All About Toronto

Metro – Toronto

• 6 September 2011, 10:35 pm: Newcomers’ guide to the city: Fresh finds at the market
  There is nothing like fresh produce direct from the farm ... wander through these delicious markets:
  
  Evergreen Brick Works
  Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  evergreen.ca/rethinkspace/?p=148
  Why we love it: This large, friendly market has the most amazing backdrop – a ravine named one of the world’s top 10 geo-tourism destinations by National Geographic.
  Taste: All in-season produce as well as dairy products, meat, fish, baked goods, flowers and a number of artisans.
  What else?: This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. kids and adults can learn to make traditional crafts including clay vessels and utensils. The suggested cost: a $5 donation.
  To get there: Take the free wheelchair accessible shuttle bus from the parkette on Erindale Ave, east of Broadview Ave (just north of Broadview subway station). Or take the #28A Davisville bus from Davisville subway station.
  
  Dufferin Grove Park
  Thursdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
  dufferinpark.ca/market/wiki/wiki.php
  Why we love it: It’s a year-long farmers’ market located in an easy-to-get-to friendly neighbourhood.
  Taste: Savour lots of fresh, mostly organic produce (right now, look for summer squash and Roma tomatoes) as well as specialty foods including gluten-free and other baked goods (try the cinnamon buns or pizza topped with fresh ingredients picked from the park gardens).
  What else?: Mark your calendars for the Tasting Fair on Sunday October 1 from 1-4; samplings of seasonal delights cost $2 each.
  To get there: Take the Dufferin bus or subway to Dufferin. The market is just south of Bloor station.
  
  Liberty Village
  Sundays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  my-market.ca
  Why we love it: The area is one of the trendiest in the city, a former factory district transformed by condos and lofts, restaurants and cafes.
  Taste: There’s a great selection of seasonal fruits and vegetables, locally produced honey, breads, organic and locally raised meat such as beef and bison, flowers and an absolutely fabulous stall that sells sheep’s milk cheeses including divine curds.
  What else?: The market is surrounded by shopping. There’s often live music for the whole family to listen to at the market.
  To get there: Take #29 Dufferin bus to Liberty St., walk east; or take the 504 King streetcar to Atlantic Ave (if going westbound, transfer to #63 Ossington bus.)
  
  Guildwood Park
  Thursdays, 2 p.m.
  to 6:30 p.m.
  marketsbythebluffs.com
  Why we love it: The spectacular view (the market is at the edge of the Scarborough Bluffs) and the offerings (it has a mandate to offer products that are “homemade, handmade and  earthmade”).
  Taste: Traditional market fare includes farm fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, fresh baked bread and treats, meals-to-go, honey, preserves, granola and soups.
  What else?: Check out local artisans (art, jewelry, etc.) and on September 8, FarrucFly, a Latin duo performs using traditional musical instruments. There’s face painting for kids too.
  To get there: Take the subway to Kennedy station, transfer to 116 Morningside bus. 85 Livingston Rd. at Guildwood Parkway.
  
  
• 6 September 2011, 9:59 am: Historic fire station gets face lift
  At Fire Station 227 in the Beach it’s not just the red trucks that gleam in the sunshine with spit and polish.
  
  The station itself is basking in the afterglow of a $1.6 million renovation that has restored the building’s exterior to its original 1905 condition.
  
  In the past, the city did minor patch-up jobs to the building’s exterior, but no major improvements had been made for more than a hundred years.
  
  “The entire thing started crumbling around 30 years ago,” says Gene Domagala, a local historian who leads tours of the station, on Queen Street East near Woodbine Avenue during Toronto’s annual Doors Open event.
  
  The two-year makeover to the 11,800 square-foot station, which included new paint, mortar, flashing and brick work, was completed earlier this year.
  
  When it was built, the fire station was the only one located east of the Don River.
  
  The station turned out to be one of the most expensive, says Domagala.
  
  Builders poured enough concrete into the foundations to support an eight-storey building before realizing that an underground stream was carrying most of it south to Lake Ontario.
  
  
• 6 September 2011, 9:55 am: Deaf feel burned by tenant discrimination: Advocates
  The story of a deaf woman who didn’t get a single reply when she inquired into dozens of Toronto apartments was no surprise for human rights and housing advocates.
  
  Quinn Cruise, a 25-year-old student who is deaf, sent 30 emails inquiring about rooms advertised for rent last September. She didn’t get a single response until she removed the word “deaf” from her message.
  
  “These are barriers that are constantly being faced by people that are deaf or hard of hearing,” said Gordana Mosher of the Canadian Hearing Society.
  
  Geordie Dent, director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations, said the organization’s hotline receives a handful of calls every year from deaf people who feel they’ve been discriminated against.
  
  “People who have disabilities, often landlords don’t want to deal with (them), especially in the private market,” he said.
  
  But it is against the law for landlords to discriminate against anyone with a physical or mental disability. They must also provide “reasonable” accommodations — such as a visual fire alarm in the case of a deaf tenant.
  
  But Ontario landlords say it’s not always that simple. A new visual fire alarm can cost between $500 and $1,500, according to Mosher. Small-scale landlords may not have the money to invest in such a system.
  
  “A lot of landlords have nothing against someone who has a disability, but maybe they’re a little bit concerned that they’d have to invest more to accommodate the person,” said Stuart Henderson, a spokesman for the Ontario Landlords Association.
  
  Inexperienced landlords may also be worried about how to take care of a tenant with a disability, he added. “They don’t know what to do if there’s a problem.”
  
  
• 6 September 2011, 9:50 am: Liberals to promise all-day GO trains
  TORONTO - Ontario's governing Liberals are proposing all day GO trains and a tax credit to help immigrants get their first job in their platform for the Oct. 6 provincial election.
  
  Premier Dalton McGuinty will formally release the platform later today, but The Canadian Press heard audio from a conference call during which top Liberals were briefed on the document.
  
  The Progressive Conservatives say the Liberals should be embarrassed by the leak, claiming it shows that even some Liberals don't want another four years of McGuinty.
  
  The platform document talks about defending the Liberal record on health care and education, but is not full of sexy and expensive promises.
  
  The all-day GO trains are expected to be a big hit in the vote-rich suburbs surrounding Toronto.
  
  The Liberal platform puts another $60 million into more support workers to buy three million more hours of home care for seniors.
  
  It also promises to create three new undergrad campuses at universities across the province, but the Liberals aren't saying where just yet.
  
  Their platform includes 68 promises, 45 of them new, and would cost about $1.5 billion by the fourth year.
  
  Liberals on the conference call admitted their claim of a $14 billion hole in the PC's platform numbers is just their "excuse" to say the Tories would slash health care and education.
  
  
• 6 September 2011, 9:48 am: Privacy gets a back seat
  Leave the nail clippers at home and create a personal space bubble with headphones or your smart phone.
  
  That is GO train rider Cindy Smith’s advice to TTC commuters, soon to be confronted with a dramatically different seating plan on the city’s new streetcars — one that will afford them a closer, more direct view of their fellow riders.
  
  The new downtown streetcars (also called LRV or light-rail vehicles), which are supposed to begin arriving in 2013, will incorporate GO-train-style seating that groups two pairs of facing seats into a cosy foursome. That will make it difficult to avoid eye contact with someone clipping their nails or enjoying a garlic sausage on a bun, says Smith.
  
  The former stand-up comic chronicles her Oshawa GO train commute on a blog called Ride this Crazy Train. It calls out GO riders — a relatively staid group compared to the TTC — for clipping their nails, grinding their dirty feet into the seats and picnicking on smelly snacks.
  
  Putting TTC riders knee-to-knee?
  
  Well, says Smith, “It’s going to get ugly. It’s a totally different calibre of people.”
  
  Kevin Seto, the TTC’s superintendent of LRV engineering, concedes the new arrangement will be a departure for the TTC and might take some getting used to.
  
  
• 6 September 2011, 9:45 am: School’s in, and so are new food rules
  Want a burger and fries? The school caf is now serving a lean-meat patty on a whole wheat bun with lettuce and tomato and baked potato wedges.
  
  Pizza? Thin, low-sodium or multi-grain crust and turkey pepperoni — the real stuff is loaded with too much sodium and fat.
  
  As students return to school today, they’ll face a whole new menu in the cafeteria and vending machines — even school bake sales — as the province brings in tough rules forcing healthier food and drink offerings and banning candy, sugary drinks and fatty foods.
  
  The big question is: Will they eat it?
  
  “You don’t want to get between a teenager and his or her food,” jokes Marcel Giraldi, principal of Mississauga’s Applewood Heights Secondary School, which implemented the rules over the past year as part of a pilot project with the Peel District School Board.
  
  Long gone is the candy in the vending machines. Five pop machines were also taken away; the one left now sells water, caffeine-free drinks and juices.
  
  “The first year of implementation was successful,” said Giraldi, saying many students did indeed purchase lunch from the school caf. There was also a lot of education around healthy eating, he added.
  
  “I don’t want to imply it was perfect; there was some transition time, and we are close to a shopping plaza and fast food sites. Some continue to go off-site.”
  
  Some parents have expressed concerns about fundraising pizza lunches or bake sales being hampered, but Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky noted the government has allotted 10 exemption days for special events.
  
  Lunches brought from home are not affected by the rules.
  
  
• 6 September 2011, 9:30 am: College strike already taking its toll
  As Ontario college students go back to school today, many are nervous about what to expect with 8,000 support staff on strike.
  
  The full-time support staff at the province’s 24 community colleges walked off the job last Thursday after contract negotiations broke down. Their absence in bookstores, registration desks and financial aid offices means students could be in for a chaotic first day.
  
  But before school even opened, some already felt the sting.
  
  After hearing about the strike last week, George Brown College student Jackie Kent and her boyfriend tried to pick up his textbooks early to avoid the lines. However, when they got to the Casa Loma campus, they found the bookstore wasn’t open at all, she said in an email.
  
  George Brown has announced shorter bookstore hours during the strike.
  
  Seneca College student Ahmed Janan “begged” for a day off work so he could attend the orientation for first-year students at Newnham campus last Thursday. Then he found out the night before the orientation that it was cancelled.
  
  “I took a day off from work especially for that. Of course I was pissed,” he said.
  
  
• 2 September 2011, 10:00 am: Notable Now: Sept 2 - Sept 5
  Intermix’s First Canadian Location
  Sorry gents, this one’s just for the ladies. Intermix has opened its first international location right here in Canada’s fashion epicentre. Bloor Street just got another jab of trend-setting style with this U.S.-based boutique’s arrival, sure to become a massive hit with mix-and-match loving fashionistas the city-wide. The new shop is open at 130 Bloor Street West.
  
  Relief Concert For Japan
  Downsview Park is being transformed into a concert mecca on the 3rd and 4th for the Concert for Japan, raising funds to help with earthquake and tsunami relief. Aside from two days packed with phenomenal music and performances, there will be a suspended bar with a private DJ that is crane-lifted eight stories in the air and a zip line that will propel concert-goers over the crowd.
  
  Hot and Spicy Food Festival
  Harbourfront’s Hot and Spicy Food Festival is back, and while we don’t love the fact that we have to carry antacid in our back pocket, we love this event (on tonight through Monday). Packed with the best in spicy culinary exploits, this free indoor/outdoor fest at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre showcases some of Toronto’s top chefs and food vendors.
  
  TIFF Kicks Off
  Yes, it has finally arrived. That two-week stretch we always look forward to. TIFF 2011 takes over Toronto starting next Thursday the 8th. The glitterati comes out in full force and our streets are awash in celebs and star power. There’s always a slew of events to look forward to, and we’ve got the rundown of the notable parties to check out and the celebs you can expect to see on notable.ca.
  
  Bay Street Suits Up 4 Windfall
  Shamba Space at 48 Yonge will play host to this charity fashion show and fundraising event Thursday the 8th that supports Windfall’s exceptional Suitable Impressions Program, providing clothing, personal care items, and first impression training for job seekers in need of support. Expect this event to be a hotbed for mixing and mingling.
  
  ONEXONE’s Charity Gala
  In the middle of all the TIFF action is the ONEXONE Charity Gala and Hold’em For Life Celebrity Charity Challenge. Harry Connick Jr. will perform at this soireé, and you can expect the crème de la crème of Toronto’s scene to make an appearance. It’s happening at Yorkville’s Four Seasons next Friday the 9th, so expect a celebrity sighting...or 10, as well.
  
  
• 2 September 2011, 9:59 am: Drugs found on TTC bus involved in fatal crash
  The driver of the TTC bus that crashed Tuesday had a small quantity of drugs in his possession, police investigators believe, and refused a TTC drug test after the incident, which left one passenger dead and 13 injured.
  
  Police Det. Const. Carl Andersen said officers at the scene did not believe that the driver, 52-year-old William Ainsworth, was intoxicated. They did not have cause to conduct their own drug test, he said, and only found the “substance,” which they “believe might be marijuana,” when conducting an inventory of the bus seven hours later.
  
  “We are concerned he may have smoked up, but there wasn’t any obvious signs of the effects of marijuana at the time of the investigation,” Andersen said in an interview.
  
  Ainsworth has been fired, the TTC said in a statement. A source close to the TTC said he had worked there for about 10 years and had been commended for his performance.
  
  Police are meeting with prosecutors next week to discuss possible charges related to the crash.
  
  The crash occurred at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. It killed Toronto woman Jadranka Petrova, 43.
  
  Petrova had been seated on the left side of the raised platform behind the bus’s rear doors. She died at the scene.
  
  
• 2 September 2011, 9:49 am: Board nixes promotions for G20 cops
  The Toronto police board has taken the unprecedented step of refusing to promote nine officers who were disciplined for removing their name tags during G20 demonstrations.
  
  Chief Bill Blair recommended those promotions and the civilian oversight board’s refusal to agree suggests cracks in what has historically been a close relationship.
  
  On Tuesday, the police association filed a grievance. If the arbitrator sides with the police board, it will make clear a currently gray area regarding the board’s powers to refuse promotions.
  
  In the past, the board has passively pushed through reclassification recommendations from the chief, including for officers who have unbecoming conduct on their records.
  
  That practice has been a sore spot for years among some on the board, who feel uneasy about giving more authority to officers they believe have shown questionable judgment and character.
  
  Tensions on the police board first surfaced after Mayor Rob Ford appointed Coun. Michael Thompson as its vice-chair. Thompson and Blair have quietly clashed on a number of issues. Most recently, on Wednesday Thompson said he was “extremely disappointed” that Blair spoke out about potential layoffs.
  
  

Toronto.ca

• 6 September 2011, 2:08 pm: Finalists announced for 2011 Toronto Book Awards
• 2 September 2011, 4:36 pm: Toronto reports first human case of West Nile Virus
• 1 September 2011, 8:04 pm: Pottery Road to remain closed until later in September
• 1 September 2011, 2:12 pm: Toronto Sculpture Garden 30th anniversary installation by Jed Lind
• 31 August 2011, 6:44 pm: Weekend events with road closures in Toronto
• 31 August 2011, 1:02 pm: September 1 is EMS Day at the Canadian National Exhibition
• 30 August 2011, 2:32 pm: City launches public engagement for the Official Plan and Municipal Comprehensive Reviews
• 26 August 2011, 8:14 pm: Mayor Rob Ford addresses the announcement of the passing of His Eminence Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic
• 25 August 2011, 3:11 pm: Toronto's Buskerfest and Kensington Market festival road closures
• 23 August 2011, 6:36 pm: Paying City of Toronto property tax and utility bills and parking tickets
• 22 August 2011, 8:07 pm: Condolence book available in memory of former City Councillor Jack Layton
• 22 August 2011, 4:52 pm: City of Toronto to officially open water play-and-splash pad
• 22 August 2011, 3:16 pm: City of Toronto pays tribute to former City Councillor Jack Layton
• 18 August 2011, 8:35 pm: Owner charged following fatal home fire
• 17 August 2011, 2:37 pm: Weekend event with road closures in Toronto
• 16 August 2011, 9:02 pm: City of Toronto to host the 2012 Ontario Summer Games
• 15 August 2011, 4:13 pm: City of Toronto's Scotiabank Nuit Blanche announces full program for 2011
• 15 August 2011, 3:25 pm: City of Toronto to host 2012 Ontario Summer Games
• 11 August 2011, 12:04 pm: Toronto Fire Services receives prestigious international award
• 10 August 2011, 4:26 pm: Weekend events with road closures in Toronto
• 5 August 2011, 2:27 pm: Weekend event with road closure in Toronto
• 2 August 2011, 1:35 pm: Heat Alert terminated
• 2 August 2011, 1:32 pm: Toronto Emergency Medical Services to research best practices in cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• 2 August 2011, 1:11 pm: Heat Alert declared for Toronto
• 29 July 2011, 2:10 pm: Staying cool and hydrated at tomorrow's Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival parade
• 29 July 2011, 1:33 pm: City Manager and Budget Chair to brief media further to today's Executive Committee meeting
• 28 July 2011, 3:22 pm: Remarks for an Address by His Worship Mayor Rob Ford to City of Toronto Exective Committee
• 27 July 2011, 5:08 pm: Weekend events with road closures in Toronto
• 26 July 2011, 7:39 pm: Mumps investigation in Toronto continues
• 26 July 2011, 12:58 pm: Lieutenant Governor of Ontario at Fort York on Simcoe Day