The South Bayview Bulldog

Shut down Canada rail blockade/National Post

Prime Minister Trudeau was talking marginally tougher Wednesday morning about the paralyzing illegal rail blockades across the country.  But he still insists on negotiating a settlement. Meantime, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Ottawa must issue an ultimatum and set a deadline for co-ordinated police action against the protesters.

Via Rail lays off 1,000 employees because of blockades

Via Rail says it is temporarily laying off 1,000 employees due to blockades that continue to halt service on CN tracks in Eastern Canada. The Crown corporation has suspended passenger trains on its Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes for nearly two weeks due to the protests that have disrupted rail service across the country.

Andrew Scheer has offered a wide-ranging rebuttal to the government’s hands-off posture in the continuing illegal blockages across Canada. He calls it a disservice to national reconciliation. Also this Tuesday, new security measures at City Hall in this era of lurking and angry misfits. Finally, the unsettling story of a Newfoundland couple who realized they had been given an infant which was not their own.

Paramedics work on injured boy, 14/Colin Williamson

Helicopter took lad to trauma centre, possibly Sunnybrook/Colin Williamson

A boy, 14, standing with his stopped ebike, has been critically injured by a hit and run driver at Stevenson Rd. and Conlin Rd. in Oshawa about 8 p.m. Monday night. Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a white car fleeing the scene of the crash, on Stevenson Road south of Conlin Road just after 8 p.m. Feb. 17, Durham police said. An investigation that includes analysis of debris left at the scene continues. The area is largely uninhabited and Conlins is a four-lane thoroughfare where Stevenson forms a three-way intersection.

A statement Tuesday from Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster says that the transit line will not open next year as planned. The opening is now estimated to happen sometime in 2022.  Verster says that in addition to “several challenges” facing workers, engineers have now found “a defect under the TTC station box” at Eglinton (and Yonge) station. This problem, which will be little understood by the public, is said to need repair before the project can be completed. “Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario, CTS (Crosslinx Transit Solutions), and the TTC have been seized with addressing this defect and although a way forward has been determined, the station will be delayed further,” Mr. Verster said. The Eglinton Crosstown was expected to open in the fall of next year but Metrolinx now says it will be “well into 2022.”

There has been a sad end to the hunt near Belsize Drive and Forman Ave for a beloved pet, Panda. The four-year-old cat is said to have died of heart failure in the outdoor conditions. His owner posted this eloquent thank-you to Leaside Community Facebook: “Hello lovely Leaside Community friends, I am sorry to report that Panda’s deceased remains have been found by one of our neighbours on their property. It appears he passed away Saturday – perhaps heart failure – but was hidden away from sight. We are extremely grateful for your compassionate and energetic responses – some of you reaching out and also meeting us in the street on our search. We loved him very much and appreciate the honour you showed him and us in your empathy. This is a wonderful Community.” FB

Midtown Toronto will receive snow but amounts are uncertain as temperatures rise to perhaps 5º Celsius. Go slowly.

As time passes without a return to freight and rail service, protesters have been emboldened to demonstrate along Bloor St. Monday saying the matter is now about everything Indigenous. Please get busy and fix things to their satisfaction.

March in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs begins down Bloor Street West. Supporters say the conversation has broadened to not just about Coastal GasLink pipeline— but about overall treatment of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. #Wetsuwetan #onpoli pic.twitter.com/aCb78i54f1

— Kamil Karamali (@KamilKaramali) February 17, 2020

Caroline Flack

Nadev Joseph Even-Har

Juliette Parker

Faces, faces and the people they tell us about. The familiar smile of Britain’s Love Island host, Caroline Flack (left) is gone forever after the 40-year-old woman took her own life. Now there’s a huge furor over the treatment she got from British tabloids. At centre is Nova Scotia serial rental deadbeat Nadev Joseph Even-Har. He has just been sentenced to two years in jail for frauds of all sorts. Listen to him confess on Facebook. Finally, that’s Juliette Parker at the right. She’s a cunning Washington State woman who police say tried to steal babies by posing as a photographer specializing in children. Yikes.

Long-=time Pier 1 location at Eglinton Ave. and Laird Drive

Pier 1 Imports is closing all of its stores in Canada, as the home decor retailer begins bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. Locally, the long-time outlet at Eglinton Ave. and Laird drive was slated to be evicted as work began on the large RioCan redevelopment of the corner. According to a brief statement on the company’s website, Pier 1 is pursuing a sale of the company in the U.S. amid the Chapter 11 proceedings. “In connection with this, the Company has made the decision to move forward in the U.S. and close all stores in Canada. We thank our customers in Canada for your continued loyalty and for shopping with us over the years,” the statement read.

Shrove Tuesday – Pancake Suppers!! This year due to renovations at #Leaside United we aren’t hosting our usual pancake supper but you have been warmly welcomed by St. Cuthbert’s Anglican & @NorthleaUnited & other area churches https://t.co/HH9xPkax3C pic.twitter.com/CsTrCLYfAr

— Leaside United Church (@LeasideUnited) February 17, 2020

A boy of 14 has died in the icy waters of Lake Simcoe after he and another person ventured onto the ice at 4 a.m. Sunday on a snowmobile. The companion was rescued and the deceased boy’s body was found Sunday afternoon.