Most teens are barely functional in the morning. We believe the culprits to be late night television and computer usage. In fact there may be a scientific reason for sleepy students. It has been shown that the optimal learning time for an adolescent brain is late morning and at puberty to age 20 the chemical that helps induce sleep is secreted from 11:00 PM - 8:00 AM. Based on research showing that teens require approximately 9 hours of sleep per night, the reality is that 75% of students are sleep deprived.

Toronto’s Eastern Commerce examined data from their first period and found that across the board everything was worse than at any other time - attendance, punctuality, and test scores. In light of the research and that over 80% of the student body lives outside the area and has to commute, coupled with the reality that many students work evenings to help support their families, Eastern Commerce is instituting a pilot project next year starting classes at 10:00 AM and closing at 4:13 PM.

There will be other scheduling changes in addition to the later start. The current 65 minute lunch period will be trimmed to 45 minutes and students will be provided with a free lunch program, eliminating the need to leave the premises. Due to longer class time from Monday - Thursday school will let out at 2:31 PM on Friday. Not everyone is embracing the change. There are students who begin part time jobs at 4:00 PM and in the winter months going home in the dark has raised some concerns about safety. It will be interesting to see if the change in start time brings about the desired result or if students just go to bed proportionately later.

A new study conducted by A.T. Kearney consultants and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs on globalization published in the Washington, D.C.-based Foreign Policy magazine ranks Toronto as the world’s fourth best city in which to experience culture. Only New York, London, and Paris rank higher than Toronto in this category. In the November/December issue 60 urban areas around the globe were assessed in 5 categories - business, human capital, culture, global political influence and the centrality of the city to global information flows. Overall Toronto ranked 10th in the list:
1.    New York
2.    London
3.    Paris
4.    Tokyo
5.    Hong Kong
6.    Los Angeles
7.    Singapore
8.    Chicago
9.    Seoul
10.    Toronto

However when it comes to culture, Toronto was much higher up the ranks. Toronto’s impressive international cuisine and the performing arts were considered standouts. Massey Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra were specifically cited. However we lost ground in the international business (26th place) and global political influence (24th place) categories. In the world of higher education we rank 13th as the best place to take a university degree.

I think that it’s fabulous that Toronto has been recognized in such an impressive manner. We tend to think of ourselves as poor cousins to the world’s great cities. But, clearly that is not the case. Not only are we a player, but we are a major player on the world stage.

First we had the pet police. Now it appears that we will have the recycling police. Is nothing personal anyone, including how we sort our garbage? And, you will be punished for not recycling to the tune of $105 next year if you do not use your blue and green bins on garbage day. According to Toronto bylaws, residents are required to use their blue bins for recycling and their green bins for compostable material. So far, recycling has been left to the honour system and no one has been rifling through your garbage to ensure that you are doing your civic duty. However, that is all going to change in 2009. The recycling police are going to send letters to residents who don’t put recycling, composting or yard waste out in proper containers, encouraging them to do the right thing. If there is no compliance you will receive a $105 ticket. The city says that they are only looking for blatant offenders, but who decides what qualifies as blatant.

According to Toronto’s director of solid waste, the city is trying to divert 70% of its waste from the dump by 2010. Multi-unit buildings seem to be the major culprits as statistics show that single-family homes will divert 61% of their waste this year, but multi-unit buildings will divert only 18%. Green bins are now being put in 300 multi-unit buildings each month. Doesn’t this statistic negate the whole concept of the garbage police? Recycling bins in multi-unit buildings are communal. How is one to ascertain which of the residents is recycling or not?

Not only does the plan sound flawed, but it is extremely intrusive. George Orwell warned us that “Big bother would be watching you”.  With city employees looking into people’s windows in the hopes of spotting unlicensed pets and others snooping in garbage, perhaps we should use this as an opportunity and solve an unemployment problem by rounding up the peeping Toms in the city and employing them gainfully in a job that they are perfectly suited for.

Image courtesy Flickr

The Hyatt Regency Hotel chain clearly has confidence in Toronto and feels that Toronto needs more luxury accommodation. The Holiday Inn on King, located at 370 King Street West in the heart of the entertainment district, will be undergoing a massive renovation and emerging as the Hyatt Regency Toronto in January 2009. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts will operate and manage the new 394-room Hyatt Regency Toronto in downtown Toronto on behalf of King Street Enterprises. It will become the second Hyatt property in the city, joining the Park Hyatt Toronto, located at Avenue Road and Bloor Street in the heart of Yorkville.

The multi-million dollar renovation includes:
•    entirely new guestrooms and suites outfitted with signature Hyatt Grand Beds, state-of-the-art 42-inch LG flat screen televisions, modern furniture and fixtures, iHome clock radios, multi-media A/V connection access ports, and fully updated bathrooms.
•    guest check-in kiosks in the lobby.
•    dramatic new wine bar in the lobby.
•    a new contemporary restaurant concept.
•    more than 30,000 square feet of newly renovated meeting space which can be configured to accommodate both large and small meetings and events.
•    wireless high-speed Internet access throughout the hotel.
•    a StayFit@Hyatt gym
•    a large Regency Club including an updated and refurnished outdoor patio.

In light of the volatile markets and economic tensions, good news has been hard to come by lately. It’s great news for Toronto that luxury hotel properties are continuing to invest in our city.

It is a sad commentary indeed that we need a Child Abuse Month. Unfortunately we do and as a result, the Ontario’s Children’s Aid Societies launched the Child Abuse Prevention Campaign to remind us that we are all responsible for the safety of children, whether or not we have any children of our own. All children need to be protected from predators and we must remain diligent in noticing the signs of child abuse and reporting suspected child abuse. We cannot remain silent and we must get involved.

Last year in Ontario over 27,000 children aged 16 and under received protective services and that is just not acceptable in a civilized society. There were almost 152,000 calls of suspected child abuse. More than 77,000 allegations of child abuse and neglect were investigated by child protection workers. The days of Leave it to Beaver are long gone. The June and Ward Cleavers of yesteryear have been replaced by single parent families and blended families.

Child abuse doesn’t always leave visible bruises. Although physical abuse is the easiest to recognize the signs of sexual abuse, bullying, emotional abuse, and neglect may leave greater and more dire ramifications. Victims of child abuse may exhibit a myriad of symptoms – depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, poor school performance, aggressive behavior, post traumatic stress syndrome, issues with trust and bonding, delinquency, drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, and suicide. Look for clues – bruises, the child is shy and withdrawn, dirty, not properly dressed, child appears hungry – and if you are suspicious, please err on the side of caution and make the call. You don’t have to be sure and you don’t have to identify yourself. Children don’t have a voice, but you do.

Toronto health inspectors have been swarming in Chinatown on the hunt for vermin infested restaurants. And, unfortunately they didn’t have to look too far. The first and worst of the infractions was the Happy Seven restaurant on Spadina Avenue where rats were caught on camera frolicking inside the restaurant. Health inspectors shut down the un-Happy Seven post haste and it remains closed while the owners perform the necessary renovations in the restaurant and are cleaning up the back alley which is a magnet for vermin because of piled up, rotting garbage.

Swatow, also on Spadina Avenue across the street from the Happy Seven, was also closed, but not for rats. The problems at Swatow were cockroaches, failure to protect food from contamination, and sanitation issues. The Bright Pearl and Pho Hung were penalized but not shut down for a variety of infractions from improperly storing garbage to poor maintenance of equipment, and received a conditional pass. This year to date Toronto Public Health has closed 6 restaurants in the area of the Happy Seven restaurant. Considering that 41 restaurants in the entire city of Toronto have been closed during the same period, it seems that Chinatown has more than its share of vermin and sanitation issues.

I have eaten in Chinatown many times. As a matter of fact I have dined at the Happy Seven and at Swatow on more than one occasion. Anyone who frequents Chinatown, particularly in the summer when all of the garbage out on the street stinks of rotting produce can’t be surprised at these findings. But we manage to enjoy the experience of Chinatown without considering the obvious. Will it be different now that it is all out in the open and we can’t ignore it? Right now I wouldn’t eat at a restaurant in Chinatown if I won a free dinner, but I’m sure that in a few months I will be joining the throngs on Spadina Avenue waiting for a place at my favourite restaurant in Chinatown. Selective memory is a beautiful thing.

Canada’s new national do-not-call list has exceeded registration expectations. Telemarketers now have 2,690,936 fewer numbers to call across the country.

•    Ontario - 1.3 million registered
•    Quebec - 477,000 registered
•    Alberta - 300,000 registered
•    British Columbia - 265,000 registered
•    Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island - 93,000 registered
•    Manitoba - 80,000 registered
•    New Brunswick - 53,000 registered
•    Saskatchewan - 50,000 registered
•    Newfoundland and Labrador - 28,000 registered
•    The Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon - 1,600 registered

The CRTC projects that within the next two years 60% of the 27 million residential telephone numbers in Canada will be registered on the do-not-call-list (DNCL). The U.S. has had a DNCL since 2003, with over 145 million phone numbers currently registered. And, herein lies a problem which many are beginning to talk about. If you pay close attention to the numbers that telemarket you, I’m sure that you’ll find the preponderance are either toll free numbers or American numbers. What do you think is going to happen now that we have a DNCL? Do you think that telemarketers will just go silently into the night? In all likelihood they will emerge like the phoenix from the ashes and set up shop out of our jurisdiction. India may well emerge as the telemarketing capital of the world.

In the meantime the number of telemarketing calls has stepped up to epic proportion as we come to the end of their 31 day grace period. After that if they still call – except for Canadian registered charities, researchers, pollsters, government agencies, political parties and candidates, newspapers, and business that you have transacted with in the last 18 months – file a complaint and report the date of the call and the name or phone number of the telemarketer. If you file a complaint against a telemarketer they will be subject to a maximum fine of $1,500 for individual telemarketers and $15,000 for companies. You can also create and manage your own DNCL of companies not included in the national registry at http://www.ioptout.ca/.

Freedom of speech has given us the legal right to complain about everything, including the government. And, complain we do, constantly. The only time that we have a chance to really make our opinions count is in an election, not around the water cooler or in coffee shops where as a matter of course we solve the world’s problems. We just had a federal election and instead of making our voices heard and be counted, we stayed home in record numbers. In fact this general election has the dubious honour of having the lowest voter turnout on record.

Only 59.1% of eligible Canadians voted in this election, in sharp contrast to the 1958 election when over 79% voted and elected Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker by a landslide. The pundits have been mulling over the problem of voter apathy and have come up with all sorts of reasons from no one really liked the party leaders to Canadians are more caught up in the American election than our own.

We now take voting for granted. Clearly we’ve forgotten how voting went from being a privilege to being a right. In pre-Confederation times, the right to vote was reserved mainly for affluent men who were property owners, had other assets of a specified value, or paid a specific amount in annual taxes or rent that qualified them. Of course women and members of certain religious and ethnic groups were not permitted to vote. The adoption of the Dominion Elections Act in 1920 signaled the change. Change was a long time coming and it was not until 1982 when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into being that every Canadian citizen had the right to vote.

What can we do to shake Canadians out of their apathy? I think that if we don’t vote we should lose our right to complain.

Image courtesy Flickr

Howard Moscoe, a Toronto city councilor in Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence, has become a one man advocate for public accessibility to toilets in retail stores. Apparently Mr. Moscoe tried to use the facilities in a store and was refused, which became the rallying cry for his crusade. So far he has managed to get the licensing and standards committee that he chairs to adopt a proposal mandating retail stores with more than 3,230 square feet to provide clearly marked and accessible toilets for customers. The motion passed 3-2 with Howard Moscoe, Sandra Bussin and Anthony Perruzza in favour and Mike Del Grande and Denzil Minnan-Wong opposed. Rob Ford was not present for the vote. The plan will go to the next council meeting for debate and approval.

Needless to say the independent grocers, grocery distributors and chain drug stores are not amused. It is their contention that their customers have not been demanding access to public toilets or complaining about the lack thereof. If this plan comes into effect it could cause a logistics nightmare, not to mention place a financial burden on these retailers as they would have to build washrooms specifically for the public.

I am in favour of public toilets. However, I question the wisdom of Mr. Moscoe’s timing. As a city councilor I would imagine that with the volatile economic climate causing a great deal of concern among retailers that Mr. Moscoe would not be promoting measures that could bring financial hardship to them. The only one that seems to have a problem right now is Mr. Moscoe. I suggest that if toilets are his issue that he confines his shopping to big box retailers where there are ample, clearly marked public facilities.

Halloween should be fun, yet we must be diligent to ensure that this Halloween is not marked by tragedy. While the children are out trick or treating dressed in the hottest kids Halloween costumes -  Batman, The Joker, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Clone Wars, Indiana Jones , Harry Potter, Iron Man, Kung Fu Panda, and Dorothy - here are some Halloween safety tips.

•    Young children should always be accompanied by an adult
•    Older children should go out with a group or at least one friend and stay together
•    Trick or treat only in well-lit areas and only visit houses where the lights are turned on
•    Children should never enter a home
•    Make sure that the costumes allow for children to be properly dressed for the weather
•    Long costumes can cause falls
•    Make-up is a better alternative to masks as masks may impede vision or breathing
•    Costumes made of retro-reflective materials are best as they can be easily seen at night
•    Carrying a flashlight will make children more visible
•    Swords, knives and other like-accessories should be made of flexible materials so as not to potentially cause harm
•    Children should not eat any treats until they are inspected at home
•    Discard any treats that are unwrapped or where the wrapping is loose
•    Contact the police immediately if any treats look suspicious
•    Have children decorate pumpkins, not carve them
•    Candles are fire hazards

Play The Halloween Safety Game to ensure that your children understand the safety rules.