The South Bayview Bulldog

Doctors, as represented by the Canadian Medical Association, a kicking back against a move by the Ontario government to require employees to present a doctor’s note if they miss work because of an ailment. The Canadian Press story Friday says a note will be required for “even minor illnesses, such as the common cold”  It says a privately commissioned poll suggests a majority of working Canadians oppose allowing employers to require sick notes for minor illnesses. The survey also finds that eight in 10 Ontarians who responded said they would likely come in to work when ill if their employer required a sick note.

Michael Wekerle

Johnny Bobbitt

Laura Softley

Canadian merchant banker and television dragon Michael Wekerle waxes wild about his ambitious plans for the new El Mocambo. Listen to him as he gabbles on to City News downtowner Lindsay Dunn. Then, it turns out homeless Johnny Bobbitt was part of the fraud perpetrated by Kate McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico. The Philadelphia DA says they all schemed to get rich by cooking up a fake GoFundMe crisis. It gathered more than $400,000. Thursday they were all charged with conspiracy to commit fraud. Then, at right, Laura Softley, 34, is a British choir teacher. But it seems her taste ran to teenage male pupils who she took home, fed booze, entertained by stripping and invited to bed.

Mr. Zukran

Advertising to children?

Advertising to children?

A Montreal lawyer has succeeded in launching a class action suit against the advertising of Happy Meals to Quebec children. He is Joey Zurkan and his action was authorized this week by a superior court justice. Quebec law is strict about advertising to children. Zurkan apparently contends that toys offered with the meals, and models of the toys shown outside McDonald’s, is advertising to children. The question will be about where advertising to parents ends, and advertising to children begins. Needless to say, the potential for the shutdown of toy store windows and cereal box giveaways in grocery stores lurks in the background.

Weekend road closueres including those for Sunday’s Santa Claus Parade are noted in this release from the City.

Toronto Christmas Market – Distillery District
Northbound and southbound curb lanes on Parliament Street, from Lake Shore Boulevard East to Front Street East, will be closed from Friday, November 16 at 4 p.m. until Sunday, November 18 at midnight.

A map of this closure is available at http://bit.ly/ChristmasMrktDistillery2018.

Illuminite 2018
Dundas Square Street between Yonge Street and O’Keefe Lane will be closed on Saturday, November 17 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for this event.

A map of this closure is available at http://bit.ly/Illuminite2018.

Rosedale Cavalcade of Lights
Scrivener Square will be closed from Yonge Street to 10 Scrivener Square on Saturday, November 17 from 2 to 6 p.m. for this event.

A map of this closure is available at http://bit.ly/RosedaleCavalcade2018.

Bloor-Yorkville BIA – Holiday Magic
Cumberland Street from Old York Lane to 114 Cumberland St. will be closed on Saturday, November 17 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. for this event.

A map of this closure is available at http://bit.ly/HolidayMagic2018.

Santa Claus Parade
This event will involve full and rolling road closures on Sunday, November 18 from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.:
• Bloor Street West from Ossington Avenue to Queen’s Park
• Queen’s Park/Queen’s Park Crescent/University Avenue to Wellington Street West
• Wellington Street West from University Avenue to Yonge Street
• Yonge Street from Wellington Street to Front Street
• Front Street from Yonge Street to Jarvis Street
• Lower Jarvis Street from Front Street East to Lake Shore Boulevard East

In addition, parade-related curb lane closures will occur on Sunday at the following locations and times:
• Front Street East from Jarvis Street to Sherbourne Street from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Queens Quay East from Lower Jarvis Street to Parliament Street from 2 to 6 p.m.
• Lower Jarvis Street northbound curb lane and laybys from 1 to 6 p.m.

The full parade route is available at http://thesantaclausparade.com/.

The Holly Jolly Fun Run
This event will precede the Santa Claus parade and follow the same route, with the following additional closures on Sunday, November 18 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
• Bremner Boulevard will be closed from York Street to Lake Shore Boulevard West
• York Street southbound from University Avenue to Bremner Boulevard.

This news release is also available on the City’s website: http://ow.ly/1CI930mDcHK.

Police will kick off the 2018 the annual RIDE campaign against impaired driving Thursday morning at the police college at 70 Birmingham St. in New Toronto.  TPS will be joined by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP), the Ministry of Transportation and Arrive Alive DRIVE SOBER. The driving campaign comes with predictions of snow Thursday evening.

Source: theweathernetwork.com

Am I not handsome?

A member of Leaside Community Facebook writes Thursday that the mystery of how white cat hair kept appearing on the roof of her convertible is solved. The handsome fellow seen here (she calls him a beautiful boy) has been posing on the vinyl roof when no one was looking. Good traction up there for cat models to the neighborhood.

Volunteers will clear leaves from the Crothers Woods Trail at a maintenance event this Saturday (November 17) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those interested should meet at the Thomas Hauser Memorial Trailhead, 11 Redway Rd., at the south end of the Loblaw parking lot. Tools will be provided and no expertise is necessary. The organizers say that clearing the leaves will maintain the forest setting and reduce erosion and protect the trail and surrounding forest. Any cancellation will be posted on Twitter and Facebook. To volunteer or RSVP mail to greentoronto@toronto.ca.

Pole sliced into the bus/Ashraf Dabie/The Dialog

As many as 24 people were taken to hospital when a bus hit a utility pole at Bathurst St. and Davenport Rd. about 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. It appears most of the injuries were minor. The online publication The Dialog said Peter Yelovich, a member of the Canadian Forces was in the area at the time of the incident and saw leaking fuel. He rushed to evacuate the passengers in case it ignited.

Bathurst and Davenport/Killa Kuz!@carmellosolorio

Two teen girls have gone to the home of 14-year-old Brett Corbett in Halifax and tearfully apologized for being part of a humiliating case of bullying. Corbett, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was forced to lay down in a stream of rainwater in front of some 20 classmates as they shouted at him and gave him orders. One of the girls is seen stepping on Corbett to cross the water. The boy’s mother, Terri McEachern, said three students in all walked on her son. The community has been shocked by the incident. Horrifying as it is, such cruelty is nonetheless a known part of much juvenile behaviour. Ms. McEachern said she has been amazed at Brett’s forgiveness. He didn’t tell her the truth about what happened to him at first because he said he didn’t want the other kids to get in trouble, she said.

IT’S OKAY I WAS ALREADY WET

When she asked him whether he had been walked on after she watched the videos, he told her, “It’s OK, I was already wet.” “It’s just breaking my heart. This is his mindset,” she said. “Children with disabilities have the most amazing gifts in the world. They don’t see bad in anyone. They see so much good in everybody.” She did not know what really happened to Corbett until family friend Brandon Jolie saw one of the videos circulating on Snapchat and Instagram. Jolie took his own video of the video and shared it with McEachern’s older son – and on Facebook. Since the video went viral, some of the students seen have apologized. The father of one apologized on his son’s behalf at a public meeting and read from a letter in which the boy described his actions as “the worst decision of my life,” CTV News reported.

YOU ARE WAY STRONGER THAN ME FOR BEING SO FORGIVING

Two girls and their parents came to Corbett’s house to apologize to him and his mother. They each read aloud from their letters. The parents all cried. The girls cried. So did Corbett. “I shouldn’t have told you to go [into the water]. I should have helped you up instead of breaking you down,” one girl began. “You are way stronger than me for being so forgiving so fast,” she continued, “and I’m really sorry for what I have done. I know better. This is not who I am as a person. I truly care. I made a really bad choice and I will live with that for the rest of my life. I want with all my heart to make this better, and I can promise I will never let this happen to anyone again.”

Brad Ross is leaving the TTC to become the chief communications officer for the City of Toronto starting Jan. 7, 2019. His last day at the TTC is Dec. 14. “The chief communications officer is responsible for communicating the overall strategic direction for the City of Toronto, as well as making sure the public clearly understands council’s priorities and how to access city programs and services,” City manager Chris Murray said in a release. “Brad brings a wealth of experience to lead our professional communications staff in the development of internal and external communications strategies, public education campaigns, digital outreach and more.”

Walkerton at height of water contamination crisis

Commissioner Saxe

E. coli was in runoff of fecal material

A warning from the Ontario Environment Commissioner that there is just too much sewage getting into waterways and lakes is likely to send a chill into all those who remember the outbreak of E coli poisoning at Walkerton 18 years ago. Six people died and more than 2,000 were sickened in that municipal calamity Tuesday the Commissioner, Dianne Saxe, issued her annual report which seems to recall the same sort of sloppiness and ignorance that haunted Walkerton. It says that between April 2017 and March this year, raw sewage overflowed into southern Ontario waterways 1,327 times from nearly 60 outdated municipal sewer systems that combine sewage and storm water. Ms. Saxe urged the province to require every municipality with combined sewers to take action to eliminate overflows using measures like additional storm water fees and building additional infrastructure. Saxe says the province’s waterways are also being affected by run-off laden with fertilizer and road salt. It was runoff of fertilizer and fecal material from livestock that caused the Walkerton poisonings.

Peel Regional Police are trying to sort out how and why a young man was found shot to death in a car in Mississauga on Tuesday morning. It occurred at Highway 410, north of Courtneypark Drive, shortly before 1 a.m. Carl Hanstke of 680 News.

• More than 60 car break-ins, thefts reported around Vaughan Rd. and St. Clair Ave.