Olivia Chow, John Tory show strength in poll

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The polling firm Forum Research has done a telephone survey that shows the potent appeal of Olivia Chow and John Tory in the voting for mayor. Chow has yet to enter the race but she is widely expected to do so. If she did, the poll shows the support levels at this date would yield a tie between Chow and Mayor Ford at 31 percent. John Tory would receive 27 percent of the support in this context. Without Chow in the mix, the phone poll showed Tory at 39 percent and Ford at 33 percent. Karen Stintz received 15 percent and David Soknacki had 5 percent.  The poll spoke to 1,310 residents and the pollster says the result indicate that both Chow and Tory have great potential to improve their support in the many months before the October election. In a three-way race without Stintz and Soknacki, there was a statistical tie: Tory had 33 per cent, Ford and Chow 32 per cent. 

Jaye Robinson town-hall explores trams, trains, buses

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Jaye Robinson (Ward 25) presided over an informative town hall meeting to discuss “transit and transportation” tonight (Tuesday, February 25, 2014).  Her three-person panel was Andy Byford, Chief General Manager of the TTC, Bruce McCuag, CEO of Metrolinx and Stephen Buckley, Toronto GM of Transportation People being people, it was probably predictable that when question and answer time came, most questioners had concerns based on their personal problems with TTC service or policy. Thus most of the work went to TTC boss Byford.  One man asked about unmanned trains, said to have operated without a problem for decades in Paris.  The answer was unmanned trains are coming but you can’t launch them without a “train screen”. That’s the glass wall seen in modern subways in Europe and the Orient that keeps people from falling onto the tracks and permits the train to stop automatically where the screen opens in co-ordination with the train doors.  What about that “19th century technology” known as the streetcar? Byford could happily say that the decision to keep streetcars (and buy yet more) pre-dated his arrival at the TTC. What good was it to denounce the inevitable. The issue might be resolved Byford said diplomatically when the recently purchased trams wear out in a couple of decades. Another man suggested the need for the much discussed Downtown Relief Line to take pressure off the Yonge subway would be eliminated if only the TTC ran all trains the same way at rush hour. Truly outside the  box. Everything goes south in the morning and north in the evening.  But here again, Byford had heard the idea before.  Problem was, he lamented, the signal system was not reversible. End of story. The meeting was held in the chapel of the Lawrence Park Community Church, 2180 Bayview Ave., a venue which is said to have meeting rooms available to a variety of uses.

Today Show, Mayor Ford are equally disgusting

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Matt Lauer and Rob Ford on the Today Show? It’s hard to know who was more disgusting. Sure, the mayor was his usual inane and hopelessly stupid self.  “Maybe you’re perfect but I’m not” he harrumphed yet again. Sure mayor, all of us get so incoherently pickled that we make a spectacle of ourselves in a restaurant. And Lauer? He was unmasked for the carny pitch man that he is, desperate beyond all knowing for a titillation. The program is tanking and the producers are in the gutter looking for any freak to parade in front of midway gawkers who are about as smart as the mayor.

Who shot Tonka near Bayview extension?

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Someone down in the River Street area just off the Bayview extension has a gun. And he has used it to take a pot shot at a woman’s dog. This happened last Saturday when she was walking her “American/English” bulldog along Cornwall Street. The pet, known as Tonka, was injured and treated at a local veterinarian. The 11-month old dog will be okay but police are especially eager to find the shooter to prevent any further vicious behaviour. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-5100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.

Roll up the rim and roll out the growth says Tim

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Tim Hortons is set to rrr-roll  out the expansion plans as the coffee shop giant says it sees “significant room for growth” in its core Canadian business. Tim says it expects to add 500 locations in this country and 300 in the United States by 2018. It also says it has had initial success in the Persian Gulf region and has a roadmap for adding about 220 locations in that area over the same period.. Tim Hortons has 3,588 restaurants in its Canadian system, 859 in the United States and 38 in the Gulf region.

Will Flaherty run in the election of 2015?

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Will Finance Minister Jim Flaherty run in the 2015 general election? In Melbourne, where he is attending a meeting of finance ministers, Mr. Flaherty told Reuters that he hasn’t made up his mind.  Flaherty is one of the strongest ministers in the CP cabinet and is the international symbol of Canada’s financial stability. Flaherty answered “yes” at a November 13 news conference when asked whether he would run for re-election. The minister suffers from a rare but non-fatal skin disease that causes blisters and is usually managed with powerful steroid medication.  Flaherty, 64, has vowed to stay on the job until he eliminates the country’s budget deficit, and he repeated on Tuesday that he expects to achieve that without difficulty next year well before Canadians go to the

Thieves “shop” for electronics in Yonge subway

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What can fairly be called an epidemic of crimes related to cell phones and electronic devices continues in the subway system.  On Friday, February 21, 2014, a 28 year old man was mugged for his cell phone about 3 p.m. in the afternoon in the Bloor St station. The next day at shortly after midnight, a 24 year old man was waiting for a train in the same station when he was approached by three men.The suspects grabbed the victim’s iPad. At that time a male witness attempted to help the victim and was punched in the face. All suspects fled the scene up a stairwell to Asquith Avenue. The victim and witness sustained minor injuries and will seek their own medical attention. It’s noteworthy and a concern that the assailants were prepared to resort to violence in the face of resistance. The best policy seems to be to avoid the use of phones or other devices in the subway and to keep them as hidden as possible. Save the surfing in public for the Starbucks and other enclosed areas where it isn’t so easy for thieves to make a snatch-and-grab getaway. As readers of the Bulldog will know, reports of such thefts are more than common.

Cop review board to investigate Chief Blair

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A complaint filed by the mayor’s brother, Doug Ford (Ward 2) has resulted in an investigation into the conduct of TPS Chief Bill Blair. Mr. Ford raised the matter with the local police services board after Chief Blair answered a question from reporters by saying he was “disappointed” by the revelations of the investigation into the activities of the mayor during 2013.  Mr. Ford then alleged in November that a conflict-of-interest occurred when Blair went on a fishing trip with Andy Pringle, who is among the seven members of the Toronto Police Services Board. Ford also complained about the matter to the Toronto Police Services Board. The board reviewed that complaint. Coun. Doug Ford has since been sent a letter from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, advising him that it would be investigating the allegations. The letter indicates that the police board concluded the allegations “may constitute misconduct as defined in Section 80 of the Police Services Act,” which is why the OIPRD has been asked to investigate them.

Oh no! Please don’t say cities lie about money

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Take it for what its worth — but an important small business organization in Canada says the country’s cities lie about money. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says ahead of this week’s meeting of big-city mayors that about 15 cents out of every tax dollar collected in Canada  goes to cities — nearly double the eight cents per dollar the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) says its members receive. “This eight cent myth is used at every municipal meeting to support the story that municipalities are revenue-starved,” CFIB executive vice-president Laura Jones said. “But it’s a story that doesn’t reflect reality.” Mayors aren’t counting major sources of revenue like federal and provincial transfer payments, the CFIB said. According to the report, too much spending is the problem, not a lack of revenue. The CFIB calls on upper levels of government to freeze additional funding to cities until they get their spending in line, and also for municipalities to align public sector wages with those in the private sector. The FCM meets in Ottawa on Tuesday and Wednesday. QMI

#TOpoli tracks Ford, Tory, Stintz and Soknacki

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Sunflower lady files papers

Karen Stintz has launched her campaign for mayor by making a number of appearances including NewsTalk 1010, where she was treated with perfect cordiality. There is much to be learned from the established hashtag home of #topoli (Toronto Politics on Twitter for the uninitiated)  It is here you can learn such things as Ms. Stintz’s confession (declaration?) that her campaign will be symbolized by the sunflower. Always positive and looking on the bright side, or something like that. David Soknacki announces “I’m not a celebrity, but I am the only fiscally responsible candidate.” as he “welcomes” Karen Stintz and John Tory to the race. Desmond Cole notes that Mayor Ford’s assessment that the proof (of the election outcome) will be in the pudding has caused police to deploy to Loblaws. (Sigh).  And finally, when you check out #topoli, notice the furious tweeting of the city planner, Jennifer Keesmaat. Well heck, maybe planning is political.   Here is a good wrap of the day’s events in the campaign until noon Monday by CP24’s Chris Kitching.

Source electronics moves up at Sunnybrook

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The Bulldog has learned that the Source electronics retailer will move from its present location in Sunnybrook Plaza to the large premises next to the CIBC. This space was most recently leased by the gift store Wrap-it-up. According to sources, the move will occur as soon as electrical plugs and finishing can occur at the vacant space. It is said that the plaza’s owners, Rio.Can, have been showing prospective tenants through the present Source location next to the Home Hardware store. It is expected that this smaller space will be more readily leased than the large Wrap-it-up location, which has stood empty for a year. The Source was created out of the break up of Radio Shack interests in the U.S. and Canada. In 2009, The Source was purchased by Bell Canada. The move at Sunnybrook brings to the fore the storefront slug-it-out that is going on between Canada’s three largest wireless and smart phone retailers — Bell, Rogers and Telus. Telus is represented at Sunnybrook by Blacks, now a wholly owned subsidiary of the B.C wireless and phone firm. We may expect to see keen competition between these players at Sunnybrook for the spare cash of consumers in and around South Bayview.