The South Bayview Bulldog

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  

 It will be 2016 before South Bayview motorists, as well as those on Mt. Pleasant and across Toronto, will be able to use their cellphones to pay for parking on Toronto streets.  This word comes from Lorne Persiko, president of the Toronto Parking Authority. The TPA is currently preparing the roll-out of pay-by-phone in the City’s Green P lots. The process is staged, said Mr. Persiko, to be sure the TPA can make it work to everyone’s satisfaction. Pay-by-phone parking is popping up all over North America and has proven to be a major public service. It permits drivers to open a so-called “wallet” not too different from the accounts offered by retail businesses such as Starbucks. The convenience represented in paying for parking by phone however would seem to surpass anything now in use. With an account containing $20, for example, a motorist can park and by entering the car’s license plate and certain other information, pre-pay for as much parking as is needed. Critically, the system permits drivers who are delayed getting back to their vehicle to top-up the parking without penalty from wherever they are. It should be a boon to anyone delayed at the dentist or for old friends lingering over coffee. It will be hard to incur a ticket because the phone alerts drivers to  the approaching end of their paid time. In addition, it will eliminate completely the abusive confiscation of money. At present, anyone wishing to top up time must go to the meter, buy a new ticket, forfeiting the amount left on the old one.