The South Bayview Bulldog

The stance of Mayor Tory has been accommodative on this day that a homeless man died of exposure downtown. The man was well known to outreach personnel but its not clear whether he was reachable by them or not. But he was found dead in a bus shelter in Dundas Square this morning, both his life and his death a tragedy. This was followed by a typically cynical spectacle at City Hall by the poverty lobby. When it was over, everyone agreed that while it had not been cold enough to issue a cold alert, the City would do so anyway and open warming centres. 

NOT A MENTION OF GARBAGE STRIKES

The mayor has been a bit of a moving target on his promise to privatise garbage collection east of Yonge Street. Now, says the mayor, he’s taking a stand on getting the facts. Tempers flared at the works committee as privatization was added to the agenda at the last minute by public works committee chair Jaye Robinson. Many councillor have stories about the real savings, the loss of jobs and the control of garbage collection  (not sure what this means). Never a mention however of  city parks piled high with stinking garbage and the other pleasant events that always seem to happen when there is a Civic employees strike.  Picketers stopped residents from taking garbage to central dumps. There is no way of knowing, it seems, if the current discussion is material or mindless.

The new Republican Congress was merely two hours old today when President Obama said he will veto the first bill it sends him. No Keystone pipeline, says the president.  Washington Post 

Dalhousie University has suspended 13 dentistry students from clinical activities over comments that were posted on Facebook over a period of some months.  In announcing this today, the school said that it delayed a public statement because it had received “credible reports” that the students, all in fourth year, might be in jeopardy of harming themselves. It was a jolting twist in the case of the so-called DDS Gentleman’s Club. The group had posted offensive material about women, and in one case showed photographs of two women students. The dean of the dentistry school said the comments were deeply offensive, degrading to women and entirely unacceptable. “This behaviour will not be tolerated at Dalhousie University,” president Richard Florizone told a news conference. There is a disciplinary process underway which the president said would “follow a just process, a process which is consistent with the law, with university policy and which holds the rights of all of those involved in this incident.” He said the university had delayed the suspension after it heard reports that the male students allegedly involved were at risk of harming themselves. The school wanted to ensure that appropriate supports were available to them. “We had credible reports from our front line staff of potential self-harm,” he said. “We took those seriously and so that concern for student safety overrode our concern about communicating this publicly.” The case reveals the super nova impact of the Internet with sophomoric conduct. The damage to both men and women is plain when young men full of bravado about sex must face the public consequences of their immature behaviour. Canadian Press  Gentlemen’s Club 

It is a scary story for anyone who hopes to renovate a home and for small builders who expand too quickly. It’s a problem that has been seen in Leaside too but perhaps not with quite the devastating impact it is having on North York homeowner Karim Hajee. The father of four has just been told that the company he hired to rebuild his home is bankrupt and does not have his money. He is out of pocket some six figures, says Mr. Hajee. He entrusted the work to a 10-year-old company named GarCon Building Group.  The owner, Adam Gardin, declared bankruptcy after Christmas. He insists he is not a thief but had bad judgement in trying to expand. Metro