OPP and Canada Border Services have traced and seized an enormous shipment of cocaine — some 1,062 kilograms worth $60 million at wholesale value and approximately $250 million on the street. It came in through Montreal but its original point of departure is unknown. However police say they “smell” Mexico. This City News video of Deputy Commissioner Rick Barnum is very interesting as to how well the cocaine was wrapped to avoid detection by drug sniffing dogs.
It appears that Carolyn Bennett, the long-time member for St. Paul’s, has been eased aside in a cabinet shuffle that effectively splits her portfolio on the Indigenous file. The former Health Minister and Trudeau favorite Jane Philpott is now the new minister of Indigenous Services, responsible for providing services for non-self-governing communities, while Ms. Bennett, becomes minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and northern affairs. New Brunswick MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor was elevated as minister of health and backbench MP Seamus O’Regan installed as veterans affairs minister. The recommendation to split those responsibilities comes out of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which submitted its report in October, 1996.
O’REGAN A FRIEND OF PRIME MINISTER
Kent Hehr shifts from veterans affairs to become minister of sport and persons with disabilities, the portfolio previously held by Carla Qualtrough. Qualtrough, from B.C., will head up the public services and procurement department, which is responsible for addressing problems with the Phoenix payroll system and for managing major military procurements. The CBC reports that O’Regan, a 46-year-old former television host and close personal friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will be Newfoundland and Labrador’s representative at the cabinet table. Just months after he was elected in 2015, O’Regan, who co-hosted CTV’s Canada AM for nearly a decade, announced he had entered into a wellness program to “adopt an alcohol-free lifestyle.”
An Indian court has sentenced Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, known to his sometime violent followers as God Man, to ten years in prison for the rape of two of his followers. Then, genuinely surprising news that the boss of the travel firm Expedia, Dara Khosrowshahi, will become the new CEO of Uber. In Texas, the flooding in Houston continues Monday with photos showing disabled elderly people stuck in waist deep water waiting for rescue. Then finally, a BBC writer may be trying to make a point by asking whether it’s “plain wrong” to make sausages out of piglets. The answer could be probably not.
Bruce Springsteen will appear at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games (for disabled veterans) on September 30 at the Air Canada Centre. He’ll join Bryan Adams, Kelly Clarkson and Coeur de Pirate in the wrap of the week-long games in which wounded, injured and sick veterans compete in a variety of sports. The Games, founded by Prince Harry in 2014, kick off on September 23. The Canadian team is composed of 90 veterans, who will compete alongside troops from 16 other countries.
Writers Chris Selley and Adam Radwanski were lamenting the way Ultimate Fighting Championship events take over the bar and restaurant television even in the middle of major league hockey and baseball games. Selley tweeted: “Every time I’m out in public when something UFC-related is happening I feel like I’ve been transported to a horrible alternate universe.” Radwanski concurred on the Mayweather-McGregor low-level frenzy saying: “I really underestimated how much this questionable fight between two horrible people would be the talk of the town.” Selley: “My favourite: out with friends at bar, watching Leafs, been there since puckdrop, 90 mins. All TVs switch to UFC. Informed we owed $20.” This was at St. Louis Bar and Grill at 2050 Yonge near Davisville “which is about the Leafiest bar in Leafville” he adds The manager explained that a sign on the door had been posted that this would happen at 9 p.m.
Collector booth at Davisville Station is closed for fare gate construction until early Oct https://t.co/Pc1sySPYww
— TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) August 28, 2017
Street level elevator at Davisville Stn will be closed from Aug 27 until early Oct for fare gate construction https://t.co/Pc1sySPYww
— TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) August 28, 2017
Some 700 freshmen (you sort out the genders) rushed Ryerson over the weekend to grab rooms in residence. Upper left is Meagan Dickey who drove here from Calgary with her mom and brother. Mrs. Dickey was asking where’s the parents’ crying room. Then there’s ace goalkeeper Katie Mowbray of the Leaside Junior Wildcats. She had her long hair cut as part of the support program that makes wigs for cancer patients. That’s the shortened version top right, long below. Thanks Katie. Below right is a special sort of birthday card received by that happy man Andy Elder surrounded by family and friends. See you at Grilltime on Laird Grill Bill. To the left, a Thunderbird of former times spotted on Roxborough St. West and no doubt seriously coveted by many. Finally, the masked (and probably caped) Soy Boy character is here to remind us that his Third Annual Soy Boy Soiree in aid of the Galactosemia Research Fund at the Hospital for Sick Children will be held at Amsterdam Brewery at 45 Esandar Dr. from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, September 8.
A head-on crash involving two vehicles left three dead with four others suffering serious injuries Saturday on Highway 6 south of the port of Tobermorey at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula. The accident occurred close to 8 p.m. on a section of the highway between Lindsay Road 30 and Miller Lake Road. Details are few and names have not yet been released.
Two Bros Cuisine has opened on Bayview Ave. in the space that was occupied by Rosie’s Kitchen for so many years. The thrust is plainly fast food with the chef working quickly to prepare Shawarma, Kebab, Falafel and other Mediterranean dishes. The food comes in the form of wraps or plated although seating is much diminished from the former restaurant. In fact, customers will be surprised at how space has been configured. A counter runs laterally across the narrow shop, a sure sign that 2 Bros will sell more food out the door than for eating in. Look for Shawarma wraps at 2 Bros. Cuisine on Bayview
Hurricane Harvey has been ashore in Texas for close to a-day-and-a-half and continues to pour rain on stranded citizens. Hundreds of rescues already have been made in Houston and many more were expected Sunday. Two people are dead and up to 14 hurt. Here are drone missions from NBC and CNN with graphic images. All those overturned trailers.
Police report a fight between a bus driver and a passenger that spilled out onto the street and resulted in minor injuries to the driver Sunday morning. This occurred at Steeles Ave. and Markham Rd. Police arrived and broke things up. The driver was seen by EMS personnel.
ASSAULT:
Markham Rd + Steeles Av@TTCnotices
-On board bus
-Operator fighting with patron
-Out on road now#GO1550491
^dh— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) August 27, 2017
Sadder and stranger than fiction is the drama in India where security forces marched through a northern town on Saturday to maintain calm after supporters of a quasi-religious sect leader protested his rape conviction with violence that left at least 36 people dead. Perhaps even more unreal, the matchup of Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in which McGregor, surprisingly, goes the distance. But hey, how about the Tiger cub smuggled into the US from Tijuana? It is now recovering at the San Diego Zoo. And finally, the world air guitar championships have been held in Oulo, Finland. Matt “Airistotle” Burns of the US defended is title followed by Patrick “Ehrwolf” Culek of Germany and Alexander “The Jinja Assassin” of Australia, who tied for second place. Japan’s 15-year-old Show-Show placed third. And below, a bonus to this video wheel on how dogs have changed in a century, Saturday having been National Dog Day.
