Ontario will soon set a date after which the 400,000 red and white OHIP cards still in service will be terminated. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the date hasn’t been set but it’s coming. It was late 1994 when the then-NDP government announced that because of fraud and misuse, the cards would be phased out over three years. A quarter of a century later, the remaining cards represent about three per cent of all Ontario health cards.
Counting down to Mother’s Day across South Bayview, Caroline Visscher has posted a photo on Instagram of her little Anna swinging happily at Gym Kats on Bayview Ave. Wednesday. Good choice mom. Upper right, Phil Vriend has posted this elegant lady Cardinal seen at Ashbridges Bay. It’s at the Leslievile FB account. Below that, a reminder from Councillor Robinson to please get all your recycles over to Leaside Arena Thursday afternoon between 4 and 8 p.m. It’s Community Environment Day. Across the bottom, a free rose for mom may be had on Sunday courtesy of Valumart and Patrick Rocca. Centre bottom, that funny little yellow semi at 109 Coxwell Ave. is being offered for $499,000. Some seem to think that’s a bargain but The Bulldog is not persuaded. The agent has written a rap chant about it. All very odd. Park and Bark is back on Saturday between 9 and 3 at the Yonge and Davisville parking lot. Always fun. At bottom right, an early reminder that the Bayview Leaside BIA Sidewalk Sensation is June 15 this year. See you there.
Hodgson Middle School parents turned out for the second annual Family Wellness Fair Wednesday night. They heard Tracey Addison, a navigator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Family Navigation Project speak about her family’s journey to keep all its members well. Participants at the fair then split into groups for more specialized discussion and advice on topics ranging from drug safety, concussion and nutrition to cyberbullying and anxiety. 2019 Agenda
General Motors will invest $170 million converting the Oshawa assembly plant it had intended to close into a parts production facility and autonomous vehicle test track. GM and labour union Unifor announced May 8 their new agreed-upon plans for the plant. The 60-plus-year-old facility will be transitioned into a parts producer for GM and other auto industry clients; the vehicle assembly stations will go away, and be replaced by machines for stamping aftermarket parts. The facility will also act as a hub for autonomous vehicle (AV) testing, and its redevelopment will see the construction of an AV test track. GM says 300 jobs will be retained with “the potential to grow and generate significant additional jobs in the coming years.” Unfortunately most of the roughly 2,600 hourly workers currently employed in Oshawa assembly will still lose their jobs, though there will be opportunities for them to move to other GM plants in Ontario. Driving
The son of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The name “comes out of nowhere” according to the British media has loses money for those who bet on the popular choice of Alexander. CBC
Here is the National Post account of proceedings Wednesday morning in which a charge of breach of trust against one of Canada’s top sailors was stayed by the federal prosecutor. The matter festers on among supporters of Vice Admiral Mark Norman however (see comments on the story) and the Prime Minister spoke breathlessly about how the decision was entirely independent of political concerns. Government will drop charge against Vice-Admiral Norman
Some light fare for Wednesday morning with the presentation of Meghan and Harry’s new baby. New mom Meghan began with a flourish by stating “I’ve got the two best guys in the world.” Then, Audrey Hepburn would be 90 this month and her son is holding an exhibition related to her personal life in her native Belgium. Below that, Leonardo de Vinci, most famous for the “Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile,” died 500 years ago. He was a genius. Lastly, there’s fun to be had as the Toronto Zoo offers “wild encounters” with certain species.
One person is dead in what appears to be a mass accidental drug-use poisoning at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton Tuesday night. Police were called to the jail at the dinner hour on a report that many inmates needed medical attention. Six were taken to hospital, of which one died. All of the inmates involved were confined to the same cellblock. Police apparently know about an “illegal drug” present in the cellblock. It’s unclear how the drug made its way into the jail. In a statement, the province’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services would not confirm the overdoses, saying only that six inmates were found in “medical distress” and that staff performed first aid before paramedics arrived. The CBC says that should the coroner find the death was not the result of natural causes, a mandatory inquest is required.
The CBC and other news organizations say federal prosecutors will drop the breach of trust prosecution against Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for fear that details of the trial might blow up on the Liberal government during the coming general election. The decision by the Justice Department seems a signal victory for Norman’s chief counsel, Toronto criminal lawyer Marie Henein, who has hinted that the government was trying to orchestrate a public impression of the case outside the courtroom. For Mr. Trudeau and his party, the retreat cuts their losses in the wake of the smouldering SNC-Lavalin matter. The single breach of trust charge was laid last year. Norman, a former commander of the navy, was accused of leaking cabinet secrets in relation to a $668-million shipbuilding deal to lease a supply vessel. The backdown was telegraphed Tuesday when the Public Prosecution Service of Canada took the unusual step of sending out a notice to the media advising them that they “may wish to attend” court on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The case has also seen the government face allegations of political interference from the Opposition Conservatives.
Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a top US trade official indicated that higher tariffs on Chinese goods are coming later this week, disappointing traders who hoped President Donald Trump’s weekend tweet threat was just a negotiation tactic. The Dow was down 470 points, the TSX was off 135. The Toronto drop seems less dramatic than that in New York. What can we hope for in a world where Canada — once adored by both China and the US — is now a pariah to both?
