A fresh warning from Environment Canada Wednesday morning again says Toronto will get 10 to 20 cm of snow by Thursday morning. The large snowstorm is seen moving across the US Midwest and is expected to hit the GTA by midday. It’s seen above on AccuWeather’s Canada Radar about 8.30 a.m.

The collapse of a busy bridge in Philadelphia is being called an example of the general decline in infrastructure throughout the US. Nine people were injured in the collapse, none seriously. That apparent miracle is being credited to increasingly better motor vehicle design. Like much of eastern North America, the City was struggling to clean up after a heavy snowstorm.

The second 20 cm snowfall of the winter is likely this week as Environment Canada forecasts a drop of somewhere between 10 and 20 cms between Wednesday and Friday. With Toronto residents still struggling with single-lane streets and snow piles blocking movement of all kinds, it’s easy to foresee considerable paralysis in the forecast as well as snow. The total snowfall accumulation is estimated to be 10 to 20 cm by Friday. There will be reduced visibilities due to snow and local blowing snow. There will be rain showers tonight changing to snow on Wednesday afternoon for the Golden Horseshoe.

No doubt business operators and all their potential customers are whispering a little prayer Monday that the reopening of Ontario, the Trillium Province, is permanent. Hope to see you on Bayview.

Ottawa mayor asks truckers to go home

Residents of Ottawa are suffering a hangover of frustrations as die-hard truck protesters seem intent hanging around the capital.

Man loses part of thumb to Mercedes “soft-close door”

A US man has lost part of his thumb to what seems to be a rather dangerous “convenience” feature of the Mercedes Benz called the “soft-close door”.

Leaside Gardens ice rinks and pool will reopen Monday as the province again tries to return to the kind of life everybody wants to live. No doubt families and friends of LMCG will move heaven and earth to avoid any further lockdown.

Ikechidiadi (Ike) Kaja, 49/TPS

Avenue Road near College View Ave/Google

Police have announced the death of Ikechidiadi (Ike) Kaja, 49, a week after he was found wounded in a car behind his home on Avenue Rd. south of Eglinton Ave West. The apparently well-liked financial analyst and father was shot sometime before 10 p.m. on January 23. Mr Kaja was an MBA graduate of the Rotman School and leaves a son, 4. Police are asking anyone who was in the area between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. or who may have video footage to contact police at 416-808-7400 or reach out to Crime Stoppers anonymously.

The $14.2 million dollar jackpot in Saturday’s Lotto 649 draw will be shared by two winning ticket holders — one in Ontario and the other in Quebec. Each winning ticket is worth $7.1 million. The draw’s guaranteed $1 million prize also went to a lottery player in Ontario.

Geoff Kettel, co-chair of the Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (FONTRA) has distributed a video and other data in advance of a City Council meeting on February 2 to address the introduction into Toronto of so-called Garden Suites. These are homes built in the backyards of single-family homes in neighbourhoods that would otherwise be protected from such profound changes. As ever, there is a good cause put forward for this apparent revolution in how people have lived in the City for centuries. It’s all about affordable housing. Research by the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association found these startling issues raised in Barrie when that City adopted Garden Suites in 2019 without much forethought.

Highlights from the Barrie experience with Garden Suites

Houses in backyards were approved in Barrie in November 2019 in response to Bill 108, More Homes, More Choices Act with a stated goal to create more affordable homes. The issues that arose are stunning and easily understood but nonetheless caught all of Barrie by surprise.

No one in Barrie really understood the impact it would have and the implications of what had been approved until the excavators showed up and started digging

Information was not available other than going through Freedom of Information. Homeowners were caught without notice when Garden Suites were built next door.

The character of the neighbourhood was changed because of significant tree loss. Trees on adjacent properties have to be removed by the neighbours at costs totalling thousands.

Investors began to dramatically outbid families wanting to buy a home

Neighbourhoods began shifting from owner-occupied to investor-owned

Investors rented as many as three units on a property where there was only a single-family home before

Affordable homeownership and affordable rentals were the objectives but not the result.

Long-time renters were evicted to facilitate renovations. They could not afford the increased rent in the new builds. Investor activity drove rental prices up dramatically

The City of Barrie found that affordability for rental units had declined significantly over a short time:

In 2017, 90% of rental units were affordable

In 2020, only 25% of rental units were affordable

There has been a noisy but peaceful demonstration by several thousand truck convoy protests on and around Parliament Hill Saturday. What tomorrow and beyond may bring is not clear. Many truckers have said they will demonstrate all week but this may be bravado or wishful thinking.

There’s another cold weekend ahead with forecasts for daytime temperatures of minus 11° and minus 6° Celsius on Saturday and Sunday. Environment Canada has issued a wind chill warning for those who are going to be outside for very long. On the bright side, Saturday will be sunny.