The South Bayview Bulldog

Do these doughnuts make enough money for franchisees?

The renegade Great White North group of Tim Horton’s franchises (GWNFA) has support from as many as half the firm’s outlets in Canada, its president David Hughes said Friday.  The count of Canadian Tim’s stores at the end of 2016 was said to be somewhere around 3,500. Hughes says the support has grown in the less than a year since he took concerns about penny-pinching and advertising surcharges public. He said many franchisees wanted to join the group anonymously for fear of backlash from owner Restaurant Brands Inc. (RBI). The GWNFA and RBI have taken legal actions against each other.  GWNFA filed a $500-million lawsuit in June alleging RBI improperly used money from the national advertising fund. The allegations have not been proven in court and RBI has said it vehemently disagrees with and denies the allegations. These are all rich people of course. They say you can’t get a Tim’s franchise in Southern Ontario without a net worth of $1.5 million and unencumbered cash of $500,000.

OTHER STORIES

• Hudson’s Bay CEO Jerry Storch leaving company
• Where does Working Women of Ontario come from?
• Twitter vows to crack down on nude photos tweeted without consent

The Las Vegas betting website Bodog has made the Maple Leafs 8/1 favourites to win the Stanley Cup. It is a bit premature to be sure but it has been a long time since anyone even ventured such odds. Right behind the Leafs — who opened the season at 14/1 — is the Tampa Bay Lightning at 9/1.The Toronto Sun quoted Leafs coach Mike Babcock as sating: “All that stuff is fluff.” But he’s got to love it. The Leafs are 6-1-0 and set to play LA Kings at home Saturday.

WILDCATS MEET SENATORS SATURDAY

The 2017-2018 Leaside Junior Wildcats meet the Lady Senators from Ottawa on the new pad at Millwood Rd. and Laird Dr. Saturday night. Puck drops at 7.40. Go Cats!

Tight squeeze

Traffic backup

Goodbye bus

A TTC bus was out of service Friday afternoon in the westbound lane of Moore Ave. just west of Bayview Ave. The giant-sized tow truck needed to lug a bus had to park adjacent to a concrete divider causing a bottleneck. It pushed motorists onto the curb to get by. It was a slow hour til the bus was finally towed away about 4 p.m. An earlier version of this post said the vehicle in question was new, but that appears to be wrong. The correction comes from reader Wilson Lau and The Bulldog knows better than to argue. Mr. Lau is a keen observer of the TTC and is known to post information about the quality of service and other matters. He says this is bus 1236 and if his eyesight is good enough to tell him that, we accept it. Bus 1236 it seems would be much older than the 2017 Nova Bus diesels, which appear similar, at least to us. Sorry for the confusion and thanks to Mr. Lau for his correction. .

Photo Crystal Walker

Animal control workers captured a coyote which was found between wire fencing and a shed on the playground of Withrow Avenue Junior Public School in Riverdale Friday morning.  Crystal Walker told CP24 she was walking her son to the school at 25 Bain Ave. off Broadview Avenue when she spotted and snapped a picture of the animal. Children were hustled into the school while the coyote was still loose.The operation was judged to have gone quite smoothly.

LHS champions

Let’s Go Dutch

Can this be true?

Container cafe in Burgess Park

MRUC Fall Fair Saturday

Congratulations to the Leaside High School Junior Girls Rugby team for prevailing as TDSSAA City Champions. Impressive. Upper right, check the map that leads to 1333 Danforth Ave. where a new Dutch cafe is opening soon. It is named Borrell (it means a get-together of family and friends)  Below that, Davisville Public School continues to be the darling of many who don’t send their children there. The fight will clearly continue until the Millwood Road site is cleared for a new and better way of educating kids. Lower left, the new shipping container cafe has opened in Burgess Park under the auspices of the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee. Neat idea. And finally a reminder that the Manor Road United Church Community Fall Fair is set for Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at the church at 240 Manor.

The fresh fertilizer phenomenon was apparent in parts of Toronto Thursday. Reports suggest that social media was alive with complaints which originated in the west-central area where fields at Trinity-Bellwoods Park were treated. Toronto Councillor Mike Layton offered this explanation of the previously mysterious stink. South Bayview did not stink. It seldom does. The Bulldog hopes to be in good odour with a headline containing the present, past and past participle forms of the verb.

A man was hit by a streetcar about 8.15 a.m. on St. Clair Avenue near Vaughan Rd Friday morning. He was said to conscious and breathing. A police officer said he believed the man had a hearing impairment.

Goodbye Sears. Hey, what’s happening Hudson’s Bay? You say you might sell your Lord & Taylor sub’s stuff online at Walmart? It’s in the Wall Street Journal? Wow.

Twitter

Twitter

A five-alarm fire at a townhouse on Lake Shore Blvd at Palace Pier Court in Etobicoke has sent a district fire chief to hospital in critical condition. His status was said to be stable late Thursday. Chief hMatthew Pegg described the incident as a some type of medical event. The blaze apparently started on the third floor balcony of the home during the dinner hour. The fire then spread to the roof of the building and to an adjourning unit. TFS personnel said a search of the buildings has turned up a dog which appeared to be in good health.

Resident to City News

Andrew MacLeod

Post Media papers

Paul Godfrey

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. has announced chief executive Paul Godfrey’s successor, naming a fast-rising executive its “designated survivor” should any unexpected change occur at the company. Andrew MacLeod, 46, will add Mr. Godfrey’s president role to his current work as chief operating officer. But his promotion does not signal that Mr. Godfrey intends to leave the company early, the CEO says. The rest of the executive team will report to the joint office of the president and CEO. Mr. Godfrey’s tenure as CEO, which began in 2010, is scheduled to last another three years. “You don’t wait until the end of 2020 when you’re walking out the door. You do it well in advance,” Mr. Godfrey, 78, said, describing Mr. MacLeod as his “designated survivor.” “I won’t be abdicating. We’ll be working together. … I have every intention of fulfilling the terms of my contract.” — Globe and Mail

Two writers from Canadian Press were at Sears stores today to see if the liquidation deals amounted to much and they came away unimpressed. Armina Ligaya and Maija Kappler are published in the Star late Thursday saying many shoppers found the deals underwhelming. “While signs suggested discounts of 20 to 50 per cent off — with a note that exceptions apply — relatively few items at a Toronto store appeared to be offered at half off,” the two women write. “Some big ticket items such as snowblowers and treadmills were only 10 per cent off.” It is a known tactic in such closures to begin liquidation with prices as high as possible and then lower them. It’s a contest in which buyers engage in a war of nerves to get goods at a price they accept before others take everything.

Halloween at Horticultural Design

New entry and exit at 1860 Bayview

Women’s Dinner at St. Cuthbert’s

The Four Men at MRUC

Upper left, Michael Renaud of Horticultural Design at 1610 Bayview Ave. poses with some charming Halloween novelties for the approaching feast of ghostliness. Upper centre, it is now possible to enter and exit the parking garage at 1860 Bayview by way of the Broadway Ave door. This was banned until now and the process by which it changed is unknown. But the change makes it much easier to get into and out of the garage considering the traffic crisis that exists for several blocks on either side of Eglinton. Top right, a reminder of the Fall Fair set for Saturday at Manor Road United Church, 240 Manor Rd. Down below left, the St. Cuthbert’s Women’s Dinner is Friday night. The men will serve and all are welcome. Finally, lower right, a distinguished-looking event under the auspices of the United Church of Canada will take place at Manor Road United on December 8. The Four Men will entertain with songs of love, hope and inspiration that Friday night. Sounds nice.