The South Bayview Bulldog

There is much surprise Tuesday following a survey of Chinese home buyers about how Chinese nationals buy property in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada because they love the education system. This may be, but those who know anything about affluent parents in Shanghai and Beijing will be familiar with the nearly 20-year pattern which starts with their children’s safety. They know first and foremost that their offspring are much more likely to be safe in Toronto than in New York. That and the history of Canada as a friend, more or less, during the tenuous days of Marxist mismanagement of China, make this an easy destination.

Avis Ottey, right

Sgt Ryan Russell

Avis Ottey, a civilian employee of the Toronto Police Service has been given the St. Michael’s Award for her work in assisting members of the TPS recover from the trauma sometimes encountered in their work. Ottey is the liaison to the TPS Employee and Family Assistance Program as well as Critical Incidents Response Team Coordinator. She was nominated for the award by Detective Sergeant Elizabett Cordeiro (left in photo). Ottey recalled the deaths of Service members Ryan Russell in 2011 and John Zivcic two years later, who died in the line of duty, as two critical incidents that have stood out for her. Russell, an 11-year police officer succumbed to his injuries after being struck by a snowplow allegedly stolen at a downtown intersection, while Zivcic died in hospital after being involved in a traffic collision.

City Executive is meeting Tuesday and approval will be sought by Mayor Tory and others for approval of the newly-revised $3.35 billion estimated cost of the Scarborough subway. The folly of this project is widely known and it is expected that those who object to the cost and inefficiency of the scheme will also be heard.  Also at City Hall, proponents of so-called ranked ballots say they will renew their efforts to see this form of voting implemented for the 2022 municipal election. The concept permits voters first and second choices. This allows for a run-off count if the leading candidate fails to obtain 50 percent of the popular vote. City council had committed to ranked ballot for 2018 but then reneged.

Bank the Thai Turtle

Yecch! Coins she ate

Surgeons in Thailand have removed 915 coins from inside Bank the Sea Turtle and the 25-year-old is recovering nicely. The coins were tossed into Banks pool by visitors looking for good luck. The swallowed coins formed an 11-pound (5 kilograms) mass in the sea turtle’s stomach and the weight of the metal eventually cracked Bank’s ventral (underside) shell, leading to infection, the AP reported.

The City News story on the development next door to John Fisher School on Erskine Avenue contains facts that might reasonably make your blood boil. The monster is 35 floors high and sits a snowball’s throw from the school it will forever darken with its shadow. The Councillor, Jaye Robinson, tells City News that 80 percent of the Ward 25 applications by developers to the Ontario Municipal Board last year were approved by the OMB over the objections of the City. Lastly, Ontario is the only province with a municipal board between the developers and the elected council. City News

The Toronto and District School Board has confirmed a case of mumps at Forest Hill Collegiate. The case came to light late Thursday. Parents were notified Friday. The total number of cases in Toronto now stands at 26, according to the Board of Health. Parents are being told that there is little risk of catching the disease if a child has been vaccinated.

Sunny Food Mart

Cash Now and Filipino Boutique

Ten languages

Stewing and stock pot

Sacks of rice

Salmon

Hard at work

Scrubby’s Coin Op

It’s not far to the Flemingdon Park Shopping Centre at 747 Don Mills. You have to cross over to get there however. When you do, it’s necessary to poke your way back along Gateway Blvd. past the Tim’s, Subway and Shoppers Drug Mart to get to the soul of the place. These would be enterprises like Sunny Food Mart, Scrubby’s Coin Laundry and Dry Cleaning, WebFusion Internet Cafe and the 180 degree Vape Store. It’s a collection of businesses both local and chain-owned forming a primer on the neighborhood they call Toronto’s landing-place. It is the home to thousands from countless lands, many of them in need of places like Cash Now. There are no banks or credit unions here. The pay-day counter is located at the rear of the Filipino Boutique on an interior (but still open air) walkway. Sunny Food Mart is owned by a Chinese family which has just opened the third Sunny in Markham. Walking among the groceries — bags of fried onions, coconut milk, sacks of rice, pork belly and cans with unreadable labels — puts you on the periphery of life here. The sign says they speak ten languages at Sunny and we’re betting there’s an eleventh, Tagalog, in there too. Of course the Philippines is a largely bilingual nation (Tagalog and English).

There’s nothing wrong at Marineland, says the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in its most recent inspection of the park. Marineland continues to face 11 cruelty to animal charges from previous inspections.  And Marineland denies all the allegations which relate to the treatment of the park’s land animals that include black bears, elk, red deer, fallow deer, guinea hens and a peacock. The park says an external veterinarian recently conducted an examination of all of Marineland’s animals and found no problems.

GM QUITS EUROPE

General Motors is selling its unprofitable European car business to the French maker of Peugeot, marking GM’s retreat from the continent and raising concerns of job cuts there. The price was $2.33 billion US for Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in Britain. In recent years, GM has failed to beat back the  native German hegemony in Europe — Mercedes, Volkswagen, BMW and Audi. It has also been out-played by Ford. GM says it will concentrate on the American and Chinese markets. In China, the lowly Buick (by North American standards) remains the best-selling car in that land of nearly one and a half billion souls.

CHECKING HYDRO MATH

And the Ontario budget watchdog will examine Liberal government arithmetic which claims it will cost a mere $25-billion in additional interest costs to bringing down the monthly cost of electricity. Premier Wynne recently announced 17-per-cent reduction in hydro bills thanks to the move Liberals say is like refinancing a mortgage over a longer period of time.

https://twitter.com/905shooter/status/838836624012292096

Three people were hospitalized from a fire Terragar Blvd. in Mississauga Monday afternoon. They are said to be in stable condition. It’s possible one was a firefighter. The one-alarm fire was reported at 2:33 p.m. and was knocked down within an hour. Its cause has not yet been determined, both police and fire officials say.

Glass cladding for glitz

The way it was

Urban Toronto online notes the “new, glassier cladding—including curved glass at the corners” at 1133 Yonge St at Shaftsbury Ave. The largely commercial building will now have more than 6,000 sq ft to retail use. Tenants have yet to be announced but there might a restaurant with a 750 sq ft outdoor patio on the second level in addition to the street-fronting retailers on Yonge

City News tweet

This crumpled vehicle got the worst of it when a driver misjudged things and hit the median on the DVP at Eglinton Ave.Sunday night about 10 p.m. A woman in her 40s was taken to hospital and will recover from her injuries, police say.

The new Tourism Toronto ad is an engaging exercise in teasing Americans with the view that many things — if not exactly everything — goes in this big friendly City. We have flashes of leg at a downtown corner, the geese overhead at the Eaton Centre, some gymnastics on the subway that you’re not likely to actually ever see, LGBTQ flash frames, sizzling woks to make your mouth water and much more. Views are different and business is business.

Archbishop Fred Hiltz

Saturday, March 25, 2017

1399 Bayview Ave.

The Earth Hour weekend of March 25 and 26 will see two days of activity at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church at 1399 Bayview Ave. Saturday morning Archbishop Fred Hiltz will be the keynote speaker at the kickoff to an Environment Fair in Lamb Hall. That’s at 10 a.m. with the fair running from 11 to 2. The church says there will be more than 20 exhibits including government, private business and advocacy groups. MP Rob Oliphant and Ward 22 Councillor Josh Matlow will also speak. There will be activities for children and youth, with food available for purchase. Then in the evening, Earth Hour will be marked between 8:30 and 9:30 in the church

SUNDAY

On Sunday at 8 a.m. Archbishop Hiltz will conduct a quiet celebration using traditional language and children’s programming. At 10 a.m. there will be a music-filled family-friendly celebration in contemporary language followed by socializing with coffee, tea and a light snack.