Conservative candidate Indira Bains and her team were making a final stomp to reach voters in Tory-rich Alderwood on Sunday.

She has been knocking on doors for hours with the party’s message of more affordable housing, help for businesses and more COVID-19 aid to attract voters in the Etobicoke Lakeshore federal riding.

The other campaigns were similarly out until the last minute trying to capture votes.

You are being urged to get out and vote on Monday, September 20. Each vote counts as leaders of the Liberals and Conservative Party are neck to neck, according to national polls.

Both the Liberals and Conservatives are tied in the polls at around 30% give and take.

Though the Liberals and Conservatives are effectively tied in national support with a small edge given to the Liberals, Justin Trudeau’s party is favoured to win the most seats and has roughly a three-in-five chance of being re-elected with a minority government, according to the CBC.

The Conservatives are holding their support but are trailing in some key battlegrounds. NDP support is also holding and the party could see a big increase in its seat count, said the broadcaster.

The candidates for Etobicoke Lakeshore are: Conservative Indira Bains, Liberal incumbent James Maloney, NDP Sasha Kane, People’s Party of Canada’s Bill McLachlan, Sean Carson of the Rhinoceros Party and Anna Di Carlo of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada.

The candidates for Etobicoke Centre are: Conservative Geoffrey Turner, Liberal incumbent Yvan Baker, NDP Ashley Da Silva and People’s Party of Canada’s Maurice Cormier.

The candidates for Etobicoke North are: Conservative Priti Lamba, Liberal incumbent Kirsty Duncan, NDP Cecil Peter, People’s Party of Canada’s Jim Boutsikakis and Independent Carol Royer.

Your poll number is written on your voter information card that came in the mail. Make sure to bring identification that includes your name and, if possible, the address matching the voter card.

Polls open at 9:30 a.m. and close at 9:30 p.m. To obtain more information on your candidates or polls visit elections.ca

 

A violent attacker is on the run from Toronto Police after stabbing a woman at the Dundas Street West Subway Station.

Police said they responded to a call on September 17, around 10:56 p.m. at the subway station.

Officers from 11 Division said the woman was on the westbound train and had exited at the Dundas Street subway.

“A man, not known to the woman, exited the train and stabbed her multiple times on the westbound platform,” detectives said in a statement. “The man fled the area and was last seen running southbound Dundas Street West towards Bloor Street West.”

The woman was rushed to an area hospital by medics and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Investigators have released security camera images of the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-1100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes or Google Play.

 

The Toronto Blue Jays are playing hot these days.

And there is sizzling news that a Jays retired play-by-play man is soon having his namesake Jerry Howarth Drive open to traffic in the Six Points Interchange area of Etobicoke.

Howarth, 75, has been living in south Etobicoke for more than 30 years and coached his son’s baseball teams at a number of area high schools.

The long-time resident of Etobicoke has been the radio voice of Blue Jays for 36 years. He retired in 2018. He was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.

Jerry Howarth Drive is one of three streets constructed in the redevelopment, which after community council approval; were named Adobigok Pathway, Biindagen Trail and Jerry Howarth Drive. Adobigok means where the alders grow and Biindagen means “enter,” “come in,” or “welcome.”

“The City of Toronto’s work to reconstruct the six Points Interchange is almost complete,” Councillor Mark Grimes said in his weekly bulletin.

The work included a realignment of Dundas Street West, extension of Bloor Street West and regrading of Kipling Avenue; new traffic signals, widened sidewalks with trees and plantings and physically separated and painted bike lanes.

A plan to name the road after the famed Blue Jays announcer has been in the works for two years. An attempt to name a street after former Etobicoke Councillor and Mayor Rob Ford was dismissed.

Howarth, who was born in York, Penn., and raised in San Francisco, was an avid sports fan. He graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Santa Clara in 1968, then served two years as an officer in the U.S. Army. He launched his career as a sportscaster in 1974 by calling play-by-play action for AAA baseball’s Tacoma Twins of the Pacific Coast League, as well as basketball and football for the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

He started a new career in 1981 in Toronto where he worked part of the 1981 Blue Jays season as a commentator. In 1982, he joined Tom Cheek as full-time play-by-play partner. For the next 23 years, “Tom and Jerry” would be the radio voices of the Blue Jays. Their partnership covered the rise of the Blue Jays through the 1980s with back to back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993.

In 2004, Cheek was diagnosed with brain cancer, but continued to call the games with Howarth. Cheek’s health continued to deteriorate eventually forcing him to stop broadcasting. Cheek died in October 2005.

Jerry loved Etobicoke and coached his sons in the Etobicoke Basketball Association from 1989 to 1997. He also served as a volunteer basketball coach at Islington Middle School, Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and Martingrove Collegiate Institute.

He enjoyed working with the Canadian Special Olympics and the 65 Roses Sports Club, which helps raise funds to fight cystic fibrosis.

Jerry and his family became Canadian citizens in 1994.

Jerry recently told the Toronto Star in an interview that he does not miss baseball and has been living a quiet life with Mary, his wife of 50 years. “I’ve been blessed, and that’s the bottom line,” he told the newspaper.

 

 

A virtual public information session is being held on September 23 in regards to a Dwight Avenue sidewalk project in which the removal of 12 trees were threatened.

“After many conversations with residents in the area, I called for a pause on the plans in order to send staff back to the drawing board to see if they are able to rework the designs that incorporates the trees into the plan,” wrote Ward 3 Councillor Mark Grimes.

The plan to remove 12 healthy trees has outraged community residents and activists who argued there is no reason to kill trees to build a sidewalk.

The public information session will be held on Thursday, September 23 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“The City aims to minimize impacts to all existing trees, but when tree removals are necessary all trees that require removal will be replaced,” City officials said in a communique.

The project was put on hold last July to reassess the impact to the trees.

 

One of our more beautiful waterfront parks is celebrating the 25^th anniversary of its opening this month.

The 200-acre Colonel Samuel Smith Park is named after Lieut.-Col. Samuel Smith, a historic figure who owned the property in the 1800s.

Development of the parklands began in the 1970s and Colonel Samuel Smith Park finally opened in 1996.

Much of the park was created from lakefill from former Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital and the RL Clark Filtration Plant and is now one of the City’s largest waterfront parks.
The 250-metre, figure-eight-shaped rink which loops through the natural environment, was city’s first ice skating trail. It was installed by Councillor Mark Grimes in 2010.

The park is said to be one of the City’s top spots for bird watching, with over 200 different bird species in the area. It is also known by locals as a good spot for fishing.

It is the resting place for The New Toronto cenotaph, which was relocated after the closure of the Royal Canadian Legion on Eighth Street.

This park is located along a stretch of wooded shoreline in the Kipling and Lakeshore area. It is home to a variety of plants, trees, birds and other wildlife, as well as a network of paths and bike trails.

First-time Conservative Party candidate for Etobicoke Lakeshore Indira Bains says her campaign team is pushing hard knocking on every door in the last days before the September 20 vote.

“All kinds of volunteers are dropping in and helping out,” Bains says. “There is an energy and enthusiasm and we are riding it.”

All the candidates for the federal election have been door knocking, putting up signs and trying to win over converts to vote for their party on Monday at the polls.

Bains and her volunteers are surprised by the level of anger against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“I am surprised at how many people are angry at Trudeau for calling this election,” Bains says. “They (voters) think he is irresponsible and self-centred.”

She claims some voters say “Trudeau has embarrassed Canada on the international stage for legalizing marijuana and wasting time with the WE and SNC Lavalin scandals.”

Bains says voters like the Conservatives recovery plan and others in regards to mental health, climate change and the environment.

“Etobicoke-Lakeshore is a big riding and we are working our way through it canvassing and distributing materials,” she insists. “We are not letting up.”

Liberal incumbent James Maloney says in his literature that his party created the Canada Child Benefit and lifted 435,000 children out of poverty.

He said the Liberals lowered the retirement age from 67 to 65 and supported more than 4,000 local businesses during the pandemic.

“We have a real plan that will create jobs, grow the middle class, and help ensure Canadians can get a home of their own,” according to Maloney.

NDP Sasha Kane highlighted reconciliation with Indigenous nations, the need for solutions to the affordable housing crisis, urgent action on climate change and electrifying the TTC fleet as top priorities for her.

The Green Party’s Efam Elue has a strong plan on climate change and the environment.

The last virtual all candidates meeting takes place tonight September 16. It is sponsored by LAMP and Long Branch Community.

The diverse riding has a population of 129,000, which includes 90,000 voters spread across Mimico, New Toronto, Long Branch and Alderwood. It is home for some 4,000 small businesses.

 

 

Five people are under arrest in connection with an online romance scam ring whose members preyed on seniors in the Burlington area.

Police said one lonely female senior was defrauded of more than $150,000 in the scheme, dubbed Operation Silver Fox.

A senior victim was contacted in October and November 2020 by a person claiming to be a retired Canadian Army Sergeant, named Darren Michaelson, according to Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS).

They “began an online romantic relationship,” police said in a September 15 release.

“Over a number of weeks, the victim was deceived into sending money to persons they believed were assisting Michaelson with legal troubles and assistance returning to Canada,” police said.

Detectives said the victim was defrauded of more than $150,000, presumably her life savings.

Halton police launched an investigation, called Operation Silver Fox, following a complaint.

Three Toronto men, aged 36, 35 and 28-year-olds, were charged with seven offences of fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Two women, a 21-year-old from Oakville and 38-year-old from London, Ont., have also been charged with fraud related offences.

Police said more arrests are pending as they believe there may be additional victims.

Investigators would like to remind residents of the danger and frequency of these types of scam.

Officers are warning not to send money or gift cards to persons you have not met in person. Do not provide your personal information such as financial documents, identification or passwords when communicating online.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact Detective Constable Derek Gray of the Burlington Criminal Investigations Bureau – Seniors Liaison Team at 905-825-4747 ext. 2344

Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers. “See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers” at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.

Sounds like the TV show Happy Days, with my faves Richie Cunningham, Potsie Weber and ‘The Fonz.”

A 1950’s drive-in diner with carhop roller skate servers, live music and an outdoor night market, will be open for business on September 24 to 26 at 37 Advance Rd., Unit 105, near the Kipling Station.

 

In what is called “Toronto’s one and only drive-in experience,” the Dusty Star Diner is an immersive experience and a nostalgic recreation of a 1950’s drive-in diner with servers on roller skates, which was a norm back 70 or so years ago.

There will be a live 1950’s rockabilly band, “The Ichi-Ibons” and era style tunes when the band is not performing.

Canada’s Number 1 Food Truck will also be there. Fidel Gastro’s street food company serves tasty diner-style fusion fast food and has been featured on several television shows.

 

There will be a market with various vendors ranging from vintage clothes, jewelry to amazing hot sauce. Check out their unique offerings and support local artisans, craftsman and small businesses.

The event runs from 6:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. From 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.

It costs $28 per car, which reserves a car spot, with two people minimum. You can have as many people in vehicle as are seats/legally allowed.

It will be $28 for a picnic table, which reserves your table. Six people per table maximum.

And $8 for a walk-in only ticket. COVID-19 rules followed.

 

 

The Toronto and Canadian police community are mourning the loss of Constable Henry Snedden who was shot dead by a deranged man in Etobicoke 43 years ago today.

Snedden and his partner, Donald Chadbold, responded on September 15, 1978 to what they thought was a domestic dispute on Mooreshead Drive, near the Etobicoke Civic Centre, in the Renforth Drive and Burnhamthorpe Road area.

“Upon arriving at the disturbance, the officers found two groups of people standing outside 16 and 18 Mooreshead,” according to police records. The officers separated.

Suddenly a man, Arthur Hayden Packwood, began struggling with Constable Snedden, according to documents.

Chadbolt rushed to his partner’s aid. Momentarily the two officers appeared to have the situation under control, police said.

“They didn’t realize Packwood had managed to get Snedden’s service revolver out of his holster,” according to police. “Shots rang out. Constable Snedden was dead before reaching Queensway General Hospital.”

“Snedden’s partner cradled him, trying to keep the veteran alive,” records show. It was too late.

The young officer was shot twice in the chest by Packwood, 27, on the front steps of the home with his own gun.

He had been on the force for just over two years.

Packwood, who had a mental illness and believed he was acting in self-defence, was eventually found not guilty of murder, due to insanity.

Another officer suffered serious injuries when he crashed his motorcycle rushing to the scene to help his ailing brothers.

His death, along with other officers who pass, are marked yearly by their colleagues.

 

One of the questions being asked by residents these days concerns a large paved lot recently completed at 170 Birmingham Street in New Toronto.

It is not a new company moving into the community, but a parking lot for Humber College students.

Students will be paying more than $200 to park there for a semester. From the lot they will be shuttled to the college. There are about 344 parking spots, according to information from Humber College.

The additional students are expected as the college transforms its Lakeshore Campus ‘into a destination for arts and culture through the development of the Humber Cultural Hub.’

The Hub will include music and performing arts venues, including a 500-seat performance hall, a 130-seat recital hall and an amphitheatre.

It “will create an exciting new destination for arts and entertainment in west Toronto,’ according to college officials. It provides “much-needed capacity to meet the growing demand for skilled talent and delivering important benefits to culturally underserviced local communities.”

The Hub is expected to attract businesses, create jobs, enrich the economy and cultivate new audiences for the arts, according to a college website.

The building will create residence space for 300 students, new retail spaces, a cafeteria and community athletic spaces, including a practice gymnasium, which will contribute to a more vibrant campus life.

There will also be a new campus entrance, courtyard and shared spaces to provide new opportunities for students, partners and community members to connect.

“The new facility will provide an educational environment that is second to none and will welcome the public to enjoy and participate in a wide variety of artistic, cultural and heritage experiences,” college officials promise.

Also planned is an Indigenous classroom that is near the outdoors and designed with natural lighting, rounded corners and culturally appropriate furnishings, along with Indigenous cultural markers and artwork throughout the Cultural Hub.

The college said their student population has more than doubled in the last 10 years and they have outgrown its existing facilities.

The first phase will include the construction of a 250,200 sq. ft. building featuring a 130-seat recital hall used primarily for academic purposes and specialty teaching spaces for arts and cultural programs.

It is expected to be complete by May 2025.