A woman cyclist has been injured in a collision with a car at Markham Rd and McNicoll Ave. Monday evening. The woman, said to be in her 40s, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba has cited the Charter of Rights to strike down Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act. Judge Belobaba said the legislation, coming when it did, “substantially interfered” with both the municipal candidate and voter’s “freedom of expression” guaranteed in the Charter. “I find that the reduction from 47 to 25 in the number of City wards and the corresponding increase in ward-size population from an average of about 61,000 to 111, 000 substantially interfered with the municipal voter’s freedom of expression under s. 2(b) of the Charter of Rights, and in particular her right to cast a vote that can result in effective representation,” the judge said in his written decision. Belobaba’s decision notes the province can try to reduce the size of city council again in the future, but says October’s election should go ahead as planned.
CHAOS?
The decision seems to throw the Toronto election into chaos. The City Clerk has previously said that she could not plan for a 47-ward election while planning for a 25-ward vote. City Council has talked of delaying the October 22 general election but the legality of that seems a challenge. There is also the question of whether the PC government will challenge Judge Belobaba’s interpretation of the law. Premier Ford is set to speak today. The CBC says Judge Belobaba cited two reasons for his decision:
Rocco Achampong, a lawyer planning to run in the upcoming election who became the first to challenge the government’s plan in court, tweeted simply: “We Win!” Mayor John Tory welcomed the judge’s decision. “You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game. That’s not fair to anyone, and this is not a game,” he said. Now, Tory said, he wants answers from the province about why it tried to cut the size of council to begin with. Toronto city council, which supported redrawing the ward boundary map to add more councillors after a years-long consultation process, voted to condemn Ford’s plans, and then to join the court challenge — although some councillors supported the premier.
Forecasters say there will be rain, but apparently a good deal less of it than was predicted on Friday. Now Environment Canada says there may be a total rainfall of between 20 to 40 mm during Monday. It had forecast as much as 60 mm beginning Sunday. The weather network seems to think the total fall might be less than 30 mm. The heaviest rain is expected Monday morning during the rush hour.
Carlos Zetina, intent on finding the woman he met the night before, wrote email to 246 students with similar names (Nicole) at the University of Calgary late last week in hope of finding her. A Canadian Press story Sunday says that the barrage of mail caused many of the recipients to begin meeting on a Facebook page started just for that purpose. It also says that the Nicole in question, who did not get an email, learned of the man’s hunt from chatter on social media. She has now texted Carlos and agreed to meet soon. “We’re planning to hang out maybe next week,” said Carlos. “I really didn’t expect this to become a big thing.” One reason it’s big is the Facebook account started by one of the recipients, Nicole DuGraye. She says she decided to do that so the women could get together and make friends, perhaps even find the woman Carlos was looking for. Sure enough, a post in the group from the email’s intended target says she didn’t receive the message, but learned about Carlos’ hunt because the online chatter. The post says she meant to give Carlos her number, but he might have gotten a digit wrong when he wrote it down.
All is quiet in Toronto as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia prepares for a September 30 referendum on changing its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Territorial concerns between Greece and Macedonia led to much unrest on the Danforth and elsewhere in the City during the 1990s when the name was adopted. It remains a hot-button issue for some Canadians of Greek extraction. There appears to be a deal for Macedonia to finally enter both the EU and NATO if it makes this change. Greece has denied entry of Macedonia into the EU without a name change. Concerns arise because of the ancient Greek province of the same name.
Police have a boy, 16, in custody for the shooting death during a robbery at the Toronto West Flea Market, 404 Old Weston Rd. Saturday afternoon.The victim is Rocco Scavetta, 65, described by the CBC as the owner of the flea market. Elsewhere, an elderly man was grievously injured in a hit and run accident near Sheppard Ave. and Dufferin St. And a woman of unstated age was hit by a streetcar early Sunday at Queen and Grant Sts.
There was no winning ticket for the $9.6 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. The guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on September 12 will be approximately $13 million.
Smiling Naomi Osaka has defeated Serena Williams in a Grand Slam Final at the US Open Saturday. But Serena stole the show with an attack on the ref and wilful destruction of her racket. Tennis etiquette, right? Then, the chilling ordeal of Abby Hernandez when she was just 14 some five years go. Kidnapped, confined and placed in an electric-shock collar. Now she has decided to speak out. At right, yes, that’s Elon Musk doing weed in a California podcast and (by the way) causing panic among Tesla investors. Uh-huh.
Extensive road closures in central midtown will occur Sunday for the Canadian 5K Championship Run (starting at 9 a.m.) and later for the Bang and Olufsen Yorkville 5K Charity Run. Closures will be in place during the day from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Start line: – Bay Street at Scollard Street to southbound Bay Street, from Scollard Street to Bloor Street West (half-road, all southbound lanes) – cross Bloor Street West, southbound Bay Street, from Bloor Street West to Wellesley Street West (all southbound lanes)
As runners approach Wellesley Street, taper from half-road to curb lane, southbound on Bay Street, from Wellesley Street West to Dundas Street West (curb lane only) – westbound Dundas Street West from Bay Street to University Avenue (curb lane only) – cross College Street, northbound on Queen’s Park/Queen’s Park Crescent East/Queen’s Park, from College Street to Bloor Street West (curb lane only) – northbound on Avenue Road, from Bloor Street West to Davenport Road (curb lane only) – eastbound onto Davenport Road then southbound on Davenport Road from Avenue Road to Belmont Street (parking lane, bike lane and center lane) – exception: Davenport Road from Avenue Road to Belmont Street/New Street (passing lane will remain open to traffic) Finish line: Davenport Road, just south of New Street (half-road, all southbound lanes).
President Trump is talking with contempt about Canada has he threatens to “ruin” Canada’s economy if necessary. As talks continue in Washington in the hunt for some form of trade agreement, Mr. Trump has told reporters followers that he can force Canada into a deal or ruin its economy. He said all he had to do is threaten Canada’s cars “and they say, ‘Okay we’ll make a deal!’” He said: “So every time I have a problem with these, you know, many of these countries that we’re talking about, especially the big car countries,” he went on. “I just say, ‘Okay! Look, that’s okay. I’m going to put a 20 per cent tax on your cars.’ ‘We’ll do it! We’ll do it, we’ll agree.’ Actually in Canada, a tax on cars would be the ruination of the country,” he continued.
SOME OTHER NEWS
This is the scene that Willy Bouchard witnessed from his window Saturday morning as a nearby townhouse burned. The two-alarm fire broke out at around 7 a.m. on Laidlaw St. near Queen and Dufferin Sts. No injuries were reported.
King St. is again closed between Spadina and University Aves. to permit the Toronto International Festival to run a street festival associated with its annual screenings. It occurs despite the enormous inconvenience to transit users. The TTC’s King line is split in two with trams doing contortions to turn around on either side. This closure is also a bit of a finger at Mr. and Mrs. Ordinary Car Driver. They have been kicked off the street in the name of faster transit. It is the fifth year the street has been closed for a TIFF event and last year Mayor Tory suggested it would be the last time. The closure began Thursday and will remain in effect until 5 a.m. Monday.
