All area schools open after walkout found illegal

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A confusing time confronts parents across the area this morning after a 4 a.m. decision by the Ontario Labour Relations Board that the planned teacher’s “protest” today was actually an illegal strike. The elementary teachers union which had earlier been talking tough about obeying any order to go back to class has said that it will abide by the order. The OLRB decision came after a hearing that lasted almost 13 hours. The challenging part for parents, apart from cancelling their plans and getting kids to school, was  unknowns about exactly what the teacher complement would be and the availability of school guards (who had been cancelled in advance of the protest). Toronto schools open  Here is the statement on the Toronto school board site:

Schools are OPEN today and all students are welcome but like a severe weather day, transportation will NOT be running. Staff is expected to report to work. Background All schools will re-open and classes will resume on Monday, January 7, 2013. Regulations have been filed under Bill 115 that impose new terms for collective agreements for all School Board employee groups for the next two years. For more information, please see the news release issued by the Minister of Education on Thursday, January 3. With the new contracts in place, unions will no longer be in a legal strike position. As always, the top priority for the TDSB is to ensure safety of students and maintain the integrity of the learning day. The TDSB is committed to sharing information with school communities as soon as it becomes available. Information will be shared directly with schools, news media and via the Board’s Twitter account: @tdsb

Mayor buoyant as 2013 budget hammered out

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Toronto executive committee has hammered out a 2013 recommended operating budget of $9.4 billion which includes a  property tax rate increase of 2% for residential and 0.67% for business properties. The budget process this year is being heralded by some as a stunning change from last year.  There were increases for firefighting, paramedics, leaf pickup and for the library system and the arts. At the same time, the Ford administration insisted on retaining surplus funds for future capital projects. The mayor is said to have been in a buoyant mood following the meeting and like a man campaigning for office. The budget must now be approved by city council. Paul Moloney

Documentary films mark Leaside Centennial

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Earlier Story

This year marks the centennial of the Town of Leaside. The still largely unbuilt community was established by an act of the Provincial Legislature on April 23, 1913. The railways were instrumental in the creation of the town. Well known streets like Laird, Hanna, Wicksteed and many others carry the names of executives of the Canadian Northern Railway, prime movers in the plan. See Wikipedia  for more of this type of information.   To help spearhead the commemoration  the Leaside One Hundred Committee has been convened by  Councillor John Parker and is co-chaired by Virginia Evoy and John Piper. Other members are Lorna Krawchuk, Geoff Kettel, John Parker, Charlene Kalia, and Muhammed Wani. An interesting undertaking will be the production of a documentary 100 Years Inside Leaside devoted to telling the “then and now” vignettes of a proud community. The producers are asking anyone with archival material or a story to tell to contact them at Lea100Productions@gmail.com.

Union says teacher “protest” is charter issue

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Public schools will be closed across Toronto and South Bayview tomorrow as teachers continue their rolling strike action against the Ontario Government. The “alert” image above is on the Maurice Cody Junior Public school site and is on all school sites. Parents are scrambling to arrange for children to be cared for and  occupied during this shutdown. Premier Dalton McGuinty called the protest an “illegal strike” and said his government will ask the Ontario Labour Relations Board to prevent the elementary school teachers from walking off the job. Officials said late yesterday that McGuinty will similarly “bring OSSTF’s illegal strike notice to the OLRB in the coming days.”  The  Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario has suggested that its action is protected under the Charter of  Rights as a political protest. Fairly unanimous legal opinion seems to be however that it is actually an illegal strike and as such the union may be subject to fines if it continues to encourage teachers to leave school. 

Leaside Garden Society meeting this evening

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A reminder that the Leaside Garden Society meeting is this evening.  It will be in the community room of  Leaside Library, 165 McRae Drive beginning at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be addressed by well known gardener Sonia Day who will speak on Incredible Edibles — fun things to grow in a city garden. Visitors and new members are welcome. Memberships: single $25 or family $30

A fix for the TTC dead zone on Bayview Ave.

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Reader Michael Bell has raised the long-standing issue of the TTC “dead zone” on Bayview Ave between Sutherland Dr. and the “downtown” intersection of South Bayview at Bayview and Davisville Ave. Vast numbers of residents in Moore Park, Bennington Heights and surrounding streets have no direct bus connection to the shops and services of the business district which is their preferred destination. The dead zone strikes when the 88 South Leaside buses heading eastbound to Thorncliffe Park turn at Sutherland Dr. In fact there are alternate lines, 88 South Leaside and 88A South Leaside. They both follow Sutherland but they split at Millwood. The 88A route goes east to Overlea Blvd and 88 goes back to McRae Drive and heads out to Wicksteed Ave.  These are useful routes, but we wonder why the 88 route can’t be adjusted to serve the shoppers of  Moore Park and Bennington.Heights. If, for example, the 88 continued up Bayview past Sutherland, it could stop at South Bayview’s downtown and then turn right on Millwood and resume its route along McRae at Trace Manes Park. This solution seems feasible to we laypersons at the South Bayview Bulldog, but if it’s not  there must be a fix of some kind to the dead zone. The only way south end residents can now take The Better Way to South Bayview is to ride the westbound  88 South Leaside bus to the St. Clair station, transfer to the northbound subway and then catch the 11 Bayview bus at Davisville Station. 

Demolition nigh for Glebe Presbyterian Church

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Demolition of the century old Glebe Presbyterian Church at 124 Belsize is very near. The old building has been surrounded by heavy wire fencing in preparation for the work. As noted in a prevuous post, application has been made to build three sets of two semi-detached town homes on the site. The 1913 church was for sale most of this year. Sale price had not been made public but the listing price was $2,850,000. This limited information caome from the City’s website and reveals no plans or illustrations. The application does say that the homes will sit atop a common underground garage which will be accessed from Belsize Drive. Judging by the value of homes in the Glebe and with an added amenity like an underground garage, the value of each unit will be substantial. Profit to the builder would be very handsome as well if he paid only the listing price This proposed project however may seem attractive to residents here and elsewhere considering the frequent attempts by developers to challenge zoning with multi-level towers. 

$50,000 extortion attempt at recruiting firm

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Toronto Police Service report:   Drake International Recruiting, 320 Bay Street, reports that on January 4, 2013, they received an email from unknown hacker agency advising they have hacked into their client database including contact details, names and passwords. The agency was asked to send a one-time payment of $50,000.00 U.S. to prevent the data records from getting released over the internet. The complainant with their other agencies around the world has agreed on not paying this group.