Police have announced the death of Ikechidiadi (Ike) Kaja, 49, a week after he was found wounded in a car behind his home on Avenue Rd. south of Eglinton Ave West. The apparently well-liked financial analyst and father was shot sometime before 10 p.m. on January 23. Mr Kaja was an MBA graduate of the Rotman School and leaves a son, 4. Police are asking anyone who was in the area between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. or who may have video footage to contact police at 416-808-7400 or reach out to Crime Stoppers anonymously.
The $14.2 million dollar jackpot in Saturday’s Lotto 649 draw will be shared by two winning ticket holders — one in Ontario and the other in Quebec. Each winning ticket is worth $7.1 million. The draw’s guaranteed $1 million prize also went to a lottery player in Ontario.
Geoff Kettel, co-chair of the Federation of North Toronto Residents’ Associations (FONTRA) has distributed a video and other data in advance of a City Council meeting on February 2 to address the introduction into Toronto of so-called Garden Suites. These are homes built in the backyards of single-family homes in neighbourhoods that would otherwise be protected from such profound changes. As ever, there is a good cause put forward for this apparent revolution in how people have lived in the City for centuries. It’s all about affordable housing. Research by the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association found these startling issues raised in Barrie when that City adopted Garden Suites in 2019 without much forethought.
Highlights from the Barrie experience with Garden Suites
Houses in backyards were approved in Barrie in November 2019 in response to Bill 108, More Homes, More Choices Act with a stated goal to create more affordable homes. The issues that arose are stunning and easily understood but nonetheless caught all of Barrie by surprise.
No one in Barrie really understood the impact it would have and the implications of what had been approved until the excavators showed up and started digging
Information was not available other than going through Freedom of Information. Homeowners were caught without notice when Garden Suites were built next door.
The character of the neighbourhood was changed because of significant tree loss. Trees on adjacent properties have to be removed by the neighbours at costs totalling thousands.
Investors began to dramatically outbid families wanting to buy a home
Neighbourhoods began shifting from owner-occupied to investor-owned
Investors rented as many as three units on a property where there was only a single-family home before
Affordable homeownership and affordable rentals were the objectives but not the result.
Long-time renters were evicted to facilitate renovations. They could not afford the increased rent in the new builds. Investor activity drove rental prices up dramatically
The City of Barrie found that affordability for rental units had declined significantly over a short time:
There has been a noisy but peaceful demonstration by several thousand truck convoy protests on and around Parliament Hill Saturday. What tomorrow and beyond may bring is not clear. Many truckers have said they will demonstrate all week but this may be bravado or wishful thinking.
There’s another cold weekend ahead with forecasts for daytime temperatures of minus 11° and minus 6° Celsius on Saturday and Sunday. Environment Canada has issued a wind chill warning for those who are going to be outside for very long. On the bright side, Saturday will be sunny.
A sign has gone up at the long-time plaza on the southeast corner of Eglinton East and Brentcliffe Drive telling of a high-rise development proposal. It’s the location of the long-standing Staples as well as Marshalls and HomeSense. These last two stores (and Winners) are operated by the US conglomerate T.J. Maxx. It’s across Brentcliffe from the sky-scraping Upper East Village towers. Application to building department is for 4 new residential buildings (containing 1,279 units) ranging in height from 16 to 28 storeys. UrbanTO, Streets of Toronto
The legendary Capitol Theatre returns as an epic new residence
Details of the mid-rise residential development that will include the historic 1922 Capitol Theatre building at Yonge St and Castlefield Ave have been released. The theatre and its long commercial block were made a heritage building in 2016. Urban Toronto
A greatly loved local figure who fought with the First Canadian Army in Holland in 1944-45 has died at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre. Born March 6, 1920, Fred Arsenault was only weeks short of his 102nd birthday. Obituary
Car thefts, and particularly the theft of Land Rovers, go on apace in Leaside. Hardly a morning passes without another report that these desirable SUVs made by Tata Motors of Mumbai, India, have disappeared from a local driveway.
The Leaside Residents Association (LRA) has outlined the specifics of an outrageous plan to build a 25-storey mixed use building containing 288 residential units at the corner of Bayview Ave and Broadway Ave.
Weather forecasters seem all over the place with warnings of snow Monday afternoon and evening. There’s word of “as much as 10 cm of snow possible in some places” but then an estimate that “peak snowfall rates of 1 to 2 cm” might fall.
Snowfall associated with a clipper system will begin along the Lake Huron shorelines and southwestern Ontario around noon on Monday. Snow will gradually move into the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) from west to east just after midday and will continue falling through the afternoon and evening hours. For areas east of Toronto through Durham County and including, Pickering, Oshawa and communities towards Cobourg, these regions will see higher snowfall rates through the late afternoon and early evening. Reduced visibility due to higher snowfall rates and slick roads will make travel more difficult along this stretch of the 401
Meanwhile, everyone is getting used to a world where is no space. It’s that Canadian state of things where the term “snow removal” is simply foolish. There is no place to put snow where it doesn’t already sit a mile high.
January’s enduring deep freeze has caused concern among many Leaside residents for the welfare of a local man experiencing homelessness known to them simply as John. A long thread on Facebook describes him as a humble and decent man who wants to stay in the area he knows (up and down Laird) and won’t go to shelters for his own reasons. This thread has many comments from kind-hearted Leaside friends with suggestions on how to ensure John survives the cold.
(@NLinCanada) 
