The South Bayview Bulldog

The first day of operation of a new website for PC Financial MasterCard has produced chaos at the firm’s South Asian call centre. “This is the first day for the new website and we’re getting a lot of calls from people who can’t sign in,” said an operator identified as Matthew. An unknown number of Canadians woke up to find that they could not sign in to their credit card accounts Tuesday In one case, after long waits and attempts at new passwords, a customer was asked to try again later when the system “was not so busy.” By 11 a.m., it appeared the new sign-in process was working.

Stan Lee, who created or co-created Black Panther, Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Mighty Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Daredevil and Ant-Man, among other characters, died early Monday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 95. Lee had a taste similar to that of Alfred Hitchcock for inserting himself into productions in cameo roles. Check the video on the right. Much fun.

Andy Gort

Josh Matlow

Jaye Robinson

Andy Gort, president of the South Eglinton Ratepayer and Residents Association, has mailed a post-election letter congratulating Josh Matlow and Jaye Robinson on their victories in Wards 12 and 15. He notes the end of the four Committees which previously dealt with local matters. They were Etobicoke and York, North York, Scarborough and Toronto and East York.

After much drama and concerns whether the City Clerk would be ready to organize an election on October 22, the election did finally take place without incident.

Congratulations to Josh Matlow for being re-elected as councillor in Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul’s, and Jaye Robinson as councillor in Ward 15, Don Valley West. We also thank incumbent councillors Jon Burnside and Joe Mihevc for their past services and for running excellent campaigns.

SERRA’s boundaries have not changed. The new 25 ward structure for City Council has resulted in our having Josh Matlow (Ward 12) represent the SERRA area west of Mt. Pleasant, and Jaye Robinson (Ward 15) represent the SERRA area east of Mt. Pleasant. We are looking forward to working with both councillors.

We also congratulate Shelley Laskin for her re-election as school trustee in Ward 8, Eglinton-Lawrence and St Paul’s (SERRA area west of Mt. Pleasant Rd) and newly elected school trustee Rachel Chernos Lin in Ward 11, Don Valley West (SERRA area east of Mt Pleasant Rd).

During the election we met with each of the four incumbent councillor candidates to introduce SERRA board members and to review with them our priorities for our midtown area: overdevelopment, the lack of school and transit capacity, deficiencies in park and open space, neighbourhood traffic congestion, construction safety and noise issues and the need to protect our Davisville Village heritage.

All candidates were quite aware of the stress midtown is under and showed a keen interest in helping to bring improvements to our area.

The revised city ward boundaries will only take effect in early December, when the new City Council meets for the first time. We are expecting a major rethink of how council will conduct business, since there won’t be sufficient council members to staff the various sub-councils. These sub-councils have tended to be quite efficient at conducting business (development applications, parking and traffic regulations, construction and demolition matters, etc.). Another issue will be how councillors will manage constituent issues with each of the revised wards now representing 100,000-plus people.

With all the issues facing our city and our busy neighbourhood, we look forward to working with our newly elected officials.

Andy Gort,
President, SERRA

Stories about Santa

Rosemary Barton

Albert Jackson

The Santa Claus parade is Sunday and so it is that City News interviewed both Santa and Mrs. Claus in preparation. Seems the missus has a habit of  telling tales on hubby. Will this marriage last? Then, Rosemary Barton has rightly weathered petitions and her forgettable colleagues following the creation of the feckless four-headed CBC National. Make her the anchor. Finally, Albert Jackson has been honoured in Windsor as Canada’s first black mailman. It is said in this story that he prospered sufficiently to own property as he went about the Queen’s business.

Three planes flew overhead three times while the distant ring of church bells sounded somewhere in my neighbourhood #RememberanceDay #Leaside pic.twitter.com/427VD1vCFg

— Deb Lace-Kelly (@DebLaceKelly) November 11, 2018

There was a flying salute to Canada’s war dead Sunday at 11 a.m. as three Harvard trainer aircraft flew above Leaside and then on up and over crowds gathered at the Sunnybrook Cenotaph. The Harvards, a common sight everywhere in Canada during WWII as they trained RCAF pilots, are known by their squarish look, slow speed and distinctive drone.

A post to Leaside Community tells of an incident Sunday about 12:30 p.m. on Divadale Rd. when a man walking his dog was hailed by a man and woman in a car trying to sell him gold. Yes, it is almost laughable that anyone would fall for such a transparent confidence trick. Of course, the man didn’t  His wife says in her post that the couple asked if they could sell him some gold. They showed the man what appeared to be cheap costume jewellery. When he said he didn’t have any money (polite) they offered to drive him home so that he could get some. He refused again and they drove off. But he took the license (CENT 945) and reported it to police. The two are said to be in their late 20s or early 30s with black hair. Good advice is offered to warn unsuspecting or perhaps elderly friends and relatives.

No winning ticket was sold for the $5 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. However, the guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in British Columbia. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Nov. 14 will be approximately $7 million.

The public is invited to the outdoor Remembrance Day service at the Sunnybrook cenotaph at the Bayview Ave. medical centre Sunday. A procession of memorial wreaths will begin at approximately 11:15 a.m. outside of K-wing. The ceremony will begin at approximately 11:30 a.m. The ceremony will proceed rain or shine. The sun will dawn on a sea of flags to greet guests and veterans as described in the second half of this report from City News.

Sunday is Remembrance Day 2018, the one hundredth anniversary of the end of WW I. The Canadian Forces Military parade to commemorate this historic day will start at 10:10 a.m. from Maple Leaf Square on York St. It will head north on York to University Avenue. At Dundas Street, the Parade will split into two bodies taking separate routes. One Parade will proceed eastbound on Dundas St. to southbound on Bay St. arriving at Old City Hall for a ceremony at 10:45 a.m. The second Parade will continue northbound on University Avenue to northbound Queens Park Crescent West, arriving at the Queens Park Legislature for a ceremony at 10:45 p.m. Road closures begin in the formation area at 9:30 a.m. and continue along the route from 10:10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The public is being asked not to park within the parade route after 7 a.m.

Parade route:

– start Maple Leaf Square
– westbound on Bremner Boulevard, westbound lanes
– northbound on York Street, northbound lanes
– northbound on University Avenue, northbound lanes
– Parade splits at Dundas Street into 2 routes

One Parade continues:

– northbound on University Avenue, northbound lanes
– northbound on Queens Park Crescent West, southbound lanes
– dispersal at Queens Park Legislative Building, Ceremony site

The second parade route:

– eastbound Dundas Street, eastbound lanes
– southbound Bay Street, southbound lanes
– dispersal at Old City Hall, Ceremony site