TTC riders have spoken. Market research shows that:
• 59% of Toronto’s TTC riders want cellphone service in the subway
• 24% are indifferent
• 17% are opposed to the idea saying that they would find it noisy and intrusive
It is estimated that it will cost approximately $30 million to provide cellphone service in the subway. However it is more than likely that the cellphone carriers will pay for the installation. The TTC is now dealing with the technical issues and hopes to have a plan in place within 6 months. The challenge seems to be in wiring the tunnels where work only takes place during a 3-hour period in the middle of the night. Installation could take 2 to 3 years.
We are not reinventing the wheel. The technology already exists in many transit systems around the world. There are many benefits to having cellphone service in the subway that don’t include making mindless chatter and disrupting all of those unfortunate enough to have no choice but to listen to your inane conversation. You will be able to:
• subscribe to e-mail alerts about subway interruptions
• phone home or your office if you’re going to be late for work because of a TTC delay
• contact a babysitter, daycare or school if you are delayed
• deal with time sensitive issues
• be reachable in the event of an emergency
The problem is that most likely TTC subway commuters will be inundated with the constant ringing of cellphones and incessant mindless chatter. Is this going to bring about a whole new category of subway rage?
There was extremely poor turnout for the first two scheduled information meetings about Toronto’s Africentric School. In fact only a handful of people turned out. The third meeting took place very close to the location of the school at Sheppard Avenue just west of Keele Street and over 100 people attended. Who is getting the blame for poor attendance at the first 2 meetings? The Toronto District School Board. Africentric School supporters say that lack of publicity is the reason for the poor turnout in spite of the fact that the Toronto District School Board has printed thousands of brochures about the school and dropped them in West Indian stores, community centres, and taken ads out in community newspapers. Are they nuts? The news and the controversy about Toronto’s Africentric School stirred up a tempest in a teapot and made front page news in all media for months. You would have had to recently materialize from Mars not to be aware of the Africentric School. What more publicity was required? And why isn’t the very community who made enough noise to make this school a reality, making the same amount of noise to promote it? The reality is that the first 2 meetings took place in Scarborough and Rexdale and clearly parents felt that they were too far geographically from the Africentric School.
In order for the Africentric School to open there needs to be at least 40 students enrolled - two classrooms of about 20 students each in two consecutive grades between kindergarten and Grade 5. Registration opened over a month ago and so far less than 20 students have enrolled. The school may not open at all unless there is a sudden enrollment blitz. The Toronto District School Board is asking parents to please enroll their children by January 9th so that they can proceed with hiring the staff needed to operate the school. Students will be accepted after January 9th. Families can register their children online.
Sixteen years ago Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel began its “Room at the Inn” program and it has continued every year without exception. The tradition continues this year from December 1 - December 30. The “Room at the Inn” program provides up to 10 guestrooms per night for out-of-town families in need who are visiting hospitalized relatives in Toronto. These guestrooms are absolutely free of charge to the families and available for a maximum stay of 7 nights. Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel has partnered with St. Michael’s Hospital, Casey House Hospice, and Hospice Toronto. These fine medical facilities will determine who is eligible. Families will be selected on a case by case basis.
Bravo to the Fairmont Royal York! Wouldn’t it be nice if more corporations stepped up to the plate and got involved in the community, not just at Christmas, but all year round? When companies do things like this it really differentiates them from others in their industry. Before you knew about the “Room at the Inn” program perhaps you thought that the Fairmont Royal York Hotel was just a very expensive luxury property, or a beautiful old building. What do you think about it now? If someone from out-of-town asked you to recommend a luxury hotel in Toronto, would the Fairmont Royal York be your first choice?
According to the C.D. Howe Institute, the answer is a resounding YES. A December 2008 C.D. Howe report compared sales in the 416 with surrounding 905 municipalities and found that the Toronto Land Transfer Tax (LTT) has seriously impacted Toronto’s housing market by reducing sales and lowering the prices of homes. In fact the LTT caused a 16% decline in the number of single-family homes sold after January 2008 while lowering house values by 1.5% or approximately $6,400 per house. The report also shows that because of the Land Transfer Tax people who would have moved are opting to stay instead, causing a significant slowdown in the market.
The report clearly states that the LTT has no advantage over an ordinary property tax. However it does create distinct economic disadvantages. Ordinary property taxes do not discourage mobility therefore it would have made more sense to raise property taxes to 10% in order to achieve the same additional revenue and not hurt the housing industry. Condos were not included in the study but it is has been approximated that if they were, 5,000 or more condo and home owners would opt not to move because of the LTT, and Toronto’s economy is suffering as a result. It’s not just the loss of the sale of the house that affects the economy. It creates a giant ripple effect. Every time someone moves house or condo it is estimated that they spend $33,000 on new purchases, renovations, and fees associated with the move.
Now that the C.D. Howe report is public knowledge, do you think that Mayor Miller is going to get rid of this tax or justify it?
If not, you should. Just last week two families were the victims of tragedy as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. In fact carbon monoxide poisoning is the number one cause of accidental poisoning deaths in North America. The reason that it is so deadly is that carbon monoxide is a gas that you can’t see, smell, or taste. Exposure to carbon monoxide can cause brain damage, suffocation or death. Seniors, anyone with heart and lung problems, pregnant women, and young children are at greater risk than the general population. Carbon monoxide can be produced in just about anyone’s home by gas or oil furnaces, space and water heaters, clothes dryers, ovens, wood stoves and other household appliances that run on fossil fuels such as wood, gas, oil or coal.
The only way to protect yourself is to install carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your home and to make sure that your furnaces, fuel-burning appliances, vent pipes, and chimney flues are professionally inspected and cleaned annually. If you are experiencing flu-like symptoms - fatigue, headaches, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, flushed looking skin, and increased blood pressure, you may not have the flu at all but low-level carbon monoxide poisoning. Call your doctor immediately.
In response to the recent carbon monoxide tragedies, Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman is introducing a private member’s bill that would make carbon monoxide detectors mandatory in every home in the province. Why wait for legislation to protect yourself and your family? Carbon monoxide detectors come in a range of prices and are readily available. Here is a large selection at Home Depot.
Read more about carbon monoxide in this informative online pamphlet.
There is much confusion around what kinds of Christmas trees are really green, in the eco-friendly sense of the word. There are advantages and disadvantages to both real and artificial Christmas trees. Although most people love the smell of pine that can only be found in a real Christmas tree, they do make a mess, can be a fire hazard that there has been the belief that cutting down Christmas trees is not eco-friendly. Conversely although we have believed that artificial were more eco-friendly the reality is that they are not bio-degradable and end up in landfills. There is no right or wrong answer.
Advantages of Buying a Real Christmas Tree
• Christmas trees are farmed and tree farms are good for the environment. Every acre of Christmas trees grown provides a day of oxygen for 18 people and supports a complex ecosystem.
• Christmas tree recycling programs provide mulch for gardens and parks after which the mulch decomposes, providing the nutrients for plants.
• When you buy a real Christmas tree you are supporting our local economy as opposed to artificial trees which are almost all manufactured offshore.
• If you want the greenest tree possible grow one in a pot that will live year round. Bring it indoors during the holidays and then put it back outside.
Advantages of Buying an Artificial Christmas Tree
• They don’t shed needles.
• They don’t dry out and potentially become a fire hazard.
• They can be used year after year and therefore can be very economical.
Parliament is now shut down until January 26th and the new Conservative budget is to be unveiled on January 27th. Will it matter to the Coalition? Not according to Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe who have publicly stated that they are committed to bringing down the current government at all costs, while the Liberals are waffling. With all of the propaganda being spread around that the Coalition is doing all of this for the good of Canadians, this type of rhetoric is not exactly giving Canadians the warm and fuzzies. In fact polls show that Canadians have seen through this charade by 3 power hungry politicians who couldn’t get elected into power.
According the latest Ipsos-Reid poll:
• Almost 75% of Canadians say they are “truly scared” for the future of the country.
• A solid majority say they would prefer another election to having the minority Conservative government replaced by a coalition led by Stephane Dion.
• Almost seven in 10 of those surveyed last Tuesday and Wednesday agreed with the actions of the Governor General.
• 6 in 10 Canadians believe that the Conservatives are the best managers of the economy in these troubling times.
• 60% of those interviewed said they opposed replacing the government with Liberal-NDP coalition supported by the Bloc Quebecois, compared with 37% who favoured the idea. Support for the coalition was highest in Quebec at 50%, followed by 44% in Atlantic Canada.
• 56% said they would rather go to the polls than be governed by the coalition.
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservatives would have a majority victory with a record 46% public support if an election were held today.
The coalition is now starting to fight among themselves. The Liberals are calling for the immediately resignation of Stephane Dion. If Canadians clearly demonstrated at the election that they refused to accept Dion as their leader what would make the Coalition believe that they could ram him down our throats as the Prime Minister now? And now the in-fighting for a replacement begins. The turmoil may not end when Parliament resumes. In the meantime, let the games begin!
At long last someone in the city has begun to investigate Toronto’s taxis. An investigation was launched in January 2008 and was specific to the Union Station area taxi drivers in response to many complaints over a sustained period of time. But, unfortunately there are taxi drivers all over Toronto that are rude, aggressive, illegal soliciting cab fares, refusing to accept the first fare, unlicensed drivers and taxis, and many taxis are dirty and in poor condition. There was not even an honourable mention of taxis drivers who have their cell phone glued to their ear for the entire ride. The investigation was carried out by 15 city bylaw enforcement officers and Union Station security officers and the result was that 147 tickets were issued for a variety of infractions.
Gus Michaels, the manager of the Investigation Services, Licensing Enforcement Unit believes that this unacceptable behavior is limited to a very small percentage of Toronto taxi drivers. But, I beg to differ. Either Mr. Michaels doesn’t use taxis or he has his head in the sand. Most people that I know would rather avoid Toronto taxis at all costs. The drivers all over the city exhibit the same behavior as that which was noted in the Union Station area. Have you ever had any dealings with Toronto taxi drivers on hospital row - University Avenue from College to Dundas? The drivers are extremely aggressive and are in constant altercations with motorists. They will not confine themselves to the well defined taxi areas and park in all of the legal parking spaces or double park in the street causing more congestion than already exists. They aggressively solicit fares and argue among themselves.
When will there be a full scale investigation of Toronto’s taxis? The problem is not limited to the Union Station area. That is merely the tip of the iceberg.
If you sell products, shop online, or engage in Forex trading, you may be looking for a handy tool that will show you a real time currency exchange rates. I have just stumbled upon just such an online currency converter widget that shows real time foreign currency exchange rates.
This tool has three functions:
1- It shows Pound, Euro, US dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollars and Japanese Yen exchange rates at a glance.
2- It works as a currency converter, allowing you to convert from American dollars to Canadian, Euros to Canadian dollars and much more (you can easily convert all the major currencies to each other’s)
3- It shows current oil prices, appended by the latest change in the oil prices.
So if you are a site that sells products and services to people outside your own currency, or if you’re a Forex or currency trader, or you own a blog or website about Forex, money and currency, you can easily place this widget on your site in a matter of sconds. It will add real value for your visitors. The best part … its completely FREE.
How to install the currency exchange rates on your blog, website or favourite social media site:
1. Click on the “Copy Me” button (upper right hand corner of the tool … mouseover to see)
2. Click on the + sign to embed in your website or click on the logo of your favourite social media website (Facebook, Hi5, Igoogle, Blogger, Myspace, Vista side bar and more) and follow directions to embed in those.
Harbourfront Centre is hosting a FREE family skating weekend from December 5 - 7 on the Natrel Rink. Skate rentals, sharpening, change rooms and locker services are available on site. Don’t forget to bring along your skating helmets. Daredevil skateboarders will want to spend some time at the indoor skate park.
Friday, December 5th from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM DJ
Fase will be spinning tunes while you skate. Clay Rochemont, one of Toronto’s most talented graffiti artists, will be on hand doing live painting.
Saturday, December 6th from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday, December 7th from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
On both Saturday and Sunday there will be amazing synchronized skating performances and great live music in many different genres. Sunday afternoon from 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM there is a special treat. Storyteller Marylyn Peringer will be on hand with stories, riddles and puzzles for the small fry. Snuggle up by the fireplace and enjoy an afternoon of storytelling. Food lovers won’t want to miss out on a cooking demonstration on Sunday at 3:00 PM by the hosts of TVO’s Taste Buds. Lily, Avery, and Matt will be on hand talking about healthy eating and sports nutrition while showing everyone some tasty recipes and cooking tips.
Harbourfront Centre is conveniently located 235 Queens Quay West, and easily accessible by TTC. It’s a short walk from Union Station or hop the Spadina Streetcar to Queens Quay. For more information call 416-973-4000 or visit the website.
