As food prices rise, a call is underway for all levels of government to fund a Universal National Nutrition Program to help feed at-risk school children in underfunded communities.

A City of Toronto executive committee is being told to request the Government of Canada to allocate funding to support the program across the nation.

A School Boards Advisory Committee told a City Executive Committee that it should consider establishing new food nutrition programs for students in marginalized priority neighbourhoods.

“City Council request the federal and provincial governments to work with Toronto’s Food Nutrition Program so more children can receive nutritious food at school through a Universal Nutrition Program,” according to the committee.

It said a food program last year provided 820 school nutrition programs in 619 communities with some 227,285 meals daily.

The universal meal or snack program is run locally by parents, volunteers and students in public schools. It gives students access to safe, adequate and culturally-appropriate healthy food.

“It is especially important for those at risk for poor nutritional intake,” the committee said. “It supports student learning and development over the school day.”

The programs also creates opportunities for community capacity building, volunteering and job skills development.

The committee said the programs increase consumption of healthy foods, reduces obesity, chronic diseases, health disparities and social isolation.

The food increases student attendance in classes; test scores in math, science and reading; attendance and class participation and reduces dropouts.

The program will cost $19.16 million this year, which includes an 8.5 per cent food inflationary increase for 227,000 meals daily.

Some $16.8 million will come from the City, $8.47 million from the province and $2.2 million from the federal government.

Other funding will be raised from parent and student contributions; community and school board fundraising and corporate donations.

Canada is the only country in the G7 that doesn’t have a national school food program or national standards, according to the Breakfast Club of Canada. That means that while every province has different needs, there isn’t an aligned approach to feeding students across the existing programs.

Researchers say that as high inflation affects food prices, more children need access to these programs but community groups say they need stable funding from the federal government to keep everyone fed.

According to Statistics Canada, one in four Canadian kids experience what’s called “food insecurity;” when a person can’t access a quality diet or enough food, or aren’t certain that they can. Meanwhile, 33 per cent of food bank users in Canada are children, according to Food Banks Canada.

One of Etobicoke’s top baseball player has returned home after years in the U.S. to play with his hometown team the Toronto Blue Jays.

Joey Votto, a veteran first-baseman grew up in Mimico and played for about 17 seasons with the Cincinatti Reds and was a former National League Most Valuable Player (MLP).

The former Richview Collegiate Institute student was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work my way back to the Major Leagues,” Votto said on social media. “It’s even sweeter to attempt this while wearing the uniform of my hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays.”

His time with Cincinnati included many trophies and six all-star appearances. The Reds declined his $20-million (U.S.) option for 2024, making the 40-year-old a free agent.

He has been working out near his Toronto home as he remained unsigned weeks into spring training.

Votto received a non-roster invite (NRI) to play with the Jays and is not on the club’s 40-man roster to attend major-league camp at spring training and compete for a roster spot.

During his MVP season in 2010, Votto hit 37 home runs and won the Lou Marsh Award, now named the Northern Star Award, as Canada’s top athlete for two years straight.

Votto is the most famous product of the Etobicoke Rangers led by Bob Smyth, who also coached him at Richview. His journey to the big leagues began when his parents, Joseph and Wendy, gave their eight-year-old son a bat.

Games of catch with his dad became a daily ritual, and Votto played little league baseball with Bloordale.

“I’ve never seen anybody like Joey and I never will,” Richview baseball coach Stath Koumoutseas told the Toronto Star. “We’re just proud to watch him.”

Votto, dubbed the ‘pride of Etobicoke,’ also won the Hank Aaron Award as the National League’s best hitter and took home the 2011 Gold Glove for his stellar defense at first base.

His mom was a sommelier and local restaurant manager and his dad was a chef and baseball fan who died at age 52 in 2008.

Votto enrolled in high school at Richview Collegiate Institute in 1997. He played for the Etobicoke Rangers baseball program and then signed a letter of intent to play college baseball for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in 2002 and at the age of 18 began his career, traveling around the U.S. on buses.

He was proud of being from Mimico and let people know his background.

“I was raised in Mimico,” the first baseman wrote. “It is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.”

He was at one time Canada’s highest-paid salaried athlete with a 10-year, $248-contract extension.

Votto, for all his success, remained in Etobicoke and has been known to attend bantam games at Queensway Park. Many of the ballers in the Royal York Road area are proud of his achievements.

Toronto Police are searching for a gunman who shot a man to death at an Etobicoke condo building.

Officers were at a condo building in the Eva Road and The West Mall area for hours gathering evidence of the homicide.

Police were called to the building shortly after 8:30 p.m. on February 7 after gunfire rang out inside the building.

“I heard bang, bang, bang,” one resident said. “I knew something bad was going on.”

Police said the victim was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but did not survive.

Detectives said no arrests have been made so far, and there is no suspect description available at the moment.

They are asking anyone within information to contact investigators, or call Crime Stoppers.

 

 

 

A controversial mural at the side of a New Toronto bakery has been defaced.

The mural that was painted at the side of Red Moon Bakery, at 2864 Lake Shore Blvd. W., has been since somewhat been cleaned up but parts of the graffiti still remain.

The artwork sparked a community uproar last summer following complaints it showed one of the characters with what appeared to be a handgun.

The outlandish mural made the news on TV and newspapers citywide and led to members of the community boycotting the restaurant.

The drawing featured characters depicting Indian rapper Sidhu Moose Wala as the centrepiece, flanked by U.S. rappers Tupac and Biggie Smalls as well as fictional characters from Scarface and Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone from The Godfather.

The mural shows Moose Wala holding a pistol, which is the main source of the controversy. It was later painted over to look like a cell phone.

He was a rising artist in the South Asian music scene and lived, for a time, in Brampton, before being fatally shot in India in 2022.

Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were also both also shot and killed.

The City of Toronto has received two complaints about the mural which later led to an investigation by by-law officials.

Outraged Mimico residents say there were no consultations as traffic calming measures is being sought instead of a cycle track to slow down traffic on Superior Avenue.

The measure is part of an upcoming Mimico Mobility Plan meant to slow down and lessen traffic using the area, which includes residential streets north of Lake Shore Blvd., to Cavell Avenue.

Andrew Vanderwal, a concerned resident who started a petition, said members of the community had been requesting traffic calming measures since 2015, when a petition was organized.

“Instead of getting traffic calming measures on Superior Avenue we are getting a cycle track that is necessary to protect cyclists only because no traffic calming measures have been implemented,” Vanderwal said.

He said the cycle track will affect Superior Avenue from Stanley Avenue south to Lake Shore Blvd. W. It is slated to take affect by April.

Vandewal said the track was pre-approved by Toronto City Council last June 15 without any consultation with affected residents.

He said the primary concern of Superior avenue residents is road safety for all road users, cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike and a lack of traffic calming measures will allow aggressive drivers to continue to speed and pass vehicles as before.

“Instead of curtailing such behaviour with calming measures such as speed cushions,” Vanderwal wrote. “We are getting fortified segregated bike lanes designed to protect cyclists from aggressive drivers who are given free reign to continue to drive aggressively on Superior Avenue.”

“This is totally the wrong solution for this street,” he said. “Arriving at this flawed solution could have been avoided where affected residents consulted.”

“The status quo for aggressive drivers and leaves all road users less safe,” Vanderwal said.

Cycle tracks are distinguished from cycle/bike lanes in that they are physically separated from vehicular traffic.

The tracks are typically considered only for arterial roads where there is a greater volume of vehicular traffic that has greater posted speed limits than residential streets.

Cyclists report that they feel unsafe on such cycle tracks where vehicles can back out of driveways due to the confined space of cycle movement within such a track, he said.

The bollards, markers and curbs included with the cycle tracks greatly diminish street appeal and will over time become damaged and discoloured further disfiguring the neighbourhood, residents said.

“The cycle track will greatly complicate garbage pickup and snow removal,” Anderwal sad. “Installation of the proposed cycle track on both sides of Superior Avenue eliminates on-street parking that is necessary for residents.”

Councillor Amber Morley has promised to meet with residents and look into the matter.

Some 650 community residents recently attended a meeting on the Bloor Street bike lane. Many voiced their displeasure with the track, claiming it is unsafe and has led to a loss of revenue to area businesses since patrons have to travel further to park.

Paperless boarding is coming soon to Pearson airport.

Air Canada is now the first national airline to begin testing facial recognition technology that will allow passengers to board its flights effortlessly without key documents.

No more looking in your pockets or purses to make sure your passport is still there.

An app being used by the airline would create a “faceprint” that would verify a passenger’s identity as they board a flight.

One agent will be required to screen boarding passengers. Those without proper documents or not on the faceprint file will be interviewed by another agent, according to airline officials.

“We are very excited to now take a leadership position in Canada and test digital identification using facial recognition technology to validate customer identification quickly, securely and accurately at select airport touchpoints.” Air Canada official Craig Landry said.

Officials said facial recognition technology is now used commonly for unlocking mobile phones, entering workplaces, verifying identification during financial transactions and more.

Air Canada said customers who don’t want to use facial recognition can board as they currently do now by presenting their boarding pass and government-issued photo ID for manual ID check and processing.

The technology has been in use at some Chinese airports for years. Some members of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) were at Daxing International Airport, in China, to witness how facial recognition is being integrated into the airport experience.

Chinese citizens can use their national identification cards to board flights.

The CBSA now have 14 self-serve kiosks at various Canadian airports that take photographs of passengers that are cross-checked with stored passport data.

The photos can be cross-referenced to those accessible on driver’s license, social media or other platforms.

There are now about 238 airports using Biometric Facial Comparison Technology at airports worldwide.

There are fears by some that the facial recognition technology can intrude on their privacy. It can also be used by police or security agents to identify criminals, terrorists or other lawbreakers as they enter the airport or its premises.

The technology is also used in some Ontario casinos to find those who are banned or who have committed frauds.

Summer is getting closer as organizers of this year’s annual Toronto Ribfest is already making plans.

A bid has been submitted to Etobicoke York Community Council for the approval of a temporary signage permit for the Etobicoke Rotary and Toronto Ribfest 2024.

The event has been a popular annual attraction in the community that has been taking place for years.

Once again the Toronto Ribfest is being held in conjunction with the City of Toronto Canada Day celebrations.

The mouth-watering event begins at Centennial Park on Friday, June 28 from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and runs until Monday July 1 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to organizers.

“I fully endorse the plans to hold this event again, as was done in previous years,” Ward 2 councillor Stephen Holyday wrote in a letter to Community Council.

The signs are for use to advertise charitable, non-profit and community events that must be removed after the event.

The free event last year featured live music and 10 of North America’s Best Rib Teams serving award-winning mouth-watering BBQ smoked ribs, tender pulled pork, juicy smoked brisket, BBQ chicken, smoked sausage and huge Beef “Dino” Ribs.

There was also a variety of festival foods like The Bloomin’ Onion, Tiny Tom’s mini-donuts, roasted corn, poutines, funnel cakes that was washed down with a cold beer from the Beer Garden.

A man whose dead body was found at a New Toronto Transfer Station may be from out of town.

Toronto Police suspect the man’s body may have been dumped at the 260 New Toronto Street facility by a waste management truck, whose driver was unaware of the corpse.

Officers of the Homicide and Missing Person Unit have been scouring the sprawling facility, at New Toronto Street and Islington Avenue, since the discovery about 8:30 a.m. on March 1.

Detectives are trying to determine if foul play was involved.

“Police are working to determine who he is and where the truck originated from, which may be outside of Toronto,” a police spokesperson said.

Toronto police’s 22 Division, which covers Etobicoke, is leading the investigation.

Larger trucks and vehicles with dump trailers are permitted to use the inside tip floor for drop off, police said. They said only one person is allowed out of the vehicle when inside.

A public drop-off is available behind the scale for smaller trucks and vehicles.

The company Waste Management (WM) operates 390 collection operations, 310 transfer stations, 267 landfill disposal sites, 17 waste-to-energy plants, 120 recycling facilities, 36 organic processing facilities and 137 landfill-gas-to-energy projects.

The company provides a full range of environmental services to nearly 21 million residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers.

It said WM ‘is strongly committed to the safe and responsible management of waste, working diligently to ensure regulatory compliance and protection of human health and the environment.’

What happened to our once-sandy beach.

Some Humber Bay Shores residents are concerned and disappointed that their once-sandy Humber Bay Park East beach is now a wall of grapefruit-sized rocks.

More than 200 residents have signed an online petition claiming their beloved beach has been restored with a ‘five-foot high wall of grapefruit-sized rocks.’

“Our beloved beach was a cherished community asset,” said petition organizer Aman Somal. “It is facing a threat of over-development that undermines the promises made during community consultations.”

Somal said residents were assured the beach, which existed between the eastern and western headland, would remain an enjoyable and accessible space for the community.

“Unfortunately, the shoreline project has left the beach in a state that is far from what was promised,” Somal wrote. “We now have a five-foot-high wall … that has effectively eliminated any possibility of residents enjoying the beach.”

The petition said residents understand the importance of erosion control measures to protect the park, but believe that the approach is excessive and has altered the landscape.

“The beach is effectively covered in these large stones, losing all of its recreational value, something that the community cherished very much,” according to the petition.

It said not everyone has the means to travel abroad or book a cottage to provide their families with a nature or a beach experience.

“Access to nature has been proven to have positive effects on mental well-being, and to interact with elements such as sand, trees and water,” said the petition. It ‘is integral to fostering a healthy and balanced community.’

The petition is calling for smaller pebbles or gravel be used instead of the large size stones on the beach.

“The current steep edge is dangerous especially when the stones are wet,” Somal wrote. “Especially for children and people with mobility issues in our community.”

They want a reassessment to explore methods to protect the park from erosion, without compromising the therapeutic benefits that the beach provides.

Area residents took to social media to explain their frustrations.

“I enjoy this park and access to the water,” wrote Jack Glab. “The current state of this beach is unacceptable.”

“I am resident of the neighborhood and been enjoying that beach for years,” explained Jessica Bouchard. “It is horrible to have destroyed such a gem.”

“I live in this beautiful area and love it as close to natural state as possible,” said Cornelia Radu. “Unfortunately, there are projects to overdevelop and destroy the natural beauty.”

Mary Murphy noted she was terrified at what has become of their lovely beach.

“I am horrified to see what has been done to a true hidden gem in the city,” Murphy wrote. “This is not protection. It is accelerated destruction.”

Officials of the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority said the lake is rising and action had to be taken as the beach area is prone to flooding.

Hundreds of concerned residents showed up to speak their mind as part of the City’s Cycling Network Plan which has Bloor Street W. narrowed to one lane each way.

Many of an estimated 700 people who gathered on February 28 at the Etobicoke Collegiate Institute meeting chaired by Ward 2 Councillor Stephen Holyday seemed to be opposed to the Bloor Street Bike lanes.

Feelings run so high, that more than 12,000 area residents have signed a petition opposing the bike lanes that narrowed Bloor Street W. to one-way in both directions.

Holyday said the meeting was to provide information and gather community feedback on candidate cycling locations that are being considered for study and installation in 2025 to 2027.

“City staff are currently reviewing the locations before advancing a report to council for approval consideration,” he said.

Attendees said it was a boisterous and sometimes unruly meeting as many people opposed to the bike lanes on Bloor Street W.

Residents have “pressing concerns about the recent bike lanes that have been added to our Bloor Street community streets,” according to petition organizer Cody MacRae. “We believe that the current method of bike lane implementation requires reconsideration and a more balanced approach.”

The petition said a Bloor Street cycling study was based on inaccurate data that has led to little usage by cyclists, as many ‘residents and businesses along Bloor Street W. have observed a limited number of cyclists using the designated lanes.’

The petition said the bike lanes on Bloor Street W. has led to a loss of business.
“With the added congestion and limited cyclist patronage, businesses along Bloor Street W. are reporting reduced footfall, which threatens their livelihoods and impacts the vitality of our local economy,” it stated.

“It’s crucial for Bloor Street to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction to accommodate the heavy vehicular flow,” the petition states. “The reduction to a single lane has caused significant congestion and has been a source of constant frustration for motorists.”

MacRae said the transition from two-lane roads to single lanes to accommodate bike lanes has significantly reduced the efficiency of vehicle flow.

“This change has caused increased congestion, prolonged travel times, and a heightened risk of accidents,” he wrote on the petition.
It said the loss of lanes can lead to delayed emergency response as it can significantly hinder the rapid movement of emergency vehicles, leading to potential delays in critical responses.

The petition calls for a re-assessment of the bike lanes on Bloor Street W. to “engage with the local community, business owners, emergency service providers, cyclists, and traffic experts to develop a well-rounded solution.”

“Local neighbours report near misses caused by cars diverting to side streets,” petitioners were told.

“Our intention is to advocate for a re-evaluation to emphasize the need for Bloor Street W. to retain two lanes of traffic in each direction.”

Long-time Mimico resident Sandy Cameron said he attended the meeting to protest the narrowing of Superior Avenue for the addition of bike lanes as part of the Mimico Mobility plan.