The South Bayview Bulldog

The Liberals have won three of four seats in byelections held Monday. CBC

Approximately 1,400 Scarborough residents had power restored late Monday after nearly eight hours in the cold. The problem was a defective underground cable outside a hydro station in the Sheppard and Ellesmere Aves. area.

OPP are patrolling the highways in transport trucks this week in an effort to crack down on distracted driving by commercial truck drivers. The five-day road safety blitz launched Monday is the first time officers have used transport trucks on patrol. Premier Wynne has launched a $100,000 legal action against PC leader Patrick Brown for saying that she was a “sitting premier, sitting in trial.” He made the remark as Wynne testified as a witness at the trial of two provincial Liberals facing Election Act bribery charges. And Delta Airlines will start asking $75 a bag  — for the first and/or only bag — from coach passengers. The move has caused speculation that Air Canada and WestJet will soon do the same.

Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz

SMG venue management

Soldier Field in Chicago

Gerry Schwartz’s Onex Corporation, with $22 billion in assets under management,. has purchased SMG Holding Inc., a huge US property management firm that is contracted with some 240 sports, entertainment and business venues across the country. Many are in small communities but two, Soldier Field in Chicago, is home to the NFL’s Chicago Bears with the other, Detroit’s Cobo Hall, is the scene of the annual North American Auto Show and similar premier events. The Toronto-based private equity firm Onex did not disclose how much it will pay for privately held SMG. The deal is expected to close in early 2018. Schwartz is a legendary Rosedale figure.  His wife, Heather Reisman, is founder and CEO of Indigo Books. The two are generous patrons of hospitals, research and the arts through the Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation

Qiueensway toiWidmer St.

Taxi driver made a mistake

Uber has apologized and withdrawn a shocking $18,000 fare charged in error by a taxi driver who had signed up to take Uber calls. The full amount was refunded for the ride, a quick hop from the Queensway to downtown Widmer St. Uber staff say the charge was a result of driver error, not a technical mistake.

LYFT TO LAUNCH TUESDAY

Canadian Press says the ride-hailing service Lyft will launch its service in Toronto on Tuesday, marking its first expansion outside the United States. CP says Lyft will operate between Hamilton and Oshawa and as far north as Newmarket. Beck Taxi, the largest cab service in the City, told CP that adding thousands of cars to Toronto’s congested streets is the last thing the city needs and only discourages transit ridership.

Toronto, your #MLSCup Champions! @torontofc pic.twitter.com/BPTIouPO6a

— Toronto Financial District BIA (@MyTOFD) December 11, 2017

https://twitter.com/jamesontheradio/status/940286927181438976

Joyous crowds and boisterous Toronto teammates rolled through downtown on double decker buses Monday to celebrate their championship victory and capture of the MLS Cup. CBC

Flattened by his own bomb

Akayed Ullah

A terrorist detonated a pipe bomb in a subway passage between Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal — one of the busiest transit hubs in the world — during the Monday morning rush-hour, injuring three people and causing commuter chaos. Akayed Ullah detonated part of his “low tech” explosive in the passage just 200 feet from the bus terminal at West 42nd St. and Eighth Ave. at 7:20 a.m., officials said. Three commuters suffered minor injuries, officials said. After the explosion, Port Authority cops struggled with Ullah, 27, who had wires attached to his body, sources said. The device was affixed to his body with Velcro and zip ties, police officials said. New York Daily News

Horsing around at Barrie Molson Centre/Leaside Wildcats

Valet parking on Bayview /BIA

Construction noise at Laird and Eglinton /Mark Bajcar

Forgotten stroller/Arin Arat Facebook

Crested hockey pucks/Leaside Arena

Lisa Kinsella pondering City Hall/@lisakinsella

With apologies to the Mamas and the Papas, our Monday, Monday gallery starts at upper left, where the Leaside Wildcats Atom AA squad beat the Barrie Sharks 3-1. They are seen horsing around in the dressing room corridor at Barrie Molson Centre Sunday. Erroneous information was published previously which The Bulldog regrets. Then below that, Grant Allardyce is reminding residents of the valet parking service that is available this Saturday and next for South Bayview Leaside BIA shoppers. Then to the right, Heidi and Mark Bajcar are feeling the Monday blues a bit as noise from construction of the Laird Drive Station secondary entrance continues to wreck their quiet 24 hours a day. Some Leaside Community Facebook members suggest a call to the Councillor. But the Metrolinx juggernaut is driven by the Ontario government. The Bajcars have had stories in the media but hammering goes on towards LRT heaven.

BETTER THAN FORGETTING JUNIOR

Lower left, someone seems have forgotten the stroller while loading junior into the car. Better than forgetting junior, we suppose. To the lower right, Ann Brown says don’t forget the crested pucks marking Leaside Gardens 65th anniversary. Get them at the Pro Shop. Finally, Lisa Kinsella, still a bride from her 2015 marriage to Liberal keener Warren Kinsella, says she is thinking about running for City Council. Ward 32 (Beaches-East York) will be vacant as Mary-Margaret McMahon retires.

Jean Yip

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer with Dasong Zou

Monday is bylection day across Canada as four constituencies will elect new MPs. In Scarborough-Agincourt, Jean Yip (Liberal) will face off against Dasong Zou (Conservative). Ms Yip is a political and sentimental favorite as the widow of the late MP Arnold Chan, who died prematurely of cancer. Mr. Zou is an IT manager for the Royal Bank.  There are also elections in Bonavista–Burin–Trinity in Newfoundland, last held by Liberal Judy Foote, Battlefords–Lloydminster in Saskatchewan, last held by Conservative Gerry Ritz and South Surrey–White Rock in B.C. last held by Conservative Dianne Watts. The Liberals are expected to hold onto the Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador seats, while the Conservative seat in rural Saskatchewan is also a stronghold for the incumbent party. But the B.C. riding of South Surrey–White Rock will be hotly contested between the two parties — putting Scheer at risk of suffering a second byelection loss as leader.

A special weather warning has been issued for Toronto by Environment Canada. It says an Arctic cold front will cross Southern Ontario Sunday night. It will likely be accompanied by a brief burst of heavier snow in many areas with reduced visibilities which may affect travel. A coating to a couple of centimetres in a short timeframe is expected with this cold front. A cold front cross Southern Ontario Monday night into Tuesday. This weather disturbance will bring a general snowfall of 5 to 10 cm with it by Tuesday morning. The snow is expected to begin during the day Monday and taper off later Monday night. Although localized amounts of 10 to 15 cm are possible, the snowfall warning criterion of 15 cm snow in 12 hours is not expected to be reached.

South Bayview area elementary schools performed well in the Fraser Institute’s ranking of more than 460 public, Catholic and private places of learning in Toronto. A review of the results shows the following ratings out of ten:

• Blythwood 9.8
• Cottingham 9.8
• Pape Avenue  9.7
• Bennington 9.0
• Jackman Avenue 9.0
• Forest Hill 8.9
• OLPH 8.9
• Deer Park 8.8
• Northlea 8.8
• St Anselm 8.8
• Rosedale 8.7
• Maurice Cody 8.2
• Whitney 8.0
• Davisville 7.6
• Bessborough 7.4
• Rolph Road 6.7

There were seven schools at the top of the rankings for Toronto all of which scored 10 out of 10.

• Hollywood Toronto 10.0
• Islamic Foundation Toronto 10.0
•  NAMF Islamic Toronto 10.0 n/a
•  Nile Academy Toronto 10.0
•  Sathya Sai Toronto 10.0
• Seneca Hill Toronto 10.0
• St Sebastian Toronto 10.0

The Fraser Institute provides a clarification that not all schools are measured. It says: “Not all schools are included in these rankings. Schools will be excluded if, for whatever reason, we do not receive enough data from the provincial ministry of education to fairly rate the school. For example, elementary schools in Ontario that do not enroll grade 6 students will not be included in the rankings. The reason for this is that we must have student results data from province-wide testing that is conducted in grade 3 and grade 6. So, if a school is excluded that doesn’t mean it is an ineffective school or that the school did something wrong. It just means that we don’t have enough student results data to fairly rate the school.” Fraser Institute