Loblaws has committed to a policy of verifying the structural safety of buildings where its goods are produced in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Galen G. Weston, executive chairman of Loblaws, said he has been appalled by the silence of the garment industry to the collapse of a factory in that country last month. Mr.Weston said that Loblaws will take the lead to try to secure the structural integrity of factories. This will involve having Loblaws personnel on the ground as monitors. Mr.Weston spoke at the Mattamy Athletic Centre and was accompanied by Joe Mimrand, the creator of the Joe Fresh brand owned by Loblaws. At the news conference, one reporter questioned whether there was anything that foreign companies could do because the Bangladeshi government is so untrustworthy. Mr Mimrand noted that a major reason that Joe Fresh is manufactured in Bangladesh is the reciprocity treaty the country has with Canada and Ottawa’s encouragement of firms to take advantage of this for the purpose of helping the Bangladesh economy.
Tenants given eviction notices at Talbot units
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Tenants of the Kelvingrove and Glen-Leven rental apartments on Bayview Ave. report that they have all received eviction notices, ordering them out of their units by September 1, 2013. There are some 140 units in the buildings. Owner of the historic apartments, ADMNS Kelvingrove Investment Corporation is part of a Manitoba pension fund, They say they intend to renovate the apartment units and to do so the buildings must be vacant. The tenants have been told they will receive a total of three months free rent if they agree with the terms of departure. The notices were served Monday April 29, 2013 and the nature of a tenants rights in this situation is unclear. Margaret Randall, of Leacrest Road, said that documents tendered to her mother, a resident of the apartment for a year, suggest that she can return to her apartment in a year, or more, quite likely at higher rent. The Kelvingrove, Glen-Leven and related properties were the subject of an intense battle between the owner and the Leaside Property Owners Association. The LOPA said the buildings were historic and part of the community’s heritage. The simple red brick buildings between 1351 and 1365 Bayview on the east side were built by Howard Talbot, who served as Mayor of Leaside from 1938 to 1947. It seems certain that as the details of the eviction are revealed and opposition is formed, there will be much to tell on this matter. CAA survey to name Ontario’s worst roads
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The Canadian Automobile Association is once again asking drivers to vote on the worst road for potholes in Ontario. Last year, Bayview Ave. made it into the CAA’s top 10. CAA vote online
Postmedia to end publisher positions at all papers
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Some will lose their positions, others will become regional overseers of several papers each. Thus will the largest newspaper publishing company in Canada run it publications without publishers. National Post
Wynne faces intense questions with stony denials
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Don Valley West voters saw their MPP, Premier Kathleen Wynne, under intense pressure today as she testified for some 90 minutes before the Legislature’s Justice Committee. The Premier revealed her dogged capacity to take tough questions from well-prepared opponents. The grilling Ms Wynne got from PC questioners Vic Fidelli and Lisa MacLeod brought tempers to a boil. The PCs and NDP essentially accuse the Premier of lying about not knowing the true cost of cancelling a gas energy plant in Oakville. It seems to be an open question in media commentary tonight as to whether Ms. Wynne, tough as she was, can credibly claim not to have known the enormous burden of the plant cancellations. Hours before Ms Wynne’s appearance, Ontario Power Authority (OPA) chief executive Colin Andersen revealed the shocking dollar figure for scrapping Oakville was $310 million, on top of $275 million for Mississauga. Asked who knew these figures, Mr. Anderson said simply, “Everybody, including the minister.” Testimony in its entirety.
Jus de Vie is now closed, will open elsewhere
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It’s less than a year since Jus de Vie opened at 1627 Bayview Ave. but today the shop, which used to house Paradox, is closed and the sign says the business will open in June at a location in a Yoga gymnasium on Wellington Street West.
Return to 140 Dinnick reveals new home rising
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A year ago in early May the contentious demolition of 140 Dinnick Crescent in Lawrence Park took place. Now a new home is nearing completion on the spacious lot at the corner of Dinnick and Lympstone Ave. Previous posts.
Blackberry boss predicts the end of the tablet
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Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins says his company is focussed on “crazy multi-taskers”. For him at least, that translates into a future where the tablet (and laptop) won’t be very useful. In this linked story from Bloomberg he questions the future of the tablet. Hard to believe but that’s what the man said. Heins concedes you may want a big screen “in your workspace”. Time will tell if this is merely all strategic wishful thinking. Bloomberg
Man grabbed girl’s wrist at Eg and Laird
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The Toronto Police Service has sent out an alert about a man who tried to force a 15 year old girl to go with him. It happened today (Monday, April 29, 2013) in the Eglinton Avenue East/Laird Drive area. The police report says, “It is reported that: − on Monday, April 29, 2013, at 12:30 p.m., a man approached a 15−year−old girl and asked for directions − the man then asked the girl to come with him and took hold of her wrist − a woman witnessed what was happening and intervened − the man continued walking eastbound along Eglinton Avenue East The man is described as having a light−brown complexion, in his 50s, 5’5″−5’6″, with a heavy build and bald. He was wearing a black jacket with dark jeans.” Readers of the South Bayview Bulldog will recall another incident which occurred near Overlea and Don Mills Road some five or six days ago.
Toronto Police Service is on the lookout for a man who was making a nuisance of himself by insisting on walking home with a ten-year-old girl near Don Mills Road and Overlea Boulevard last week. The girl was crossing the soccer field of Gateway Public School alone around 4:15 p.m. when a man approached and pulled on her shirt sleeve. He was persistent that he should walk her home. The girl ran towards the school and the man left the area. He is described as dark in complexion, 30 to 40 years old, 5’ 8” tall with a medium build. He had short black hair, a moustache, and was wearing a dark blue zip-up hoodie, white T-shirt, light blue track pants and black shoes. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-5400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.
Puckheads act like hockey pucks to win tickets
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Call it Puckhead Frenzy, or Blue and White Delirium. Yes, these are somewhat unkind descriptions but for good or ill they fit the punchy fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs who painted their faces, played Simon Says and jumped up and down trying to win a pair of free tickets to the Maple Leafs’ first post-season game in almost a decade. Fevered young Leafs fans stormed the Air Canada Centre to see if they could possibly cop playoff tickets for the first-round series that begins on Wednesday. The Leafs are going up against the Boston Bruins, with the first two games of the best-of-seven series in the U.S. The next two games are at the AC Centre. Tickets to the series sold out in minutes. That’s why fans showed up to the all-day event at the arena, which was hosted by former Leaf Wendel Clark. This fellow (inset) stood out for sheer Puckhead enthusiasm but sadly he didn’t win. There’s no justice. Badali’s Fruit Market to celebrate 75 years on Bayview Ave.
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Dom and Sal Badali with their late mom Lena
Badali’s Fruit Market will mark a signal event on Bayview Ave this June. It will be 75 years from the day Leo and Sam Badali, and their mother, opened the fruit market at No. 1587 on the happy street that is now known as South Bayview. Badali’s is easily the longest surviving business on the street and its generations of customers is enormous. Some remember when the angle parking was free. None can resist popping into the store, now run by brothers Sal and Dom to get some expert advice on produce and share the local gossip. To mark the anniversary Sal, Dom and their mother, Lena, will throw a party at the store on Saturday, June 15, 2013. Now 90, Lena continues to own a share of the business and has a lively interest in things.
HERE IN 1896
The Badali family took root in Canada in 1896 when four brothers, Leo, Gus, John and Sal, arrived from Italy. Gus, grandfather to the current owners, had two sons, Leo and Sal. It was Leo and Sal who by 1938 had scraped together enough money to purchase one of the recently constructed shops on Bayview By a fascinating quirk of history, this was the same year that the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Anselm’s was founded. There was no church so Father Francis Caufield held mass among the melons and other produce at Badali’s until the first St. Anselm’s. a smallish yellow brick church, was finished. Sal and Dom are true sons of Leaside, having grown up in their father’s home on Macnaughton Rd.
HOW HOME WAS PURCHASED
But as Italians, the Badalis didn’t always feel so welcome. When Leo first tried to buy the Macnaughton home he was told by the Realtor that the owner didn’t want to sell to an Italian. It’s a shadow on the history of Leaside. But the outcome reflects the ingenuity of Leo Badali who persuaded a non-Italian friend to buy the home and then re-sell it to the family. Which is why the modest little fruit market at 1587 Bayview has a lot to say about us all, small as it is. Mark June 15 on the calendar and we’ll see you at Badali’s.
Explosion rocks tourist district of old Prague
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A strong explosion rocked the centre of Prague on Monday morning, leaving dozens of people injured. The blast, which the authorities say may have been caused by a gas leak, severely damaged a building on the edge of Prague’s Old Town. Rescue workers are now searching the rubble for any people who might be trapped inside. The explosion occurred shortly before 10 a.m. local time inside a building in Divadelní Street in central Prague, near the National Theatre and a block away from the embankment of the Vltava. The National Theatre is the last the great 18th century theatres remaining in Europe and was an important venue for Mozart and others. The blast shattered windows in many buildings in the area, and the shockwave was felt as far as the other bank of the river where people said they felt the tremor.