Alumni of Leaside High School are remembering music teacher Albert Green on the news that he died January 30 at the age of 89. A service will be held at the Salvation Army Yorkminster Citadel, 1 Lord Seaton Rd on Saturday, February 12 at 11 a.m. Obituary
Calgary-born Pierre Poilievre makes bid for CPC leadership
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Pierre Poilievre, the CPC member for Carleton in the Ottawa area, has announced he wishes to be the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Poiliervre has been urged to run previously but has declined. He was born in 1979 in Calgary and adopted at birth by two schoolteachers. His mother was English-speaking and his father was French-speaking. He grew up and went to university in Calgary. Poilievre’s biological maternal grandfather, whom he first met as an adult, was Irish Canadian.
2019 distraction robberies of jewellery stores come to court
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Court reporter Michele Mandel writes in fascinating detail about two 2019 jewellery store robberies in the GTA. Both the violent robberies were preceded by distraction shootings a few blocks away from the primary scenes. Stolen tow trucks were used to smash the front of the jewellery stores as seen in video above.
“Somewhere in Ontario” ticket wins $30 million Max prize
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Friday’s $30 million Lotto Max jackpot was won by a ticket holder somewhere in Ontario. The jackpot for the next draw on Feb. 8 will be an estimated $10 million
Buses will block trucks at QP as Ramer vows “enforcement”
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Toronto Police will use buses to block the truck convey from invading Queen’s Park, Chief Ramer said Friday. A multi-vehicle invasion of big trucks is heading for the City and organizers of the convoy say they will demonstrate at the Legislature. At a news conference Friday (seen below) Ramer said the police have many tactics in mind that he would not discuss. He conceded that dealing with the convoy and demonstrators may require quick responses. And he said more than once that the public safety of all citizens is the primary goal of the TPS. He also repeated a number of times a vow to deal with lawbreakers with firm “enforcement.” Ramer added that peaceful demonstrators would be free to use the parkland outside the Legislature. The news conference was also attended by Mayor Tory and Staff Superintendent Lauren Pogue.
Friday: Milk sky high, killer gas bill and running on empty
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Milk prices in Toronto have been recorded at nearly 15 percent higher at some stores after an increase of half that size was approved for February 1. Ouch.
Enbridge admits bill for $43,624 is (um) wrong
An Orillia couple was stunned — to say the least — when they got a natural gas bill from Enbridge for more than $43,000. Happily, the gas supplier has admitted its billing system got confused and the bill is quite wrong.
Drivers running out of gas rather than fill up
Call it wishful thinking but apparently many Canadian drivers are simply running out of gasoline rather than buying it at $1.60 a litre, or so says the CAA.
City will study Leaside traffic (again) with a meeting Feb 9
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The City will again review traffic in Leaside with attention to pedestrian safety, speeding and what it calls “cut-through traffic”. There seems little doubt that it will be the last of these topics that gets the most attention from residents. A combination of diversionary tactics by drivers trying to avoid LRT construction and long-standing environmental prohibitions (no extension of Redway Rd) will be discussed.
Medical Officer Keiren Moore speaks at Thursday briefing
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$5 million Lotto 649 in someone’s pocket in Missy says OLG
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The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLG) says that several winning tickets including one on the 649 jackpot were drawn on February 2. That jackpot contains $5 million and was sold in Mississauga. Several Encore tickets worth $100,000 were sold in Toronto, Halton Region and Oxford County.
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The good news is that the heaviest snow has missed Toronto
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Worst weather slips past Toronto to the south/AccuWeather
As seen on the AccuWeather Radar at about 8.15 a.m. Thursday, the weather system which threatened to drop as much as 20 cm of snow on the City is slipping by to the south. There is still a chance of a further few cm this afternoon.
CPC kicks out O’Toole leaving party on edge of national split
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Conservative Party of Canada MPs have voted to remove Erin O’Toole as the party leader. Some 73 of 119 CPC members voted against Mr. O’Toole. The decision has again revealed the national divide between middle-of-the-road conservatives in Eastern Canada and Alberta-first members who are further to the right. It’s a gulf that Stephen Harper bridged and the CPC will need a leader equally popular to regain unity. Issues like gun control and abortion bedevil the CPC.
City approves backyard houses and requires two-year review
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City Council has approved Garden Suites, a second house in the backyard of single-family houses, as an apparent partial means of creating affordable housing. The concept is suspect among many homeowners who are concerned about damage to the character of neighbourhoods and the infiltration of developers. The concept is seen by others as benign. The issue of actual affordability, as opposed to simple density, may await a two-year (or 200 unit permit application) review by the City. At present, it seems an open question. Release
Through the adoption of the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw amendments, Council has put the policies in place to increase the supply and type of housing available in the city. The new policies and zoning requirements will allow garden suites to be permitted on properties in most residential zones across Toronto. The decision also adds the term “Garden Suites” to the definition of “infill housing”, in Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 519 (Infill Construction, Public Notice).
With this amendment, people submitting a building permit application to build a Garden Suite will be required to post a public notice on the property. This move also facilitates the collection of data and monitoring of garden suites by the Toronto Building and City Planning divisions, similar to laneway suite construction. The City will require a report back after either the 200th permit for a Garden Suite has been issued or after two years, whichever comes first.
As part of the City’s adopted regulations for garden suites, issues related to privacy, shadowing, parking requirements, and protecting trees and green spaces are also addressed. City staff gathered input from the public and industry stakeholders about how to best allow the construction of garden suites in Toronto while considering these important matters.
Subsections 16(3) and Section 35.1 of the Planning Act require cities in Ontario to include Official Plan policies and Zoning Bylaw requirements to allow detached accessory housing units, such as garden suites and laneway suites, on properties with detached, semi-detached, and townhouse buildings.