Presteign-Woodbine United merges with Leaside United

by  • 

Biz briefs see Walmart cuts, Joe at work, West Jet cheapie

by  • 

Walmart Canada will cut staff in Canada in what it calls a restructuring. One report said that 475 workers would be let go, but Walmart says it will be fewer. It gave no number. Walmart Canada employs about 91,000 associates. The company operates 410 stores in Canada, according to its website.

JOE AT WORK

The Globe and Mail says the new president of Rogers, Joe Natale, will “obsess” over customer service. Hope so. Still, Joe can’t make arithmetic go away when it comes to cost. We’ll see.

WEST JET DOLLAR-STORE AIRLINE

West Jet Airlines says it will create a super-cheap airline to catch flyers prepared to squeeze into tiny seats to save a buck. This move will also steal business from other start-ups like Canada Jetlines Ltd. and Enerjet, both of which are trying to raise money for their budget operations.

Whole Foods tweets peek-a-boo of barn-wood grocery

by  • 

Actually just across the Leaside line but never mind
Hey, there’s a Tim’s

Whole Foods is busy on Instagram in the hours before it opens the store at 1860 Bayview at Broadway Aves. The titillating Twelve thirty-six @1236 tweets: “Like the artisanal Tim Hortons up there — the people of Leaside like being reminded they’re in Leaside.” Yes, yes. That means having the look of an artisan, but we appreciate the thought. The new Whole Foods opens Wednesday, April 26 at 8.45 a.m.

Bayview/Bloor exit off Don Valley scene of impaired crash

by  • 

Kia is said to have overshot curb, hitting truck
No going home this way
Truck totalled

Five people were hurt in an accident on the Bayview/Bloor ramp from Don Valley Parkway Thursday.
The crash caused both vehicles to rollover just before 6 a.m. Impaired driving is the view of police. The scene of this accident is cleaned up with the road reported to be open again shortly after 10 a.m. Ed — 11.08 a.m. EDT

CP says Ontario will levy 15% tax on foreign home buyers

by  • 

The Canadian Press has learned that the Ontario government will place a 15-per-cent tax on non-resident foreign buyers as part of a much-anticipated package of housing measures to be announced Thursday. The measures are aimed at cooling down a red-hot real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area, where the average price of detached houses rose to $1.21 million last month, up 33.4 per cent from a year ago. Many of the measures Premier Wynne will announce this morning were also reported by CBC’s Queens Park reporter Mike Crawley.

They include:

  •  A 15 per cent tax on home purchases by non-resident foreigners.
  • Expanding the province’s existing rent control system to cover all tenants.
  • A rebate of development cost charges to encourage building of more rental housing.
  • A standardized lease document for all tenants.
  • A ban on flipping of pre-construction units by speculators.
  • A review of the rules governing the conduct of real estate agents.

TAX WORKED IN VANCOUVER — FOR A WHILE

British Columbia applied a 15 per cent tax against foreign buyers last year and saw the price of homes drop. But then demand continued to drive prices up and recently the market appears to be nearly as over-heated as it was before the tax.

Lake Leaside runs from east of Laird Dr. to Vaughan St.

by  • 

Canada Geese swim by off Vanderhoof Ave.
Corner on west side of Clearmont Plastics off Vanderhoof
Problematic fence on Vaughan Street
Aerial of unfilled basin from 2016 looking east from Laird
Slap up fence near Laird since repaired
Location of Lake Leaside east of Laird Drive

Recent stories of the water-filled building excavation for retail development between Wicksteed and Vanderhoof Aves.have raised concerns about the safety of the fencing around this large area. The water which accumulated over a warm winter is now known as Lake Leaside. It is a giant pond with both straight and irregular shores stretching from behind the TD Bank parking lot off Laird Drive to an easterly inlet alongside the little-known Vaughan St. and then around another corner behind the commercial complex at 105 Vanderhoof. Its depth varies and it is anyone’s guess where the water is deepest and by what depth. But it doesn’t take a lot of water to be a public peril for those who are careless or immature. From a layman’s perspective, much of the wire fencing is pretty sturdy, especially along Vanderhoof and behind the businesses on Laird. But there are parts where it seems rickety. Other parts on Vaughan are bent, unsupported and would be easily flattened to pass over them Send your observations to news@bayview-news.com

Capitals win 5-4, series tied 2-2 against Maple Leafs

by  • 

Injunction granted to stop Ontario from derailing train deal

by  • 

Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey has granted an injunction to stop Metrolinx from promptly cancelling its $770 million contract with Bombardier for light-rail vehicles to run the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Based on news coverage, Judge Hainey’s reasoning seemed to have less to do with whether Bombardier deserves to be bounced and more to do with whether Metrolinx was trying to gain bargaining leverage over the Quebec firm. He said he wasn’t persuaded that Metrolinx “intends to terminate the contract for default” and rather has been led to believe that the company is “using the threat of termination for negotiating purposes.” Hainey also said that the “evidence falls short” of establishing that there is an alternate supplier who could deliver the vehicles by the 2018 deadline set out in the contract with Bombardier.

Dundas between Yonge and Church track work all summer

by  • 

This work will go on all summer and fall. City of Toronto

Badge bites back as LGBTQ cops tell mayor to cut Pride cash

by  • 

Members of the TPS employee group known as LBGTQ Internal Support Network are demanding Toronto cancel the $260,000 cash gift to Pride Toronto for its annual parade and festivities. They put it in writing to Mayor Tory and had it delivered Wednesday by the police union president Mike McCormick. The letter says it is “unacceptable” for Toronto to sponsor this year’s Pride event when the Toronto Police Service has been excluded from participating. The letter says “we, as city employees, would feel completely devalued and unsupported by our employer should they fund this event at this time.” There is already a movement at City Council led by Councilor Jon Burnside to de-fund Pride until it rescinds the ban which was instigated by Black Lives Matters.

Loblaw sells its 213 gas bars across Canada to Brookfield

by  • 

Loblaw is selling its 213 gasoline stations across Canada of which there appear to five the Toronto area. The price is $540 million to Brookfield Business Partners and its partners. Toronto-based Brookfield will rebrand the stations to Mobil but they will continue to use the PC Plus loyalty program offered by Loblaw. The proposed deal is expected to occur in this year’s third quarter. Loblaw gas station are shown on Victoria Park (Musgrove Ave) Weston Road, the Bayview Village Shopping Centre and a couple in Mississauga.

TDSB says smoke from last night’s fire closes Garneau CI

by  • 

Toronto Toronah/Youtube

See also: Marc Garneau CI closed Wednesday because of roof fire