A home that has been under construction for at least a year has gone up in flames in the middle of the night in exclusive Armour Heights overlooking Hogg’s Hollow. Firefighters were called to the blaze on Joicey Blvd near Esgore Drive about 3 a.m. Some people living nearby were evacuated for safety. Neighbors said they were terrorized by the size of the fire and the heat generated from the largely wood three-storey structure. The Fire Marshall calls the fire suspicious.
Digna Narciso, 76, has been found safe a few blocks from Toronto General Hospital.
The Prime Minister has pledged that there will be no more appointments to the Senate, an apparent attempt to let the institution wither on the vine. Speaking in Regina, Mr. Harper said he believed this strategy would force provinces which oppose abolition to deal with the matter. The Supreme Court of Canada effectively eliminated all chance of abolition 18 months ago by finding such a move unconstitutional unless all ten provinces agreed. Even a winning referendum would not allow abolition since the power to decide would remain with the Cabinets of each of the provinces. Ontario is opposed to abolition.
The Flaky Tart at 711 Mt. Pleasant is advertising for a customer service employee at the front desk. Take a look
Lowes Canada will open a store in the vacant Target premises in Shoppers World Danforth as part of expansion plans this fall. The Rio.Can-owned shopping centre is at 3003 Danforth between Main St. and Victoria Park Ave. Six other stores will fill Target former locations across Ontario. They are Ancaster, Milton Mall Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Centrepoint Mall, Toronto, RioCan St. Laurent in Ottawa and Intercity Shopping Centre, Thunder Bay. In total, Lowes will open 14 stores across Canada. But, hopes that it might open in the East York Town Centre have been dashed. No mention is made of the Target location there.
Two cars collided at Moore Ave and Mt. Pleasant Friday mid-morning sending this one, a Kia, into the home on the northeast corner. Traffic was stopped as the vehicles were removed.
Mayor Tory is said to think that Toronto’s administration of the Pan Am Games sets a fine example with which to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games. He will be correct in all likelihood from the viewpoint of that stern council of Olympic bosses who sit in judgement of municipal supplicants from all over the world. Who can erase the images of weeping losers forced to participate in those grotesque television specials in which the winner is finally declared. Not unlike the cruel spectacles of the Hunger Games. Taxpayers may relate better to knowing that in the past it cost their town millions just to be humiliated in front of a world audience of billions. It’s not the same as losing in the high jump. This defeat comes by the arbitrary fiat of IOC Brahmins in Lausanne.
COST OVERRUNS NOT UNKNOWN IN TORONTO
The City and the Province have indeed produced a series of smooth functioning sites for events, a structure of homes in the Pan Am Village of which to be proud and some nighttime carnivals on Nathan Phillips Square which entertained many. Could Toronto mount the 2024 Olympic Games? Sure. The issue for thoughtful ratepayers will be whether the indebtedness and inconvenience is really necessary. The Olympics, remember, seldom make a profit. The host City is always left holding the bag. God knows, cost overruns are not unknown in Toronto. The mayor says he wants to make a decision ”very quickly”. We think not too quickly would be better, sir. Toronto is facing a tight deadline. Candidates must make an official bid with the International Olympic Committee by Sept. 15.
REMEMBER, THE IOC WOULD BE LUCKY TO HAVE US
Notwithstanding deadlines, the most important Olympic planning issues in debt-ridden Ontario are the cost and the sound judgement of those to be in charge. Ontario is not China, where a wonderful spectacle was produced with the unpaid labour of millions of patriotic people. The profound truth about this blessed place on the Great Lakes is that the IOC will be lucky to come here. Let there be enough good judgement to prevent abuse of the citizens. The HOV lanes on the Gardiner, QEW and Don Valley have been an abomination. The drive to Hamilton has turned into a two-hour stop and go ordeal. No earthly purpose has been served by this product of over-excited planners.
A new poll shows the Conservative Party is by far the most popular among Canadian voters. The poll was done by Mainstreet Research for Postmedia. It suggests Prime Minister Harper and the Tories received a sharp boost in popularity as a result of the enhanced Universal Child Care Benefit. Among decided voters, the Conservatives lead with 38 per cent support, followed by the NDP at 27 per cent and the Liberals at 25 per cent. The Green party is at six per cent (the Bloc Québécois is at four per cent). One in five voters (20 per cent) remains undecided. Ottawa Citizen
Premier Wynne was scheduled to meeting Friday morning (July 24, 2015) with leaders of the Elementary Teachers Federation, the Secondary School Teachers Federation and the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association. It looks like a kind of Hail Mary Summit. Worried parents can only hope that something will come out of this meeting although it is difficult to see what it might be. Will the Premier say again that there is just no money? The unions claim they don’t want an increase (really?) but there are a lot of things they do want that translate into dollars (like more teachers).
An Ancaster motorist is recovering from serious injuries in a Hamilton hospital after he was apparently driven off the road by a confrontation with a large owl on rural roads Thursday morning. It happened around 1 a.m. on Sulphur Springs Road near Dundas. The vehicle, a Lexus SUV, flipped and crashed into a tree near a sharp bend. The man was trapped in his car for about half an hour before fire crews managed to cut him out. Police originally believed the car hit a deer before crashing but have now confirmed that it was an owl. They are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact them.
