It’s almost time to stake out a seat on your favourite “star gazing patio”. All of the stars will be out from September 4th – September 13th for the Toronto International Film Festival. Yorkville will be THE place to be. Prime hunting ground for autograph hounds or star gazers will be the Four Seasons Hotel, the Windsor Arms Hotel, the Hazelton Hotel, and the Park Hyatt Hotel. Toronto becomes so celebrity obsessed during the festival that at times it is even difficult to walk on the street in front of these hotels, let alone get into the bar for a drink. Some of the favourite restaurant hangouts for the stars have been Sassafraz on Bellaire Street, Joso’s on Davenport and Avenue Roads, Bistro 990 on Bay Street, and Hemingway’s on Cumberland Street where Russell Crowe got into one of his more famous altercations. American actors flock to La Casa del Habano, a Mecca for Cuban cigar lovers, on Yorkville Avenue.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is of such importance that it is the festival of choice for many world premieres.
• Charles Martin Smith’s action-comedy “Stone of Destiny.”
• Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom,” starring Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo
• Stephen Elliot’s U.S.-British co-production “Easy Virtue,” starring Colin Firth, Jessica Biel and Kristin Scott Thomas
• Michael Winterbottom’s “Genova,” starring Colin Firth and Hope Davis
• Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles”
• Francois Dupeyron’s “Aide-toi et le ciel t’aidera”
• Rithy Panh’s “Un Barrage center le pacifique.”

For a complete list of films, follow the link below.
http://www.tiff08.ca/boxofficeinfo/default.aspx
The TIFF box office is located in the Manulife Centre at 55 Bloor Street West. For ticket information follow the link below. http://www.tiff08.ca/boxofficeinfo/default.aspx

Have you seen any famous people during TIFF? Where are your favourite people watching locations?

With all of the Olympic hype, emotions are running high for Toronto’s bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games. But, if you take the emotion out of it, is it a good business decision or will this become another tax payer’s nightmare? The dollar figures are staggering. It is estimated that the cost of the Pan Am Games will run $1.7 billion and this is being touted as a bargain in comparison to the $40 billion that it cost to stage the Beijing Olympics.

What will we get for our $1.7 billion? Premier McGuinty who used his time at the Beijing Olympics to lobby hard for Toronto’s bid for the Pan Am Games is saying that we will be able to build new sporting facilities like a high-performance sport institute in Markham that would include a competition site for winter and summer sports, a pool, and a field house. He and others feel that a major investment in an athletic infrastructure is necessary if our amateur athletes have any hopes of real success in the future.

Ontario has requested a $600 million contribution from the feds for the Pan Am Games. The feds have announced their support but have not yet attached a dollar value to it. The other contenders so far are Lima, Peru, Caracas, Venezuela, and Bogotá, Colombia. The estimates are that over 10,000 athletes and coaching staff would be participating. That and the influx of tourists could potentially bring a financial windfall to Toronto which would hopefully have long lasting and far reaching effects. It would certainly put Toronto on a world stage, not quite like the Olympics, but it could be significant.

Until now this has been only talk. The next step is a formal presentation that will be made in Acapulco. The vote for the host city will likely take place next July. Would you like Toronto to host the Pan Am Games in 2015?

There is enormous competition for your charitable donation dollars. We are constantly being bombarded for money by email, by snail mail, by phone, and on the street. Yes, the street, previously the exclusive domain for pan handlers. Now they are competing for turf with charities. Some charities are bone fide legitimate, reputable organizations, and unfortunately some are not. Statistics say that Canadians give $40 billion a year to charities. How do we know where the money is going and which of these apparently worthy causes truly deserves our hard earned money?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has a list of Canadian registered charities, revoked charities, charities that have been suspended, charities that have been annulled, charities that have been assessed penalties, and newly registered charities. Please avail yourself of this information if you have any questions or concerns about an organization that has solicited you for funds.

The old adage “buyers beware” also applies to donors. “Donors Beware”.

• Search the CRA Charities Listings
• Make sure that you use the exact spelling of the charity. Some “fake” charities use names that sound almost exactly like the legitimate ones.
• Never succumb to high pressure tactics.
• Never give out personal information on the telephone.
• Confirm that the organization will provide you with an official donation receipt that can be used for tax purposes.
• Make cheques out ONLY to the name of the charity, NEVER to an individual.
• Report fraud to PhoneBusters, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre, at 1-888-495-8501

Let’s make sure that the money that we donate goes to doing good works. Have you been victimized by a fraudulent charity?

The use of electronic devices in our society has reached epic proportion and is way out of control. Everywhere we go we are constantly confronted with people talking on their cellphones, iPhones, and Blackberrys. There is no place that we can go to avoid this invasion – until now. Some clever marketers in the Canadian Rockies have now created and packaged what they are calling “Electronic Rehab Getaways”.

Four hotels in the Fairmount Hotel chain - Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, and Whistler - have just the answer to cure addicts, at least temporarily, of their inability to put away their electronic devices and enjoy a brief respite from 24/7 availability. Signing up for the Electronic Rehab Getaway means that when you check in you have to hand over all of your electronic devices which will be turned off and stored securely in the hotel safe. Participating addicts must sign a waver pledging to go off-line for the duration of their stay.

The Banff Springs Hotel, one of the most beautiful hotel properties on the planet, has an Electronic Rehab Getaway which starts at $499/night and includes herbal teas, a meditation book and complimentary access to fitness classes and spa mineral pools. The Chateau Lake Louise has a Digital Detox package which requires a minimum 2-night stay and includes herbal teas, hiking with a mountain heritage guide, and paddling on the Lake Louise for $459/night. The Jasper Park Lodge offers the Electronic Rehab Getaway for $529/night including herbal teas, fresh fruit, and a guided hike.

For more details or to make a reservation for an Electronic Rehab Getaway, visit the Fairmont Hotels website.

On Sunday, August 10th at 3:50 AM the North York area of Toronto was literally rocked by a series of explosions on the site of Sunrise Propane, a 24-hour propane dealer located near Keele and Wilson Avenues. The cause is yet unknown but according to engineering expert Richard Hawrelak, a plant design engineer with over 30 years of experience and a lecturer at University of Western Ontario, propane explosions usually start because of a fault in the safety valve that normally lets out over-compressed gas that builds up at the top of a tank of liquefied propane. Mr. Hawrelak went on to say that Canadian propane safety regulations aren’t as stringent as American or European ones.

This is chilling news in light of the fact that Sunrise Propane is very close to a large residential area. Over 12,000 people live within 1.6 kms of the blast and had to be evacuated from the area while 34 fire trucks and numerous other support vehicles fought the fires. Gas and electricity was cut off, Yorkdale Shopping Centre was evacuated, and a no-fly zone was established around the area. For the first time in history a 16-kilometer stretch of nearby Highway 401, from Highway 400 to the Don Valley Parkway was closed as a precaution.

Sunrise Propane was regulated and authorized by a provincial agency and complied with existing zoning laws which predated North York’s amalgamation into the City of Toronto. This is small comfort to the people affected. The residents who live in close proximity to the propane depot are angry and frightened. They are demanding to know why this was allowed in the first place. Toronto is now going to find out if other similar situations exist. It may be necessary to change the zoning bylaws in prevent a similar situation from occurring. The Technical Standards and Safety Authority, responsible for regulating transportation, storage, handling and use of fuel including propane, said propane facilities operating in residential neighbourhoods must meet “stringent regulations.” If this is the case then either Sunrise Propane wasn’t compliant with the regulations or the regulations aren’t stringent enough.

A massive $300 million class action suit has been launched against Sunrise Propane and the City of Toronto. The notice of action will also include the province of Ontario and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, the organization responsible for licensing Sunrise Propane.

Toronto may not be a Perfect 10 the way that Bo Derek was back in the day, but according to Forbes Toronto is number 10 on the list of the “World’s Most Economically Powerful Cities”. That’s pretty impressive! This is the Forbes top 10 list.

1. London
2. Hong Kong
3. New York
4. Tokyo
5. Chicago
6. Seoul
7. Paris
8. Los Angeles
9. Shanghai
10. Toronto

The Forbes article used data that was compiled from very reliable sources - PricewaterhouseCoopers, MasterCard, and UBS, a leading financial firm. Based on the data provided by these 3 companies cities around the world were rated on:
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Inflation
• Financial flow
• Growth
• Quality of life
• Legal and political framework
• Economic stability
• Ease of doing business
• Convenience as a business centre
• Information flow
• Living expenses related to earnings

This is what Forbes had to say about Toronto:
GDP (2005): $209 billion
GDP (2020): $327 billion
Growth rate: 3%
MasterCard ranking: 13
Population (2007): 5,213,000
Purchasing power (NYC=100): 113.8%
Toronto only narrowly edged out Madrid, Spain; Philadelphia and Mexico City, Mexico, to hang on at No. 10. Toronto is still the economic heart of one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and it’s projected to keep humming through 2020. Along with London, Toronto is the fastest growing G7 financial center.

According to Forbes these criteria establish whether or not it is worthwhile to establish yourself in a city. Although most of us who live in Toronto would be loathe to leave under any circumstances, it’s nice to know that the experts have predicted an excellent economic future for Toronto.

Are you constantly getting automated and live phone calls from annoying telemarketers? It seems to be escalating these days. And in spite of the fact that I am registered with the Canadian Marketing Association’s (CMA) “Do Not Contact Service”, I am still being targeted by these vultures. I have recently received telemarketing calls on my mobile phone. Even with call display some of them manage to sneak through.

Beginning September 30th the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) will launch a National Do Not Call List (DNCL) that will be operated by Bell Canada under a 5-year contract. This service is totally free of charge and any phone number can be registered. The registration process will be able to be done via a toll-free number that has yet to be published or online. Your DNCL registration will be valid for a period of 3 years at which time you will be required to re-register. There will be no reminders sent out. You will be responsible to remembering to re-register.

Telemarketers who fail to play by the rules will face stiff fines - individual telemarketers who phone a number registered on the list will incur a $1,500 fine and telemarketing companies would be fined $15,000 for calling a number registered on the list. Check back on the CRTC website in September for registration information.

The one big loophole in this great program is that registered charities, businesses with which you have prior relationships, political parties, survey companies, and newspapers will be permitted to call even once the DNCL is launched. In March an enterprising University of Ottawa Internet law professor, Michael Geist, launched http://www.ioptout.ca/ which will supplement the CRTC’s DNCL and it has been endorsed by the CRTC. It allows you create and manage a personal DNCL, even including organizations that will exempt from the CRTC’s DNCL.

I wonder what new tactics the telemarketers will come up with. I can’t imagine that they will go quietly into the night.

Buskerfest is one of Toronto’s best loved family-friendly festivals. From August 21st to August 24th over 500,000 people are expected to attend. The festivities take place around the St. Lawrence Market on Front Street between Church and Jarvis Streets, including Market Lane, Market Square, and Berczy Park. You don’t have to buy any tickets to attend. The entire festival is FREE. However, donations to Epilepsy Toronto are encouraged and most welcome.
Come out to Buskerfest on:
• Thursday, August 21st from Noon - 10:00 PM.
• Friday, August 22nd from Noon - 11:00 PM
• Saturday, August 23rd from 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
• Sunday, August 24th from 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM

If you’ve never been to Buskerfest before, you are in for a real treat. Buskers are street performers with some amazing talent. Just wander around and you’ll see jugglers, unicyclists, stilt walkers, acrobats, comedians, magicians, mimes, contortionists, yoyo masters, skate boarders, sword swallowers, and more, on the street and on 8 stages. These amazing performance artists hail from around the globe – Canada, United States, England, Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, Argentina, Japan, and Australia. There are even balloon twisting artists and magic lessons for the kids.

Do yourself a favour and leave the car at home and take the TTC instead. Take the subway and exit at Union Station or the King Street Station. From there you are a short walk over to the heart of the action or you can hop the King Street streetcar and get off at Jarvis Street.

The Brunswick House, located in the Annex at 481 Bloor Street West, is a well known nightspot frequented by University of Toronto students. The establishment is now embroiled in a controversy brought about by posted dress code signs which prohibit baggy pants, do-rags, bandanas, tracksuits, jerseys, tank tops and reverse baseball caps. Although other Toronto establishments have similar dress codes, they are enforced by doormen, not posted. The fact that the Brunswick House is posting dress codes rules is not in itself offensive. The controversy is due to the fact that the banned clothing is considered “hip-hop” which is a style associated with the black culture.

For many this appears to be a backdoor route to keeping blacks out. The Brunswick House permits shorts, sandals, and flip flops, which by any standards are inappropriate for a nightspot. It therefore begs the question that if the Brunswick House is not trying to keep blacks out, why would they ban hip-hop style clothing which would be considered by many to be more appropriate? It is nothing more than stereotyping to associate crime and violence with a particular style of dress.

Considering that the Brunswick House is frequented by University of Toronto students, they can hardly expect their patrons to come in wearing button down Oxford shirts, pressed khakis, and penny loafers. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is usually a duck. The Brunswick House’s dress code sounds like blatant racism to me.

Look up in the sky on Saturday, August 30th, Sunday, August 31st and September 1st, 2008 and prepare to be dazzled. The Canadian International Air Show is back with some of the most amazing stunt pilots and death defying aerobatics that you’ve even seen. The spectacle will take place over Lake Ontario at the waterfront grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE).

If you are planning to attend the CNE the Air Show is complimentary with your CNE admission and Ontario Place pass. The shows are scheduled to begin each day at 1:00 and end at approximately 4:00 PM. The roster of talent is astounding headlined by Canada’s own incomparable Canadian Forces Snowbirds. In addition you can expect to be dazzled by the CF-18 Hornet, Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team, Matt Chapman, F-16 Viper, T-38 Talon, Mike Wiskus, Julie Clark, MK IX Spitfire, Water Bomber, Eurocopter, and more.

One of the most unique ways to take in the Air Show is on the water. On Saturday, August 30th, Sunday, August 31st, and Monday, September 1st Toronto Harbour Cruises & Events invites you to come aboard one of their fabulous Air Show Cruises. For one incredibly low price you will get reserved seating, a delicious hot buffet lunch, DJ, dancing, a cash bar, and a bird’s eye view of the show. Boarding is at 11:30 AM, departure at noon, and the yacht returns to the dock at 4:30 PM. For more information on the Toronto Harbour Air Show Cruises or to make your reservations, follow this link: Toronto Dinner Cruises