The Bulldog

Can class warfare win Doug Ford the mayoralty?

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It is certainly among the most unique and nastiest campaign tricks ever seen in Toronto politics. Doug Ford has unveiled an attack on rival John Tory as a man who is unfit to be mayor because he was born with a silver spoon his mouth. Yes, Tory is running for mayor without having served on council, but that will not be the bone that plugs the stomach of Ford Nation. No.  Rather it is the view of Tory as a spoiled rich kid who has never had to work for anything in his life. Someone who has been parachuted into job after job in a way that none of them could ever experience. It is a picture that has been colour-adjusted and enlarged to excite envy and resentment. It’s a terribly twisted picture too but there can be no denying Mr. Tory’s privileged background nor the opportunities he has had in life. Today Mr. Ford planted that class warfare seed and then gave voters a thin excuse to believe that Tory doesn’t know how the City works. John Tory seems to be playing it cool but his reaction to this afternoon’s onslaught has been well sprinkled with the word bully. 

Tory’s dilemma: Be tough without scaring people

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Those who want to get immersed in what happened at the rowdy mayoral debate last night can sample the opinion of writers below.  It was apparently a brutal affair in which Ford Nation attendees screamed at Olivia Chow to  go back to China (Christie Blatchford) and in which Rob Ford and John Tory hurled a stunning series of insults at each other (Marcus Gee). Ford may have been most effective — although typically unpleasant — as he numbered off the council votes in which he and his brother had engineered lop-sided votes to accomplish their agenda. This in response to Tory’s claim that they could not achieve consensus. Olivia Chow ground away at her somewhat narrow and possibly accurate concern that Tory’s showpiece Smart Track plan will require tunnelling in the Weston area. Some say Tory was not ready for the ferocity of the debate. This is not a serious criticism if he can make voters believe that he will be an effective protector of their pocketbooks. That is the Ford cache to debunk. Tory’s dilemma is to make it clear he will be tough without frightening people. Google leads on debate     

Harvest Fair on Mount Pleasant this Saturday

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Merchants of  Mount Pleasant Village will hold their annual Harvest Fair this Saturday (September 27, 2014). From 10 a.m to 4 p.m. They celebrate “all things Autumn.” This year there will be a sidewalk sale, food samples, giveaways, prizes, an apple-pie eating contest, pumpkin pie bake off and a pumpkin-carving contest. The first 100 guests at the Petting Zoo at the Mount Pleasant Village BIA booth and pumpkin-carving contest will receive a free gift from the BIA. There will also be an opportunity to win one of 5 $100 Mount Pleasant Village gift certificates and participate in a Scavenger Hunt to win great prizes. Sounds like fun. Website 

Wonderful picture from 1965 worth another look

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Here is a popular local picture treasure reproduced and tweeted by Rudy Limeback, We see Millwood Road looking east from Bayview Ave. in 1965 and today. A larger rendering of the picture showing the then Esso and Shell stations on the south corners of Millwood can be seen at Rudy.ca   We loved it in 2009 too with some detail of what is where now.   

Loblaws opens online-grocery pilot project

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Loblaws will run a pilot program in Richmond Hill which permits shoppers to buy groceries online and then pick them up at a drive through at the store. It is known as click-and-collect. The above diagram shows how the British supermarket chain Tesco explains it to customers. It appears that you have to undertake to pick up your groceries within a certain two-hour period. According to the Toronto Star, the Loblaws at 301 High Tech Rd. has been set up with a bright orange click-and-collect area that includes assigned parking. Customers will be able to have the groceries they chose and pay for online, loaded into their vehicles. Loblaws announced the idea in brief earlier this year. “The service is not yet available to the public, but we’re excited by the prospect of offering busy customers another option to complete their shopping, saving considerable time in the process,” said Loblaw spokesperson Kevin Groh. Pick and pay is said to be a popular option for grocery shopping in Europe. 

Naughty pictures online? It’s Mom’s rule vs United Nations

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emmaThere was a time when many mothers considered their most important coming-of-age lesson for any daughter to be: Never let anyone — anyone — take a picture of you unless you’re fully dressed. Yes, we know, those days are gone forever but it might surprise readers of the Internet how  many women both young and — um — less young tend to live by this effective rule. On the other hand, millions of others have embraced the view that being naked is protected by an array of UN sponsored human rights. It seems one of these rights ensures that a celebrity can be naked on the web without anyone finding out. Variations of this include the right to be unbothered by hackers who somehow unlock naked pictures from the cloud. What the Bulldog trips over, apart from his big silly tongue, is an utter lack of faith in his own gender. How on earth could any woman — the UN notwithstanding — trust men to behave. As a sex they are scoundrels. In the case of Emma Watson the revelation of certain pictures is blamed on someone who was upset with her recent defense of feminism.

Debate so far is better than Jimmy Kimmel

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The mayoral debate taking place at York Memorial Collegiate this evening is live on CP24. Shortly after 8 p.m. candidates John Tory, Olivia Chow and Doug Ford were locked in fearful combat over transit. As the front runner, Tory was under attack from the other two with Ms Chow predicting an obscenity of  bulldozed daycare centres and backyards to achieve the Smart Track plan. Mr. Ford decried Tory’s LRT vision which would provide smug downtowners with comfortable subways while the people of Scarborough were left “freezing their asses off.”  Better than Jimmy Kimmel. Many good comedians here too

Her Honour Elizabeth Dowdeswell our 29th LG

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Her Honour Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Elizabeth Dowdeswell was sworn into office Tuesday, September 23, 2014, promising to make the lieutenant governor’s office a safe space and a crucible for ideas. It was a commitment to begin her term  by convening diverse groups of Ontarians to hear ideas about the province’s place in the world. “What can we contribute and what we can learn from each other to meet the global and local challenges we face in common?” she said. “The aim will be to provide a forum for reflection in the lieutenant-governor’s office, a safe space and a crucible for ideas. And in time priority themes will emerge.” Dowdeswell said. She said her time as undersecretary general of the United Nations helped had convinced her “the world’s most important problems are Ontario’s most fundamental challenges.” “Our first challenge is to ensure responsible and inclusive prosperity so that everyone has a meaningful opportunity to participate,” said Dowdeswell. “The second and related challenge is the fragility of our planet, our mutual vulnerability. Finally, there is a third challenge: as we protect our precious natural resources and develop economically, can we ensure social cohesion?” Ms. Dowdeswell replaced David Onley who served with distinction since September 5, 2007. 

Penrose Fish and Chips closes to re-supply

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The fans of Penrose Fish and Chips are legion after so many years in business. This past weekend they mobbed the little shop at 600 Mount Pleasant and when they were gone so was almost all the food. The genial owner, Dave Johnston, who with wife Rosemary, will close the business early in October, has had to shut down for a day to re-supply for the rest of the week. If shipments are on time, Penrose Fish and Chips will re-open tomorrow, Wednesday, September 24, 2014.