You have to feel sorry for the rookie driver of a New York bus. She had been on the job three days Tuesday night when she accidentally tucked the gear shift in neutral instead of park. She got off and the huge vehicle started to roll, finally roaring backwards for two blocks down a one-way street. It hit ten cars but missed people before it was touched by the finger of God and crashed into a church.
As banks reduce staff — the Royal said Wednesday it will cut 450 jobs — analysts offer cheap talk about whether there is room to economize even more by reducing the number of branches. We are all banking electronically with ease now, right? It is less than 15 years since BMO realized it was losing consumer business because it had closed branches. The CIBC also bumped up locations after the turn of the Century. Which of the Five Sisters is brave enough to face the distress of account holders who suddenly can’t see their bank’s door on a business street nearby? Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan told Canadian Press that he thinks “there’s some opportunity for the banks to get quite a bit more aggressive” in this regard.
The final disgrace of Sir Hector-Louis Langevin is at hand as Prime Minister Trudeau Wednesday renamed the government building known to generations as the Langevin Block to — well — something else. This is because the 19th Century Quebec federalist and Father of Confederation was an author of the Residential Schools program and is said to have made it clear that native children should be separated from their parents to make sure they were fully integrated. As is known subsequent denunciations of this process have led to declarations that Canadians committed “cultural genocide” on Aboriginal People.
Information from the nomination meeting last Sunday of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in Don Valley West indicated that candidate Tanweer Khan had not spoken at the meeting. In fact he did speak. The South Bayview Bulldog apologizes to Mr. Khan for the error. Don Valley West PC voting called “squeaker” by members
Let’s put it this way. We’ll take it. Happy summer everyone.
A gala screening of the film Village of Dreams, the reflections of those who created and sustain the Little India neighbourhood of Toronto was held at Innis Town Hall at the University of Toronto Monday. The film will air July 1 on TVO. Facebook and #LittleIndiaTO
Peter Piper Pastry posted a tangible and yummy-looking reminder of the regular Tuesday afternoon Appletree Market in June Rowlands (Davisville) Park. This is carrot and pecan bread. Wow. Hand it over. The market runs each from 3 to 7. .
https://twitter.com/stanselm_cs/status/877538623528349697
Playoffs in the St. Anselm Baseball House League Play are on Wednesday with action between local schools at Bennington Heights field (the girls) and at Rolph Road School (the boys). This a pleasant chance to see the kids play.
Monday’s decision by the US Supreme Court permitting four Chinese-American musicians to trademark their band as The Slants seems to open the door to other free speech use where some people will be offended. The most prominent of these is the Washington Redskins football team which continues to use the name even though the US patent office has invalidated the team’s trademark on it. The Redskins say the name honours Aboriginals. The Slants faced a similar patent office ban. In his decision, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that restricting speech that offends “strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.” He did not flinch from possible animus contained in such language. “Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express the thought that we hate.” It is a challenging standard which may never be applied in Canada.
Police are on the lookout for Michele or Michael Amatulli, 53, of Toronto who they allege is the man who robbed four downtown fast food restaurants late last year. The holdups took place in October at the Subway Sandwich at University Avenue and Wellington Street, the McDonald’s at Yonge Street and College Street, the Pizza Pizza at Queen Street West and Bathurst Street and the Starbucks near King Street and Yonge Street. Curiously the culprit had been described as in his mid 30s but now holdup detectives say they have identified Mr. Amatulli as the wanted man.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) has introduced its electronic baggage check system at Pearson airport (see video below). The process is now unified by electronics which track passenger flow, shows slowdowns and bags needing special attention. There is a private-room where staff electronically screen bags and an improved area for putting luggage and personal belongings back together after the check. Quick and experienced travellers will be able to jump past those with lots of luggage who require more time. Because each passenger is seen and recorded entering the process, the system responds automatically when things get plugged up. The system is called CATSA plus and it is already in service in Montreal and Calgary. The video below is informative.
The Liberal government will create a “super” civilian watchdog to review security and intelligence agencies. This body will lay across the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) as well as every other department and agency that has a security or intelligence function. A reported element of the act, if passed, will let the CSE launch cyberattacks against foreign targets, including terrorist groups and even other countries. The new powers follow recent warnings that cyberattacks are likely during the next federal election in 2019, and new military marching orders to start working on offensive cyber-capabilities. There does not appear to anything reported about home-grown terrorism, the kind which has been seen in Canada and is a major threat to people in Europe. The Public Safety Minister, Mr. Goodale, spoke warmly of how freedom would be protected and the correct balance would now be found between strengthening security and safeguarding charter and privacy rights.
