The South Bayview Bulldog

Tire marks show where vehicle jumped curb

The truck

Jon Burnside

Councillor Jon Burnside and his campaign worker Michelle Stewart narrowly escaped injury or death this week while canvassing at Laird Drive and Broadway Ave. A black Chevrolet pickup truck jumped the curb and nearly hit them. The driver, it is reported, appears to have been impaired but police were not able to respond before he left the scene. There are pictures of the vehicle and its plate. The Councillor is quoted as saying: “It sure was close.Too close. The guy didn’t have much to say. From my experience, I noticed he seemed under the influence of alcohol and perhaps narcotics as well.”

The new deadline for filing papers to run in the Toronto General Election is September 14. The election is October. 22. The change was necessary after the  Ontario government shrunk City Council from 47 wards to 25 and fix the ward boundaries to those used for federal and provincial elections. Also Thursday, a poll done by Navigator indicates that nearly half of Toronto voters favour a smaller City Council.

TESLA SUES ONTARIO

Tesla, Inc. will sue the Ontario government over what it calls unfair treatment in the cancellation of a program providing rebates to residents who bought electric vehicles. In an application for judicial review, Tesla Motors Canada says the decision by Premier Doug Ford’s government to cancel the program in July left hundreds of its customers no longer eligible for rebates they expected to get when they ordered their vehicles. It claims that Tesla was singled out and that purchasers of other brands will still get rebates during a transition period.

GUILT HOLIDAY COMING

The federal government will move forward to create a statutory holiday dedicated to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.  The holiday will be aimed at remembering the legacy of residential schools and reflecting on a path toward reconciliation, he said in Saint-Eustache. If Parliament does approve a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday, it would only apply to federally regulated workplaces — the civil service, marine ports, airports, airlines and telecommunications companies, according to Canadian Press.

Lifestyle news begins Thursday with a scoop or two of Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise Ice Cream. Then City News at the CNE press day. It’s about food. Below that, a new animated series from the creator of The Simpsons. Lastly, it’s not nice to laugh but you may in fact as a high-spirited couple bounce right off the dance floor and into Boston Harbour.

Glenn De Baeremaeker

Josh Matlow

Paul Ainslie

Ward 38 Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker has made an astonishing repudiation of the proposed one-stop subway, a project of which he stood as the City’s most ardent supporter. De Baeremaeker was fond of attacking “downtown elites” for concern about the notoriously inefficient One-Stop Wonder proposal. He engaged in heated debate with Councillors like Josh Matlow and Scarborough colleague Paul Ainslie.  At a public meeting last year De Baeremaeker said opponents of the subway scheme were prejudiced against Scarborough, mocking their arguments about money: “It’s Scarberia, nobody lives there, if I go there I might get mugged. You’ve heard all of that stuff all over the place,” he said.  But in announcing the end of his 15-year political career at City Hall, De Baeremaeker has told Metroland Media Toronto that in hindsight, he should never have supported the single-stop subway that he and Mayor John Tory spent the past three years defending. Talk about a conversion on the road to Damascus.

No left turn north at Eglinton and Don Mills

Readers at Leaside Community are commiserating about new turn prohibitions on Eglinton east of Brentcliffe.

A man is shot dead by someone who, it seems likely, knew his victim quite well. This occurred in the John Garland Plaza in Rexdale and as the gun curse rolls on, former police chief Blair talks about “supply and demand” of weapons on City.

Darkest Mt. Pleasant a section between Manor and Belsize

The power outage laying across most of Davisville Village ended just before 11 p.m. Wednesday  The three-hour blackout saw power out from Yonge St. over to Bayview as the evening wore on. Lights were out in homes on Belsize Dr. and Manor Rd. with Belsize seeming to get the worst of it. Traffic lights were out at Mt. Pleasant and Belsize but were working elsewhere. Heading west, the homes from Foreman Ave. to Mt. Pleasant were lighted. Lights were out for businesses on Mt. Pleasant between Manor and Belsize. On Bayview, lights stayed on although there was a lot of flickering. Only Hollywood Gelato as the corner of Manor was dark. Business continued however.  The Toronto Hydro outage map showed a blackout stretching from Yonge St. to east of Bayview. It previously swelled north of Eglinton into North Leaside as well. Late in the evening, Leaside did not appear to be hit.

Outage Update: All power has been restored. Thanks again for your patience.

— Toronto Hydro (@TorontoHydro) August 16, 2018

According to the Globe and Mail, the federal government is going to create a statutary holiday called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to achieve, apparently, the elusive goal of making aboriginal dissidents happy. Or maybe, as an aboriginal leader suggests, to ensure a kind of 24/7 guilt among Canadians about Canada. Sounds like a winner. The Toronto Sun quotes Perry Bellegarde, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, as saying it will be a “day set aside so Canadians continually get it and will never forget the impact of genocide in the residential schools on Indigenous peoples.” Or maybe not. Some comment late Wednesday is that it will be thoughtlessly regarded by most people as just another day off.  Business interests are likely to worry about the growing number of don’t-go-to-work days in Canada. Productivity and all that. A Reconciliation Day will make 13 such days in Ontario.

• Ottawa to declare federal holiday to mark legacy of residential school system
• Globe editorial: Is a statutory holiday really an appropriate way to mark the legacy of residential schools?
• GOLDSTEIN: More crocodile tears from Trudeau

A snake is extracted from an apartment wall in Scarborough by a self-avowed “snake man” who knows everything about snakes. Just ask him. He loves the little sweeties and says they are just like other pets. Uh-huh. When did your dog last slither into the wall? Then, the dismayed owner of a truck stripped of its wheels at the Park N’Fly lot was told by the management, “It happens all the time.” We can believe it. Below that, you will want to remember the name of the new 130-mile an hour drop-dead roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland. Never know what may happen. Finally, big pot will be big business. And there will be many jobs. Just a caution that you probably don’t get to smoke at your desk.

Emily Gordon is busier than most

Sport Clips is closed

Family picnic

East York Peewee Bulldogs

South Bayview in summary has this pleasant photo (left) of Leaside United Church minister Reverend Emily Gordon with her son. The church publishes “a week as a minister” from the life of Reverend Emily. Upper right, what’s up at Sport Clips at 1538 Bayview Ave? The place has taken quite a haircut as the inset shot shows. It was supposed to re-open Tuesday after renovations but all is quiet. Middle right, the Geneva Centre for Autism has its 22nd Annual Family Picnic at Davisville Park Wednesday beginning at 4.30. And lower right. this great gang is the East York Select Peewee Bulldogs, first place winners in their class at the Toronto Baseball Association games. They now head off to the Ontario championship. Awesome guys.

Police report that a boy 13, last seen on Tuesday at 7:20 p.m. near Birchmount Rd and McNicoll Ave., has been located safe. The lad was said to be out and about without his shoes.