A civil lawsuit has been filed against members of Canada’s Greek Orthodox clergy making allegations of theft of donations made for a sick baby in addition to other claims of unsavory activities  CBC

Santa’s photo prompter

Young chef in kitchen

Larissa is a cute elf

Good turnout

Snap photog must read The Bulldog

Happy pancake fans

Christine Stock makes these dolls in Davisville

The Annual Manor Road United Church Santa Pancake Breakfast was well-attended Saturday. The pancake kitchen was hopping and there were interesting sales tables. Local craft person Christine Stock was showing sweet dolls she makes right in Davisville Village.

ROAD CLOSURE:
Mt Pleasant Av + Eglinton Av
-Hydro has attended
-Wires have been fixed
-Roads re-opened
^dh

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) December 16, 2017

A top general, always at the side of Kim Jung un, has disappeared. Life is cheap in the North Korean workers paradise. In Toronto, police are talking all around the point in the dreadful deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman. They’re saying things like the public does not need to fear there is a killer on the loose. On a happier note, Star Wars, the Last Jedi is breaking attendance records. And in Pennsylvania, the misguided notion that university kids won’t drink themselves to death is being called out.

Jon Burnside Ward 26

Josh Matlow (and Molly) Ward 22

Kristin Wong-Tam Ward 27

The Ontario Municipal Board has approved the City of Toronto plan to add three wards to the electoral map. It brings the total number of wards to 47 from 44 and redraws ward boundaries all over the City. In South Bayview and across Midtown changes will send voters and maybe some politicians back to school for next year’s election. Ward 22 (Josh Matlow) has survived more or less intact but it’s now called Ward 26. The present Ward 26 (or a lot of it) now held by Jon Burnside contains Leaside and Bennington Heights. It will become Ward 33. Much change awaits those below Moore Ave. where Kristin Wong-Tam’s power base of Ward 27 has been chopped up and allocated to the new Wards 21, 22, 25 and 34. No doubt Wong-Tam will find a favorable place to run from among her choices.

WARD 34

Residents of Moore Park and Rosedale will now find themselves in Ward 34 along with much of East York. The candidate in this ward will have to seek votes from residents of Inglewood Drive and Carlaw Ave. It stretches from Yonge St and Davenport Rd. to Coxwell Ave and the Danforth. Interesting territory. The map below contains an error which might confuse people from Moore Park, Deer Park and area. It places the Mud Creek in the Vale of Avoca and the Yellow Creek in the Moore Park Ravine. Geography has it just the opposite. The whole map

Midtown wards redrawn

Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Wynne and Mayor Tory were together along with many officials from the City and Queen’s Park to officially open the Line One subway extension at Vaughan Centre. It is the first subway line to cross municipal a boundaries outside of the former six Toronto municipalities. The dignitaries rode the subway from Vaughan Centre to York University stop, where they held a news conference.

Honey and Barry Sherman

Canadian pharmaceutical executive Barry Sherman and his wife Honey have been found dead in their Old Colony Rd. home off Bayview Ave. near Highway 401. He is the founder of generic drug maker Apotex and with his wife a celebrated philanthropist. The deaths have been called suspicious but it is unclear where the investigation is focussed. CBC Globe and Mail

I am beyond words right now. My dear friends Barry and Honey Sherman have been found dead. Wonderful human beings, incredible philanthropists, great leaders in health care. A very, very sad day. Barry, Honey, rest in peace.

— Dr. Eric Hoskins (@DrEricHoskins) December 15, 2017

APOTEX WAS FIGHTING FEDERAL LOBBYING COMMISSIONER

From iPoliitics, September 22, 2017  Canada’s largest drug maker is fighting the federal lobbying commissioner in court in a bid to shut down an investigation into a political fundraiser its chairman hosted for the Liberal party during the last election. It’s the first time Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd has been challenged in court since her position was created nearly a decade ago.

Apotex Inc. applied in May this year for a judicial review to contest Shepherd’s investigation, calling it an “unanchored fishing expedition” that started in “bad faith,” according to documents filed in Federal Court. The generic drug manufacturer wants her entire probe quashed. None of the allegations in Apotex’s claim have been tested in court. Among the allegations made by Apotex is a claim that the lobbying commissioner’s powers to compel testimony under the Lobbying Act are “unenforceable” and “inconsistent with sections 2, 7 and 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” Because of the Charter argument, Apotex wants the attorney general to be added as a respondent.

Shepherd started an investigation into Apotex in January after a complaint was lodged last year over how its chairman, Barry Sherman, hosted an August 2015 fundraiser at his home in Toronto, featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Liberal MP Michael Levitt – both election candidates at the time.  Sherman and other senior Apotex officials were registered to lobby the federal government when the fundraiser was held. Tickets for the event reportedly sold for $1,500 each.

Shepherd’s investigation is looking into whether Sherman violated the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct by hosting the fundraiser. The suit has quietly advanced over the summer in a legal back-and-forth to determine the scope of the judicial review after Apotex moved to expand it. About a month before Apotex filed its court application, Shepherd issued subpoenas to President and CEO Jeremy Desai and ex-director of government relations Elie Betito. Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying documents submitted in court show the office determined Betito attended the August 2015 fundraiser.

The federal Lobbying Act gives the commissioner the power to summon people and compel testimony under oath in the “same manner” as a superior court of record. In April, Shepherd issued subpoenas to Betito and Desai after they refused a senior OCL investigator’s earlier request to meet for interviews, stalling the investigation into Sherman’s house party. Apotex is arguing the commissioner’s office issued the subpoenas for a baseless investigation, that they were “not lawfully issued” and are “unconstitutional” and “abusive.”

Stanley Cleaners at 922 Millwood Rd at Randolph Road will finish up business at this location on Saturday. Customers are being invited to take their cleaning to what is called “our partner business” at the dry cleaning desk in the Loblaws at 11 Redway Road. The move comes a month prior to Creeds Coffee Bar and Cleaners opening on Bayview Ave in the former Second Cup location.

Refuge for Mary, Joseph and donkey / Twitter @LeasideUnited

Carols with Friends

Leaside Family Skate / Twitter @leasideskating

BIA map for Saturday / Twitter @LeasideBIA

Sarah and Claire’s Food Drive Saturday on Bayview

Still time to see Santa Saturday / Twitter @LeasideBIA

Leaside United Church has been observing Advent by helping stuffed toy replicas of Mary, Joseph and the donkey find their way to a Leaside Jerusalem with overnight stays in local homes. Upper left we see Sharon,Christine and Karen welcoming the holy figures. Then a series of reminders from the bulletin board. Upper right, St. Cuthbert’s Carols With Friends on December 16 in the evening. Across the bottom from the left, the Leaside Skating Club Family Skate goes Saturday at the arena beginning at 9.45 in the morning followed by a helpful map from the Bayview Leaside BIA of where events are located for Saturday’s shopping day and Mark Jordan reminds us that Sarah and Clair’s Food Drive will find a home at COBS on Bayview Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please find time to give. Finally, on the right, that’s Santa at Millwood and Bayview (we can the street sign) waiting to chat with kids Saturday.

TD Canada Trust has been stung by a CBC story saying that it was somehow delaying the $846,000 inheritance of a Cornwall family. A cheque has been now issued and is the hands of the family’s lawyer. Reporter John Lancaster revealed the deadlock Thursday. The family of Lorette and John Taylor were caught in what Lancaster called a three-way David vs Goliath battle after UPS lost the first draft and TD — which had issued it — appeared to be in no rush to issue a new one. UPS got the draft in February for delivery from Georgetown to Cornwall. Then it disappeared. For its part, TD seemed reluctant to issue a new draft unless the Taylors agreed to indemnify the bank if the original draft was cashed. It is a sharp reminder that huge sums of money should not be entrusted to just anybody. “We understand that we’ve reached a resolution with our customer,” bank spokeswoman Cheryl Ficker told CBC News via email. “It’s clear to us we didn’t get this right along the way and that there was more we could have done to come to a resolution faster.”  CBC

Fumbles for gun

Threatens to shoot teller

Flees with cash

Police have released video captures of a man who robbed a bank at  Queen St E and Woodbine Ave. November 10 about 5:15 p.m. He waited in line and approached the teller to make a verbal demand for money. His fumbling attempt to produce his gun from a pocket is captured on video below. But his manner is sinister as he threatens to shoot the teller. He is described as 45-55, 5’10”, thin build, clean-shaven.

DONNA ELAINE CAMERON

Donna Elaine Cameron, 43, is wanted for an alleged attack during a robbery attempt at the corner of Don Mills Rd and Overlea Blvd on December 7. The perpetrator forced the victim, another woman, to the ground with punches and kicking while trying to take her cell phone. Citizens intervened. The suspect armed herself with a brick and then fled. A short distance away, mischief to vehicles was later discovered. It is alleged the same suspect is responsible for the damage  She is described as 5’7”, 120 lbs.