The South Bayview Bulldog

Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Wynne and Mayor Tory were together along with many officials from the City and Queen’s Park to officially open the Line One subway extension at Vaughan Centre. It is the first subway line to cross municipal a boundaries outside of the former six Toronto municipalities. The dignitaries rode the subway from Vaughan Centre to York University stop, where they held a news conference.

Honey and Barry Sherman

Canadian pharmaceutical executive Barry Sherman and his wife Honey have been found dead in their Old Colony Rd. home off Bayview Ave. near Highway 401. He is the founder of generic drug maker Apotex and with his wife a celebrated philanthropist. The deaths have been called suspicious but it is unclear where the investigation is focussed. CBC Globe and Mail

I am beyond words right now. My dear friends Barry and Honey Sherman have been found dead. Wonderful human beings, incredible philanthropists, great leaders in health care. A very, very sad day. Barry, Honey, rest in peace.

— Dr. Eric Hoskins (@DrEricHoskins) December 15, 2017

APOTEX WAS FIGHTING FEDERAL LOBBYING COMMISSIONER

From iPoliitics, September 22, 2017  Canada’s largest drug maker is fighting the federal lobbying commissioner in court in a bid to shut down an investigation into a political fundraiser its chairman hosted for the Liberal party during the last election. It’s the first time Lobbying Commissioner Karen Shepherd has been challenged in court since her position was created nearly a decade ago.

Apotex Inc. applied in May this year for a judicial review to contest Shepherd’s investigation, calling it an “unanchored fishing expedition” that started in “bad faith,” according to documents filed in Federal Court. The generic drug manufacturer wants her entire probe quashed. None of the allegations in Apotex’s claim have been tested in court. Among the allegations made by Apotex is a claim that the lobbying commissioner’s powers to compel testimony under the Lobbying Act are “unenforceable” and “inconsistent with sections 2, 7 and 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” Because of the Charter argument, Apotex wants the attorney general to be added as a respondent.

Shepherd started an investigation into Apotex in January after a complaint was lodged last year over how its chairman, Barry Sherman, hosted an August 2015 fundraiser at his home in Toronto, featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Liberal MP Michael Levitt – both election candidates at the time.  Sherman and other senior Apotex officials were registered to lobby the federal government when the fundraiser was held. Tickets for the event reportedly sold for $1,500 each.

Shepherd’s investigation is looking into whether Sherman violated the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct by hosting the fundraiser. The suit has quietly advanced over the summer in a legal back-and-forth to determine the scope of the judicial review after Apotex moved to expand it. About a month before Apotex filed its court application, Shepherd issued subpoenas to President and CEO Jeremy Desai and ex-director of government relations Elie Betito. Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying documents submitted in court show the office determined Betito attended the August 2015 fundraiser.

The federal Lobbying Act gives the commissioner the power to summon people and compel testimony under oath in the “same manner” as a superior court of record. In April, Shepherd issued subpoenas to Betito and Desai after they refused a senior OCL investigator’s earlier request to meet for interviews, stalling the investigation into Sherman’s house party. Apotex is arguing the commissioner’s office issued the subpoenas for a baseless investigation, that they were “not lawfully issued” and are “unconstitutional” and “abusive.”

Stanley Cleaners at 922 Millwood Rd at Randolph Road will finish up business at this location on Saturday. Customers are being invited to take their cleaning to what is called “our partner business” at the dry cleaning desk in the Loblaws at 11 Redway Road. The move comes a month prior to Creeds Coffee Bar and Cleaners opening on Bayview Ave in the former Second Cup location.

Refuge for Mary, Joseph and donkey / Twitter @LeasideUnited

Carols with Friends

Leaside Family Skate / Twitter @leasideskating

BIA map for Saturday / Twitter @LeasideBIA

Sarah and Claire’s Food Drive Saturday on Bayview

Still time to see Santa Saturday / Twitter @LeasideBIA

Leaside United Church has been observing Advent by helping stuffed toy replicas of Mary, Joseph and the donkey find their way to a Leaside Jerusalem with overnight stays in local homes. Upper left we see Sharon,Christine and Karen welcoming the holy figures. Then a series of reminders from the bulletin board. Upper right, St. Cuthbert’s Carols With Friends on December 16 in the evening. Across the bottom from the left, the Leaside Skating Club Family Skate goes Saturday at the arena beginning at 9.45 in the morning followed by a helpful map from the Bayview Leaside BIA of where events are located for Saturday’s shopping day and Mark Jordan reminds us that Sarah and Clair’s Food Drive will find a home at COBS on Bayview Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please find time to give. Finally, on the right, that’s Santa at Millwood and Bayview (we can the street sign) waiting to chat with kids Saturday.

TD Canada Trust has been stung by a CBC story saying that it was somehow delaying the $846,000 inheritance of a Cornwall family. A cheque has been now issued and is the hands of the family’s lawyer. Reporter John Lancaster revealed the deadlock Thursday. The family of Lorette and John Taylor were caught in what Lancaster called a three-way David vs Goliath battle after UPS lost the first draft and TD — which had issued it — appeared to be in no rush to issue a new one. UPS got the draft in February for delivery from Georgetown to Cornwall. Then it disappeared. For its part, TD seemed reluctant to issue a new draft unless the Taylors agreed to indemnify the bank if the original draft was cashed. It is a sharp reminder that huge sums of money should not be entrusted to just anybody. “We understand that we’ve reached a resolution with our customer,” bank spokeswoman Cheryl Ficker told CBC News via email. “It’s clear to us we didn’t get this right along the way and that there was more we could have done to come to a resolution faster.”  CBC

Fumbles for gun

Threatens to shoot teller

Flees with cash

Police have released video captures of a man who robbed a bank at  Queen St E and Woodbine Ave. November 10 about 5:15 p.m. He waited in line and approached the teller to make a verbal demand for money. His fumbling attempt to produce his gun from a pocket is captured on video below. But his manner is sinister as he threatens to shoot the teller. He is described as 45-55, 5’10”, thin build, clean-shaven.

DONNA ELAINE CAMERON

Donna Elaine Cameron, 43, is wanted for an alleged attack during a robbery attempt at the corner of Don Mills Rd and Overlea Blvd on December 7. The perpetrator forced the victim, another woman, to the ground with punches and kicking while trying to take her cell phone. Citizens intervened. The suspect armed herself with a brick and then fled. A short distance away, mischief to vehicles was later discovered. It is alleged the same suspect is responsible for the damage  She is described as 5’7”, 120 lbs.

Words cannot express the deep loss the entire Hydro One family is feeling after today’s tragedy, and we extend our sympathies to the families affected. Our focus remains on ensuring that our employees and their loved ones are being cared for and supported in every way possible.

— Hydro One (@HydroOne) December 15, 2017

Four Hydro One employees died when their helicopter crashed on a rural property in eastern Ontario Thursday afternoon. The one pilot and three crew members were part of a crew performing routine maintenance work on a hydro line and at a hydro tower on a property in the municipality of Tweed, Ont., when the aircraft went down, Hydro One spokesperson Ferio Pugliese confirmed. Hydro One has not released the names of the victims pending the notification of next of kin, but Pugliese said they were based in different regions from across the province — CBC

Fighting between young men armed with heavy sticks has again broken out at a Brampton plaza. City News makes a stab at trying to explain it. Not much luck. The video to the right is in Punjabi, one of many on YouTube in this language. There are also videos of past fights as well. Below that, the CBC assays the Canadian economy’s strength and has an interview with Stephen Poloz, head of the Bank of Canada. And finally, Disney has purchased 21 Century Fox lock, stock and barrel for a tidy $54.4 billion dollars. The BBC tries to tell us why.

Burglar breaks into home of elderly woman

Ignore pleas to stop ransacking bedroom

Lawrence and Leslie

A pair of brazen burglars have robbed a woman of 96 and when she told them to stop they told her to “stay out of the way.”  This occurred December 8 at Lawrence Ave E and Leslie St. It was mid-afternoon when the elderly woman heard something in her residence and realized she was not alone. She followed the sounds and discovered a man and woman ransacking her bedroom  She yelled at them to stop. They ignored her and continued to go through her belongings. The two fled with a jewellery box containing a quantity of costume jewellery and other items  A witness who observed them leaving the home followed the two east to the Shops at Don Mills. They were last seen on foot, heading northbound on Don Mills Road approaching Lawrence Avenue East.  The man is described as approximately 30, 6′, medium/heavy build, tanned complexion, black hair, clean-shaven. He was wearing a dark peacoat-style jacket, blue jeans. The woman is described as approximately 30, 5’5″, slim build, long blonde hair, wearing a waist-length winter coat with fur-trimmed hood, light-coloured leggings.

Portraitures by Mitch Harrison

Mitch Harrison’s IN2VISUAL Production and Photography business is an impressive new sponsor at the South Bayview Bulldog. Harrison runs his multi-faceted service from Glenavy Ave. near Bayview and Eglinton. His work ranges across Promotional and Marketing Videos, Video Resumes, Interviews and Testimonials, Live Event Video Production, Video and Sound Post Production and Products and Services Videos. On the photography side, Harrison creates Portraits, Talent Head Shots, Photo Restoration, Live Event Coverage and Wall Photoart. The videos below offer a sample of this work. There’s much more to see on the website. Welcome to the South Bayview Bulldog Mitch Harrison.

There are so many things wrong with the idea that an $846,000 bank draft could be given to UPS for delivery between two Ontario towns that it’s hard to imagine how anyone would entertian such a thing. But it happened last February and there is no resolution in sight. CBC