“Steady as she goes” budget to eradicate deficit

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The Conservative government’s new budget released  this afternoon promises to close tax loopholes and contain spending. The aim is to stick with the Harper-Flaherty agenda of wiping out the budget deficit in time for the 2015 election. This stated, Finance Minister Flaherty said he has found new cash for infrastructure spending for and manufacturers. The projected deficit in the fiscal year ending March 31 is roughly in line with Ottawa’s previous forecast in November, at $25.9 billion. The deficit would be about 1.4 percent the size of the economy compared to about 5.6 percent for the U.S. deficit. Revenues have been slammed however as the economy slowed requiring the government to project a bigger-than-expected shortfall in 2013/14 of $18.7 billion compared with a previous estimate of $16.5 billion. The deficit will shrink to a third of that the following year before returning to a surplus of $800 million in 2015/16.  

T-D Bank online banking hit by cyberattack

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TD Bank has been hit with a cyberattack on its online banking service. The attack seems to be in the form of a so-called denial of service type in which multiple demands overwhelm the servers and prevent customers from using the online service.  TD says that customers can still use the phone to do banking or use the  ATM network, which is not affected.  The bank says it is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible

Please don’t feed, shoot or hang out with coyotes

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Glenn De Baeremaeker
Toronto’s defender and guardian of coyotes Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38 Scarborough Centre) says don’t worry about the coyotes because they aren’t as much of a threat as you think. He says it is “ineffective” to shoot a coyote because it just opens up living space for another one.  Huh? Look, it is illegal for any ordinary citizen to fire off a gun in the city whether he is after a coyote or a rampaging elephant. The fact is, coyotes are not domesticated and they have the capacity from time to time to act in a way that is threatening to people and their pets. Mr. De Baeremaeker’s committee is on a tear to make a law that will stop anyone from feeding coyotes. Okay, but that’s a sham. The coyotes are here not because we set a place for them at breakfast. They are here because of the 24-hour garbage buffet. Garbage is why the promised land of recycling food into soil failed. It attracted vast armies of rats. It’s why we have so many raccoons (yes we know, we’re supposed to love them). The wisest course for city council is to give some simple guidance to the police and authorized animal control officers. It may, occasionally, be necessary to shoot a coyote. Sad but true. But  please stop talking about coyotes like Toronto is their city. Actually, it is ours and the coyotes are here because we’re prepared to have some of them in our midst. They are not an essential part of urban life.  (If you disagree with this post, please click the link at the top of the page and send us your comment). 

921 Millwood “Cooking for a Cause” lunch

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Geoff Kettel has written to say that the 921 Millwood Retirement Home is having a community lunch on Friday March 21. at 12 noon. The cost of the “Cooking for a Cause” lunch is $11.99 with net proceeds going to Leaside United Church outreach programs. These are named in the release as Food Bank, Yonge Street Mission, Massey Centre “and more”. 

Busy day at the new Overlea Blvd Target store

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The official opening of the Target store in the East York Town Centre has seen a busy day. Shopping carts overflowing with boxes and bags were the norm. The new store is a colourful and highly interactive experience given the many staff on duty. The parking lot was full. Spaces were taken by arriving shoppers the moment they were vacated by others. Merchants in the mall said they had noticed an increase in traffic because of the Target store. Target has said that it was surprised at the cost of re-fitting the old Zellers location but a look around provides some clues on where the  money went. The original pedestrian-only escalator has been replaced with a a modern four lane lifter — up and down lanes for people and two more lanes up and down for shopping carts.  

Grocery retailing veteran hired to rebuild Rona

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Robert Sawyer

Robert Sawyer, 59, will become Rona’s president and CEO next month. For more than 30 years with Metro Inc, the grocery store giant. Most recently he has been chief operating officer and executive vice president. His arrival is being cast in various ways by analysts who respect his knowledge and capacities as a leader but in some cases wonder whether a background in food retailing fits with the needs of the struggling Rona franchise. Nonetheless, Rona is praising Mr. Sawyer up to the sky. Another analyst noted the Mr. Sawyer is Anglophone, something of a departure for a company steeped in Quebecois culture. But Robert Chevrier, executive chairman of Rona’s board of directors said “Robert has the operational and turnaround expertise needed to put Rona back on the path to profitable growth and increase value for all of our stakeholders.” Global 

Lululemon yanks “see-through” black yoga pants

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Lululemon has pulled all of its new black yoga pants off the racks after complaints that they just show too much through the fabric. The pants are made in Taiwan and it appears that the company and manufacturer are at odds as to how this happened. While Lululemon seems to be indicating that the problem lies with the manufacturer, the Taiwanese supplier says it followed design specifications and the retailer merely misjudged customer tastes. “We expect this issue will have a significant impact on our financial results,” the company said in the statement. “We have used the same manufacturing partner on key fabrics since 2004. This event is not the result of changing manufacturers or quality of ingredients.” Lululemon said it will offer full refunds or exchanges to customers who bought the black Luon pants after March 1 either online or in stores. CBC

New federal ridings: Do you know where U-R?

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 Rosedale, Yorkville, Chinatown
It’s official name is University-Rosedale but we’re going to call it  U-R for short.  It is the proposed political home that stretches from the corner of Bayview and Moore in the northeast to the corner of Ossington and Dundas in the southwest. It contains Bennington Heights, Moore Park, Rosedale,  Yorkville, the Annex, Queen’s Park, U of T, University Avenue, Chinatown, Toronto Western Hospital and the well-cared for homes and businesses along Shaw, Ossington and other routes. Oh yes, there’s also the Royal Ontario Museum, Honest Ed’s, Little Italy and Christie Pits. What riches you have U-R! And all these places hardly begin to cover it. It’s too bad University-Rosedale is so strung out across the centre of the Toronto. Nonetheless, this is what the electoral boundaries commissioners have decided in their final report. The package of maps and street descriptions has gone to Members of Parliament and there is no further public input scheduled. So it seems likely that U-R will live both in the present and in history. University- Rosedale has an odd shape, but that is not unusual for downtown ridings. Still, with all its magical parts, it bucks the tradition of the north-south “fingers” that we have come to know.  So from where did U-R spring?  It is almost as if it were an after thought.  The original plan for the South Bayview neighborhoods of Bennington and Moore Park (and Rosedale) was to make them part of a riding called Mt Pleasant. But this would have cannibalized the riding of St. Paul’s and there was withering resistance to that from various quarters. There also seemed to be a need to liberate the central parts of Toronto (known traditionally as Uptown) from Downtown districts that ran to the lake. As an after thought, if that’s what it is, U-R seems to be a pretty good one. Whether cunning voters in Rosedale will find themselves making common cause with the Lords of the Peking Duck on Spadina is an open question. But a delicious one. Mr. and Mrs. Bennington Heights and Moore Park, this is where U-R. 

Overlea Target store opens Tuesday a week early

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The new Target store in the East York Town Centre on Overlea Blvd. will open tomorrow (Tuesday, March 19, 2013) a week earlier than was previously planned. Other Targets in Ontario will also open as the company tries to catch up with the demand it has seen at its three pilot openings in Guelph, Milton and Fergus. Speaking to the National Post, a vice-president of the firm said Target has actually had the shelves stripped at the three ex-urban stores. He said Target had been “slammed” by unrelenting demand for its goods. There was a media day at the Overlea Target today.  The executive said “we haven’t been able to recover [in those three stores] because we are always surprised by the demand — we don’t get a day off in these stores.” Target had “tweaked” its expectations and fulfillment related to initial replenishment at the stores as a result, he said. We haven’t been able to recover [in those three stores] because we are always surprised by the demand”