The South Bayview Bulldog

Education Minister Laurel Broten has imposed contracts on public school teachers while at the same time saying the government will end Bill 115, the legislation that eliminated pay raises and collective bargaining for teachers. The decisions are necessary said Ms. Broten because of the Ontario’s multi-billion dollar deficit. Today’s action employs the force of Bill 115 to impose the contracts even though the bill itself will be eliminated. These are powers the government gained last fall, with the support of the Progressive Conservatives, and which it used to force contracts on about 130,000 elementary and secondary school teachers. The agreements will be similar to deals signed by Catholic and French-language teachers last year. They will include: Freezing wages for most teachers, a reduction in sick days, a limit on the amount of unclaimed sick days that teachers can cash out when they retire. The imposed contracts will expire in August 2014.

Yes, the Dollarama at 1531-33 South Bayview opened Wednesday morning and from the look of things, business is brisk. We did a quick turn around the standard Dollarama aisles stocked with Dollarama stuff. They still take only cash or debit, no MasterCard or Visa. American Express is to laugh.  If you catch them before the novelty wears off, you will find a Dollarama better staffed than any you have ever seen. We couldn’t count the whole complement. It’s said that Dollarama hires only part timers — no more than 25 hours a week — so there are fewer of those expensive government contributions. 

Treading west of Yonge Street for a brief visit, we found the long-running renovation at the corner of Duplex Ave and Imperial Street besieged by Toronto Hydro equipment and workers. This rather huge re-modelling job, which has been going on for many months, apparently began to protrude into the space of the high-voltage wires on Imperial. The wires must be at least ten feet away from a structure. So this army of Hydro people arrived today — bringing two new utility poles — to re-align the wires and make their passage safe. New poles. Somebody will pay for that. Ouch! 

Toronto’s New Year’s Baby, Wynn Christopher Laforet, was two two days overdue. All in a good cause, one might say, as it won him the annual title of first-born in the city. He was born at midnight exactly. There was a countdown in the delivery room at St Michael’s Hospital, we’re told, as Wynn was about ready to make his appearance. He is the son of Jane Maggs and  Casey Laforet.  At Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga Jeanelle Ocampo gave birth to a little girl at 12.07 am.  CityNews

January marks the beginning of the bridal season for many young couples. And one of the first items on the list is the Wedding Registry. Trish Stuebing, president of Homefront, says some brides make the mistake of thinking they don’t need to register. “It’s a risk for several reasons,” says Ms. Stuebing. “First, your chance of getting two or three of the same things is very real. Who wants three toaster ovens?”  So a well-organized thoughtfully-managed registry is essential.” Another misconception about wedding registries is that you only register in one place. “Smart couples will register in as many places as there are guests and friends to give them gifts,”says Trish Stuebing. “You can register at places as different as Canadian Tire for that toaster oven or Homefront for exquisite Sophie Conran or  Michael Aram tabletop pieces,” she says. Wherever you go, make sure you are treated well.  Your wedding registry should be  important to the company that  holds it. They should make sure there is always someone in charge of your account and able to assist any customer, in person or by phone. “At Homefront, we specialize in personalized registries and we gift wrap every item beautifully. We will store the gifts or if the delivery is local, we’ll drop them off at the family home.”  Get your fiance involved says Trish Stuebing

Somehow the media always finds its way back to the media. The Mayor’s levee is tomorrow at City Hall, but the burning question for reporters is that the mayor won’t take questions from them during that event. In past years, the mayor has taken questions about what he sees in the coming year for the City. This year, reporters have been asked not to interrupt the levee. It will go off in the City Hall rotunda from 2-4 p.m. An online poll in the Sun (inset) suggests this is not a big issue for the public. A majority (54% to 45%) are against questions. For Ford, the new year will see a Jan. 7 appeal of the conflict-of-interest ruling that ousted him from office. He won a stay of the ruling until his appeal is heard. After the ruling the mayor’s office announced it was cancelling the annual levee before deciding to replace it with an elaborate series of “skating parties.” Then, last week, that plan was scrapped and it was announced Ford would be participating in the traditional levee.