Many Etobicoke residents are mourning the death of a popular front-line healthcare worker who passed away from complications due to COVID-19.

Connie Cerdan, who has a loving family, tested positive for the virus on December 29 and died suddenly at home on January 3, her family said. She was 66.

A Go Fund Me page has raised more than $10,300, with a goal of raising $20,000, to help her family.

“Connie was the ultimate caregiver,” according to the fund’s organizer Victoria Riley. “She was a very thoughtful and generous person who always prioritized the needs of others before her own.”

Officials of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said Connie was a member of Local 597 since 1974. She was employed helping with seniors at Montage Support Services, on Oakwood Rd.

She was working in the healthcare field for more than 45 years and had treated hundreds of patients.

“Connie was known for her thoughtful, kind nature,” wrote union President Warren (Smokey) Thomas and First Vice-President, Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida. ”She was loved and respected by her co-workers and everyone she supported at her workplace.”

They said she hosted an annual BBQ at her home for all Montage clients and staff, which ‘speaks volumes about her dedication to her job.’

“Connie was a frontline hero who always went above and beyond to take care of her family, her co-workers, and the Ontarians she helped every day,” the union officials said. “It is truly heartbreaking any time that the Connies’ of this world are taken from us.”

Connie was popular and well-loved by her co-workers for the comfort and caring that she showed her patients.

“Our deepest and heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who is affected by Connie’s passing,” said Laurence and Cynthia Young. “We have wonderful memories that will always remain with us.”

“Such heartbreaking news,” wrote Marianne Enge. “She was a lovely lady who was so kind and funny.”

Her friend Sandra Kolpakow said Connie will be sadly missed by many.

“Connie will always be remembered as the most generous friend who loved celebrations, karaoke, her garden, dancing, and most of all her devoted children and loving mother,” mourned Kolpakow.

“Our family will always remember how truly giving and loving Connie was,” recalled Johanna Scheepers. “We are deeply saddened by her passing and will carry her memory in our hearts.”

Donations can be made by searching under Connie’s name at gofundme.com

 

 

 

Just when you think you’ve heard it all.

Toronto Police fraud cops are warning residents of an escalating “loan processor” online job application scam that is making the rounds.

Detectives from 51 Division say a victim is hired from an online search to work as a “loan processor.”

“The victim is instructed to attend several addresses in the City of Toronto to pick up cheques from mailboxes before depositing them,” officers warn.

Police say the victim is “then instructed to withdraw cash for their own account and meet people who are purporting to need loans.”

“The cash is handed over to the fake clients or the victim is instructed to send e-transfers to them,” said Det. Const. Elliott Lee.

Lee said in both scenarios, the cheques that have been deposited are not honoured and person whom they handed over cash as a loan is long gone.

“The victim is ultimately left in financial debt,” he said.

Police are reminding the public to remain vigilant, especially during these uncertain times. It is best to thoroughly research any prospective employers and question activities that require dealing with quantities of money, especially in unusual circumstances.
Anyone with information in relation to this type of fraud is asked to contact Lee at 416-808-5179.
Details can also be phoned to police at 416-808-5100, 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).

The Toronto Public Health is hiring more than 100 frontline support assistants to join in a fight against COVID-19.

The Communicable Disease Control is looking to hire more than 100 people to work part-time as Support Assistants C for a 10-month stint.
The workers are required from January 8 to January 24 to “provide varied administrative, clerical support to the Toronto Public Health Mass Immunization Clinics.”

The job pays from $28.64 to $31.40 hourly.

Those hired are required to work for 35-hours weekly from Monday to Sunday.

The work includes: general administrative tasks to support program and management staff, handling front-end reception support, processing clients for service, providing general information to the public on program services while providing support to the team.

Job seekers must have experience using computers and various software packages such as Microsoft Office Suite and others, maintaining, retrieving and disseminating information using database systems and carry out data entry functions with speed and accuracy.

They must also have ‘excellent keyboarding, proof reading, data entry, good organizational skills with the ability to multitask and work in a high pressure, high volume team oriented environment, have a basic understanding of Public Health and be able to work flexible hour onsite.’

City recruiters can conduct job assessments and interviews online, where possible. If not possible, appropriate health and safety protocols will be followed during in-person assessments.

You can view the jobs at jobs.toronto.ca

 

Congratulations to our former Member of Parliament (MP) Jean Augustine who is being presented with a lifetime achievement award after being selected by fellow federal politicians.

Grenada-born and proud Etobicoke resident Augustine was selected for the distinction in a 12^th yearly survey by Maclean’s Magazine of sitting MPs, with the help of Ottawa polling firm Sprinbrook Strategies.

“To ensure that parties with the most seats cannot dominate the list of winners, MPs benefit when they receive support from outside their own party,” according to a press release.

“This year’s lifetime achievement award winner is Jean Augustine, a Liberal MP from 1993-2006 who was the first African-Canadian woman elected to the House of Commons, and the first Black woman appointed to cabinet,” according to a statement.

Jean, a former high school principal, was the first woman elected to represent Etobicoke-Lakeshore in the House of Commons. She was popular in the community and was re-elected for a second term.

Augustine served as the Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from 1994 to 1996; she was Minister of State for multiculturalism (and the status of women) from 2002 to 2004.

“Congratulations Jean for an honour so well deserved,” praised current Liberal MP James Maloney. “You continue to inspire all of us every day.”

The winners are usually announced at an evening gala near Parliament Hill. This year, the winners will be named at a virtual ceremony on January 12 due to the pandemic.

Augustine is well-known for her work in the community and her involvement in the Jean Augustine Center for Young Women’s Empowerment, on Portland St.

She also makes appearances to help other charities and agencies in the area.

Some other winners include:

Hardest working MPs; Chrystia Freeland (L), Garnett Genuis (PC), and Michelle Rempel Garner (PC)”.

Best orators include: Sean Fraser (L), Pierre Poilievre (PC) and Alain Therrien (Bloc).

Most collegial: Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Bloc), Marilyn Gladu (PC) and Christine Normandin (Bloc).

Most knowledgeable: Charlie Angus (NDP), Kevin Lamoureux (L) and Elizabeth May (Green).

Best represents constituents: Elizabeth May, Louis Plamondon (Bloc) and Shannon Stubbs (PC).

And the rising stars include: Jenica Atwin (Green), Raquel Dancho (PC) and Sean Fraser (L).

A sign of the times in South Etobicoke.

Another piece of history is being lost as an army of bulldozers have begun to flatten the Campbell Soup site, which has been a mainstay of the community for almost 100 years.

Mountains of rubble are all that’s left of the iconic U.S. company, which was established in 1931, and has hired generations of families from the area.

Some former Campbell employees were on hand to witness as the last of the historic manufacturing companies that once settled in the area was demolished. Major companies like Goodyear Tire, Anaconda Steel, Gilbey’s Distillery and many others are long gone.

Campbell in its heyday employed more than 600 people and purchased tonnes of vegetables and other products from hundreds of farmers in southern Ontario.

The new owners of the property, QuadReal Property Group and Weston Consulting, have grand plans for the huge eight-building 18.8-acre complex at 60 Birmingham St., at Dwight Ave.

A site plan filed by the company features three new one-story industrial warehouse spaces that will replace the smaller buildings and a series of exterior Campbell facades from 1931 and 1944 will be retained.

The company announced its closure in 2018 but officially shut in 2019. The closure of the plant saw 380 people laid off. Company president Ana Dominguez said the building simply couldn’t be retrofitted into something new and economically viable.

The redevelopment will provide on-site parking for 285 vehicles. A total of 86 loading dock spaces are proposed as part of the redevelopment to support typical warehouse distribution operations.

Members of the community have filed a 600-name petition against the project, which they claim will increase truck traffic, dust and noise in the area.

“Our neighbourhood is already carrying lots of responsibilities on its shoulder, housing THC, a Women’s Shelter and a Waste Management plant” wrote irate resident Zsuzsanna Lichner.

“It seems like the neighbourhood is becoming a dumping ground of truck depots, waste management and social services, effectively inhibiting our community’s growth,” Lichner said.

She said “residents had to go the extra mile and collect over 600 signatures for a petition to (obtain) a simple information session from the developer. “

“This session was extremely one-sided, with minimal time for the residents’ questions,” she noted.

 

A police search is underway to find an arsonist before he strikes again.

Toronto Police have released an image of an arsonist, who they say broke a window and tossed a lit object into a business that caused a significant amount of damages.

Emergency crews were called to The Queensway, near Winslow St.,  just east of Royal York Rd., on January 4 around 9:10 p.m.

Toronto Fire Services said according to a caller, someone had broken the glass of a storefront and started a fire.

Fire and smoke were found inside a business on the first floor and was quickly knocked down by firefighters.

The firebug took off on foot and hopped in a waiting vehicle, which left southbound on Milton St., police said.

Above the business is a residential unit on the second floor, fire officials said, in which a mother and two young girls were living and they managed to escape safely.

The suspect vehicle is described as a small, light-coloured SUV, but there isn’t a description of the driver.

Anyone with information or video surveillance footage is urged to call police at 416-808-1100 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477 (TIPS).