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. 

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.

Garden Society Plant Sale on Saturday, May 11

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Leaside Garden Society has two events scheduled in May. The regular meeting is Thursday, May 9th Speakers are Jack and Jackie Looye Topic: Rhodos and Azaleas.   Leaside Library, 165 McRae Drive 7:30 p.m., refreshments at 7 p.m. Visitors and new members welcome. Membership fee: $25. individual or $30 family. Then on Saturday, May 11, 2013 you can check out the  Garden Society Plant Sale. They say there will be a great variety of locally grown, top quality perennials as well as member donated plants. It all happens between 9 a.m. until 12 noon at Trace Manes Community Centre 110 Rumsey Road

Liberals inch into tie with PC opposition

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A Toronto Star poll by Forum research puts the Ontario Liberal Party in a tie with the Progressive Conservatives in popular support.  The parties both register 36 per cent according to the poll, while the NDP has slipped to 24 per cent. The news will buoy up Premier Wynne although the outcome of a vote is clearly in question.  PC leader Tim Hudak is vowing to call for a  non-confidence vote today in the Legislature over the gas plant cancellation scandal. If the vote is held, the NDP will have to decide if they want to carry  their support for the government on this issue into the bumpy political future.

“There Are Places I Remember” says Harper

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Prime Minister Harper has made a brief address to guests at the Leaside 100 Gala in which he offered a sensitive and detailed recollection of memories of the first 12 years of his life. Mr. Harper used a John Lennon composition, There Are Places I Remember, to set the tone for his own reminiscences of earlier times. He called the song one of the Beatles truly great artistic achievements. The prime minister said the music evoked the same fondness and sadness for him of Leaside friends and relatives no longer here. He recalled seeing the Canadian Maple Leaf flag raised at Northlea Public School and the intense differences of  opinion that gripped Leaside during “the flag debate”. Emotions ran high, he noted, as sympathies were divided between old flags and the new designs. He drew a laugh from guests at the Gala when he confessed that his family preferred the design with blue borders. Mr. Harper recalled coming back to Leaside  about 25 years after moving away. On this sentimental journey he walked by the family home at 332 Bessborough Drive and as he did so he said “I saw a boy about six. As he turned I could have sworn it was me. But when I looked again he was gone. That was a lifetime ago and I can never go back but I can never entirely leave it either.”  There is an audio recording of Mr.Harper’s complete remarks on the column at the left. It runs about 14 minutes and will remain there for two weeks. 

Canada Post: Snail mail has had its tail kicked

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How do you feel about picking up your mail at a “community mailbox” like people who live Canada’s hinterland. Or, maybe you would prefer to get mail every other day. Those are a couple of options Canada Post has for you  Or, you may be one of the increasing number of Canadians who don’t care if you ever sees a postage stamp again. It’s worth thinking about as Canada Post launches a national consultation with the public about how to make the service pay for itself. Although the Canadian postal model is exemplary compared to the antiquated state of things in the U.S., our post office is still headed for a $1 billion annual deficit by the end of  decade. As a writer for the Kitchener-Waterloo Record observed recently, “The great race between email and snail mail is over. And the snail got its tail kicked.”   CBC