Three employees of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway have been charged in connection with criminal negligence in connection with the disastrous Lac Megantic derailment and fire in July, 2013. They are: Thomas Harding, the lone engineer in charge of the train on July 6, and MMA employees Jean Demaître and Richard Labrie. They will appear in court in Lac Megantic Tuesday.
Brothers to bake pies in Leaside and New Zealand
by •
Further to The Bulldog’s post of May 7, 2014 about the arrival of Wisey’s Pies and Bakehouse, the owner of this interesting business says he expects to have his storefront at Eglinton Ave. E. and Laird Drive open in three weeks. Gary Wise is the creator of the successful business concept as it thrives in Napier, New Zealand. “I left my brother in charge there,” says Mr. Wise. He said things seemed right to begin his concept in Leaside and environs. So with his Canadian wife, Karen, he has set about the task next door to the Starbucks which is in the old T-D Bank building on the corner. Wisey’s is one door west not far from the Service Ontario office. Good location and Mr. Wise says local reaction has been very welcoming The Bulldog will be back to Wisey’s soon with a fuller profile of this enterprising couple. Previous post
Workers in hazmat suits clear filthy Beach home
by •
 |
| Amanda Ferguson at the clean-up |
Toronto Fire and Health Department workers dressed in white hazmat suits have spent the day clearing a nightmare combination of cats feces and combustible junk from a home on Beech Ave. in the Beach neighborhood this Monday. A court order was obtained by the city to enter and begin to make the home safe for human habitation. The residence has been the target of years of complaints, according to neighbors, because of countless cats and their stench, garbage, newspapers, cardboard, wood, blankets and other discarded objects overflowing onto the front yard. The cleanup crew looked much like those who cleared a hoarders home in Manor Rd earlier this year. They said the amount of combustible materials lying around was well above standards set by the Ontario Fire Code. Reporter Amanda Ferguson of City-tv said this house has been the focus of other raids. In the fall, some 47 cats were taken from the property. Today, she said, was an attempt to make the place fit for humans to stay in. The National Post reported that cat feces was three inches thick in some places in the basement. The occupant of the home is present and entreating city officials to let her keep certain items which she hopes to sell.
No. 53 Division Open House on FaceBook
by •
No. 53 Division Open House took place on Saturday, May 10, 2014. There is a nice FaceBook gallery here.
Oshawa woman surrenders in downtown hit-run
by •
An Oshawa woman turned herself in to police following a hit and run accident on Dundas Street West in Kensington Market Saturday morning. Karen Fyfe, 31, responded to police appeals for the driver to give up. They have seized a 2005 silver Pontiac Grand Prix like the one shown. The victim, Jay McGinn, 28 (inset) is suffering life-threatening injuries. He was waiting to enter a taxi on the driver’s side as the previous fare was unloading at Dundas Street at Augusta Avenue at around 2:30 a.m. He was hit by a westbound vehicle that fled the scene. Friends said McGinn was out celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday when he was struck by the car. Nigel Dunn, who claims to have witnessed the incident early Saturday morning, said the victim was thrown about 40 feet in the air after he was struck by a female driver. “She noticed us and she continued onto the lights there. As she approached the lights, it turned into a red light. She stopped, waited for the light to turn green and then continued on,” he said. Police incidents reported over the weekend
by •
The fine weekend saw a break-in on Roxborough Street West sometime between 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 8, 2014 and 9 a.m. Sunday, May 11, 2014. A window was forced and jewellery was taken. A 20-year-old woman was mugged in the Annex Saturday night about 11 p.m. Two men ran up from behind on Lowther Ave. and grabbed her purse. Fortunately, she was not hurt.
Sleeper agent or simple pizza delivery man?
by •
 |
| Mohammed Harkat |
The question before the people of Canada is whether they want to permit people who may be bent on the destruction of our society to live here, even though authorities cannot prove intent by the strictest tests of our 1,000 year old book of British law. It’s a big volume full of magnificence and mistakes compiled and handed down by lawmakers ranging from the Barons of Magna Carta to Chief Justice Bora Laskin. Now citizens are again going to be exposed — if not exactly treated — to another rendering of this vexing challenge as the case of Mohammed Harkat goes back to the Supreme Court for a second time. Harkat is an Algerian-born terrorist suspect who came here from Pakistan in 1995. He had no authority to do so but in those days it was easy to say you were a refugee from certain torture if you were sent back. Among other things, he delivered pizza. It’s honest work. But successive governments, both Liberal and Conservative, have insisted that Harkat came here as a sleeper agent of Al Qaeda. For all we know, that may be right — or wrong. How do you like your chances so far at protecting yourself and upholding our principles of justice at the same time? The security act, which pre-dates 9/11, has been re-written to try to plug some of the holes found by the Supreme Court the last time it pondered this matter. But this weekend the court said it will hear again the contention of Harkat’s lawyers that he is not sufficiently protected from arbitrary Canadian determination to deport him.
Tim Hudak video shoot shot down by TTC rules
by •
Tim Hudak’s campaign got hauled off a TTC subway today because it was trying to shoot a video message during an election campaign. TTC officials said a similar endeavor by Premier Wynne was apparently done before the election was called — which made it alright. Suspicious PC workers took to Twitter to complain about a double standard and accused transit police, who are members of the Canadian Union of Public employees (CUPE) of stopping the shoot for political reasons.
Ontario sex offender map seems predictable
by •
A map of where registered sex offenders live shows that parts of rural Ontario have more than their share. In Toronto, registered sex offenders cluster in the east downtown, roughly bounded by Carlton, Jarvis, the Don Valley Parkway and the Lakeshore. There are smaller pockets in the Junction and Parkdale. The area measured is the postal code designation known as the Forward Sortation Area — the first three characters of the code. FSAs throughout midtown Toronto show a fairly low number of such persons — typically less than 50 per 100,000 of population. A map at the link below permits residents to search their FSA. The information became available in recent days because of a decision by the Supreme court of Canada. Global News says it has fought a six year battle to obtain release of the data. Global calls it the map that the government of Ontario did not want you to see. While interesting, the map seems to show what might be expected. Global News Byelections in Toronto on Monday, June 30
by •
Four byelections — two in Toronto — will be held Monday, June 30, 2014, the prime minister has announced. Scarborough-Agincourt and Trinity-Spadina are both vacant. In the former, Jim Karygiannis resigned to run for City Council and in the second, Olivia Chow resigned to run for mayor. Other byelections will be held in the Alberta constituencies of Fort McMurray-Athabasca and Macleod.
Spring Into Action Diabetes Run raises $15,000
by •
The Annual Spring Into Action Run for Diabetes took which took place in Sunnybrook Park on May 3, 2014 raised $15,000. More than 300 people participated to help raise funds and this year’s efforts more than doubled the fundraising total from last year.The event is sponsored by Insideout Health and Fitness and the Sunnybrook Foundation’s Diabetes Research Department, York University Diabetes Sports Camp and IChallenge Diabetes.
Rips neck chain from visually impaired man, 63
by •
 |
Toronto Police are looking for the man who attacked a 63-year-old visually-impaired man as he walked in a park in the Bridletowne Circle area. It happened Monday and the surveillance camera provides an especially good view of this cowardly mugging. The captures on the right proceed from left to right at the top and bottom. The suspect is 18-25, 5’8″-6’0″, wearing dark pants, a dark vest and a dark-coloured Adidas hoodie with a white Adidas symbol on the back of the hood.