Three outstanding community members have been chosen this year as recipients of the 2024 Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Award.

The Awards recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advancing and fostering human rights culture across Ontario.

It is named after Dr. Daniel G. Hill, the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) first Black director, chairperson and rights trail blazer.

The recipients include: Stefan Enrique Joseph Kallikaden in the Young Leader category, Lorin MacDonald for Distinguished Service and Rosemary Sadlier, for Lifetime Achievement.

Kallikaden serves as the Youth and Access to Education Program Coordinator at the FCJ Refugee Centre. Stefan is committed to advocating for the human rights of all.

MacDonald is a human rights lawyer and a disability/accessibility advocate and educator. Born with profound hearing loss, Lorin has dedicated her life, education and career to advocating for people with disabilities.

Sadlier led the Ontario Black History Society for many years and is an advocate for social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, historian, author, educator and empowering change maker.

The honourees will join a host of distinguished guests, including community members stakeholders, and government officials, for an evening of celebration on November 21.

The event will also mark the 70th anniversary of Ontario’s Fair Accommodations Practices Act, the predecessor of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

 

Someone it seems was ticketed and is now taking out their frustrations on an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) traffic camera in Alderwood.

Just about every two weeks the speed-busting auto camera, just west of Orianna Drive on Horner Avenue, is knocked to the ground as City crews dutifully return each time to replace the device to its standing position.

The South Etobicoke News have taken photos of at least six instances in which the steel camera box was shoved to the ground, with its sensitive lens dug into the dirt.

It is October 20 and the expensive ASE is again on its side. No doubt City trucks will show up to place in upright position.

This has been going on for months and the situation is getting worst as large bolts attaching the machine to concrete and steel are being snapped off as the culprits become more brazen in shoving the camera to the ground.

There are no tire marks or grass being uprooted in the vicinity and it is a mystery how the vandals manage to overturn the heavy boxes.

The City has hired a third-party contractor to repair and replace the ASE cameras.

There are more notorious traffic cams out there like one located on Parkside Drive that issued a whopping 3,502 tickets in one month.

The cameras in one month issued a total of 43,412 tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit in designated safety zones.

In June 2022 almost 25,000 tickets were issued to Toronto drivers, and of those 11 per cent were issued by busy Parkside Drive camera.

There are some 75 ASE systems installed on Toronto roads, which generate more than 700,000 charges annually and rake in almost $40 million for City coffers.

The City said that each device costs around $50,000 to operate and maintain annually.

Mom of two Manal Srouji who was hit by a speeding GO Train at Long Branch Station says she is lucky to be alive even though she can’t sit up in bed from pain and what will be a long recovery.

Srouji, 46, who has two boys, one 22, says she is a careful person who routinely used public transportation to get from home to work.

She lives in Mississauga and works downtown as a court reporter for the Ministry of Attorney General.

All that changed last September 17, when around 8:15 a.m. she was hit by a train and rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

She is thankful to be helped on the platform by kind-hearted passengers.

Srouji was left face-down on the yellow strip on the platform with half her body hanging over the edge.

She remained on life support for at least a week, unable to move or speak. She had two broken legs and multiple fractures, including to her pelvis and elbow.

‘I can’t even sit up in bed,” Srouji told Global News reporter Shallima Maharaj in a bedside interview.

She has regained her ability to talk and can move her upper body. She cannot remember the moment the train hit her, or the hour it happened.

Almost $14,000 has been raised on a Go Fund Me page to help the ailing family.

A bedridden Srouji has the loving support of her sons and from members of the community, who have kept her going.“

I’m overwhelmed, not just by the support that I’m seeing from loved ones, but even members of the community I don’t even know,” she told Global News on October 17. “The response, the reaction from people — it’s just a lot.”

She was told her backpack got caught on a passing express train at the station, but few details have been released about what transpired at the station.

The mother and wife would like to see more safety measures implemented to protect riders.

Many Long Branch residents have been complaining about the packed trains, ongoing construction and risky conditions from ongoing construction at the station which is being refurbished.

“September is when everybody comes back,” she told Global News. “More kids to school, a lot of people came back to work in person after that, so there’s a lot more people on the platforms.”

A major construction project has been underway at the station since last year, as part of the GO Expansion program.

“I made friends with passengers that came to visit me that tell me how they hear young kids wondering what happened to that lady that got injured in the accident. You know, I’m thankful, but I’m also concerned.”

 

The country’s newest millionaire lives right here in South Etobicoke.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) said the most-recent $65 million Lotto Max ticket was purchased on October 16 from a store in the Islington Avenue and The Queensway area.

The OLG said the newest millionaire has not showed up yet to collect his millions.

This is the eighth consecutive Lotto Max jackpot win in Ontario this year, the OLG said.

Other prizes won in Ontario following last night’s draw include two Maxmillions prizes worth $500,000 apiece, including one ticket sold in Burlington.

Two other Encore tickets worth $100,000 each were also sold in Burlington and Toronto.

The winning numbers for the draw are: 08, 12, 19, 20, 26, 32, 46, and bonus 27.

Players can still buy tickets for Friday’s draw, which holds an estimated jackpot of $17 million, the OLG said.

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The controversial Bloor Street West bike lane and others that cause traffic congestion may soon be gone if provincial Premier Doug Ford has his way.

Side-stepping municipal politicians, Ford has promised upcoming laws that prohibit future bike lanes; including those planned for Parkside Drive, The Queensway, Dundas Street W., and parts of Lake Shore Blvd. W.

Ford recently said his government doesn’t just plan to block the installation of new bike lanes in some cases, but also intends to remove routes that have already been built — claiming they lead to traffic in Ontario cities reaching a “standstill.”

Hundreds of South Etobicoke residents attended a meeting last month hosted by Councillor and Deputy Mayor Amber Morley. The gathering at Etobicoke Collegiate Institute consisted of vocal supporters and those who are anti cycling.

Small businesses on Bloor Street W. have been complaining that their earnings plummeted due to a lack of parking beside bike lanes. Store owners said their customers have to park blocks away, which is especially hard for seniors or those with mobility issues.

“It isn’t enough to keep an eye on future bike lanes,” Ford told the Empire Club on October 17. “We need to and will remove and replace existing bike lanes on primary roads that are bringing traffic in our cities to a standstill.”

The province has unveiled a plan to limit new bike lanes in Ontario’s towns and cities by making municipalities demonstrate they won’t negatively impact the flow of traffic on busy roads.

The government planned to table the proposed law on October 21, which would create “the authority to require” information on “an existing bike lane that previously removed a traffic lane” on a local road.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Morley are both cyclists, and have expressed their support for bike lanes plus the addition of more.

Area nature lovers are mourning the loss of one of the oldest trees in Toronto, and Canada, due to ill health.

The so-called Great White Oak, which was estimated to be 330-years-old  was cut down last October 4 by City crews, in a process that required many hours and large construction cranes.

Long Branch historian Bill Zufelt said the massive tree was located on Great Oak Drive, in the Islington Avenue and Rathburn Road area.

“It was already showing severe decline with deadly fungi growing out of its trunk,” Zufelt said. “Toronto Forestry removed the fungi and it lived another year.”

He said the tree was suffering from internal rot and decay, which was becoming increasingly evident.

“The tree was Red Tagged as a possible falling hazard risk, so for public safety and liability issues, Toronto Forestry had it removed,” said the avid tree lover.

Zufelt said City arborists based on tree’s enormous girth, determined it to be about 330-years-old and one of the oldest in Toronto.

He said local folklore had given it the dubious title of ‘The Hanging Tree.’

This oak had survived the American Revolution, War of 1812, Canadian Confederation, World War 1 and 11.

“The Great White Oak of Etobicoke will always be a stoic legend to the thousands of us who have passed beneath her consoling branches for over three centuries,” he said.

Hate at our doorstep.

A 30-year-old man has been charged after allegedly stealing an Israeli flag from the same vehicle on two occasions in The Queensway and North Queen Street area, near Sherway Gardens.

Police said the incidents took place on July 30 and August 6 in what is a busy shopping area.

They said in both cases, a suspect allegedly approached the same vehicle and stole an Israeli flag.

Husam Abu Hashem, 30, of Toronto, was arrested on October 10 and charged with two counts of theft under $5,000. He is scheduled to appear in court on November 27.

Investigators say that these incidents are treated as a suspected hate-motivated offences.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact Toronto police at 416-808-3500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

Toronto Police have repeatedly issued alerts on the record amount of hate crimes taking place in our city, including the recent shooting at a North York Jewish girl school in which a window was shot out for a second time. There has been no charges.

In the last year officers have attended more than 1,556 suspected hate crime calls for service, confirmed 390 suspected hate crimes, made 130 arrests and laid 314 hate crime occurrence related charges.

Last June along police responded to 171 hate crime calls. In July they attended to 113 calls.

A plan to install Global Positioning Systems (GPS) on 600 vehicles to keep track of rogue City’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation staff has been canned by Council.

Installation of the devices were to begin in November to track staff after an Auditor General report found almost half the park staff went shopping, drinking, dining or performing other tasks while the job and wrote false statements on their Daily Logs, which each crew must fill out at the end of their shift.

The report found on average crews report spending only four hours, or 51 per cent, of their eight-hour shift on location performing actual park work.

Also proposed was a measure to have the Daily Logs matched regularly against GPS readings and stiffer checks of lunch check-in-and-out time and ensure crews are on the job and not at the mall.

The Auditor General wrote that a sample of 85 Daily Logs indicate nearly half of the logs did not match the GPS record.

The GPS showed 46 per cent of the time park staff did not attend locations as stated; 75 per cent of the time GPS indicated in-and-out times clocked at locations were not accurate and in 86 per cent of the locations stated turned out on the GPS to be shopping malls, eateries and non-parkland locations.

“We found that daily logs were not always properly completed,” according to the report. “Park locations and working times were not always accurately reported on daily logs and did not always match GPS records.”

It found that nearly half of park staff took more than the permitted 60 minutes per day permitted for lunches and breaks which I mindboggling.

Installation of GPS on Parks Branch vehicles started in 2022. There are about 604 vehicles used by Parks Branch to maintain the City’s 1,500 parks. More than 30 per cent of the vehicle do not have the GPS installed.

The Parks Branch 2024 operating budget is over $190 million, with $57.5 million dedicated to general summer parkland maintenance. The Parks Branch workforce includes 700 staff in the winter season to over 1,300 staff in the spring/summer season.

Th average City of Toronto hourly pay ranges from approximately $18.78 per hour for Camp Counselor to $55.25 per hour for Senior Planner. A park worker can earn up to $41 hourly on the top end for some jobs.

This young child is lucky to be alive.

Toronto fire crews worked diligently for hours to free a young child who was somehow trapped in a ventilation duct.

A child was rescued from the duct on October 11 in a building on The West Mall, south of Rathburn Road.

Emergency crews were called just after 3:30 p.m. for a rescue call.

Firefighters had to disassemble the duct to free the child, who officials said did not suffer any physical injuries.

Toronto Fire Services (TFS) said the child was conscious and crying when lifted to freedom.

It is unclear how the child ended up in the duct.

 

A Toronto City Councillor has a fight on her hands as she tries to sway Council to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections.

Councillor Dianne Saxe in a motion is seeking that Council extend ‘voting opportunities’ in City polls to 16 and 17-year-olds.

Saxe said in Canada the minimum voting age is 18-years-old across all jurisdictions.

“Fourteen Canadian municipal councils and school boards have passed motions in support of extending voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds, or studying the policy,” she wrote.

The matter will be considered by City Council.

“…Sixteen-year-olds are sufficiently mature, informed and ready to exercise the right to vote,” according to the motion. “

Saxe cited a list of 17 countries where the voting age is 16 for at least one level of government. Some of the countries include: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Estonia and others.

She said Canadian scholars have found that 16- and 17-year-olds are not less politically developed than adults and can be more or just as knowledgeable as adults.

“Compared to 18- and 20-year-olds, they know as much about political institutions, the campaign promises, and the candidates,” according to the motion.

It cited research by Elections that found the teens are just as interested, if not more, in participating in various forms of political activity, including voting and non-electoral civic activities.

“Youth want to be more involved across governments and have more opportunities to grow as leaders and sustain leadership opportunities,” Saxe wrote. “Youth want to participate in the decisions that affect them.”

The motion listed a number of measures that can be made to recognize teens and allow them to vote in city elections, where they are directly affected.