Many people are doing a double take as a massive Canadian flag that welcomed people to Humber Bay Shores has gone missing.

Some area residents are mystified and wondering what happened to their large flag that was for years installed on a tall flagpole at Marine Parade Drive, near the cycling trail.

The huge flag was an iconic greeter and landmark that welcomed thousands of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists as they entered the area.

“It is gone,” one man lamented. “It was a huge Canadian flag that just went missing.”

Some residents are left asking if the lovely flag was blown away in a recent wind and rain storm.

“Residents are concerned,” another resident said. “We would like to see it back on the flagpole.”

It is believed the huge flag and pole was erected in 2015 to mark the 50^th anniversary of the Canadian flag.

Between 2005 and 2020 more than a dozen condos were built in the Humber Bay Shores area, ranging from 10 storeys to towers more than 60 storeys high.

The area, with a population of more than 30,000, has evolved from a small tourist motel strip to a large waterfront condo community, with an abundance of green space and views you can’t find in the City.

 

 

The Ontario Fire Marshal is investigating a blaze that destroyed a popular fried chicken restaurant that was up for sale at Humber Bay Shores.

Residents said it sounded like an explosion on March 14 around 11 p.m. that blew out the glass windows of Mero’s Hot Chicken on the ground floor of a condo building at 2183 Lake Shore Blvd. W., and Marine Parade Drive.

“It was a powerful blast and people were picking up shattered glass on Lake Shore Blvd.,” a nearby business owner said. “There appears to be structural damage inside the store from the explosion and fire.”

Shattered glass could be seen on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. Toronto Fire said there were reports of an explosion.

The restaurant had been opened for about two years and was quite busy at first, the business owner said.

He said the business had been up for sale for about four months, but there wasn’t that much interest from potential buyers.

The businessman said many of the condo owners in the area at this time of the year purchase their food using Uber or other food delivery services so they won’t have to leave their units.

There are no reports of injuries from the fire. Fire officials said the building sprinklers activated and prevented the spread of the fire. Crews were able to go in and extinguish the remaining fire.

Residents said a next door dental office, that was slated to open in days, was also damaged from the fire. Other businesses were also affected.

It is not known if the condo building underwent any structural damage.

Toronto Fire said it was a one-alarm fire, and there is no word on the estimated cost of damage.

There is no word on cause but the fire is being treated as suspicious.

Mero’s Chicken prided itself on its locally sourced chicken that was marinated from the night before and freshly cooked.

“We wake up early to hand-bread and fry our signature chicken,” according to its advertising.

GO Train commuters are being warned they will have to use TTC buses or other transportation as the Long Branch GO Station will be closed for four days due to construction.

The station will be closed from Friday March 22 to Monday March 25 as Metrolinx upgrades the rail network that will also shut Port Credit, Mimico and Exhibition GO Stations for ‘more frequent and fully accessible service.’

“This includes accessibility and amenity improvements to Toronto’s Long Branch GO Station located at 20 Brow Drive in Etobicoke,” according to a Metrolinx Construction Notice.

The company said Metrolinx’s GO Expansion program is delivering more GO service across the network, including trains every 15-minutes or better on the Lakeshore West Rail Corridor.

“To support GO Expansion, we are upgrading the rail network and our GO stations to enable more frequent and fully accessible service,” Metrolinx said.

It said during the Long Branch closure Track 3 will be realigned and the south-west platform will be widened. Access to the station from Edgeware Drive will be closed.

They said construction activities to realign the track will be continuous during day and night. Station parking will be closed and platforms will be inaccessible.

“Residents should expect some noise, vibration and dust,” the company said. “Our construction teams will take reasonable measures to minimize disturbances to residents.”

A range of heavy equipment will be used for the construction work and lights will be pointed away from residential windows, the company said, adding construction noise and vibration will be monitored and street sweeping will take place.

Residents can also expect an increase in deliveries to the worksite in advance of the construction activities.

Metrolinx said micro-piling will take place at the station at the beginning of March, which will entail 12 micro-piles being drilled, with a steel bar placed inside the hole and filled with concrete for the installation of temporary rail bridges to maintain rail service during construction.

It said from March 22 for three days the tracks will be aligned for the construction of new east platforms and the temporary rail bridges will be installed on April 15 and is slated to take two months. Most work will take place from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.

For more information contact 416-202-6911 or email TorontoWest@metrolinx.com.

Vocal South Etobicoke residents made the most calls to the City for service requests last year, according to a Toronto Customer Experience report.

Residents of Ward 3 Etobicoke Lakeshore made almost 30,000 calls for service to the City, according to a March 8 report from the Customer Experience Director to a Service Excellence Committee.

Toronto Rosedale was second with 25,596 calls for service and Toronto-Danforth was third with 25,428 calls, according to the Customer Service Division.

Etobicoke Centre was number eight with 22,735 calls and Etobicoke North placed 18^th with 15,333 calls for service.

So far in 2024 there has been more than 22,700 service requests made in Etobicoke Centre to 311, and the top requests last month were for pot holes, with 54; followed by 51 for garbage bin lid damaged; 43 to pick up dead wildlife; 38 for sewer line issues and 31 calls for injured wildlife.

There were 65 calls made to 311 relating to unsafe construction sites; 119 for untidy construction sites; 630 for leaking water hydrants; 663 for pollution spills; 661 for sewer odour; 308 for discoloured water and 1,064 for low water pressure, according to Toronto Water.

City officials said it takes from two to 10 days for City workers to respond to a call depending on the urgency.

Customer Service Representatives at 311 responded to some 848,000 general inquiries by phone, e-mail, twitter and other contacts last year, with property tax billing and vacant home tax being the most popular topics. Some 44,000 people made inquiries at the counters.

The Service Committee said 80 per cent of their phone calls were answered in 75 seconds.

It said there were spikes of 28,180 calls made during snowstorms, which were handled on an average of just over three minutes for each call. Another spike occurred during the 2023 mayor by-election in which 311 received 6,321 inquiries from residents asking about election jobs, voting cards or polling station locations.

“The Complaints & Compliments project aims to create a more customer-centric, consistent, and scalable complaints and compliments process for Toronto’s residents, businesses and visitors,” according to the report.

The 311 service is also looking at expanding support and intake for calls relating to bicycle safety concerns and operation and maintenance of parks and facilities within them.

They are also working with refugee support systems so people can donate or offer accommodations to newcomers. Last year 311 received 73 inquiries, which included offers of housing support and requests for information on ways to support or donate.

The service is working with Toronto Fire Services (TFS) for providing non-emergency information freeing up TFS workers for more pressing calls. Almost 10,000 calls were received last year for non-emergency fire-related information.

Work is also being taken to launch a Housing Data Hub to track the City’s progress towards approving 40,000 affordable rental homes by 2030.

The 311 service is involved in the Alcohol in Parks Project by handling general inquiries regarding park locations, guidelines and by-law enforcement.

The service provides information on Transportation Services and Traffic Systems Operation as it relates to transit signal codes, communication issues and timing requests.

The 311 operators provides residents, businesses and visitors with easy access to non-emergency City services, programs and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The service is integrated with five of the City’s divisions including Municipal Licensing and Standards, Toronto Water, Transportation Services, Solid Waste Management Services and Urban Forestry.

The City is spending more than $1 million to provide new beds so its firefighters can rest.

A contract has been issued to Waterloo Mattresses Ltd., to supply, deliver and install mattresses, box springs, heavy duty bed frames, stow-away beds and posture boards to the City’s 83 fire stations.

There are more than 3,200 firefighters on the job and most work long or varied shifts and often take a nap to refresh as they await calls for service.

The contract was awarded by a City Bid Award Panel and is good for one year and worth about $1,015 million. The contract can be extended for four one-year periods.

“The total potential contract award identified in this report is $1,014,052 including all applicable taxes and charges,” according to City documents.

Firefighters require a nap since Station A on Adelaide Street W., is the busiest in Canada due to its proximity to the heart of downtown Toronto and receives the most number of calls daily.

The station, which opened in 1971, at one time served as headquarters of the Toronto Fire Department until amalgamation in 1998. A pumper truck in Station 332 is the busiest fire truck in Canada, with 4,255 calls in 2014.

The service now receives more than 200,000 calls for service yearly and has more than 179 fire fighting vehicles.

Fire services in Toronto began in 1874 and consisted of volunteer fire companies. Before then fire services were composed of poorly trained volunteer companies in the city. The first company was created in 1826 and hook and ladder in 1831.

Most were able bodied men who were trained to operate pumps to draw water from the lake. A wooden pumper truck presented to Toronto by British America Assurance Company around 1837 is now at Black Creek Pioneer Village.

Waterloo Mattress LTD is a locally owned manufacturing company with over 30 years of experience in the sleep industry. Their product professionals combine healthcare knowledge and industry standards in its mattresses.

A plan to build a 22-storey condo on The West Mall has been rejected since the tower will be too close to the fight path used by aircraft flying in and out of Pearson Airport.

The building proposed for 710 The West Mall, just west of Highway 27, was nixed by the Etobicoke York Community Council for a number of reasons including being close to the busy airport.

An appeal with changes to the plan is underway.

“The site is subject to the Lester B. Pearson International Airport Zoning Regulations, which permit a maximum elevation of 219.46 metres above sea level,” according to a decision by community council.

The council said the proposed development site can accommodate a tall building; however, the proposed 11-storey (34.5 metre) base building is too tall.

“The scale and height of base buildings should fit harmoniously within the existing context and respect the scale of adjacent streets and open spaces.”

The building was planned to accommodate 147 one-bedroom, 105 two-bedroom, and 30 three-bedroom units, for a total of 282 dwelling units.

The proposed development has a total gross floor area of 21,641 square metres, resulting in a density of 3.5 times the lot area, based on a site area of 6,191 square metres.

The building’s developer is H&R Developments, architect Kirkor Architects Planners and Landscape architect STUDIO tla.

“The proposal does not have appropriate and supportable zoning standards, including, the proposed building height, base building height, and tower floorplates, according to council. “ The proposed development does not conform to the City’s Official Plan.”

The condo included 225 parking spaces for vehicles and 215 bicycle parking spots.

Pearson Airport on its website said any development, including buildings, cell towers, antennae, high light masts etc., close to the airport are affected to federal airport zoning regulations.

“Land use compatibility policies must be reviewed as part of municipal site plan review process or prior to starting any construction activities for those developments that are not subject to municipal site plan approval,” according to the website.

The airport is Canada’s largest and busiest with five runways and three passenger terminals as well as facilities for both airport staff and passengers that come through the airport. There are more than 1,300 daily arrivals and departures from the airport that provides service to more than 180 destinations across six continents.

As many as 130,000 passengers use the airport daily.

 

 

Motorists are being warned to be super vigilant as more children will be on the roadways with March break underway.

Toronto Police Traffic Services officers have launched an Early Spring Traffic Safety Campaign that will see them step up patrols from March 11 to 17 for March break.

“Children represent a large portion of our population and vulnerable road user group,” according to Toronto Police. “We must be mindful of the fact that there will likely be more school-age children on our roads and sidewalks during March break.”

Police said drivers have to be more careful with the start of daylight savings time as our clocks move forward on March 10, resulting in sunrise and sunset being an hour later.

With “the start of daylight savings time means that road users need to be more aware of their surroundings and ensure they are well rested,” police said.

Some 155 people were killed on Toronto roads from 2021 to 2023, according to traffic officers. Of those, 78 were pedestrians and four per cent of the victims were under the age of 18 years.

“Many of these pedestrian deaths occurred on wide arterial roads, signalized streets that carry high volumes of traffic, found in every Division,” officers said.

During this time traffic enforcement activities will focus on the “Big 4” driver collision-causing behaviours such as speeding, driving aggressively, driving while distracted, and driving while impaired.

Toronto’s Vision Zero Road Safety Plan acknowledges that collisions are inevitable but that killed and seriously, injured (KSI) collisions are preventable and unacceptable, police said.

Receivership proceedings have begun against Vandyk Properties leaving a number of major South Etobicoke developments in limbo, including a massive one at the Mimico GO Station.

A formal receivership order dated March 5 appointed msi Spergel Inc. as receiver over all “assets, undertakings, and properties” related to the Mississauga-based company, including a two-storey commercial property at 10 Neighbourhood Lane.

The Neighbourhood Lane property includes tenants as Stonegate Community Health Centre, Trilogy Physiotherapy West and an IDA Pharmacy.

Home Trust Company is alleging that Vandyk-Backyard Humberside Limited is in default of a $10 million loan, and requested the company be placed under receivership, which the court obliged.

Last November KingSett Mortgage Corporation and Dorr Capital Corporation requested that a receivership order be granted for five Vandyk developments: UPtowns and Heart Lake in Brampton, The Ravine and Lakeview DXE Club in Mississauga and Grand Central Mimico in Toronto.

At that time, KingSett and Dorr alleged that Vandyk owed more than $203 million related to those five projects.

As of late January eight sites connected to the Vandyk Group had been declared insolvent, according to The Globe and Mail.

Some of the developments on hold is a 20-storey condo at 327 Royal York Road that is in proximity to the Mimico GO Station and parking facilities.

That development was planned to house 190 residential units, 114 one-bedroom suites, and 76 two-bedroom layouts.

Also affected is a 39-storey tower at 23 Buckingham Street, near Royal York Road and Gardiner Expressway.

That condo was slated to accommodate 606 residential units, 48 one-bedrooms, 310 one-bedroom-plus-den, 115 two-bedroom, 70 two-bedroom-plus-den and 63 three-bedroom layouts.

Vandyk’s proposal had called for two high-rise buildings at 28 and 30 storeys and a mid-rise two-storey base.  The first floor of the base would have contained retail shops, with a grocery store on the second floor.

Vandyk Properties is a privately owned real estate development and investment management company with over 40 years of expertise in the North American real estate property sector.

The company and its investors once held a real estate portfolio representing $1 billion in completed value creation and $4.5 billion in owned assets under development.

The action has left Metrolinx scrambling to find another company to finish off development projects at the Mimico GO Station.

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.