Metro – Toronto
- Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:16:00 +0000: Caterpillar tried to provoke crisis 'from day one': CAW - Local news from metronews.ca/toronto
TORONTO - The Canadian Auto Workers union is lashing out at U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar over its decision to close the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ontario.
CAW president Ken Lewenza calls the closure callous, but says it didn't come as a total surprise.
He says Caterpillar had no intention of keeping the plant open and was trying to provoke a crisis “from day one” by forcing deep cuts that were not possible.
The closure came just days after Premier Dalton McGuinty criticized the company during a speech in London, and after the province's Ministry of Labour tried to get the employer back to the bargaining table.
The company had asked employees to take a 50 per cent pay cut to help keep Electro-Motive going, but locked them out January 1st when the CAW members rejected the proposal.
Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail Services says the cost structure at the plant was unsustainable. - Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000: Notable Now: Feb 3 - 5 - Local news from metronews.ca/toronto
Super Bowl Sunday
The 46th Super Bowl kicks off Sunday pitting the New England Patriots against the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Field, and for those who can't make it to Indianapolis we've got a slew of fine spots to watch the game here in Toronto. Check out notable.ca/restaurants/SuperBowl to find out your best bets for the pigskin play-day.
Love a Heart Fundraiser
Just in time for Valentine's Day, the 2nd Annual Love a Heart Bachelor and Bachelorette Auction for the Heart and Stroke Foundation is taking bids for some sly studs and lovely ladies on the 9th at the Hideout (484 Queen St. W.). You may not find love, but at least you'll be supporting a notable cause.
Just Opened: Church Aperitivo Bar
Based on the classic Italian tradition, Church Aperitivo Bar opened last night, and is serving up share plates — tapas, if you will — and luxe libations for the Queen West crowd. Imbibing here is so good you might end up calling out a Hail Mary or two. 1090 Queen St.W.
The Harlem Globetrotters
Those fancifully foot-worked, dribbling, all-stars are set to take over the Rogers Centre this Saturday and Sunday, wowing fans with their trademark stylings. The Harlem Globetrotters have been a bit of a cliché for years, but one we're happy to perpetuate.
By the Pound Reweighed
Over 100 artists will sell their original works as part of the second By The Pound, this time with the moniker Reweighed. The Goodfellas Gallery (1266 Queen St. W.) is the spot on the 9th, where local art will be sold. You buy the best meat at a butcher shop by the pound, so why not use that model to pick up some original art?
ICRF's Revolving Tables
The 2nd Annual Revolving Tables fundraiser for the ICRF, hosted by yours truly, connects top CEOs, executives, and over 250 young professionals, on the 9th at the Park Hyatt. Mix and mingle with top-level businesspeople during the three-course dinner while getting advice from the elite and helping out a fantastic cause.
• To get even more info on these Notable happenings make sure to check out Notable.ca/metro/Feb3 - Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:59:59 +0000: Toronto Zoo eager for Chinese pandas - Local news from metronews.ca/toronto
The Toronto Zoo would have no problem attracting the private sponsorship needed to help pay for a new giant panda exhibit, says the vice-chair of the zoo’s board.
Commenting on reports an announcement is expected about when Toronto will get two pandas from China, Coun. Paul Ainslie, vice-chair of the zoo board, told reporters Thursday there was strong support from sponsors the last time pandas came in 1985.
“I have little doubt we would see strong public-private support on this,” he said after a meeting of the zoo board.
A published report says an announcement on the pandas will be made next week during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s five-day trip to China.
Ainslie told reporters the zoo has space and will either renovate an existing enclosure or build something new. Either way, it will be a financially “self-sustaining” initiative, once private-sector involvement and the expected boost to fundraising are factored in, he said. - Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:55:45 +0000: Child-porn arrests only skim the surface: Cops - Local news from metronews.ca/toronto
The bad guys are still out there.
After announcing the largest child pornography sweep in Ontario history, police say thousands more people are still suspected.
More disturbing are the countless young victims who continue to be abused.
At a news conference Thursday, police said 213 charges were laid against 60 people. Yet the Ontario Provincial Police and partner agencies said they’ve only started to skim the surface of child exploitation.
Those 60 individuals are alleged to be the worst of the worst. Police said limited resources mean investigators can’t possibly catch them all.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem,” said OPP Insp. Scott Naylor, manager of the OPP’s Child Sexual Exploitation Section. “That’s why we have to focus on public education and awareness as well.”
Fourteen of those arrested are from the GTA, with the rest coming from across the province, including London, Hamilton and Ottawa. - Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:55:42 +0000: N.S. court rules blogger must pay a gay couple $425,000 - Local news from metronews.ca/toronto
For two years, a Mississippi blogger conducted a vitriolic “nightmare” campaign against two gay Nova Scotia men who operate a wilderness getaway near Kemptville in the southwest end of the province.
Doug K. Handshoe, a certified public accountant and inveterate blogger, has never met the Trout Point Lodge owners, Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret or stayed at their getaway, yet consistently made graphic homophobic comments on his website, accused the two of all kinds of criminal acts and disparaged the small resort in the Tobeatic Wilderness reserve.
“It’s been a nightmare, I have to tell you,” an emotional Perret told the Toronto Star Thursday.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Hood agreed and this week awarded Leary and Perret $425,000 in damages — reported to be the largest defamation damage award in Nova Scotia history — and issued a permanent injunction against Handshoe.
Besides Leary, 45, and Perret, 52, there is third partner in the 12-unit lodge, Daniel Abel of New Orleans. All three are Americans.
Handshoe said he has no intentions of paying and will go to the U.S. court to have the Canadian ruling struck down on the basis that it is an affront to his constitutional rights of freedom of speech.
Toronto.ca
- Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:56:40 +0000: Toronto District School Board by-election campaign signs can be displayed starting today - City of Toronto News Releases
- Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:04:08 +0000: February is Black History Month in Toronto - City of Toronto News Releases
- Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:22:09 +0000: Winterlicious celebrates 10 years - City of Toronto News Releases
- Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:00:16 +0000: Ceremony to name Toronto laneway in honour of community leader Angelo Scarfo - City of Toronto News Releases
- Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:40:09 +0000: City of Toronto receives "No Board" report from the Ontario Ministry of Labour - City of Toronto News Releases
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