The South Bayview Bulldog

Executive Committee at Toronto Council has decided to buy the Comfort Inn East motel on Kingston Road and convert to what will be known as the Birchmount Men’s Shelter. Resistance to the idea has been strenuous in the area around the motel. The shelter will house 120 men all over 55 years. “The headline of our concerns is not that we don’t want it, it is that we don’t want it because we’re supporting enough (assisted housing) already,” said area resident Tom Moloney is quoted by CP24. “The issue is the placement of a large social housing project for needy people in a small footprint when there is so much else in the neighbourhood.”

John Lancaster of the CBC reports in video below on an incident at the North Sheridan Mall outside LCBO where two or three bystanders verbally abuse and appear to try to interfere in an arrest. This is at 1700 Wilson Ave.near Jane Street. CP24 identifies the person who took the video as Ajith Thala and says the police officer told a young black man he was not allowed to enter. Thala said the officer told him the young black man “walked into the liquor store and threw garbage at my feet.”

Toronto police were speaking Tuesday of the broad range of counterfeit good they encounter. They said they have confiscated some $12 million worth of counterfeit items (valued just how is not known) in 18 months. .As published by the  CBC, some of the fake items include Toronto Blue Jays post-season tickets and fake sports jerseys. Other illegitimate products include knock-offs of Coach, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Chanel, Kate Spade, Tiffany & Co., Michael Kors and Ugg and Dre headphones allegedly made by Apple . CBC

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Kristyn Wong-Tam

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 27) will speak at the City of Toronto 2015 Access, Equity and Human Rights Awards tomorrow (Wednesday, December 2, 2015) in recognition of Human Rights Day. Awards will be presented to five recipients who have made a difference in Toronto by eliminating discrimination and barriers to equality. This will occur at  6:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall. City Manager Peter Wallace and other councillors will also participate in the award presentations. The recipients are Joanne Dallaire, Aboriginal Affairs Award; Farah Mawani, Access Award; Andrea Sesum, Constance E. Hamilton Award;  Mark Smith, Pride Award; Kamala-Jean Gopie, William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations

A fitting tribute and lasting memory to the late Dave Stickney has been established by the re-naming of Markham Avenue to Stickney Avenue. The public campaign to change the name asked by petition that the street be called Stickney Way. It became clear as Toronto staff reviewed the proposal that Markham Avenue didn’t qualify for the designation Way. A street called a Way is so designated because it is a windy road, reminiscent perhaps of a pathway. As every Leasider knows, Markham Ave runs straight as an arrow from Airdrie Rd. to Laird Drive. As such it is well-defined as an Avenue. So it is official. There are many interested and happy comments Tuesday on Leaside Chit Chat and other sites. Just incidentally, the change of name does a favour for the City and perhaps countless non-Leaside residents trying to find their way. We’re guessing that more than one person arrived at Markham Street in the west central downtown when he wanted to go to Markham Ave.

High School teachers who staged illegal strikes last spring will receive full pension credits for the time they were off the job. The Liberal government has quietly agreed to create an exception to the rules for them. The decision will certainly fuel belief that Queen’s Park is frightened of the teachers unions and their capacity to either paralyze the school system from Thunder Bay to Niagara Falls — or unelect the Liberals. The move raises questions on whether the province has set  a precedent and removed a disincentive for public employees to illegally strike. The Globe and Mail reported that a memo dated October 1, 2015 from the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan to school boards says the government made a deal to ensure teachers do not lose any pension over the walkout.  It goes on to say teachers who tried to make up the days by working extra, will be eligible for refunds of those pension contributions, and teachers who have since retired but took part in illegal strikes will have their benefits recalculated.

Heath Minister Eric Hoskins (St. Paul’s) says Ontario will accept roughly 4,000 of the 10,000 Syrian refugees set to arrive in Canada by the end of the year. It is not clear if this includes refugees who are privately sponsored like the 50 families who will be placed in Guelph. Mr. Hoskins said that since Ontario accounts for about 40 percent of the country’s population, it is prepared to take in that proportion of refugees.

PACE OF ENTRY SEEMS TO HAVE SLOWED

Governments have been considering army bases and in Ontario decommissioned hospitals as accommodation  But Mr. Hoskins said they may not be needed. “We have sites identified. Some of those sites have taken the extra step of ensuring they are prepared to accommodate the refugees, but we’ll see if that type of facility is in fact required,” the minister said. “It will depend partly on the numbers that arrive.” It appears the pace of entry has slowed as the federal government plans are shaped

Hamilton Spectator

The traditional participation of well-known figures in the City’s life sees Mayor John Tory playing a moose in the 2015 rendering of the Nutcracker.  Well done your worship. CBC