Sue Byford put together this Canada 150 video wheel. You may or may not relate to all of it but there’s no denying we live in an excellent place. And it’s good to remember that many of the things we rightly brag about are made possible by the enormous mineral and natural wealth of our huge homeland. Happy Canada Day to all.
LHS grads among notable tweets across South Bayview
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Leaside High School Commencement Wednesday marked that timeless end and beginning of youthful experience. MP Rob Oliphant spoke and right, Danielle, is congratulated online by Gavin Dac Bang. Davisville Kitchens was showing us Drake’s modest Post Road home and giggling that they are ready to give him a hand fixing it up. Nice try. And then, it’s nearly time for the 60th Annual East York Canada Day Parade. The bike contingent hopes to say hello at Dieppe Park.
Meeting to decry group-think on campus well-attended
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Anyone who ever attended university as a youth may recall how the kids all thought the same and really believed that they had discovered God’s truth about everything. It may be more of a problem when lecturers and profs join the group-think. A meeting at the Chestnut Conference Centre at 89 Chestnut Street was held last night to decry many conventional points of view which apparently demand that you be quiet if you disagree. City News was there.
PEOPLE: Picasso’s Femme Écrivant sells for €39,570,000
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Picasso’s Femme Ecrivant (Woman Writing) has sold at auction in London for €39,570,000 (C$58,741,665). It is a portrait of his dearest love, a woman of 17 who he met when he was 45 in the early 1930s. It was painted in 1934. The work has never been at auction before. Picasso held onto it until 1961 and finally sold it to a private owner whose estate put it up for auction. To the right, that’s an ISIS bullet hitting the wall beside a Kurdish woman sniper as she and her comrades close in on what’s left of the blood-thirsty mob at the City of Raqqa. They say she laughed and maybe that’s all anyone could do. Lastly, WWII Luftwaffe ace Hugo Broch, 95, got to meet the enemy close up Wednesday as air enthusiasts in Kent, England gave him a ride in a Spitfire.
Ontario hints at “double-ending” ban for real estate agents
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Ontario has published suggested changes to legislation that would make it illegal for sales representatives to represent both the seller and buyer in a given transaction. The Liberal government has been at work on proposals since the government brought in its surcharge on foreign speculators in real estate. One of the proposals is to ban — with some limited exceptions — salespeople from representing both the buyer and seller or more than one potential buyer in a trade. The proposals are set out for public discussion.
WATERFRONT FLOOD PROTECTION
Prime Minister Trudeau was at the waterfront Wednesday with the Premier and Mayor to say that the three levels of government will spend a combined $1.2 billion to improve flood protection on the City’s lakefront. The money will go to Waterfront Toronto, the organization that administers the Toronto Port Lands Flood Protection Project. Many would have preferred to hear Mr. Trudeau announce the abolition of Waterfront Toronto, a hangover from the days of the Harbour Commission. WT permits Ottawa to continue to control the City’s waterfront to no apparent purpose except power.
KEN PAGAN
Ken Pagan, the man who tossed a beer can onto the Rogers Centre field during Toronto Blue Jays wild card playoff game last year was given a conditional discharge on Wednesday but sentenced to 12 months of probation for mischief. Mr. Pagan, who pleaded guilty to mischief under $5,000 on May 30, will not have a criminal conviction, but he will be required to perform 100 hours of community service. He has also been banned from all MLB games for 12 months and has to stay 500 metres away from the Rogers Centre.
Watermain renewal on Randolph and sewer lids de rigueur
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Work is underway to replace the 90-year-old water main on Randolph Rd and the work has demonstrated stark reasons for the fashionable fabric placed under every sewer lid. These iron lids de rigueur are intended to keep rubble from clogging the sewers..And then, a single rose tucked into the top of a rubber pylon. Who said these bruisers had no soul.
Pondering the “misfit factor” for violence on Canada Day
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The federal government is trying to calm some fears about the security of Canada Day celebrations after reports say ISIS has named Canada and the US as potential targets following the Manchester bombing late last month. In an email statement, the public safety minister’s office says it doesn’t comment on specific threats but adds the government is unwavering in its commitment to protect Canadians and will continue to take appropriate action to counter terrorist threats. It is a reminder of the brief attention span of the general public perhaps that Canada has been mentioned many times by ISIS as it invites any misfit to commit violence. RCMP Superintendent Mike O’Beirne also didn’t directly answer when asked about any known threats for Canada Day. “Our assessment is continuous, both domestically and internationally and I can tell you constantly in contact with our partners in that regard.”
OTHER NEWS
- Canada’s big banks admit they overcharged customers — what went wrong?
- What’s in a name? Toronto doctor wants answers after being kept off Porter Airlines flight
- Desperate measures: Families of drug-addicted teens running out of options
- Canada’s top court backs order for Google to remove firm’s website from global searches
Berczy friends say skateboards wrecking new dog fountain
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The splendid new decorative fountain in Berczy Park to the west of the Gooderham (flatiron) Building on Wellington St. is soon to be christened but friends of the park say damage has already been done to dog sculptures that enliven the wonderful whimsical “dog” water spot at its centre. Members of a volunteer community group known as Friends of Berczy Park say skateboarders are to blame. The fountain, as shown in the many photos taken of it by citizens, is a delight.
TFS Canada Day lecture on ship disaster, fireboat display
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The Toronto Fire Service will celebrate Canada 150 with a lecture on the disastrous SS Noronic pasenger ship fire in 1949 and a display by the fire boat William Lyon Mackenzie. The speaker will be Corey Keeble, curator emeritus of the Royal Ontario Museum. He will conduct a lecture and presentation tour about the fire, which occurred on September 17, 1949 in Toronto Harbour and resulted in 119 deaths. It will be held Saturday, July 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Marine Fire Station 334, 339 Queens Quay W. Mr. Keeble, a well-known public lecturer, tour guide and author. He will also conduct speaking tours of the William Lyon Mackenzie fire boat. The William Lyon Mackenzie fire boat will also demonstrate a firefighting water display on Lake Ontario.
TORONTO WITH LOVE EVENTS
The City will stage fireworks and related celebrations of Canada 150 at four locations. Release
Blue Jays go quietly as a guy takes solace in new toy Lucky
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Whitney School student Noah Jamieson, 11, takes solace in his new friend Lucky at lacklustre Blue Jays play Tuesday at Rogers Place although mom Rani seems happy. The home squad lost 3-1 to the Orioles despite a ninth inning home run by Troy Tulowitzki. Some merriment was provided when Umpire Angel Hernandez and Jays catcher Russel Martin helped Adam Jones of the Orioles pick up his broken necklace at home plate.
