The Dufferin Bridge will be to be removed this weekend The old overpass to the CNE gates will be replaced. As a result of this work, pedestrian access over the bridge will not be permitted from Friday, November 30 at noon to Saturday, December 7. Pedestrians can cross the railway tracks between Liberty Village and Exhibition Place via the GO Station tunnel at Atlantic Avenue. Motorists can enter Exhibition Place from any of the entrances on Lake Shore Boulevard or from Strachan Avenue. Go Train service will be affected as a result of this work. A temporary pedestrian bridge will be installed and is expected to be opened by December 7. Two temporary bridges for vehicles will be installed and opened by February, 2014.
Six recognized for excellence in bike friendliness
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We love our bicycles and Toronto has recognized six companies for their excellence in bicycle friendliness. They are:
- Best Bike Parking: Stone Canoe
- Bicycle Commute: Intelliware Development Inc.
- Best Small Business: McLeish Orlando LLP
- Best Large Business: ING Direct
- Best Skills Development: Pedalheads Bike Camps
- Best Overall: Energy @ Work
Shape of 308A and 308B Rose Park Drive
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Today’s snow may slow down the steaming winter building season which has seen these two homes on Rose Park Drive go from scratch to half built in just a month. These two homes replace an original 1920s Moore Park home which sat on a 70 foot frontage.
Police take cutting torches to Chinese barbecues
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The running war between the city government and the Chinese barbecue lovers has come to a head as the “BBQ police” are using cutting torches to dismantle the capital’s many smoky outdoor grills. It is a thorny issue because the Beijingers love their charred pork and fish. But the anti-pollution policies of the government have over-ruled angry residents.
It’s a normal commute and a face full of snow
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Good morning South Bayview. Here we go again with the shovels and the road salt. In fact, aren’t we glad to live in the inner city where there’s only a couple of centimeters of snow to clear. Residents are finding a slightly slower commute caused mostly in the walking. Buses and subways are running fine, says the TTC. Rain and wet snow falling overnight formed a kind of spray paint for these trees in Bennington Heights. The curious pooch got a faceful of snow too.Porter Airlines, which operates out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, issued a weather advisory Wednesday morning for travel to and from Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax. Passengers are asked to check their flight status before heading to the airport. NHL kisses off Bell, demotes CBC, bags billions
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Talk about Standing Up to the Big Guys. We may never know who miscalculated at Bell Media’s TSN. But you can be sure that if the right to be the Big Boss of hockey broadcasting in Canada is worth $5.2 billion to Rogers Media, it is absolutely worth that much to Bell. So what happened? Did Bell even get a chance to counter-offer and or did it foolishly think that the NHL would have to come back to Bell regardless? If this deal was the result of an auction — and that seems for sure — did Bell get over-confident about its pre-eminent position in Canada? One thing is clear, the NHL was big enough in its own right to stand up and say we’re going with the other guy. The fallout at Bell is yet to come. The company has written a gracious statement congratulating Rogers but you have to know that at the top, the Bell Big Guys do not like this. Remember how they chased the CRTC all over Canada after they were turned down for Astral Media? But now they are faced with less than the crumbs as the rest of Canada tries to analyse this seismic re-ordering of hockey broadcasting (and streaming) which even the experts are struggling to comprehend. The best information and some educated guessing comes from Cassandra Szklarski of the Canadian Press
New 140 Dinnick Cres. is a huge asset to the neighbourhood
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A fine new mansion is nearing completion on the wooded lot at 140 Dinnick Crescent in Lawrence Park. This highly-detailed and elegant residence is the work of designer Lorne Rose. It will become the home of a couple who were almost denied the use of the property. Tim and Charlotte Stanley bought the 1930 home on the site in 2011 after careful checking that they could demolish it. It was a run-down and poorly cared-for place that was barely fit to live in. But the day after the Stanleys were given a permit to knock the place down, North York Community Council snatched it back and called the property a heritage building. There was very little basis for this arbitrary and unjust act. The Ontario Municipal Board dismissed the preservationists’ claim and ordered the city to issue a demolition permit. Certainly, the appearance of the home that the Stanleys have built is a justification of their good taste and a big bonus for neighbors, who will doubtlessly see an increase in the value of their homes with the addition of the new 140 Dinnick.
Couche-Tarde spinning money, Sears fires 800
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It’s the up and down of business. Couche Tarde, the corner store and gas bar phenomenon from Montreal, continued to spin out money like they own the printing presses. Couche Tarde posted a Q2 profit of $1.21 a share, up from 97 cents a year earlier. Adjusted earnings climbed to $1.32 a share from 91 cents, beating expectations. The convenience-store operator also raised its dividend 14.3%. Meantime, Sears Canada seems to cursed to misery. It announced Tuesday afternoon that it is laying off 800 people at head office and in service departments today. This comes after stories are told that Sears Canada is being shopped around for sale by Edward Lampert, the CEO of Sears Holdings, which continues to own a 51 per cent stake in the firm. Sears Canada has already sold the leases to its best properties, including the Eaton Centre, unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars which is being returned to shareholders as Sears tries to find itself in a ever more complex retail market.
Business park on Wicksteed Avenue going up
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The growing framework of the Wicksteed Business Park is seen yesterday. It is a nine-acre commercial condominium complex at 195-209 Wicksteed Avenue. There are as many as seven proposed commercial buildings in this development, one of which is said to be a Canada Post distribution centre. The buildings in the background are the Scenic on Eglinton. The developer of the business park is the Rockport Group. Rockport is also busy locally with a proposal for the redevelopment of Postal Station K at Yonge and Montgomery. Yonge-Montgomery Photo courtesy Rudy Limeback. Bringing Buffalo Bills to Toronto is a long game
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Rogers strikes 12-year NHL deal freezing out TSN
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The National Hockey League says it has reached a 12-year, $5.2-billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the league’s broadcast and multimedia rights. As part of the deal, Rogers says the CBC will continue to air its iconic “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast and that the TVA network in Quebec has all of the Canadian French-language multi-media rights. The league says the deal gives Rogers national rights to all NHL games, including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final, on all of its platforms in all languages. Longtime NHL analyst Bob McKenzie said in a tweet early Tuesday that ”TSN’s national rights package for NHL games expires at end of this season and isn’t being renewed.” NHL website
Libs win Toronto, Tories take squeaker in West
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The four federal byelections on Monday produced enjoyable races but in the end, the outcomes were not very surprising. Here in Toronto, Chrystia Freeland defeated NDP candidate Linda McQuaig by a margin of at least 3,200 ballots or about 13 percent of the popular votes as counted at the time of this post. There were at that hour 205 of 268 polling stations reporting. That number showed 27 percent of the 91,000 plus of registered voters had bothered to go to the polls. It was after all, a byelection and the results really do show it. The Conservatives saw a fall in popular support from about 24 percent in the last general election to only nine percent (or 2,248 votes) at posting time. The candidate, Geoff Pollock was a late nominee and it was easy to conclude that he was, in the parlance of political parties, a “sacrificial lamb.” If the Conservatives hope to be taken seriously they may have to try harder. It was a jubilant night at Jack Astors cafe and bar where Liberals whooped it up. The party retained its seat in Bourassa. Justin Trudeau made a gracious speech in that riding where he promised Western Canada that the Liberals would be responding to what they saw as renewed interest there. In the Conservative stronghold of Brandon Souris Larry Maguire barely held the riding against Liberal Rolf Dinsdale. Maguire won by about 400 votes out of more than 27,000 cast. The other Manitoba seat, Provencher, was a cakewalk for Conservative Ted Falk who recorded a thumping 58 per cent of the popular vote. Back in Toronto, commentators John Tory and Steven LeDrew criticized Chrystia Freeland for falling into a personal attack on the prime minister, something they said might better have been left to the House of Commons. Such rhetoric was much in vogue however with MP Olivia Chow who had her anti-Harper script and seldom strayed from it, prompting reporters to “ask me about Harper”. Pundits Tory and LeDrew had praise for NDP candidate and Toronto Star crusader Linda McQuaig. They found her speech gracious. They predicted a future for this stormy petrel of journalism in the new lower Toronto riding of Toronto Centre if she chooses to seek it after re-distribution.