Logistics: Will there be enough hours in the day?

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There were 76 big delivery trucks ticketed yesterday in Mayor Tory’s zero-tolerance traffic improvement campaign  One of them was a FedEx truck, according to PC Clint Stibbe, Toronto’s media-friendly traffic guy. Stibbe is doing his job in exhorting delivery men to find other places to drop their cargo and many people will applaud tickets, fines and tow aways for illegal parkers. Stibbe says delivery trucks will have to find alternatives rather than park on the street.  Use the parking dock or deliver at night, are some suggestions. But the unknowns are staggering. There may not be a loading dock, businesses are not open at night and indeed, given the number of deliveries, there may not be enough hours in the day. Is it possible businesses will have to start scheduling for deliveries when they are normally closed? Will they be required to take shipments a day or two later than they want? Will Logistics become a forgotten concept? The vaunted goal of those UPS ads to deliver goods just in time seems set for a real test. An association representing Ontario truck drivers had asked the mayor to “revisit” his zero-tolerance policy on illegally parked delivery trucks. That appeal seems to have fallen on deaf ears. In response, the mayor is said to have remarked:  “Look it is a big city. There is going to be traffic. We just can’t have people on their own deciding that they are going to make matters worse, though, by pulling over to deliver an envelope or get a coffee,” he said.

Lightly-clad man dies in downtown bus shelter

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A man wearing a hospital bracelet was declared dead at St. Michael’s Hospital after he was found without vital signs in a bus shelter at Yonge-Dundas Square early Tuesday, December 6, 2015. The night was among the coldest of the year, so far. The man was wearing only jeans and a T-shirt. There was no information as to which hospital the bracelet originated. 

Maple Leafs dismiss head coach Randy Carlyle

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CTV

Canada vs. Russia, in a word: Phew!

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CP as published in Maclean’s

Juniors outlast Russia to win 5-4 golden game

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TSN

Premier and PM meet, promise to keep in touch

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Premier Wynne and Prime Minister Harper met at Queen’s Park this evening. The specifics are unknown although you may easily guess that money was an issue for both sides. Ms Wynne wants some for many things and the prime minister is intent on keeping it to balance the budget. Statement is published by the CBC

Canada and Russia in nail biter for gold

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Watching the many moves of Mayor John Tory

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His Honour was on traffic congestion duty and had Works Commissioner Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) with him when his party hit a bit of ice on Queen St. Pictures taken and tweeted by veteran Sun photographer Mike Peake show Mr. Tory (lower left) trucking along with Councillor Robinson but there’s a hint of trouble ahead as a man in the background falls flat on his bottom. Main picture, the mayor artfully stays upright as he hits the ice. Lower right, Mr. Tory misses not a topic as his conversation with Ms. Robinson continues.   

“Hockey summit” for Wynne, Harper tonight

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See later post  Prime Minister Harper will meet with Premier Wynne this evening at 6.15 p.m. in her office at Queen’s Park, the premier’s office has announced. The meeting will take place before the Canada-Russia hockey game at the ACC where Harper intends to spend the evening.  Much has been made of how long it has been since the Premier and PM have met although there seems little that is not known about just why. Mr. Harper thinks Ontario is piling up debt to a worrisome level. He also believes that Wynne wants to create a pension plan which will be a burden on the economy. Ms Wynne apparently feels the economy and the debt are quite manageable. Apart from personal peculiarities which the two adults might wish to overlook, there does not seem to be anything more to know about what is at issue.

Chopper crewman is new veteran’s minister

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Erin O’Toole 
Erin Michael O’Toole has been appointed the Minister of Veterans Affairs to replace Julian Fantino. Mr. O’Toole is the Conservative Member of Parliament for the Riding of Durham. He was elected with a whopping mandate (50.72% support) when he replaced Bev Oda as the CP candidate in Durham for the 2012 election. Mr. O’Toole’s website was updated simultaneously with his appointment and shows him in this informal shot wearing an RCAF jersey. He wears it honestly, having graduated from Royal Military College and received his wings as a helicopter navigator. He was later called to the bar. The replacement of Mr. Fantino was not very surprising. Although he may have been criticised for things that were not always his fault, Mr. Fantino seemed to find it increasingly difficult to get along with fractious members of the veterans community.  

Dental school feared students could harm selves

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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 

Bankrupt builder leaves homeowner stranded

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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