The South Bayview Bulldog

This was the first day of the 2018 Ontario general election campaign and Premier Wynne made a visit to Etobicoke Lakeshore, Ford Nation country. She hopes it will be more than symbolic. The above useful summary from City News also has Doug Ford saying he will go back to “the original plan” for the Scarborough subway. What does this mean? Josh Matlow (Ward 22) and other  downtowners have long sought a return to the plan for a multi-stop LRT. Ford also said a PC government will assume all costs and planning for Toronto subways while leaving the TTC to run the system.

VOTING

It is also revealed Wednesday that vote counting in the June 7 election will be done by electronic tabulating machines. Don’t panic. There will still be paper ballots if the system collapses. The linked CBC story is here and reveals among the comments a stream of thought that electronic voting is unreliable, or subject to manipulation.  Elections Ontario

• As campaign starts, Ontario’s election is Doug Ford’s to lose

What a mess. Check out the man who falls in it. To the right, Italian sweethearts who died in the dreadful Grenfell apartment fire in London last June have been immortalized in a fairytale. Interesting. Below that, we see an 11-year-old girl tumble out of the back seat of a car-jacked SUV in Illinois. Her father had been forced out of the driver’s seat moments before. And finally, all about false eyelashes, those decorations of the window to our soul.

All aboard!

A rare quirk of TTC labour relations will open Line One this weekend because the union doesn’t care to work. The Amalgamated Transit Union has cancelled an agreement on overtime because he believes the service is understaffed. The subway was to close between Lawrence West and Sheppard West stations on Saturday for the weekend (May 12 and 13) but now will be open. The TTC was made an essential service in 2011 after a stoppage in which there was essentially no notice, leaving passengers stranded after a night out.

OTHER NEWS

• CPP to inverst in South Korean office complex
• Summer jobs program shows ‘totalitarian’ tendency: ex-religious freedom envoy
• La Presse to become a non-profit run by a social trust
• Ford vows to replace sex-ed, math curricula, tie university funds to free speech

A resident of Sutherland Drive is appealing on Facebook for security camera footage after the theft of valuables from a car overnight. The home is located between Bessborough Drive and Bayview Ave. The poster asks that “If you have cameras and footage of people checking locks last night PLEASE let me know so I can share this with the police.” If unable to enter the FB account write to The Bulldog at news@bayview-news.com and it will be passed on. Leaside Community

Tires squeal

An overcorrection as a motorcycle goes by

Disaster

Adrian Ghobrial of City News recounts the tricky business of showing off in your high-powered car down by the waterfront. Amusing in a way. Or is that mean-spirited? Well never mind, because there’s much joy in Newfoundland and Labrador as the government there decides to sell marijuana in grocery stores. A footnote to this is that Loblaw owns the name Dominion down there. Just like the one that used to sit at Eglinton and Bayview, except there’s no pot at the Metro. On we go with the ABC story of the guy who invites women to dinner and then, on the pretext of a call from his son, leaves the table. He never comes back and they have to pay. Finally, Kim Jong un was back in China over the weekend. Xi Jinping, the supreme everything, is getting ready to meet with the South Koreans and Japanese. It makes Kim nervous.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will stay in the Iran nuclear deal at least until he sees if European countries are prepared to stay in. His foreign minister try to encourage those countries. especially the UK, France and Germany, to negotiate a revised deal after the US decision to pull out. Otherwise, he will restart enriching uranium “in the next weeks.” It is seen as a doubling-down for the cleric who has seen his signature foreign policy achievement threatened. Trump signed a presidential memorandum withdrawing from the 2015 agreement and he is planning to reinstall sanctions on the Iranian regime. Plan to sell Boeing jets to Iran will be cancelled.

Urban Toronto updates design tweaks for Plaza Midtown, a Quadrangle-designed development. It will add two condominium towers to an existing Tower-in-the-Park site in Midtown Toronto southeast of the of Yonge and Eglinton. One feature among the towers is a park of some 1550 square metres at Soudan and Dunfield Aves. See story here

Previous challenges

Success!

Good modelling for these guys

The U of T Mountain Bike Team is seeking volunteers to help clean up the Don Valley Forest on Saturday May 12. The gang will meet at 71 Thorncliffe Park Drive which is the entry into E. T. Seton Park. Many worthwhile and entertaining events are on the horizon now that Spring is really here. Check the South Bayview Bulldog Bulletin Board.

Sparks fly in first 2018 Ontario leaders debate: The best jabs in under 90 seconds. #CityVote #onpoli pic.twitter.com/yUI3WhygqJ

— CityNews Toronto (@CityNewsTO) May 8, 2018

The City News debate between Premier Wynne, PC Leader Doug Ford and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath had qualities both improbable and predictable Monday. Twitterdom elected Andrea Horwath and the Green Party staged a demonstration in which their mouths were sealed with green tape. CP24 says Tuesday morning that Mainstreet Research randomly surveyed 2,000 adults from Toronto, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough after the debate and found that about 41.5 per cent of survey respondents said they watched the debate and of those who watched the debate, 35.1 per cent said they thought PC Leader Doug Ford won, while 24.3 per cent said they believed Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath won. About 19.3 per cent said Premier Kathleen Wynne fared best among all candidates, while 9.5 per cent said no one won. About 11.8 per cent of respondents who watched the debate were not sure who won. There is video at the 680 News (City) YouTube account.

Candidates in the June 7 general election for the riding of Don Valley West have been invited to an all-candidates debate on May 23 in the Lea Room at Leaside Arena. Don Valley West is the long-time seat of Premier Kathleen  Wynne. She is challenged this year by Progressive Conservative candidate Jon W. Kieran. All parties have been invited, including the NDP, Green Party and Libertarian Party. The latter two are shown in the Internet to  be represented by Morgan Bailey and John Kittridge respectively. The NDP Ontario slate online does not yet show a candidate in Don Valley West. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the debate is set to begin at 7.30 p.m. This debate is sponsored by the Leaside Property Owners Association. A release issued Sunday does not speak of a format for this debate.

MODERATOR BRIAN ATHEY

The moderator will be Brian Athey, past president of the LPOA. Each candidate will give a three-minute opening statement after which attendees  ask questions directed to one or more candidate. Each candidate has the opportunity to make a one-minute response to any question. The Q&A session lasts approximately 75 minutes, after which each candidate makes a closing statement (in reverse order from the opening statements).Candidates’ order of speaking is decided by their drawing a number from a hat just before the meeting begins, and, as noted above, the speaking order will reverse for closing statements. Questions will be provided by the attendees only and in writing so that Mr. Athey can sort or combine them to avoid repetition.  There will be index cards — and pencils, as needed —- for people as they enter the Lea Room.

Kaetlyn, Brigid and rascally Lucy/Bulldog

Kayla at NTSC/NTSC

NTSC

Twitter

Appletree Market

Give It A Try

Opening day/Leaside Lawn Bowling Club

Two-time Olympic medalist and 2018 Figure Skating World Champion Kaetlyn Osmond was at PetSmart on Eglinton Ave. Monday to meet owners. Here she is with Brigid (right) and her rascally pet Lucy. Lucy was sniffing around with her colour-coded nose for treats. To the right is Leaside girl Kayla, playing this season with the North Toronto Soccer Club. This was tweeted by her coach who says Kayla’s got good style. Middle right, a reminder that the Appletree Market opens Tuesday afternoon at Davisville Park. It runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Centre left, the aftermath of yet another car into the Rexall store this week at Sunnybrook Plaza. Happily, no one was in the way. At the bottom, a reminder that the Leaside Lawn Bowling Club is in operation and an Open House is set for Friday and Saturday.