Murder in Mount Dennis

A man has been shot and killed while driving on Weston Road.

According to CTV, another vehicle pulled up beside a white SUV around 9 pm on Weston Road near Sidney Belsey Crescent, and the occupant or occupants opened fire with several shots. The driver of the SUV drove some distance and crashed. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

This is the second murder within a week in the Weston area. Minh Le, 61, was shot and killed near the McDonald’s at the 401.

Small beige wave’s a comin’

From surfysurfy.net

With great uncertainty and mixed polls, the October 21 general election is anyone’s to win or lose. After nearly four years of a Trudeau Liberal government, local MP, Ahmed Hussen is hoping for a second term. During the last election, a dump Harper movement coincided with a charismatic photogenic new Liberal leader. If that wasn’t enough, the NDP leader talked more like a Red Tory than the rabid socialist his opponents would have preferred. People had their doubts about Trudeau but gave him a chance and he won a majority government.

As the next election looms, the NDP and Tories have new, young leaders – Trudeau at 47 is the old man to Singh’s and Scheer’s 40 – even though Andrew Scheer is looking more and more like a young version of one of his Tory predecessors – John Diefenbaker.

A return to the good old days of Dief the Chief?

Sadly, this time around, there is no clear and compelling reason to vote for any of the three main leaders (realistically, neither the Green Party’s Elizabeth May nor the People’s Party’s Maxime Bernier will form a government). During the last election campaign, Trudeau made and later ignored important promises. His promise of electoral reform was broken when the party realized that it meant fewer elected Liberals. On the Aboriginal file, he’s been less than stellar but in fairness the job is monumental and will take a lot more effort, time and money to deliver. Other negatives are his virtue signalling prissy mode, the firing of two cabinet ministers and his cringe-worthy trip to India. Justin’s costume changes are gifts that will keep on giving during the campaign. On the plus side, he’s almost universally hated in the prairie provinces.

Trudeau’s major achievements are that he legalized cannabis, instituted a carbon tax and didn’t give away the (non-dairy) farm during NAFTA negotiations.

Under-dressed Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan meets er, the Prime Minister of Canada.

In the meantime, Andrew Scheer promises to be the reddest Tory ever and wants us to believe he would fail to pick out Doug Ford in a police line-up.

Leading the NDP is Jagmeet Singh, a dynamic and charming man who, judging by recent polls, is failing to connect with the people of Canada. Fundraising is also becoming an issue for the NDP and a lack of money will hurt them in the final stretch of the campaign.

York South-Weston has been a Liberal riding since its formation in 1979 with two brief exceptions. Liberal John Nunziata (and brother of Councillor Frances Nunziata) was kicked out of the party and sat as an independent from 1996 – 2000 and more recently, Mike Sullivan unseated multi-term Alan Tonks in the Jack Layton propelled orange wave of 2011.

To win in York South-Weston therefore, it takes a compelling candidate plus a small red wave, large orange wave or a never before seen blue tsunami. Interestingly, for the 2019 election, it looks like a small beige wave is on the way. This should favour the incumbent.

The major candidates:

Incumbent Liberal Ahmed Hussen is currently making up for lost time in the riding and has increased his local presence considerably in the past few weeks.  He has adopted the ‘meet, greet and feed’ style of Doug Ford in his latest encounters with constituents.


Mr Hussen has the power of incumbency. As Immigration Minister (and first ever Somali-Canadian in Cabinet), he has travelled extensively and rubbed shoulders with international leaders (not all of them savoury). His background is compelling having arrived in Canada as a refugee. Being a rookie MP and a cabinet minister is not for the faint of heart and Mr. Hussen seems to have coped well with the huge learning curve presented to him. I get the feeling his ambitions go beyond a cabinet appointment. On the negative side, Minister Hussen seems to run a pretty aloof and unresponsive operation and doesn’t live in the riding.

Yafet Tewelde is Ahmed Hussen’s main challenger. He has a solid organization and strong connections to YSW, not just as a resident. He’s been politically active in the community for a while. Mr. Tewelde is well educated and immigrated to Canada from Eritrea. Style wise, he’s as charming and talkative as Ahmed Hussen is quiet and reserved.

Tory nominee Dr. Jasveen Rattan is a successful and well-educated candidate with a compelling story having come to Canada as an infant. Her PhD is in recreation and leisure studies and she has been active as an organizer in provincial and civic politics.

Mr. Tewelde will need to run an exceptional campaign and Jagmeet Singh will need to connect with voters Jack Layton style in order to return York South-Weston into the NDP fold. Without that, it looks as if Ahmed Hussen will win another four year mandate.

As for Dr. Rattan, based on past results and barring a miracle, York South-Weston’s seat will have to be be a long term goal for her. The Harper years failed to register in YSW. She will need to make herself known during this campaign and stick around if she hopes to capture the seat in 2023 0r 2027.

Streety McStreetface

From nzherald.co.nz

A while back according to BlogTO, Toronto residents were asked to submit possible street names for the reconfigured Six Points area where Bloor, Kipling and Dundas used to merge in the form of a 1960’s dystopian mini expressway. The dystopian part is being demolished and replaced with some new streets and the city wants us to help with the naming via an online survey. Six hundred names were originally submitted by the public and the short list (chosen by city staff) is to say the least, interesting and contains a controversial name.

One of the contenders for your vote is the late local councillor and Mayor Rob Ford. According to the CBC, Rob Ford’s name was submitted for consideration, “…with a signed consent form from a representative of the Ford family”.

As if to steer voting towards the Premier’s brother, few of the remaining nine choices are compelling and even include the names of living people.

Here’s the list:

  1. Adobigok (Missisauga First Nation Word from which Etobicoke is derived.)
  2. Wadoopikang (Another Mississauga First Nation word – both mean, ‘Place where the alders grow’.)
  3. Biindagen (An Ojibway word – means ‘welcome’ or ‘come in’.)
  4. Darwyn Cooke (DC Comics artist and Etobicoke resident who died in 2016.)
  5. Diversity (From Toronto’s motto, ‘Diversity is our Strength’.)
  6. Jerry Howarth (Former Blue Jays broadcaster and current Etobicoke resident.)
  7. Dr. Judith Pilowsky (Etobicoke-based clinical psychologist.)
  8. Rob Ford (The late former Toronto councillor and mayor.)
  9. Westwood Theatre (A nondescript movie theatre in the Six Points area that was demolished in 1998.)
  10. Dr. W.K Fenton (Former Etobicoke medical Officer of Health 1938-1954.)

I must say, I’m not a fan of naming anything after people, living or dead. One era’s model citizens are the next era’s pariahs.

Sadly, we’ll never know if Streety McStreetface was a contender but I’m betting more than a few submitted the name.

Regardless, once the public has voted, city staff will determine the winners (just in case we haven’t voted the right way).

Vote for your completely representative choice here.

61-year-old man shot near McDonalds

A 61-year-old man was shot overnight near the McDonalds at the 401. He was sitting in his car when he was the victim of a targeted shooting, according to CTV News.

CTV says the police are looking for “a black male in his early 20s, who at the time of the shooting was wearing glasses, had short hair and the word ‘Versace’ written on the front of his shirt.” He may have fled northward on foot.

The victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Toronto Bell Cote Neighbourhood Bazaar this Sunday

The heritage preservation people at Toronto Bell Cote at 691 Scarlett Road are holding a fundraising bazaar on Sunday August 25 between 1 and 3pm. Funds raised will go to support local artisans and the maintenance of the former St Matthias church.

It’s never too late or too early to stock up!  Please come to the Toronto Bell Cote Heritage Preservation’s Neighbourhood Bazaar. Flowers, baked goods, handicrafts, paintings will be on sale to support local artisans and an award-winning Heritage Building.”