The South Bayview Bulldog

Strikes “Come From Away” note/BNN capture

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has struck a “Come From Away” note at her scrum in Washington at noon hour Tuesday. She spoke of Canada’s condolences on the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity 17 years ago. Freeland is in high pressure talks to try to achieve a renewed agreement on NAFTA. On this subject, she spoke only of the sincerity and goodwill exhibited on all sides. The negotiations are not over until they are over she said. Media speculation in the US Tuesday suggested Canada would relent on weakening of its stringent “supply management” process by which Canadian dairy farmers are protected from foreign competition.

Guns drawn/David Katz Twitter @inyourfacebook

Parking lot of former Newbigging Funeral Home

Merchants buzzing

Merchants on Mt. Pleasant Rd. are buzzing about the police action and takedown Monday of three apparently armed men on the street north of Soudan Ave. The occurrence resulted from a pursuit, according to those on the street following a robbery downtown. The climax of the chase is said to have taken place in or near the parking lot of the former Newbigging Funeral Home, now a commercial lot. Mt. Pleasant was closed for as much as two hours from Soudan up to Eglinton, according to sources. Officers with their weapons drawn were posted outside businesses like Dollarama. Readers of The South Bayview Bulldog say there was a Hold and Secure in place at Northern Secondary School. This seems likely at Eglinton Public School as well. Police have yet to report on this matter.

Blocked at Soudan/David Katz Twitter @inyourfacebook

There is a growing thread on Facebook Tuesday reporting and discussing car break-ins. Two incidents are named — Bayview Ave and Broadway Ave and Glenavy Ave. and Roehampton Ave. There are recurring inquiries about whether the vehicles were left open or were locked when robbed.

Kiesingar Gunn is seen with his wife and children in Facebook photo

Police will offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers of Kiesingar Gunn, 26, of Toronto, on September 11, 2016, at 4:04 a.m. outside a club in Liberty Village. They think Mr. Gunn was hit by a stray bullet not intended for him. Police are asking anyone who may have been at the scene or who may have cell phone video or photos to contact police. They as anyone who has a business or residence in that area with security video that may have captured video of the event is also asked to contact TPS Homicide.

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Police reconstruct accident at Markham and McNicholl

A woman cyclist has been injured in a collision with a car at Markham Rd and McNicoll Ave. Monday evening. The woman, said to be in her 40s, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will use the notwithstanding clause to override a judge’s decision on slashing the size of Toronto City Council. Ford cited the constitutional provision dating from Confederation which makes municipalities the creatures of the provinces. Toronto, he said, is a creation of the Legislature. He said legal experts of all parties agreed that Bill 5 was “completely constitutional.” He said he found today’s decision by Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba “deeply concerning” in law. CBC

NDP leader Andrea Horwath will hold a news conference after the Premier’s. Staffer tells us they’ll wait as long as needed to let reporters move between one event and the other. @680NEWS

— Mark Douglas (@DouglasCityNews) September 10, 2018

Judge Edward Belobaba

Mayor Tory

Premier Ford

Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba has cited the Charter of Rights to strike down Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act. Judge Belobaba said the legislation, coming when it did, “substantially interfered” with both the municipal candidate and voter’s “freedom of expression” guaranteed in the Charter. “I find that the reduction from 47 to 25 in the number of City wards and the corresponding increase in ward-size population from an average of about 61,000 to 111, 000 substantially interfered with the municipal voter’s freedom of expression under s. 2(b) of the Charter of Rights, and in particular her right to cast a vote that can result in effective representation,” the judge said in his written decision. Belobaba’s decision notes the province can try to reduce the size of city council again in the future, but says October’s election should go ahead as planned.

CHAOS?

The decision seems to throw the Toronto election into chaos. The City Clerk has previously said that she could not plan for a 47-ward election while planning for a 25-ward vote. City Council has talked of delaying the October 22 general election but the legality of that seems a challenge. There is also the question of whether the PC government will challenge Judge Belobaba’s interpretation of the law. Premier Ford is set to speak today. The CBC says Judge Belobaba cited two reasons for his decision:

• Because it was passed in the middle of an election campaign, it breached the freedom of expression of municipal candidates.
• For some councillors it nearly doubled the size of the population they represent — from an average of 61,000 people per ward to almost 111,000. That, Belobaba says, “breached the municipal voter’s right to cast a vote that can result in effective representation.

Rocco Achampong, a lawyer planning to run in the upcoming election who became the first to challenge the government’s plan in court, tweeted simply: “We Win!”  Mayor John Tory welcomed the judge’s decision. “You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game. That’s not fair to anyone, and this is not a game,” he said. Now, Tory said, he wants answers from the province about why it tried to cut the size of council to begin with. Toronto city council, which supported redrawing the ward boundary map to add more councillors after a years-long consultation process, voted to condemn Ford’s plans, and then to join the court challenge — although some councillors supported the premier.

• Councillors celebrate but some constitutional experts find decision “a disgrace”

Forecasters say there will be rain, but apparently a good deal less of it than was predicted on Friday. Now Environment Canada says there may be a total rainfall of between 20 to 40 mm during Monday. It had forecast as much as 60 mm beginning Sunday. The weather network seems to think the total fall might be less than 30 mm. The heaviest rain is expected Monday morning during the rush hour.

You’ve got mail/Stock Photo

Carlos Zetina, intent on finding the woman he met the night before, wrote email to 246 students with similar names (Nicole) at the University of Calgary late last week in hope of finding her. A Canadian Press story Sunday says that the barrage of mail caused many of the recipients to begin meeting on a Facebook page started just for that purpose.  It also says that the Nicole in question, who did not get an email, learned of the man’s hunt from chatter on social media. She has now texted Carlos and agreed to meet soon. “We’re planning to hang out maybe next week,” said Carlos. “I really didn’t expect this to become a big thing.” One reason it’s big is the Facebook account started by one of the recipients, Nicole DuGraye. She says she decided to do that so the women could get together and make friends, perhaps even find the woman Carlos was looking for. Sure enough, a post in the group from the email’s intended target says she didn’t receive the message, but learned about Carlos’ hunt because the online chatter. The post says she meant to give Carlos her number, but he might have gotten a digit wrong when he wrote it down.

All is quiet in Toronto as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia prepares for a September 30 referendum on changing its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Territorial concerns between Greece and Macedonia led to much unrest on the Danforth and elsewhere in the City during the 1990s when the name was adopted. It remains a hot-button issue for some Canadians of Greek extraction. There appears to be a deal for Macedonia to finally enter both the EU and NATO if it makes this change. Greece has denied entry of Macedonia into the EU without a name change. Concerns arise because of the ancient Greek province of the same name.

Police have a boy, 16, in custody for the shooting death during a robbery at the Toronto West Flea Market, 404 Old Weston Rd. Saturday afternoon.The victim is Rocco Scavetta, 65, described by the CBC as the owner of the flea market. Elsewhere, an elderly man was grievously injured in a hit and run accident near Sheppard Ave. and Dufferin St. And a woman of unstated age was hit by a streetcar early Sunday at Queen and Grant Sts.

There was no winning ticket for the $9.6 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. The guaranteed $1 million prize was claimed by a ticket holder in the Prairies. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on September 12 will be approximately $13 million.