Instagram has said it will delay but not cancel its plans for a so-called kids app. The mind swims.

Legislature resumes

Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell has delivered the speech from the throne reopening the Legislature Monday. CTV See the speech (mask and all) as delivered Monday morning.

Somehow, dog meat hasn’t caught on in too many places

They say that the South Korean government is pondering an end to the growing of dogs for meat. But the custom is well entrenched in that part of the world. We shall see.

The Supreme Court of Canada has found that the 2018 Ontario government decision to cut Toronto City Council in half is constitutional. The court has given the people a maddening little extra, however — the decision was decided in a 5-4 split of jurists. The majority opinion was written by Chief Justice Wagner with Judges Brown, Moldaver, Côté and Rowe concurring. The contrary opinion came from Judge Abella with Judges Karakatsanis, Martin and Kasirer concurring. Decision

Supreme Court of Canada rules Bill 5 is constitutional

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a narrow 5-4 decision, ruled that the government of Ontario’s Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, 2018, which reduced the number of electoral wards in the City of Toronto from 47 to 25 mid-election in 2018, is constitutional, thereby dismissing the City’s appeal.

The City Solicitor and her staff are reviewing the Court’s decision, which clarified the scope of s. 2(b) of the Charter protections in the context of municipal electoral campaigns, as well as the use of unwritten constitutional principles.

May 1, 2018 was nomination day for qualified candidates seeking election to Toronto City Council and its 47-ward structure in the municipal election of October 22, 2018. On July 30, 2018, however, the government of Ontario introduced the Better Local Government Act, 2018. Bill 5 became law on August 14, which reduced the boundaries in City of Toronto electoral wards from 47 to 25, significantly disrupting the municipal election, midstream, in Canada’s largest city.

The legislation was introduced “without notice to the City, candidates or electors,” the City stated in its factum to the Court on the constitutionality of the provincial legislation. “It was directed solely at Toronto and no other municipality. The result was widespread disruption of the Election and confusion among candidates and voters alike.”

The City’s appeal raised questions “about the Charter’s guarantee of freedom of expression, the scope of unwritten constitutional principles and whether municipal electors are entitled to effective representation.” The City submitted “that a truly democratic election — at a minimum, and among other things — is free from significant mid-election interference and provides electors with the right to effective representation.”

The City also submitted “that these basic democratic norms were trampled on by the government of Ontario when, without notice, it radically changed the City’s ward structure in the middle of an election.”

The City of Toronto thanks the Court for its thoughtful consideration and deliberation of these important constitutional issues.

The construction madness inspired by the Eglinton Ave LRT has produced a speculative campaign to sell property on the corner of Eglinton and Mann Ave for a 27-storey residential tower. The concept is apparently unapproved and unknown to City Hall. The presence of such a tower would represent a concern to residents of the long-time six-storey condo at 1750 Bayview Ave. on the corner of Eglinton. Also at this corner, there is already a proposal before the City for a 32-storey mixed development for 586 Eglinton Ave. E at the site of the eight-storey medical building

The Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision Friday on the Ontario government’s 2018 decision to slice City Council in half. The decision will come perhaps seven or eight months before the next provincial election. High court will hear an appeal on cutting City Council in half

Keven Menager, Community Manager of the Mount Pleasant Village BIA, has posted a page of what he calls Community Facebook Bingo. It takes a gentle poke at the first-world issues often seen on such accounts. FB

Among the many ways in which supermarkets and manufacturers increase the price of food, the curse of shrinkflation seems to be the most popular. They say consumers are much less likely to notice when they get smaller boxes or bundles of food for the same price rather than the original volume for more money. The National Post examines the phenomenon. A sign of interest in the story is the growing number of comments

• Inflation shock as food costs leap seven percent in a year

The movie is called No Time To Die but what an evening of fun in London as the new James Bond film premiered in the United Kingdom. See Kate with Daniel Craig in the ET piece below.

A Lotto Max ticket holder in British Columbia is waking up $70 million richer. One winning ticket was sold in Tuesday’s Lotto Max draw, which also saw three of 13 Maxmillions prizes claimed. Three tickets will share $1 million, while two single ticket holders will each claim $1 million. Two of the winning tickets were sold in Quebec, two in Ontario and one in the Prairies

A woman resident has died in a fire at the Leaside Gate condominium at 955 Millwood Rd between Randolph Rd. and Southvale Drive. The two-alarm fire was reported shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday. The fire was extinguished quickly and so far as is known there are no other injuries. Facebook comments.