Writer raises prospect of 99 cent a litre gas

by  • 

Writer Henry Stancu in the Star this morning is suggesting that the price of gasoline in the Toronto area might decline to something like 99 cents a litre by year’s end. He seems to be saying that it’s about competition. Toronto Star
ALSO
TTC uniforms to change from maroon to (maybe) blue
BMO says we’re feeling the morrtgage pinch

Property Brothers at Hollywood Gelato Tuesday

by  • 

The W Network’s Property Brothers will be at Hollywood Gelato on South Bayview (at Manor Rd) tomorrow doing some filming. For those who are just too television-deprived,  the Property Brothers are  twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott. Drew’s a real estate agent and Jonathan’s a contractor – together, they find down-and-out fixer-uppers and turn them into perfect homes for their clients. Perhaps they will renovate a Gelato or two.

Auto service re-opens but CTC store still closed

by  • 

The Canadian Tire Auto Service Department has now re-opened at Eglinton Ave. E. and Laird Drive in the RioCan Leaside Centre. The main store remains closed however, the result of a fire that destroyed the CTC Garden Centre on September 24, 2012. Officials on the scene today said it will probably be December before the store is back in business. The fire caused extensive smoke damage forcing the company to replace the entire floor and fixtures, as well as inventory.

Liberals will choose new leader in January, 2013

by  • 

Ontario Liberals will convene on Friday, January 26, 2013 at a location yet tio be announced.  It seems likely the actual vote on who will lead the government will occur on either Saturday or Sunday of that weekend. In the meantime, Ottawa MPP Yasir Naqvi, who is also Ontario Liberal party president, said a decision about when the Legislature will be recalled won’t be made until after the party selects its new leader.

“Enough action has been taken on housing”

by  • 

Canada has done enough to slow its housing market and prevent a crash like that seen in the United States. The finance Minister, Jim Flaherty was insistent on this point when he spoke on CBC Radio yesterday. Flaherty said he had no plans to take further action to put the brakes on  the housing market, after a series of moves to tighten conditions for mortgage lending. The most recent change was in July. “We’ve done enough, I do not intend to do any more,” Flaherty said, adding that he was pleased at signs of a slowdown in key sectors of the market, like the condo market in the big cities of Toronto and Vancouver.

Son of railway porter rose to vice regal heights

by  • 

Lincoln Alexander, Ontario’s 24th lieutenant-governor and the first black Member of Parliament,  will be honoured during a week of tributes starting Sunday at Queen’s Park and culminating in a state funeral Friday in Hamilton. Alexander, who died  age 90  will lie in state in the lobby of the main legislative building starting Sunday. Around 12:30 p.m. Alexander will arrive accompanied by his wife Marni and members of the family where they will be greeted by Lt.-Gov. David Onley and Premier Dalton McGuinty. Other dignitaries and invited guests will pay their respects through the afternoon until members of the public are welcomed between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. The public will again be allowed to pay their respects between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday. He will then lie in repose at Hamilton City Hall — a city he represented as an MP for 11 years — from Tuesday to Thursday with the public being invited to pay their respects between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. each day. The state funeral is scheduled for Friday and Hamilton Place. Further details will be released later in the week. Alexander, the son of a railway porter from St. Vincent and a mother from Jamaica was born and raised in Toronto.

Transit Town Hall set for Monday night

by  • 

There will be a Transit Town Hall on Monday, October 22, 2012 at the North York Community Centre at 209 Eglinton Ave W. in Eglinton Park opposite Eastbourne Ave.  It goes at 7 p.m. Councillor Matlow is the organizer and others who will speak are Paul Bedford, Steve Munro  and Richard Joy. They are all knowledgeable on transit and planning. There will be representatives of the TTC and the Ontario Government transit body known as Metrolinx. (Is there anybody who still  thinks Metrolinx is an exhibit at the Toronto Zoo?) Never mind.  It might be a good chance to get your transit concern heard. For information (416) 392-7906

Holy Hookahs! Water pipes remain unregulated

by  • 

“Higher” education

Hookah parlours will continue to be unregulated in Toronto until at least next year. City staff is expected to bring back a detailed examination of health issues related to these ad hoc locations where one can smoke different substances. Tobacco is popular as are various fruit flavoured herbal mixtures. They are smoked through a water pipe that heats the substance with charcoal and cools the smoke in a water chamber before it is inhaled through a hose and mouthpiece. The licensing committee turned down a proposal to regulate parlours mostly out of a concern that the move might give them credibility with young people. There were views expressed that no matter how the hookah is used it is unhealthy. It is apparently legal for kids to smoke the herbal stuff but not tobacco. But who knows what’s going on at your local hookah palace. CBC.ca