A woman waiting for a bus in New Toronto was sexually assaulted by a man who took off, officers from 22 Division say.

Toronto Police said the incident occurred on September 29, around 11:30 p.m., in the area of Lake Shore Blvd. W., and Kipling Ave.

“A man approached a 23-year-woman from behind while she was waiting to board a bus,” police allege. “The man sexually assaulted the woman.”

The suspect is described as being about 25 years old, 5-foot 8-inches, medium build with red facial hair. He was wearing a grey Champion brand hoodie, salt and pepper Roots sweatpants and red shoes.

It is believed the woman was a Humber College student who was on her way home.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2200, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes or Google Play.
Police said sexual assault is any form of unwanted sexual contact. It includes, but is not limited to, kissing, grabbing, oral sex and penetration.

 

Many parents are left worried and concerned over the closure of Silverthorn Collegiate Institute due to an outbreak of COVID-19.

The almost 900 students of the 291 Mill Road School, in central Etobicoke, were moved to remote learning, according to Toronto Public Health officials.

All in-person classes and activities were dismissed on October 12.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) said the closure will allow public health officials additional time to investigate the cases. There is no idea on how long the closure would last.

“We’re working closely with Toronto Public Health and helping in any way we can,” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said.

The outbreak was declared and a decision to close the school was made after an investigation last weekend showed potential exposures to students across multiple grades.

There have been 21 active school outbreaks and 30 active investigations in 122 school settings as of October 8.

This is its first whole-school dismissal of the academic year.

Parents said they are concerned their children may contract the virus and school and health officials are encouraging students to get their vaccination shots.

Free vaccination shots are available at a Mobile Immunization Clinic on October 18 at Lakeshore Collegiate Institute, at 350 Kipling Avenue, from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The school is more than 50 years old and is named after a prominent Etobicoke family.

 

 

Niagara Regional Police are searching for a vandal who smashed a bust of an iconic former slave who snuck dozens of Blacks into Canada to escape slavery through the Underground Railroad.

The bust of Harriet Tubman was pushed off a pedestal to the ground and broke into pieces last weekend at a St. Catharines church where she once worshipped.

Police believe the incident occurred around 9 p.m. on October 10 when a man in the courtyard of British Methodist Episcopal Church, on Geneva Street, shoved the heavy statue. The incident was caught on the church security cameras.

“I’m heartbroken,” said Rochelle Bush, historian and trustee at the Salem Chapel BME Church told the St. Catharines Standard.

“We were trying to maintain the grounds, trying to have something to commemorate Harriet Tubman and now it’s no more. It’s gone. We have to replace it. I’m just shocked that anyone would do it.”

The stone bust of the famed Underground Railroad ‘conductor’ was unveiled at the church in September 2010 and was the focal point of a meditation garden.

The bust was sculpted and donated by artist Frank Rekrut, who spent months creating a likeness using a black and white photo. Other donors contributed to the work’s installation, benches and a pedestal.

Tubman was born in 1822  in Dorchester Country, Maryland and lived to be 91.

She is described as a U.S. abolitionist and political activist, who escaped slavery and made some 13 trips across the border at night to illegally sneak about  70 slaves into Canada, where they became free people.

She used a network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women’s suffrage.

As a slave, Tubman was beaten and whipped by her various masters as a child. Early in life, she suffered a traumatic head wound when an irate boss threw a heavy metal weight intending to hit another slave, but hit her instead. It caused her severe injuries which she suffered for life.

These experiences, combined with her Methodist upbringing, led her to become devoutly religious.

Tubman is today idolized in the Black and wider communities for saving the lives of dozens of slaves by sneaking them to Canada by following the moon and stars in the middle of the night.

 

 

The Lakeshore Village Better Business Improvement Area (BIA) is set to lose another of its directors.

Members of Etobicoke York Community Council on October 12 will consider a motion for the removal of long-time director and vice-chair Peter Kearns, who owns Kearns Financial Inc.

Kearns, who has been on the executive for some time, is expected to be formally removed by the community council, whose members claim they have the authority to do so, according to documents filed to council and posted on its website.

Documents filed state that a report has been submitted asking council to remove ‘one director who has resigned from the Lakeshore Village BIA Boards of Management.’

The community council is delegated authority to appoint and remove directors from the boards of Businesses Improvement Areas (BIAs) that fall within its geographic boundaries, according to the documents.

The BIA’s treasurer, Rattan Gandhi, also resigned from his long-time position several months ago.

In another development, barber Andy Dinner, the owner of Your Neighbourhood Barbershop, has told the South Etobicoke News that he will be running for president of the BIA in the upcoming election.

Dinner said he has been in touch with other area business owners who are demanding changes.

The BIA chair is held by Chris Korwin Kuczynski, a former Toronto councilor.

The next virtual BIA meeting is slated for October 13.

Anyone can attend a BIA meeting, both members and non-members. To speak or give presentations, you need to be invited or pre-arrange the meeting with the Chair Person. Only board members may vote at regular meetings.

 

A former golf course clubhouse, two banks, an iconic fire hall and railway transformer station are among historic properties nominated from Etobicoke to hopefully be included in the Toronto Historic Register.

The historic locations will be considered by Etobicoke York Community Council on October 12. It will then be considered by City Council on November 9, subject to the actions of the Etobicoke York Community Council.

City Council will look at seven properties from the Etobicoke York nomination backlog for inclusion In the City of Toronto’s Heritage Register, according to documents filed to community council.

The properties include: 15A Grierson Road, the Pine Point Golf and Country Club Clubhouse, that was built in 1936. The clubhouse was burned down in 1938 and rebuilt.

 

The Mimico Masonic Temple, Connaught Hall, at 23 Superior Avenue 

Included are The Bank of Montreal, Mimico Branch, at 2448 Lake Shore Blvd. W., which was built in 1924. The Mimico Masonic Temple, Connaught Hall, at 23 Superior Avenue, which was constructed in 1917. The ancient and iconic Toronto Suburban Railway Transformer Station, at 153 Weston Road, that was constructed in 1894, some 127 years ago.

The Bank of Montreal, Mimico Branch, at 2448 Lake Shore Blvd. W

It is nice to see the New Toronto Fire Hall on the list, at 130 Eighth Street, which was built in 1930, and will be 100-years old in nine years. There is also a Canadian Bank of Commerce, Weston Branch, at 1940 Weston Road, which was built in 1919.

And the Roy Oliver House, at 30 Government Road, which was built more than 150-years-ago, in 1870.

Toronto Suburban Railway Transformer Station, at 153 Weston Road

In 2019, Council approved the implementation of the Toronto Heritage Survey, to modernize the day-to-day work of City Planning. The survey program is using emerging international best practices to efficiently and effectively identify heritage resources throughout the City while providing timely research and data for heritage conservation districts and other area planning studies.

A major outcome of the survey will be greater clarity for City Planning, communities and property owners about the location and value of heritage resources in Toronto.

Survey staff have prioritized the review of outstanding nominations.  Staff are undertaking this work geographically by Community Council area beginning with 28 nominations within Etobicoke York. This process included consultation with the Etobicoke York Community Preservation Panel, various divisions for City-owned property and nominator.

All of the recommended listed properties meet one or more of the provincial criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act, which the City applies when assessing properties for inclusion on the City’s Heritage Register.

Properties on the Heritage Register will be conserved and maintained in accordance with the Official Plan heritage policies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tired of being ripped off by a tow truck stranded beside the highway.

The OPP have heard the complaints and are cracking down on shady tow truck drivers to ‘enhance public safety and help mitigate the increase in criminality in Ontario’s towing industry.’

The police force in a new program said Tow & Storage Service Operators (TSSO) will have to submit and pass an annual application process to provide tow and storage services for the OPP.

“It also introduces a list of requirements TSSOs must meet before they can provide tow and storage services for police-requested legislated tow,” according to an OPP statement.

The tows apply to those which police have legislated authority to conduct  vehicle impoundment for impaired driving, stunt driving or evidence. The program also applies to tows requested by OPP officers on behalf of members of the public who need a tow.

“Applicants will need to provide information relating to ownership, registration, license, vehicle, equipment, insurance and other details in the application,” according to the OPP.  “A signed release that authorizes the OPP to conduct a criminal history background check will also be required.”

Applications must be returned to the local OPP detachment by November 1.

The OPP will assess the applications and provide notice to the TSSOs and towing associations where applicable. Successful applicants will remain on the OPP Tow List for one year and are subject to suspension and removal from the list in certain circumstances.

The Ministry of Transportation will be implementing a Tow Zone Pilot on defined sections of 400 series highways within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area to help support the development of standards, practices and regulations for the towing and storage sector.

The OPP encourages all tow companies, operators and drivers to educate themselves about the rules and regulations that guide Ontario’s towing cycle.

Each tow request will be documented and each officer can only use a company once per shift.

In the past months there have been officers charged for receiving payments, receiving kickbacks and one for obtaining sexual services for consideration. The cases are before the courts.

The move comes amid a push to rid Ontario’s tow truck industry of criminality that has seen shootings, arsons, assaults and even a homicide, said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.

“We’ve seen a lot of turf war battles between competing tow truck companies. Those put the community and the public at risk,” Schmidt told CTV News.

The application package, new list of mandatory TSSO equipment, guidelines for providing towing services to the OPP and other information are available at www.opp.ca.

 

By Timothy J. Stewart CD

Regimental Historian

Happy belated birthday to The Toronto Scottish Regiment (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Own) which turned 100-years-old on September 1.

The Regiment is headquartered at Captain Hutcheson VC Armoury on Birmingham Street. Its founding  Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Harboyttle had brought the 75^th (Mississauga) Battalion, the predecessor to the Toronto Scottish home from the Great War in 1919 and requested the 75^th Battalion be given wartime service and become a permanent unit in the post-war militia.

In May 1920 the Militia Dept., authorized the forming of the Mississauga Regiment to carry on the traditions of the 75^th Battalion. The Mississauga Regiment was re-designated The Toronto Scottish Regiment on September 1, 1921 at Lieutenant-Colonel Harbottle’s request because he felt Toronto had a large enough “Scottish” population to support two regiments, the other being the 48^th Highlanders.

Harbottle sought and was granted affiliation with the London Scottish Regiment in England and adopted its distinctive uniform cloth of Hodden Grey in 1937 by Her Colonel-in-Chief on May 22, 1939, during the Royal Tour of Canada.

Her Majesty presented Regimental Colours (flags) to her regiment on the campus of the University of Toronto.

The Regiment was mobilized again on September 1, 1939, for war service and was one of the very first Canadian regiments to arrive in the United Kingdom prior to Christmas 1939. On April 21, 1940, the Regiment had the honour of mounting the King’s Guard at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited her Regiment on three more occasions during the war.

The Toronto Scottish Regiment was designated a machine-gun support battalion and because of its specialized role. A detachment took part in the raid on Dieppe, August 19, 1942, and following D-Day, June 6, 1944, until the ceasefire on May 7, 1945, the Toronto Scottish provided fire support for every action involving the 2^nd Canadian Division and for other formations in the First Canadian Army.

That support included 36 medium machine guns and 16 awarded from the Great War. The active battalion of the Regiment was disbanded in December 19454, having reverted once again to an infantry militia battalion.

Following the war, Her Majesty visited her Regiment again six times, and again in 1989 on the 50^th anniversary of her first visit.

Today, the Toronto Scottish is an army reserve unit that augments the regular force. Since World War II, members have served with the UN’s army in Korea and UN peacekeeping and NATO forces in Cambodia, Bosnia, Croatia, West Germany, Cyprus, Golan Heights and many other countries.

Domestically, officers and soldiers of the Regiment have been called to assist local authorities in the clean-up following Hurricane Hazel that rocked Etobicoke in 1954, the Winnipeg flood of 1997, The Eastern Ontario and Quebec ice story of 1998 and snowstorm that crippled Toronto in 1999 to name a few.

A contingent from the Regiment and Regimental family in 2000 participated in The Queen Mother’s 100^th birthday in London, unveiled a plaque in Dieppe, France, and a monument in Caen, Normandy to commemorate its World War II battalion.

With the passing of our beloved Colonel-in-Chief in April 2002, His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales, was asked to accept the position of Colonel-in-Chief.

His Royal Highness Prince Edward on behalf of his brother Prince Charles visited in 2015 and in a special ceremony presented the Battle Honour Afghanistan to the Regiment. More than 60 Tor Scots served in Afghanistan.

Two years later, the Regiment was given a Direct Fire Support Tasking and is currently training soldiers on the .50 calibre machine gun, C16 grenade launcher and the TOW missile system all in preparation to deploy a platoon overseas when called upon.

For several months in 2020, members of the Toronto Scottish along with thousands of Armed Forces personnel across Canada were called on to assist in COVID-19 relief efforts. Under the operational name “Laser” Tor Scots found themselves in Ontario Long Term Care facilities assisting with custodial duties such as cleaning, washing, scrubbing and sanitizing.

Regimental fatalities through both world wars in the 20^th century number more than 1,000, with another 3,000 plus wounded in body and mind. The motto of the Toronto Scottish regiment is CARRY ON and it will continue to do so as it moves into its second century of service to Canada.

A plaque of Etobicoke war hero and Victoria Cross recipient George Topham stood for many years outside the former Etobicoke Civic Centre.

Corporal Topham, 27, was a Medical Orderly in the Canadian Army’s 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War when he watched two colleagues shot to death by enemy fire while saving a man in the battlefield. He promptly jumped in to save the soldiers.

Topham’s battalion gained the distinction of being the only Canadian Army unit to fight in the battle. During Operation Varsity, the Western Allies‘ attempted to cross the River Rhine on March 24, 1945, and encountered heavy enemy fire as they took casualties.

“Corporal Topham went forward through intense fire to replace the orderlies who had been killed before his eyes,” according to military records. “As he worked on the wounded man, he was himself shot through the nose.”

Despite ‘severe bleeding and intense pain, he never faltered in his task,” the military wrote. “He carried the wounded man steadily and slowly back through continuous fire.”

As if that was not enough. While returning to his company, he saved three men by rescuing them from a burning carrier that was in danger of exploding.

 

The carrier had taken a direct hit and enemy mortar bombs were still dropping. The vehicle was burning fiercely and its own mortar ammunition was exploding. An experienced officer on the spot had warned all not to approach the carrier.

Topham went out alone in spite of the blasting ammunition and enemy fire, and rescued the three occupants of the carrier. One man died. He brought them back and arranged for their evacuation.

For six hours Topham refused medical help for his wound and worked hard to bring in wounded, showing complete disregard for the heavy and accurate enemy fire. It was only when all casualties had been cleared that he consented to his own wound being treated.

For his exceptional and courageous deeds, Topham was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for valor in the British Commonwealth.

“This N.C.O. showed sustained gallantry of the highest order,” according to the Victoria Cross. “For six hours, most of the time in great pain, he performed a series of acts of outstanding bravery and his magnificent and selfless courage inspired all those who witnessed it.”

Topham’s heroism was celebrated with a parade and civic reception in Toronto on August 8, 1945; one hundred members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion served as a guard of honour.

After the war in November 10, 1945, the war hero laid the cornerstone of the new Sunnybrook Memorial Hospital for Veterans. He served briefly as a Constable with the Toronto Police Department before a career with Toronto Hydro.

He died on May 31, 1974 from a heart attack, and is buried at Etobicoke’s Sanctuary Park Cemetery.

The Ontario Heritage Foundation erected a plaque at the Civic Centre in 1980 commemorating Corporal Topham, V.C. This plaque has since been erected outside Runnymede College Institute.

A park near St. Clair Avenue East and O’Connor Drive was named for Topham. It features three ball diamonds, two lit tennis courts, a wading pool, a children’s playground and the Topham Park Community Centre and Clubhouse.

 

More South Etobicoke business owners are complaining that they cannot be held responsible for screening their customers for proof of vaccinations before they are allowed into their premises.

The owners say many of their customers are local residents who have been frequenting their businesses for years.

“How do I now tell this customer that I can’t allow them in my restaurant,” asks the owner of a schnitzel restaurant in Alderwood. “We have been waiting for more customers for a long time. Now we have to tell them they cannot come in.”

She insists the long-time customer, who may not have two shots or require paperwork, will never return to her business for being turned away due to vaccination checks.

The owner of Dakota’s Bar and Grill, on Lake Shore Blvd. W., says her business has dipped as much as 50% since the proof of vaccinations began.

“Many people do not have the double shots and are not coming in or are going elsewhere,” she says. “We are suffering.”

Many ‘mom and pop’ store owners say they cannot afford to hire someone to conduct the checks, since the vaccine proof of verification can appear on a printed form, on e-mail, digital or versions that can be scanned to show if a customer has had two shots.

Some angry merchants even told me flat out that they will not be asking for a proof of vaccination from some customers.

Sure, the owners are responsible area residents, who know the dangers of COVID-19 and do not want to get their customers sick. They claim to have suffered long enough.

They believe that the Ontario government have passed their enforcement efforts to the small and medium sized businesses, without proper training or communication.

Even the local Lakeshore Village Business Improvement Association (BIA) said there’s been many concerns from local businesses.

“I think there should be better communication between the province and local businesses,” said Chris Korwin-Kuczynski, Chair of the board of the BIA. “Many of our members have concerns about a lack training.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said businesses are ‘divided on the contentious issue of vaccination credentials for entry into businesses.’

The announcement “leaves many concerns and unanswered questions for small business owners. How will enforcement work? Who is responsible in the event of a fraud? What is included under “youth recreational sport,” asks the CFIB.

“Will training be provided for businesses that have to check vaccine credentials? How are businesses supposed to recognize out-of-province and out-of-country vaccinations? Is there iron-clad protection for businesses against potential human rights challenges and costly lawsuits?”

“It is disappointing that the government is adding additional requirements without first removing the remaining capacity restrictions,” the federation said in a release. Capacity for most of the businesses affected is up to 50 people.

This adds an additional burden on these businesses and their employees. “They need to know when they will be able to begin their recoveries,” the CFIB wrote. “The Ontario government needs to provide more funding and a plan for allowing them to get back to 100 per cent capacity.”

They are calling on the province to provide financial support to aid businesses in their new role as vaccination screeners, which may require additional staff, training and technology to ensure full compliance with the new rules.

Customers are required to show proof of vaccination to enter: restaurants or bars to dine, casinos, bingo halls, businesses that provide teaching and instruction, strip clubs, bathhouses, meeting event space, conference halls, trade shows, personal care, fitness trainers and more. Visit https://www.cfib-fcei.ca

The CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 95,000 members across every industry and region, including 38,000 in Ontario.

Tom Godfrey is Publisher of The South Etobicoke News and a long-time community resident. He is a former Reporter at the Toronto Sun for many years before deciding to use his skills to work in community journalism.

 

What Mask do you Choose?

From the beginning of mankind, we have been known to wear a façade, a mask, to adopt a character. Throughout history, we can see, that men/women choose to don a mask to grow into their world. Would you agree or disagree?

This October, we’re honouring everything Halloween, everything it represents. Not just the modern day costume and the sharing of our bounty in the form of candy and treats, but also the older, the ancient traditions of masquerades, balls, acting, the players we invite into our lives.

For humanity to grow together and for our society to function, we readily take on rules in our lives. Many of us willingly take on personas to expand into new roles, but some of us adopt a cover to survive. Some masks can be healthy, stabilizing and create supportive roles for us: like being a motherly figure or a father figure, or the ‘strong one’ in the family. Perhaps, we accept a role or a mask to help cover who we truly are early on in our life, because we must. It can be an effective protection tool and serves to hide us from danger.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing anyone?

Now we find ourselves in the middle of (still in the middle but hopefully towards the last end) of a modern pandemic — where physical masks are mandatory.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but over the last three, four or even more years there’s been this collective outcry of wanting to know the truth and revealing the truth, showing our true selves. The demand for truth, or unmasking if you will, has been prevalent in government bodies, international household name brands, large businesses and even popular icons, from all industries. At least on social media, this has been the modern rhetoric and the go to messaging.

Perhaps in the middle of all this mask wearing we are now being pushed one more step, even further along, to realizing how debilitating and uncomfortable and confining masks are in our lives.

I invite you to think about the idea that wearing a mask is not the problem or the challenge. What seems to be quite clear in our modern life and has been true for thousands of years is the freedom to choose. I realize this is a polarizing issue but stop for a moment. Stop and breathe and just read that over again.  What I’m seeing out here is that over the thousands of years, whenever we have had the choice to put on a mask, the experience was very different than when we were forced to wear a mask whether it be a physical mask as a warrior or during modern pandemic times or a figurative mask to protect our feelings to protect our role in our family or in our society. When we feel we can choose, we readily adopt a mask for fun, for power, for entertainment…Have you noticed this?

It feels that the healing message for this month and for the coming years ahead could very well be that we must practice choosing with responsibility. Also, that we practice growing strong and balanced so that we are able and READY to choose responsibly. With freedom comes responsibility – and with great responsibility great comes power.

‘With freedom comes responsibility – and with great responsibility great comes power.’

[come on you know I had to quote Spiderman, 1962, on the great eve of Hallowed Eve, the Costume Olympics of the year!]  (( for research fun, see if you can find out exactly where that quote came from and how it was used in the comic, hint: who said it?)

For the month of October, your challenge, if you choose to accept, it is to examine the masks you wear. Not just the one on your face to go shopping this fall, though they are quite fun and interesting to wear. No, take time to have a look at how you present yourself to the world and even to yourself in the mirror. Take pause and write down or meditate on the visage or masks that have served you well and the ones that have let you down. As the energy of the season urges us to gather, harvest, slow down and put away and store our resources, this is a wonderful exercise to harness strength and stock nourishment in our body mind and spirit.

As we fall into fall, let us enjoy Thanksgiving and Halloween. Welcome all the joys and fun this season is meant to bring and also allow time to discover how we truly wish to see ourselves and show  ourselves of the world.

True?

“Most of us remain strangers to ourselves, hiding who we are, and ask other strangers, hiding who they are, to love us.”  —Leo Buscaglia

Monika Meulman, Founder & Owner
The Healing Muse
416-347-5449
The Healing Muse Apothecary
Inspired Living
@healingmuse
www.healingmuse.com