The South Bayview Bulldog

It didn’t seem too hard for the Leafs to beat the competitive Arizona Coyotes in their home stadium Thursday. Who knows? Then, the odd spending patterns that have seen Councillor Jim Karygiannis removed from office. Curious. Below that, the Merseyside family of Helen McCourt is incensed as her killer is released from prison without revealing the whereabouts of her body. Finally, Audra Brown gets a sneak peek at the Iron Horses which will soon grace the Kay Gardner bridge on Yonge St. The dedication is November 30.

Toronto Fire has extinguished a fire and rescued a man from the roof of a home on Secord Ave between Newman and Eastdale Aves. at supper hour Thursday. When police and fire services arrived the man reportedly was on the roof enveloped in smoke. Some 18 units responded to the one-alarm fire.

Premier Ford has held a news conference Thursday in which he defended the cost of cancelling wind turbine projects in eastern and southwestern Ontario farm communities. He called the towers, which are deeply unpopular among non-urban voters, “terrible, terrible wind turbines.” Clips from City News below:

• Turbines
• Meeting Trudeau
• Says he’ll learn French

A well-mannered but clueless young woman has been recorded asking a Halton Regional Police 911 operator if the police offer emergency rides for those who are late for their train. When told that such a service is absolutely not available, the girl says “My apologies.” You can hear it here.

As Captain Kirk

Governor General Julie Payette has given the Order of Canada medal to 39 people Thursday at Rideau Hall. One is William Shatner, whose remarkable 60-year acting career has seen him play roles ranging from Captain Kirk to reprobate lawyer Denny Crane in Boston Legal. Also honoured are writer Ann-Marie MacDonald and lawyer James Lockyer. Mathematician Robert Langlands, filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and actor Donald Sutherland are also being made companions of the order, the most prestigious of its three levels.

Carl Hantske of 680 News offers a vivid description of the damage done by an out-of-control young man

Leaside Flames PeeWee Red Select team/Flames

What fun for kids, coaches and parents of the Leaside Flames PeeWee Red Select team to bring back gold from the Canadian Cup in Montreal last weekend. The proud coach is Daniel McFadden who was tweeting his thanks to players, families and team coaches.

Leaside Cross Country girls/Helen Panayiotou

This great picture from coach Helen Panayiotou (Mrs Panayiotou in the halls of Leaside High) shows the determined girls of her winning cross country team at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) competition near Sudbury on November 2. Chloe Coutts had her shoe accidentally pulled off by another runner’s boot. Chloe courageously ran on without it to glorious victory. Her dad helped Chloe patch up her bleeding foot and carried her to the car for the ride home. Hat’s off to Chloe.

Wildcats FUNdraiser Friday night

Hammerhead crane goes up on Bayview/Bulldog

Tallest Christmas tree in Leaside is on Bessborough

Friday, November 22, the Leaside Wildcats are supporting the first annual Leaside on Ice FUNdraiser at Leaside Arena. The funds raised are a step in accelerating repayment of provincial and City loans used to help build the second ice pad. Bid on the silent auction from Friday through to Sunday at 5 p.m. At centre, the Hammerhead crane now in place at the Brown Group site on Bayview Ave. means the seven-story mixed-use project will soon begin to rise above ground. At right, Realtor Patrick Rocca is the proud owner of what is surely the tallest Christmas tree in Leaside. It is now lighted and spectacular on his Bessborough Drive lawn.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe. Babcock had a record of 9-10-4 in 2019-20 for the struggling Leafs, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games, including five straight losses in regulation. “Mike has played an integral role in changing the direction of our franchise,” team president Brendan Shanahan said in a statement Wednesday. “Mike’s commitment and tireless work ethic has put our organization in a better place and we are extremely grateful and appreciative of the foundation he has helped us build here.

Hired to rebuild

Toronto, which currently sits two points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, fell 4-2 to the Golden Knights in Vegas on Tuesday. Babcock’s last win for the Leafs, on Nov. 7 against Vegas, was the 700th of his NHL career. He has a career record of 700-418-19 with Toronto, Detroit and Anaheim. Hired as part of a massive rebuild in the spring of 2015, the 56-year-old Babcock went 173-133-45 in his four-plus seasons with Toronto. He joined the Leafs with an impressive resume, having won the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008 and back-to-back Olympic gold medals with Canada in 2010 and 2014

Here is the new Liberal cabinet. Chrystia Freeland, the member for Univerity-Rosedale (UR) has been appointed deputy prime minister.

• Chrystia Freeland: deputy prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs.
• Anita Anand, a new member of cabinet: minister of public services and procurement.
• Navdeep Bains: minister of innovation, science and industry.
• Carolyn Bennett: minister of Crown-Indigenous relations.
• Marie-Claude Bibeau: minister of agriculture and agri-food.
• Bill Blair: minister of public safety and emergency preparedness.
• Bardish Chagger: minister of diversity, inclusion and youth.
• Francois-Philippe Champagne: minister of foreign affairs.
• Jean-Yves Duclos: president of the Treasury Board.
• Mona Fortier, a new member of cabinet: minister of middle class prosperity and associate minister of finance.
• Marc Garneau: minister of transport.
• Karina Gould: minister of Iinternational development.
• Steven Guilbeault, a new member of cabinet: minister of Canadian heritage.
• Patty Hajdu: minister of health.
• Ahmed Hussen: minister of families, children and social development.
• Melanie Joly: minister of economic development and official languages.
• Bernadette Jordan: minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.
• David Lametti: minister of justice and attorney general.
• Dominic LeBlanc: president of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.
• Diane Lebouthillier: minister of national revenue.
• Lawrence MacAulay: minister of veterans affairs and associate minister of defence.
• Catherine McKenna: minister of infrastructure and communities.
• Marco E. L. Mendicino, a new member of cabinet: minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship.
• Marc Miller, a new entry to cabinet: minister of Indigenous services.
• Maryam Monsef: minister of women and gender equality and rural economic development.
• Bill Morneau: minister of finance.
• Joyce Murray: minister of digital government.
• Mary Ng: minister of small business, export promotion and international trade.
• Seamus O’Regan: minister of natural resources.
• Carla Qualtrough: minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion.
• Pablo Rodriguez: leader of the government in the House of Commons.
• Harjit Sajjan: minister of national defence.
• Deb Schulte, a new member of cabinet: minister of seniors.
• Filomena Tassi: minister of labour.
• Dan Vandal, a new member of cabinet: minister of northern affairs.
• Jonathan Wilkinson: minister of environment and climate change.

Proposed residential infill looking southeast on Randolph

Click to read about consultation meeting December 3, 2019

A community consultation meeting is scheduled for December 3 in the library at St. Anselm Catholic School at 182 Bessborough Drive starting at 6.30 p.m.