The South Bayview Bulldog

Charlene Kalia

Once again Friday evening — for the seventh annual time — Charlene Kalia’s signal fundraising evening Laugh Out Loud in Leaside has entertained local friends and many outside visitors. This year’s LOL was held to support the Regent Park Community Food Centre and Community Food Centres of Canada. In her remarks to the hundreds present at the William Lea Room at Leaside Garden Kalia said it has been important for her “to shine  a light on worthy community causes” as she found them. She told the happy crowd that together they were making an “important impact on hunger and poor health facing many of our communities.”  The benefit always features exciting food for those who attend and last night was no different.

PUBLIC SPIRITED

Among those public-spirited retailers serving to a hungry gang of partiers was Andy Elder of Grilltime at 62 Laird, Drive, De La Mer, whose oyster bar was mobbed, and kept on serving, long after oyster bars normally close. Other well-known names in Leaside: Neal Brothers Foods, the Indian restaurant Pukka, Cup Cakes Leaside, Amsterdam Brewery and Sapsucker Maple Tree Filtered Water. The outpouring of generosity is remarkable among local organizations and businesses. More than 50 donated items to be sold at silent auction. There are traditionally many coveted prizes offered in a live auctions.

LIVE AUCTIONS

This year saw winners to an escape to Fogo  Island, Newfoundland’s vacation hideaway donated by the Shorefast Foundation, a Backyard Barbecue Party for 20 guests offered by Andy Elder, a catered party in the winner’s home with Chef Miheer of O&B’s Cafe Grill in the Bayview Village, Fly Away With Me, an evening at the Nelligan Hotel in Old Montreal plus Air Canada tickets and gift a certificate,  and finally Puttin on the Ritz, a one night stay in a deluxe room at the Ritz Carlton Toronto with breakfast and a gift certificate towards the Spa and Dinner. Yes the good times rolled on at the Lea Room for a wonderful cause.

What are the big races, controversies, and moments that will have everyone talking about the 2016 Oscars come Sunday night? CNN’s Stephanie Elam previews.

The LCBO will emerge from the cocoon of government ownership and start an online store beginning as early as this summer, a notation in the provincial budget has revealed. The details are sketchy but it appears the liquor store  will offer a wide a variety of spirits and wine to be delivered to the home by some form of safe transportation. The government monopoly says it expects to take at least 40,000 orders at the online store in a year of the launch.

A DECADE LATE

This development comes perhaps a decade onto the era of serious online shopping in private industry. A remaining element as yet unembraced by government is the self-serve machine, an important factor in democratizing wine and liquor sales in most parts of the world including the U.S. The government has long studiously avoided even mentioning the self-serve machine possibly because it is heavily opposed by OPSEU, the Ontario  Public Employees Union. CBC

The Toronto Auditor General has revealed that a stunning 600 TTC employees may have participated in an orthotics racket run by a North York businessman. The scheme involved a diagnoses that required certain services which were non-existent which we then charged to a TTC insurance program. The racket was only discovered last year by a tip from an unknown source. So far, as reported here earlier, 12 TTC employees have been fired. The racket may have cost the City more than $5 million. TTC spokesman Brad Ross told CBC News that nine non-union employees and three unionized workers have been let go. Ross added the that even though they’re being investigated, not all of the 600 employees did anything wrong. In her annual report on fraud at the City of Toronto that was released on Friday, Auditor General Beverly Romeo-Beehler revealed that the TTC is continuing to investigate 600 other TTC employees who submitted claims to the company in question  TTC employees get the boot in orthotics  scandal

For those who just can’t get enough of our handsome new prime minister, here he is visiting the Quebec plant of Unbisoft, a French video game develeoper. (Have we got this thing targeted on Millennial City or what)

The windows are papered over and the “for lease” signs are down at 1661 Bayview Ave. It is usually a sign that the place has been taken. This is the premises beside the now vacant Brick store where the pop-up shoe store “Stop N Shop” resided for a while after Gen-Cor Furniture Limited washed out. This is also the former location of Vescada hair salon now across the street under the new name of P and P Hair.

People who make Starbuck their life have got to be careful. Oh sure, The Bulldog loves the green lady’s espresso but the idea of worrying about a rewards program that wouldn’t clear enough cash for a car wash seems silly. Nonetheless, thousands, possibly millions of Starbucks patrons are up in arms over changes that would make people spend more. It was last Monday that Starbucks said it will now require those in the plan to spend a dollar per point. The new system incentivizes (if that’s the word) higher spending and larger orders. Previously, customers earned one point, or “star” as they are called in the Starbucks system, per visit or transaction, and received a free food or drink item per 12 visits, no matter how much they spent. So if you ordered a $2 coffee every day, you could earn a reward after spending about $24. People, get a life.

Seniors complain that the proposed changes to the Ontario Drug Benefit program will increase the annual deductible for seniors who are above the qualifying income threshold by $70, to $170, and increases the co-payment, or fee paid per prescription, by $1.

Outside workers of CUPE Local 416 have ratified a new contract with the City that gives them a five percent increase over four years. Seems okay. They number 5,400, and importantly, they do garbage removal.  Workers in Local 79 are still engaged in a so-called work-to–rule although this action seems to have as many forms as the Toronto Star has stories. It is not fully clear what is required but it is apparently not money. Tim Maguire, the president of the local, talks of  his members not being asked to do things that are not in  their job descriptions but there are no examples of that so far that would shock anyone. Some suspect it is an attempt to define jobs so narrowly that the City would have to add to the 23,000 (!) inside workers it already employs. As Mayor Tory has put it succinctly: “These are good jobs”.  CBC

PC Decadent chocolate chip cookies, No Name products and other Loblaws foods are selling well at Shoppers Drug Mart. Shoppers sold more than a quarter of a billion dollars of house-branded food in its drugstores stores across Canada last year. And Galen Weston, executive chairman and president, has told analysts that Loblaws will speed up the click-and-collect program it first began testing in the GTA 14 months ago. The online purchase and pickup scheme has been working well at stores like Loblaws on Redway Road. It is now in place at 39 stores and will increase to an unspecified number. Finally, Sears will turn over eight stores across Canada including three stores in the GTA to its competitor Leons. Sears has not been making money in these premises. The stores are in Mississauga, Brampton and Etobicoke.

Ontario is planning to introduce tuition fee grants for families earning less than $50,000 a year, according to budget proposals tabled in the Legislature Thursday. The Liberals project a budget deficit for one more year and then say they will balance the  budget by 2017-18.  By the numbers, Ontario proposes to run a deficit of C$5.7 billion ($4.21 billion) in fiscal 2015-16 and smaller-than-expected C$4.3 billion in 2016-2017. In 2017-18 Finance Minister Charles Sousa says, the government will balance the books. In this regard, the government has been helped by lower oil costs to perk up the province’s manufacturing base. As well, the lower dollar has increased exports. The smaller deficit and higher spending on education and infrastructure will be paid for by economic growth, the government said, and future spending will come from tax increases most of which are a function of so-called cap  and trade.carbon pricing. By any name, it is all increased taxes on gasoline and natural gas, the most widely used household heating fuel in Ontario. There will also be increases to the price of wine and cigarettes. It’s a budget for Ontario, just not Toronto.

Long-time barber Leonardo Morra has died at the age of 79.  Mr. Morra is well-remembered from his years running LeMan’s Barber Shop in the Sunnybrook Plaza. His death occurred Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at the age of 79.  Mr. Morra’s obituary recalls that he is survived by his wife Guerina Morra and his only daughter Antonella Morra. He was grandfather of Aria Mozzone and A.J. Morra. He lost his 15-year battle with cancer and died peacefully at Village of Humber Heights. There will be two viewings at DeMarco Funeral Home at 3725 Keele St. on Friday, February 26, 2–4 p.m. and 7–9 p.m. The funeral will take place on Saturday, February. 27 at St. Charles Catholic Church at 811 Lawrence Ave. West (at Dufferin Road) at 10 a.m. with burial following at Highland Cemetery, 33 Memory Garden Lane, in Willowdale. For further information, email toni_to_tiger@hotmail.com.