The South Bayview Bulldog

A 25 year old man has told police that on Saturday he was the victim of a brazen daylight abduction by men he did not know. He says he was forced into a van at the corner of Mount Pleasant and Eglinton and driven to Yonge and Lord Seaton. All of this occurring at something like 5.40 in the afternoon. He says one man had a handgun and that they stole his iPhone before turning him loose. Police have released descriptions which are rather general. There were no injuries.

You have seen the new Starbucks logo, absent the Starbucks name. Now listen to the squeals of anger and indignation from Starbucks customers. Self-described Starbucks fanatics were not impressed and, among hundreds of comments on Starbucks’ website, called for the company’s name to be put back into the logo. “Who’s the bonehead in your marketing department that removed the world-famous name of Starbucks Coffee from your new logo? This gold card user isn’t impressed!” wrote one customer who identified herself as MimiKatz.
Another wrote: “I have been a big supporter of (Starbucks) since the early days, taken expensive rides in taxis to get my morning coffee, even waded through two feet of snow in my business suit … but I do not see the logic of your Business Development folks for the removal of the Starbucks name.” Executives said the logo, designed in-house, would be phased in, appearing first on paper products like cups and napkins in March. Starbucks declined to say how much it would cost to switch to the new logo.

Don Valley West MP Rob Oliphant has sent his regular leaflet to constituents. In it, he muses on what he calls “21st Century Multiculturalism“. He asks whether “all communities are integrating appropriately.” And whether citizenship has “intrinsic value” or is it merely an “economic commodity.” In our experience most Canadians feel terrific admiration for those who come to Canada seeking a new life. They may find Mr. Oliphant’s concerns are not quite well enough defined. There seems little lack of English instruction or services for those who seek, as most do, to integrate. For them the most important determinant of how greatly they cherish Canada is whether the economy is providing jobs. Although we may regret that our vital values are sometimes less front-of-mind than making a living, we really should acknowledge this reality. As to “integrating appropriately” our view is that it matters little if the occasional immigrant lives rather more within a community or not. The integration issue turns entirely on something else. And that is whether there are forces at work to intentionally isolate some newcomers. Late last year, a report raised concerns that some were being told to reject our values, raising the prospect of “parallel societies”. The purpose, it was said, was to ultimately demand change to our way of life simply by strength of numbers. We congratulate Mr Olphiant on thinking about the issues and hope that all MPs will reflect wisely on our strengths and vulnerabilities.

For those who trek over to Yonge Street to grab the subway, the word is that the TTC’s new subway trains are delayed to an unknown time. It had previously been thought we might have new service by February. Our sister blog, Yonge and Roxborough is wondering too. Over there they take their subways seriously.