The South Bayview Bulldog

Storefront at 1588 Bayview Ave.

Co-owner Stephen Dixon

Elegant furnishings

For fine living

Lots to see

When Stephen Dixon and his partner Wayne McLellan decided to open Boo Boo and Lefty Fine Living Inc. on Yonge St in 2009 they owned pet dogs named Boo Boo and Lefty. That gives the story away except that eight years later the elegant furniture and home furnishing concept would find its way to South Bayview Ave. In the interim, Lefty has passed but Boo Boo, a Shih Tzu, lives on with the two men. Area retailers hoping for an elegant addition to the street could hardly have imagined a better arrival than Boo Boo and Lefty. It opened last week with a dazzling selection of furniture, fixtures and attractive accessories which might fit any budget.

Popular former first lady to speak here

His support

Fashionable

Former first lady Michelle Obama will be giving her first speaking engagement in Canada, aimed at pushing education and equality for girls and women. The event is set for November 28, in Toronto. “She’s going to be speaking about a number of things, but the economics of equality is really why she’s here. So, talking about how we can change the world through the advancement of women and girls,” said Rhiannon Traill, CEO Economic Club of Canada. The event, co-hosted by the Economic Club of Canada and Plan International Canada, was announced on CTV’s Your Morning Monday. Traill says 3,000 tickets will be sold for the event, but each buyer will purchase two tickets, with one being donated to a young person between the ages of 14 and 24.

FORMER PRESIDENTS AND WIVES SPEAK

It is a specialized industry but a profitable one even so for former presidents and their wives to spend much of their time after they leave office on public speaking tours. As is known, former president Clinton has spoken in Toronto many times and his capacity to earn large sums for these appearances is legendary. It is not even slightly likely that the Economic Club of Canada will release the amount paid to Michelle Obama, but it seems certain the popular Ms. Obama will receive a large pay cheque. Tickets for the Toronto event, being held at the Mattamy Centre, will go on sale to American Express cardholders on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m.

Ontario Community Colleges labouring under a strike by OPSEU-organized faculty say they will take their offer directly to the teachers who have been without salaries since October 18.  The bargaining team chair Sonia Del Missier said the latest offer “addressed all faculty priorities” and accused the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) of ‘stonewalling’ the bargaining process. “We need to end this strike and get students back in the classroom. We have asked the Labour Board to schedule a vote and let our faculty decide,” Del Missier said in the release. The sides returned to the bargaining table on Thursday but soon broke up because, says the employer’s side, the union is unresponsive to its offer. The union has been seeking greater fulltime employment, more job security and a stronger say in academic decision making. The colleges say they have responded.

A widespread slow down of the Internet across North America heavily impacted Bell Canada, Rogers and other services for about two hours Monday. It began during the noon hour and cleared about 2:30. The slowdown, seen visually by the red zones on the map above, reportedly took down the Comcast Xfinity Service in the US although it is not known how the failure originated or spread to Canada. Bell reports many complaints in Toronto, Ottawa, North York, Burlington, Uxbridge, Bradford, Hamilton, Markham and Hamilton. More Level 3 configuration issue

PC Fitzroy Parker

At G. A. Brown Middle School

Community Drum Social

Robert Nigro and Adelia Vela

Mike Young, Bulldog reader and Scoutmaster, reports that the 132nd Scouts are inviting families with kids and other willing teens to join them in their annual Seton Woods Tree Fall Planting Event this Sunday. It is well-organized and powerfully good experience for boys and girls. Arborist Stephen Smith has set the agenda and the East York Kiwanis Club, TD Bank and Boston Green Consulting Team are along in support. To see the posters in larger form and RSVP with Mike, go to 132nd Scout site.

54 DIVISION MENTORING

Down below, left to right, 54 Division PC Fitzroy Parker is tweeting about the good work he and others are doing at Gordon A. Brown Middle School at 2800 St.Clair East mentoring kids in basketball and sportsmanship. Well done sir. Then the colourful poster from the Aboriginal Education Centre about their forthcoming Community Drum Social and Pot Luck Style Fall Feast on November 8. Finally, a last look at Halloween in the guise of principal Robert Nigro and vice principal Adelia Vela on the job at the Maurice Cody Halloween Parade last week.

Don’t die like this

Police will launch a week-long pedestrian safety campaign Monday morning to coincide with the newly darkened mornings and evenings of November and Standard Time. They call it Step Up and Be Safe. The release notes that police “will be paying particular attention to those motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians who commit offences in the vicinity of pedestrian crossovers, crosswalks, intersections, school zones (particularly primary schools) and crossing areas frequented by seniors. Pedestrians are encouraged to avoid using distracting electronic devices when about to interact with vehicular traffic.”  Release

Courtesy Bob Arsenault

Police say injuries were minor at this 8.30 a.m. collision Sunday at Eglinton and Bayview Aves. No need to explain that conditions are confusing, and they change too. These two drivers didn’t get the right of way sorted out as they were making a turn.

BOTULISM SUSPECTED IN LARGE DUCK KILL

As many as 30 ducks and a heron were found dead on Woodbine Beach Sunday morning. The suspected cause of botulism caused by bacteria in Lake Ontario. Avian botulism is a paralytic disease found in waterfowl.

Valérie Plante declared mayor of Montreal #mtlpoli #decision2017
READ MORE: https://t.co/QuugSmNU6V pic.twitter.com/AbUPB82AJg

— Global Montreal (@Global_Montreal) November 6, 2017

A year ago, she was unknown to most Montrealers. On Sunday, she was elected the City’s first woman mayor. Valérie Plante’s meteoric rise to the city’s top job was as remarkable as it seemed unlikely just a year ago, when she wasn’t even considered a top contender to take the helm of the Projet Montreal.

Queen Elizabeth II

Stephen Bronfman and Justin Trudeau

A leak to a German newspaper of the registries of 19 tax havens and two offshore service providers is being said to embroil hundreds of famous people and organizations in sensational financial dealings relating mostly to income taxes not paid. Among those named are Her Majesty (whose office says she had no idea) and Prime Minister Trudeau’s money raiser, Seagram’s heir Stephen Bronfman. As many as 3,000 Wealthy Canadian are named  Among those in the records with some connection to offshore accounts are former Canadian prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Paul Martin and Jean Chretien. The leak is called the Paradise Papers by cunning journalists for the luxurious world of those caught up in the expose. Canada Revenue Agency is quoted as saying it will track down and prosecute any wrongdoing but as the CBC report below suggests, this may all be perfectly legal.

• Trudeau’s chief fundraiser linked to Cayman Islands tax scheme
• Paradise Papers: Tax haven secrets of super-rich including the Queen exposed

An Algerian man has been inspired to sue the Canadian government for $50 million by the reported $10.5 million dollar settlement given to Omar Khadr earlier this year. The unproven allegations by Djamel Ameziane, who was never charged or prosecuted, is based on Canada’s alleged co-operation with the US at a time of abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Ameziane’s Edmonton lawyer says the subject requires a  public inquiry. In a draft statement of claim obtained by The Canadian Press, Ameziane is seeking the damages on the grounds that Canada’s security services co-operated with their US counterparts even though they knew the Americans were abusing him. Canadian intelligence, the suit alleges, began sharing information with the Americans after failing to pick up on the 1999 “Millennium plot” in which Ahmed Ressam, another Algerian who had been living in Montreal, aimed to blow up the Los Angeles airport.

READ ABOUT OMAR KHADR

After 9/11, Canadian agents interrogated Ameziane at the infamous American prison in Cuba, as they did Canada’s Omar Khadr, according to the claim. The US detained Ameziane at Guantanamo Bay for more than 11 years until his release in December 2013. “For many years, I had the idea of suing the Canadian government but didn’t know how and honestly didn’t know it was possible until I read the news about the settlement of Omar Khadr, who was my fellow inmate in Guantanamo Bay,” Ameziane said. “The action I am taking may also make (Canadian officials) think twice before acting against the interests of Canada and Canada’s human values.”

There is a long thread of posts on Leaside Community related to the appearance of signs in Leaside which say “It’s okay to be white.”  From media reports in the US and Canada the phenomenon is recent and widespread. It is said to be intended to make people identify with white supremacists.

Recommendation to get rid of this yield at O’Connor and Woodbine

Laird and Millwood decorative yield sign

Toronto and East York Council will decide on Tuesday, November 14 on a recommendation from the director of traffic services to get rid of the yield sign at O’Connor Drive and Woodbine Ave (right). The City has followed a program of eliminating yield signs in recent years particularly as bicycle advocacy made them a target. The yield sign at the intersection of Millwood Rd. and Laird Drive remains on the post over newly laid sod this weekend, a curious vestige of how it used to be at this corner.