The South Bayview Bulldog

Leona Alleslev, MP for Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill

Andrew Scheer

PM Trudeau

Leona Alleslev, the Liberal MP for Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill has quit the Liberal Party of Canada and joined Andrew Scheer’s Conservative Party of Canada. Her announcement Monday in the House of Common stunned MPs. “The leader of her majesty’s Opposition and his team have a firm grasp of the urgent issues we face as Canadians and the resolve to confront them, and it is my duty to align myself with those values,” she told the House. The Canadian Press story breaking the news did not specify if she enumerated any issues in particular. “To my Liberal colleagues, thank you, but my oath is to country, not party, and my sacred obligation is to serve my constituents,” Alleslev said. Scheer welcomed Alleslev to the Conservative fold, making his new MP the critic for global security. Alleslev has represented the new Toronto-area riding of Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill since narrowly defeating her Conservative challenger by 1,093 votes in 2015. Prior to politics, Alleslev served for several years in the Canadian military before joining IBM and Bombardier Aerospace. As an MP, she has served on the immigration and defence committees and as chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. Some may guess that Ms. Alleslev is reading the tea leaves in her home riding where Conservative sentiment has always run fairly deep.

A cleansing ceremony to be held at 53 Mallory Crescent by owners Karen Fraser and Ron Smith will be private. The ceremony will help to “restore balance” to the property and create a change of mood on the street. The ravine land in south Leaside at this address was where serial killer Bruce McArthur allegedly buried many body parts of men he is accused of killing. Karen Fraser has said the meeting, to which no media is invited, will receive neighbours, friends and others who supported the couple.

Canadians can expect a mild fall with near normal or above normal temperatures for nearly all of the country, according to a forecast by The Weather Network. The warmest weather relative to normal is expected from the Maritimes to Southern Ontario and across the far western side of the country including B.C., parts of Alberta and the Yukon. In between the back and forth swings in temperature that are typical of the season should come close to offsetting each other.

Residents across Leaside as well as in Moore Park are discussing coyote sightings Monday morning. One was seen about 8 p.m. on Bessborough north of St. Cuthbert’s. Sabrina Brie Baluke Neiman published this photo which shows a coyote seen in Bennington Heights. She says: “He’s a beauty.” Facebook

Seen in Bennington Heights/Sabrina Brie Baluke Neiman

The PC government has concluded the required six-and-a-half hours of second-reading debate of Bill 31, the Efficient Local Government Act. The noisy process began at 12.01 Monday. The timing of the debate was dictated by the time pressure on the government in advance of the Toronto general election set for October 22.  The bill will cut council from 47 members to 25 after the Oct. 22 election. It is the reintroduction of Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act, struck down as unconstitutional a week ago by Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba. The Ford government will soon introduce a time-allocation motion and the bill could then pass second and third reading as well as receive royal assent by Thursday. The deadline for registering as a municipal candidate would be two days later.

Emma O’Keeffe/RCMP

The RCMP say Emma O’Keeffe, 6, has been found safe, apparently in the back of her family’s sport-utility vehicle. It was stolen yesterday about 5.30 local time from a mall in North Battleford. Police say Emma, who is autistic, epileptic and non-verbal, was found safe within the City about 6:45 a.m. Monday (8.45 Toronto time) more than 12 hours after the SUV was taken.. She is now receiving medical care.

New Beetle (1997-2010)

Prototype from 1937

Original Beetle convertible

Volkswagen has announced in Germany that it will cease production of its current Beetle car, a model which was introduced in 2011 and is made at a plant in Mexico. It is the third generation of Beetle, more or less. It is known at the A5. The original car was created in pre-war Germany in the late 1930s. A prototype model, lower left, had no back window and front opening (suicide) doors. It was refined for mass production in 1938 and the British oversaw resumption of the same car in 1946 after the war. It was built with variations (like the convertible right) until 2003. The Volkswagen New Beetle (upper left) was built from 1997 to 2010. The most recent Bug was introduced in 2011. Today Volkswagen CEO, Hinrich J. Woebcken, said “the loss of the Beetle after three generations, over nearly seven decades, will evoke a host of emotions from the Beetle’s many devoted fans.” But he vowed this is the end. We shall see.

Dark line reveals open space down centre of Highland Creek Bridge in Scarborough

Not so apparent when driving, walking on Kingston Rd.

A young man has fallen to his death after he somehow fell through the opening “median” between east and west bound lanes of the Highland Creek Bridge on Kingston Rd. The freakish accident occurred Saturday night when the victim, 20, was apparently homeward bound with friends. The design of the bridge may be deceiving to those at road level but the gap in the centre of the road is open to the ground below. Police have described the incident as a “complete accident.” 

Open Streets will close both Yonge and Bloor Sts. in central Toronto Sunday. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Bloor will be closed between Montrose Ave and Sherbourne Ave and Yonge will be closed between Davenport Ave and Queen St

Statistics compiled by Toronto Public Health reveal opioid overdoses and deaths in Toronto occur along geographic and apparently economic lines. The map below, re-published by City News from health department files, shows very light use of such medications in affluent areas of Midtown like South Bayview. Reported overdose calls in places such as Leaside, Davisville, Moore Park and other area neighborhoods ranged between 5 to 16 during a monitored period from August 2017 to August 2018. Other parts of  the City, particularly downtown, show a much higher crisis occurence of both overdoses and deaths. Paramedics received 358 calls for suspected opioid overdoses in the Church-Yonge corridor, 337 in Moss Park, and 158 in the Bay St. corridor. Some 1,250 people have died from opioid overdoses in the province in the last 15 years— an increase of 246 per cent — numbers from Public Health Ontario show.  One in four opioid-related deaths in Ontario occurred in the City, Toronto Health says.

Zhu Jingriu

Wanda Barzee

Derek Burney

In China, where they execute as many as 2,000 people a year, Zhu Jingriu is fighting to clear the name of her late son. The fascinating Australian Broadcasting Corporation report says the emphasis in the Middle Kingdon for capital cases is merely a confession, not forensic evidence like DNA. At centre is Wanda Barzee, the woman who with her demented husband imprisoned and tortured Elizabeth Smart, then 14. Barzee is to be released from prison in Utah and Smart is furious. Then, former ambassador to the US Derek Burney asks what, if anything, the US is prepared to concede to get an agreement on trade. He calls the American attitude “Nafta shaft-ya.”