here is what she says about the choice property. “For the next few years, the site will be used as construction storage for the Eglinton Crosstown. Once the Eglinton Crosstown is up and running, there will no longer be a need to operate buses at that location. If the city wants to develop the area with some condos and office space, it needs to sort out the ownership of the site and consolidate all the pieces. This might be challenging because the TTC sold a portion of the air rights to a developer. The developer hasn’t done anything but could prevent the site from being put to its best use. The other issue is to determine what that is. Although everyone agrees something needs to be done, there are varying opinions on what should take the place of the eyesore: condos, commercial space or public space. The City of Toronto’s planning department conducted an extensive visioning exercise with the community and developed a plan that included high-rise condominiums, wide sidewalks, a new park and a new street to take some of the pressure off Duplex Avenue. The solution lies with a little bit of residential development, a little bit of commercial development and a park big enough to ease the feeling that we are being crowded out of our neighbourhood. It is well-known that North Toronto has a shortage of parks and green space, and the area is growing so rapidly that a new park needs to be part of any redevelopment plan. Eglinton Park is crowded, Toronto District School Board is selling off green space, and land in the area is too expensive for the city to buy in order to make a new park. Given that the city already owns the corner, it is a perfect location. The city won’t make as much money developing a park, but city building involves more than just trying to make a buck. I would also confidently say that, if there was a plan to create a beautiful green space, there would be another issue that would find unanimous agreement.”

Mt. Pleasant Village BIA 

There is an outpouring of goodwill and some joking as well tonight as Harrison Ford recovers in hospital from the crash of his vintage plane onto a golf course in California this afternoon. A popular graphic (above) recalls Indiana Jones all too apt remark that he can “”fly yes, land no.” The 72-year-old is coming along it appears, and in the words of his son, is battered but okay. Pictures show Ford on a stretcher carried from the golf course, masses of reporters on the scene and the famous flying “I didn’t know you could fly a plane” line. L.A.Times  MailOnline Twitter pictures (good) 

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It is silly but such is the nature of promoting your business and the appeal of simple flattery. Go on. Enjoy. Globe and Mail