The South Bayview Bulldog

Up at Brentliffe Rd and Eglinton Ave E there’s a Saturday morning offering of guinea pigs. What better, really. FB

The remarkable career of Rosalie Abella has closed another chapter as she retires from the Supreme Court of Canada. Abella’s history is legendary. She was born in Germany to Jewish parents in a camp for survivors in 1946 and went on to become a force of nature in the Toronto legal community. She was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2004, the first Jewish woman to assume the role. An ongoing social concern of the judge is populism. Her interview with CTV does not delve too deeply into details however.

A man has died after Toronto Police Marine Rescue officers pulled him from the lake at Queens Quay and Lower Simcoe St Saturday morning. He was taken to the hospital with vital signs absent and subsequently declared dead. The incident appears to have occurred off of a footbridge at Ann Tindal Park. It’s unclear if the man was swimming or simply fell into the water. A woman was present and apparently leaped into the water in an effort to save the man. She received medical attention and is said to be safe.

So embarrassing. Sorry for your trouble guy.

CN Rail seems set to become the most influential railway in North America with the decision Friday by the Kansas City Southern Railroad to terminate a tentative takeover deal with Canadian Pacific. As reported in April, CN disrupted the pending CP-KCS deal by offering a whopping $325 US a share for the midwest and Mississipi Valley line. When consolidated into the CN network, the KCS tracks will give CN a transcontinental network stretching from the Yukon to Mexico.

In a bilingual country it might well have been called Merde Creek but the titillating variation in English has served Schitt’s Creek well. It is very popular. Star Catherine O’Hara has again won the Canadian Screen Award for best lead actress in a comedy series — her sixth in a row. The CBC show also won best comedy series for the third year in a row.

Vanishing PC Tomato soup at Loblaws

For years Loblaws put its PC brand tomato soup in the first row of the canned borscht dispenser ahead of all those Campbell’s imposters. But then it vanished. No one knows why. Things vanish at Loblaws.

Was there free speech before Twitter?

Okay, gird up for a rather wordy discussion of the Liberal’s Bill C-10. Depending on who you listen to it’s about Canadian content or maybe the crushing of free speech. We live in an age when you can watch Czech drama on a foreign streaming service or launch a powerful Twitter campaign against your neighbour. Long live the cause of freedom.

Photographer Colin Mcconnel has posted his latest picture from Dogs in the Hood.

The Ontario government has authorized the re-opening of golf, tennis, baseball, playgrounds and several other outdoor activities to open starting Saturday. It is part of a three-step reopening plan that extends through the summer. Patio dining and non-essential stores are likely to open sometime in June. CBC

The mood swings back and forth from harrowing to hilarious as Erika Campbell gives birth while she and her husband Troy speed to the hospital. As often happens, the baby wants out before they get there. But there’s an extra twist here as video blogger Troy has now posted a 14-minute record of their wonderful event. Heartiest congratulations guys.

Mayor Tory is at his most adept as he says he’s sure no one intentionally lives in a box in the park on purpose. But he also has to concede that the City has not been able to persuade park dwellers to leave their unsafe, fire-prone hovels.

TopShop closes out all business across Canada

TopShop arrived in Canada to much fanfare ten years ago but the tough, unpredictable retail game has now driven the British retailer back to Blighty. Topshop and Topman retail spaces within Hudson’s Bay department stores will close this fall.

Rule of Law takes nasty beating as pipeline pays $4.4 million ransom

The Rule of Law is a touchstone of modern democratic life but it’s taking a heck of a kicking from extortionists (possibly from Moscow) who regularly get paid millions for outrageous illegal conduct.

Upper left, Sun reporter Bryan Passifiume created this photoshop of Mayor Tory as Beethoven based on his honour’s 18th Century mop of hair. Bryan thinks it’s time for Mr Tory to forego his pandemic man-of-the-people locks. We wish the mayor as much fame as the great composer without the whacky outbursts. And yeah, a haircut too. Middle left we’re still with City Hall in a 1960s picture of the popular Mayor William Dennison and his wife Dorothy. They sold their home in Rosedale and moved into the new Leaside Towers. At bottom left is a wild-looking caboose captured in Leaside by outdoorsman and railway walker Rudy Limeback. He tells the story here. At the upper right is a stalwart fellow at the Yonge and Roxborough Starbucks reading aloud from a volume titled Celebration of Discipline. His guitar is at hand so he can play as well as read. Lastly at the lower right is a sombre memory of Toronto Maple Leaf players training to go to war in 1939.

There is lots of guff and guessing as fans try to figure all the angles on whether Montreal could possibly psych the Leafs in their first-round matchup Thursday night. Interest is high around town as a billboard on Bayview Ave courtesy of Habs fan Patrick Rocca reveals.