The South Bayview Bulldog

Premier Wynne has issued a statement which says she will table legislation that will end the province’s college strike. Wynne met with both the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC) on Thursday after union members overwhelmingly voted against a contract offer. After that she said: “We have said repeatedly that students have been in the middle of this strike for too long and it is not fair. We need to get them back to the classroom.” Striking OPSEU college workers reject offer by 86 per cent

Striking Ontario community college workers voted 86 percent against accepting the employer’s offer in a forced vote instigated by the colleges after the strike had stretched on for a month. Today, both sides were back at the bargaining table at the request of the Premier. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) declared the vote a bully move. It appears the colleges were counting on enough teachers being fed up with the strike and a month without pay to win acceptance of the offer. The issue or issues are not always easy for onlookers to grasp. It appears the principal complaint is that the union has been asked to make “concessions” around the number of contract employees. There is also discussion of teacher input into the content of the curriculum. Foreign students from places like China are learning a hard lesson about first-world work stoppages. Many of them will not have seen a strike before, particularly a public service workers strike. Canadians on the other hand are well blistered by such hurtful stoppages. They have been called an exercise in the people going on strike against themselves.

Long-time sports employees at CTV Toronto are said to be reasonably upbeat with settlements in their pockets as the end of local sports reporting looms. All good things must end. Sources at the Bell Media station (once known as CFTO) say that the Toronto sports reports will pass into history like those at other CTV stations. Bell Media is loaded with alternative options for sports news and even an ordinary general reporter (bless them all) can figure out when a winning streak or run for the trophy should muscle its way into the news. Speaking of which, how many times have the Bell thinkers pondered consolidating CTV Toronto evening news at CP24? Just asking. More to come.

The north block of Bayview Ave. between Fleming Cres. and Parkhurst Blvd. will be short of parking Friday as a film crew works inside at Hapkido Academy to shoot a Special K commercial. Check the filming notice below for the dynamic truck parking movements.

Tesla Motors

East York Chronicle/Twitter

The estimable Jennifer Pagliaro of the Toronto Star City Hall bureau tweets that Toronto and East York Council voted 6 to 3 against a plan to build a 220-volt front-yard Tesla parking pad outside the home of an unnamed woman in this community. Parking pads are not popular in general at City Hall and owning a Tesla didn’t earn this homeowner any special treatment. Below that, from the left we see Mary Fragedakis, Arthur Potts, Justin Van Dette and Premier Kathleen Wynne at the East York Hall of Fame event Wednesday night to launch a campaign to create awareness of the East York flag. Residents are invited to buy a large flag for $60 or a small desk flag for $10 through the hall of fame. To the right, an exciting musical evening is at hand December 8 at Manor Road United Church as The Four Men celebrate the season with songs of love, hope and inspiration. Lower left a reminder of the Taste of India dinner and concert at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church November 25 and the much-anticipated Holly Berry Fair this Saturday at Rosedale United Church.

The appalling number of deaths among gas station attendants who have been run down by people stealing fuel may well see the arrival of pre-pay gasoline sales only in Ontario. A Toronto police release Wednesday announced a partnership among Crime Stoppers and Petro Canada to place decals on card readers at pumps to permit the public to detect criminal skimming devices which steal PINs, names and card numbers. It should make pre-pay more receptive to drivers. Also this week, Husky Energy said it will require payment before fuelling up at all Ontario stations. This is now the standard in Alberta where five attendants have died in three years. In Toronto, the case of attendant Jayesh Prajapati run down by career criminal Max Tutivan recently concluded shocked the public.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) planning and priorities committee has voted unanimously in favour of a staff report to end the police officers in school program because, as the report said, some students feel threatened and uncomfortable by it. The remarkable quote offered in the report was that a kid’s life at school would be over and he would be condemnd as a snitch if seen talking to a cop. This was a view of a minority. The results of a survey of students is said to have found that a substantial majority approved of the presence of police. The report also recommended that the TDSB and police should continue to work together to ensure safety in learning environments.

A body of some 15,000 scientists is said to have issued a warning about the end of the world. And they have finally hit upon the thing that is never discussed at climate meetings in Paris or among followers of David Suzuki or Al Gore. Humanity is on its way to crushing hardship they conclude by creating more and more people. That’s the issue. All of the wearying worry about “the environment” goes away if billions and billions of people merely stop eating, burning, breathing, making garbage and trying to keep warm the way mammals have always done. To accomplish that, it will be necessary to do more than simply recycle or do without. As billions more of us arrive, our lack of capacity to live with less and less will be evident. Where does anyone propose that the world start on this project? Africa? Leaside? Brazil? Palm Beach? All leads

Dr. Jeff Powis and the flu shot throne/ Michael Garron Hospital

Preparing to pour concrete at 433 Belsize/SBB

Concrete forms

Last house before Bayview

EYCI football champions/ @HPE_TDSB

Here’s Dr. Jeff Powis sitting on the latest incentive to good health at Michael Garron Hospital. It is an Iron Throne used to encourage both staff and outpatients to sit, reign and get a flu shot. Dr. Powis, an infectious disease expert, does not say how or from where he wangled this great prop into surgery but we’re hoping it isn’t missing from the HBO set, right doc? Then to the right, they were preparing to pour concrete for the foundation of the re-make of the last house on Belsize Drive before South Bayview. That would be #433. Look at the reach of that concrete pouring arm. Down below, a great picture of the East York Collegiate Institute Senior Boys Football Team. They are your 2017 TDSSAA Champions.

Mariah Hinds/Credit Terry Simpson

Defensive strength with offensive threat/Lindenwood Lions

Hockey scholarship/Lindenwood Lions

Jr. Wildcats defensive alumnus Mariah Hinds has been chosen Leaside’s 2017 Athlete of the Year and will be honoured at the Leaside Sports Hall of Fame reception in the Lea Room at Leaside arena Friday night. A protegé of Wildcats head coach Kim McCullough, Mariah draws high praise from the coach. “She had the hardest shot in the league, by far, and has the highest hockey IQ of any player I’ve ever coached. She has a magnetic personality, her teammates love her, and she leads by dominating on the ice,” McCullough told Allan Williams of Leaside Life. Mariah is now studying law on a hockey scholarship at Lindenwood University in Saint Charles Missouri, an NCAA Division One school. Details of the Friday event and tickets may be had by writing to the address below.

• leasidesportshalloffame@gmail.com

Premier Wynne will speak Wednesday night at the Rise and Dine Eatery, 2714 St. Clair Ave. E. at the launch of the East York flag campaign. The campaign is inspired by East York Hall of Fame, which will encourage current and former East York residents to display the flag of the former Borough of East York. The Premier represents part of East York as the MPP for Don Valley West. Residents will be able to purchase a large flag for $60 or a small desk flag for $10. The East York Hall of Fame operates in partnership thanks to the support of the East York Foundation. The event begins at 7 p.m.

Home delivery Dec. 8

Instcart is California based

Instabuggy delivers liquor too

The foreboding around just what grocery sales will look like in five years time is prompting Loblaw Companies to adopt a home delivery service offered by California-based Instacart. This firm should not be confused with the Canadian company Instabuggy, that delivers groceries and liquor to homes. The plan will begin in Toronto December 8 and in Vancouver in January.  The purchase of Whole Foods by Amazon and the decision by Walmart to deliver in some parts of Toronto, are behind the Loblaw move. The competitive edge for a grocery firm ranges across things like price, faster checkout and location. All of these might be less important if a consumer opts for home delivery. So far, most people still like to go the store to see what looks good. In that regard, traditional grocers like Loblaws and Metro are well-located to keep most if not all of the customers they have.  On the subject of locations however, Loblaws says it has finally decided on the closure of 22 poor performing stores from across its range of outlet brands. It has not made the locations public.