The South Bayview Bulldog

Nice as it is, Mayor Tory’s plan to rent hotel rooms for the homeless does not seem to address the gulf between the homeless and the rest of us. The homeless want to do whatever they want. Freedom of movement and personal choice is a dilemma faced by our kind-hearted society. It is the great un-addressed factor in making sure the homeless really do get inside. Any honest understanding of how people behave tells us that, yes, more space  may help, but it is unlikely to eliminate death from exposure in the winter. In another world, the homeless might report to a “survival officer” every morning. But no one wants survival officers, effective as they might be, checking on them all the time. The Constitution no doubt forbids it. But remember, this is about how to stop anyone from freezing to death.

York Mills Rd. will be closed all day Friday because of a watermain break between Fenside Drive and Parkwoods Village Drive. 

The creation of new federal political boundaries — which include the elimination of Don Valley West and the appearance of a riding known as University-Rosedale — is likely to favour the Conservative Party in the general election expected this year. Ipsos Reid has finished a poll which says the CP leads the Liberals nationally, including in Ontario. In addition, the new boundaries coming in 70 ridings move the Conservatives closer to a majority government, said Ipsos Reid’s John Wright. “If you took the 2011 numbers and applied them to the new riding situation immediately — without having a campaign or anything — the Conservatives already gain 22 extra seats as a result of that,” Mr. Wright told the National Post. The popular support numbers are Conservative 35%, Liberals 31% and NDP at 24%, down seven points since the 2011 federal election. According to Mr. Wright, the increased support for the Conservative party could be reflective of the shaky economy as the price of oil continues to drop.  Mr. Harper could also be benefiting from a vocal stance against terrorism. “Two key planks that always emerge as a strong suit for the Conservatives over the other two parties are the economy and national security,” Mr. Wright said. Harper’s personal approval rating is at 49% – the highest since March 2012. 

There is really no way of knowing what is meant by nebulous terms like “a culture of fear” at the Toronto and District School Board. Possibly some teachers and staff were being threatened by trustees in a way that readers might recognize. Or maybe there was just a lot of neighbourhood and union politics at work. One stated alarm was fear of the use of email. That sounds paranoid, stupid or both. But these are the scary concerns being broadcast The special report written by Margaret Wilson for the education minister never gets down to cases, even anonymously. Too bad. It is clear however that there are an awful lot of people trying to run the TDSB. Trustees with as many as three assistants each, the school board staff,  the principals and teachers and the parent associations. It’s too much. The unique thing about schools is that they send home a special agent every  evening to tell mom and dad what happened. Very little gets overlooked in the day to day life of children at school. This is as it should be. It does not require the structure now in place. The trustee system is antiquated, expensive and confusing. This is an opportunity for the provincial government to reform the administration of schools. It need not be as simple as eliminating the trustees, but that would be a good start. 

Sony Canada will close its store in the Yorkdale Shopping Centre plus eleven or so others across Canada. Yorkdale  rent combined with youthful non-buyers has made the retail venture a short-lived project. 

There’s a gloom over East York Town Centre as Target employees, fellow retailers, residents of Thorncliffe Park and the mall’s owner ponder the bombshell decision by Target to close all 133 stores in Canada. At the Town Centre there is a special problem and it seems apparent to most people. “Where will they find someone to take this store,” said a  woman who has worked at the centre in this same enormous building since 1994.  She understood that she had been lucky to catch on with Target as  Zeller’s wound down. “But now there is no one waiting to come here,” she said quietly as she stocked shelves. The arrival of  Target was to be part of a renewal for the Centre. Few people could have guessed at today’s outcome as Target poured money into the former Zeller’s store. A complete new escalator with tracks for shopping baskets was installed. The appeal of the Target brand to women from upscale neighborhoods in South Bayview and to the west was rolled out for discussion. It seems there is no such secret appeal. And there was the franchise-damaging snafu in which Target could not keep the shelves filled.  Now the demise is cast as a battle with low-end giant Wal-Mart. The East York Town Centre is owned by Morguard real estate investment and seen in such circles as a secondary mall. It has the big banks in it and a Shoppers Drug Mart, but the food stores make a different statement. Food Basics is a discount arm of the Metro chain. The centre’s location is in land-locked Thorncliffe Park. It is said 30,000 people live here in apartments but there are very few roads in and out. In the days and months to come, Morguard and perhaps quite a few of the other landlords will need good luck to put their malls back into front line service. The best guess among employees today was that the store might remain open for a maximum of six months.  Why Target waved whiter flag –Star