New Cedar hydro poles on the march in Moore Park

cedarHydro One continues the extensive replacement of concrete hydro poles in residential areas. Here the work goes on at the corner of Hudson Drive and Rose Park Drive where the 35-foot Cedars are going in beside concrete poles that have 40 or more years of cracks and salt damage on them. The new poles are buried five feet deep leaving a 30-foot height, as much as six-feet over the concrete units.

Blue Goose organic chicken statement released Friday

This is a statement from Blue Goose about the allegations that Cericola Farms in Bradford has been known to label ordinary chicken as organic.

At Blue Goose we are committed to providing natural and organic products raised without the use of antibiotics or animal by-products.

Today (Friday, June 11, 2015), we discovered via a press release that one of our processors, Cericola, has been accused by a terminated employee of mislabeling some conventional chicken products as organic. Cericola has advised Blue Goose that there is no merit to this accusation.

Cericola provides poultry processing services to Blue Goose and other companies and is a fully licensed and federally inspected processor in Ontario. Moreover audits are conducted by various third parties including the CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) and CSI (Centre for Systems Integration) to ensure compliance with quality claim adherence and labeling standards.

Cericola has been in compliance with all such audits and inspections related to Blue Goose, during which no issues involving improper labeling, or otherwise have been identified.

“Watchdogz” author Sharon Lee Thomas at Sleuth Saturday

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Sharon Lee Thomas

Sharon Lee Thomas will discuss and autograph her new novel Watchdogz at Sleuth of Baker Street this Saturday (June 13, 2015) She will be at Sleuth between 2 and 4 p.m. This interesting Torontonian is a retired lawyer who has worked as both an advocate for refugees in a poverty law clinic and as a prosecutor for Canada Border Services. At Canada Border Services she intervened in hearings for asylum where individuals had identity or criminality issues. About Watchdogz, Ms Thomas says “This book is a fictional story about a claim for asylum in British Columbia, Canada, border security and a horrific terrorist plot against the United States.” Sounds good. Sleuth of Baker Street is at 907 Millwood Road at Sutherland Drive.

 

Ordinary chicken sold as pricey organic kind, she claims

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Vashti Dalipsingh

A woman who was in charge of organizing and labeling chicken at the Cericola Farms facility in Bradford says the company routinely labelled ordinary chicken as organic. The mislabeled chicken was shipped to well-known retailers like Loblaws, Costco, Sobey’s and others. says Vashti Dalipsingh. The Cericola firm has issued a statement tonight which accuses Dalipsingh of seeking money but does not deny that such things occurred. She said she discovered the practice in January but after reviewing the company’s records learned that it had been going on for eight months. Dalipsingh alleged the products were mislabeled to fill orders and ship on schedule. Dorian Persaud, a lawyer for Dalipsingh, says records were falsified and code stickers changed to read that chicken arriving at the plant for processing was organic when it was not. Persaud told the CBC that  a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspector was stationed at the Bradford plant “and it was this person’s job to catch exactly the kind of fraud that Vashti is now blowing the whistle on. How that inspector did not catch the fraud is a mystery.” In a statement, Dalipsingh said she confronted her employers between January and April of this year, “and became more forceful” when she cancelled two shipments that she says were “deliberately and falsely labelled as organic.”

Mayor’s hybrid highway passes City Council by 24 to 21

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Mayor John Tory has won a vote which paves the way for a so-called hybrid version of the Gardiner Expressway. Council was deeply split and the final division of 24 to 21 appears to reveal a downtown vs suburban split. The hybrid road requires a realignment of the roadway east of Jarvis Street to re-join the eastern portion of the expressway which leads to Scarborough. Most of the opposition to a Hybrid was in favour of removing the eastern piece of the Gardiner and building a “boulevard” and developed amenities. The version generally summoned up by this was gentrified commercial activity. This was the option favored by City Planner Jennifer Keesmaat. a vote on the boulevard  option failed 26 to 19. Analysis suggests that some supporters of the hybrid were not keen about but it voted to prevent further congestion — a  fearsome word at City Hall. There is nothing imminent about any of this. It may quite a few years before work begins on any option.

Mayor said to have support for hybrid Gardiner vote

See later post

High court gives high sign to high cuisine with Mary Jane

The Supreme Court of Canada says its legal to consume marijuana for your health by way of home cooking as well as by smoking it  Like Brownies. Brownies are a sure cure for anything. As it stood,  the government had said that the use of the drug was legal only if it was smoked. The court took seriously the concern that smoking marijuana was not good for the lungs. Did the justices worry at all that marijuana Blondies or Lemon Squares may start to show up church fairs?  If they did, their ruminations are not recorded. Globe and Mail 

Northlea School students protest teacher work-to-rule

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Northlea Public School students protesting Thursday, June 11, 2015

Students at Northlea Public School on Rumsey Road were protesting the elementary teachers work-to-rule outside the school today (Thursday, June 11,2015). The elementary teachers are refusing to prepare report cards and as a result parents will be denied a detailed description of how their kids did during the year. Instead, it appears they will receive a “pass or fail” letter. Twitter 

Parents applaud quick tweets that students were safe

bedford bus-2-w tweet Fast news can be good news, and tweets from the principal that your son or daughter is okay, is really good news. Parents of the 26 Bedford Park Public school kids on that New York excursion have expressed their appreciation to principal Kevin Battaglia for sending word back so quickly that everybody aboard their bus was okay. Battaglia and two teachers have the 26 in their care on a sightseeing tour of New York. The Guelph University Gryphons bus was rear-ended in the Lincoln Tunnel about 9.30 EDT., the same hour in both cities. After a quick check, Mr. Battaglia tweeted that there had been “a little excitement” on the bus. He explained the situation and kept the updates going. Parent Henda Bilhan tweeted her thanks. And Sandra Kalnins said: “Thank you Mr. B for keeping us informed and to both you and Mr. Norris for keeping the kids safe.”

Road to nowhere? Gardiner grandstand drama grinds on

There has been no conclusion reached and no vote taken on the future of the Gardiner Expressway. City Council has debated the matter all day. Demolish, Hybrid, Boulevard, Tunnel or keep it the same. There are large groups of Councillors supporting each of the Hybrid and Boulevard ideas. They seem to be weighted suburbs vs downtown respectively. There has been a lot grandstanding too with Councillors supporting one or none of the concepts wanting to score a point or two on the mayor. They do it again Thursday. All leads

Law student asks court to declare carding unconstitutional

Globe and Mail 

Bayview extension is open after dinner hour flooding

The Bayview Ave. extension is open after earlier flooding during dinner hour. The Rosedale Valley Road remains closed this evening however for unspecified cleanup.