Sunday, January 26, 2020

Oskar Berrios Juarez, 49, and Jennifer Neira, 35, both from Toronto, each face numerous firearms charges

Toronto police say several firearms and suspected explosives were allegedly seized as they executed a search warrant Saturday evening.

In a news release, police said officers searched an address in the area of Old Weston Road and St. Clair Avenue West around 7:30 p.m.

The officers allegedly found firearms, ammunition, and possible explosive devices.

Police released a photo allegedly showing some of the firearms seized.

Police said two people have since been charged in connection with the seizures.

Officer said Oskar Berrios Juarez, 49, and Jennifer Neira, 35, both from Toronto, each face numerous charges, including ten counts of making or possessing an explosive, four counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm, five counts of a prohibited or restricted weapon or prohibited device, and possessing a firearm with an altered serial number.

They were scheduled to appear in court Sunday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-1100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.

Please share this

Stephon Kelly, 28, of Toronto, died near Markham and Kingston roads at about 9 p.m., woman shot



Toronto police have identified a man killed in a triple shooting in Scarborough on Saturday night.

Stephon Kelly, 28, of Toronto, died in the area of Markham and Kingston roads at about 9 p.m., police said in a news release on Sunday. Police said Kelly suffered one gunshot wound.

Kelly is Toronto's sixth homicide victim of the year. Police have not released his photo.

According to police, a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the shooting.

Toronto paramedics said on Sunday that the man suffered serious injuries while the woman suffered minor injuries.

Police have not said whether the three people shot knew each other or not.

Shots were fired inside restaurant, police believe
Near the scene on Saturday night, Insp. Jim Gotell told reporters that police believe the shots were fired inside a restaurant.

On Saturday night, police taped off the area and there was a heavy police presence. There was also a canine team. Roads were closed for hours as officers investigated.

In the release, police said homicide detectives are now in charge of the investigation and officers are looking for at least two suspects who may have left the scene in a silver vehicle.

Anyone with information is urged to call police at (416) 808-4300 or (416) 808-7400, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
Please share this

Toronto Coun. Denzil Minnan Wong doesn't want Bombardier building TTC streetcars


Now that TTC staff have officially let their political masters know that they want to spend tens of millions of dollars on 60 new streetcars, the question is: who will build them?

Could Bombardier, even after all the problems the company had delivering the city's order for 204 low-floor Flexity vehicles, be the best bet to get the contract?

The TTC board meets Monday to discuss a staff report that includes the recommended streetcar purchase. But at least one member opposes handing the Montreal-based company the job.

Coun. Denzil Minnan Wong tweeted a letter Thursday from Bombardier to TTC CEO Rick Leary assuring him that the company "remains committed to our clients globally and closer to home, the Toronto Transit Commission, the City of Toronto and Ontario."

But Minnan-Wong was unmoved, tweeting that Toronto was "ignored and neglected" by Bombardier.

In an interview with the news Tuesday, he cited the firm's "horrible record" delivering vehicles on time and evidence the firm is in financial trouble.

"Bombardier's all about big promises until they get the contract and then they're AWOL. They have no credibility in terms of any promises they're going to make," Minnan-Wong said.

The TTC board has to decide whether to endorse the spending priorities in the staff report as part of the 2020 city budget process. But eventually, it will have to look at whether to open up the bidding to several companies, or invite Bombardier to build 60 more Flexity streetcars for Toronto at its factory in Thunder Bay, Ont.

"Bombardier, not just in Toronto but all over North America, have ... demonstrated that they cannot deliver on time," Minnan-Wong said.

Bombardier's struggles
Since the TTC awarded Bombardier the more than $1-billion contract in 2009, the company repeatedly missed its delivery targets, blaming the setbacks on issues such as faulty parts from its supplier in Mexico, labour trouble, the intricate nature of the new streetcars and staff changes.

The delays forced the TTC to keep its fleet of creaky old CLRV streetcars on the rails well past their use-by date, and to replace the aging vehicles with buses on several streetcar routes.

The situation became so vexing for the TTC that it sued Bombardier in 2015.

But some city councillors say that even in the face of all that, Bombardier should get the job. They say the city needs more vehicles as soon as possible to get them back on streetcar routes where buses are running, and to improve the frequency of service.

Coun. Gord Perks says giving the contract to another manufacturer would mean waiting much longer to have vehicles designed, built and delivered. He also says it would make maintaining the fleet more costly.

"If you're operating a transit fleet, having many different kinds of vehicles adds an awful lot of expense and decreases efficiency," Perks told the media.

"For every type of vehicle that you see out on the street, we have to have a parts warehouse and a repair yard that specializes in that vehicle, as well as crews of people who are trained in maintaining that vehicle and a spare parts supplier," Gord Perks said.

"It makes sense to stay with one vehicle."

Transit advocate Steve Munro agrees the manufacturer deserves another chance.

"It took them a long time, but they finally did get to a point where the cars they were churning out were good cars," Munro told the media.

Bombardier 'financially unstable,' Minnan Wong says
But Minnan-Wong is expressing doubts Bombardier is in good enough shape to fill the order and support the vehicles over the long haul.

"Bombardier right now is financially unstable. In fact ... it's been reported out by experts that they might not even exist in five years," he said.

Minnan-Wong says he's "looking for a company that's financially stable ... I don't want to find ourselves in a place where we make a deal, enter a contract with a company that we're going to find goes into receivership."

But in emailed statements to the media, and in its letter to Rick Leary, Bombardier says it's in good shape financially.

"We also continue to win major contracts and expand our backlog in our developed as well as growing markets and the financial situation of Bombardier Transportation remains solid," the statements read.

"Our industry can be volatile and cyclical. Therefore, in order to fully appreciate where we stand and where we are heading, it is best to consider our overall performance, rather than a snapshot in time."

For his part, Minnan-Wong says Bombardier should be welcome to bid in an "open procurement process," along with other companies like Siemens and Alstom.

"If Bombardier can win an open procurement process then that recommendation will come back to the commission and we'll deal with it at that time."
Please share this

Toronto Coronavirus patient showed mild symptoms on flight

The first Canadian patient diagnosed with a novel form of coronavirus began showing signs of illness on the plane that brought him back from the disease’s epicentre., Canada’s Chief Public Health officer said Sunday as she stressed the risk of future infection is low.

Dr. Theresa Tam said the man in his 50’s, currently in stable condition in a Toronto hospital, showed mild symptoms on the flight that brought him back to the country from China earlier this week.

Tam said authorities are now working to help track some of his fellow passengers, but said the case demonstrates that the country’s public health protocols are working.

“The patient has been managed with all appropriate infection and prevention control protocols, so the risk of onward spread in Canada is low,” Tam said at a morning news conference. “Nevertheless it would not be unexpected that there will be more cases imported into Canada in the near-term given global travel patterns.”

Tam said the Ontario patient did not report his flu-like symptoms upon first landing in Toronto, but did share his recent stay in Wuhan with first responders when he sought medical help the next day. The man remains in hospital, where Ontario health authorities said he’s being held in a negative-pressure room used to contain airborne illnesses.

Despite her concession that future Canadian cases are expected, Tam said close, prolonged human-to-human contact is usually necessary for the disease to spread.

The news of Canada’s first coronavirus patient comes as authorities around the world grapple with the new type of virus, which originated in China but has since spread to Europe and North America.

There are more than 1,975 cases so far, including three in France and two in the United States.

While 56 people have died of the virus in China — most of the deaths have been older patients — the World Health Organization has not declared the outbreak an international public health emergency.

Please share this

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Toronto G20 protests and Liberal Chief Bill Blair



They were the most unlikely of troublemakers. There were thousands of ordinary citizens on the streets at Toronto G20 Summit marching peacefully until the police closed in and shut them down. Many had gone downtown simply to see what was going on, only to find themselves forcibly dragged away by police and locked up for hours in a makeshift detention center without timely access to lawyers or medical treatment.

Since the G20 Summit in June of 2010 - the iconic images are still with us — burning police cars, rampaging mobs, the massive security presence that according to the official story is all that stood between Canada's largest city and chaos. But that’s not the whole story of Toronto’s G20. Astonishing images caught on camera are emerged and they exposed a troubling picture of what happened to hundreds of ordinary citizens caught in the huge police dragnet during those three highly-charged days in June.

Gillian Findlay presents a revealing new street-level perspective of what happened when thousands of police were deployed in downtown Toronto and instructed to do what was necessary to ensure the wall around the G20 Conference Centre was never breached. Exclusive eyewitness video obtained by the fifth estate brings to light startling images captured on cellphones and minicams by the innocent bystanders who found themselves on the wrong side of all that G20 "order." In a rare television interview, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair explains why police took the actions they did.

On this edition of the fifth estate: the summit from the street, and the people who never dreamed it could happen to them. The stories you'll hear will raise questions about what protest means in this country and what the limits to dissent have become.

Original airdate : February 25th, 2011

Please share this

23-year-old woman attacked at York University was both shot and stabbed


Toronto police say they now believe a woman who was assaulted in the city’s north end on Wednesday was both stabbed and shot.

Officers initially believed that the woman was beaten and stabbed, but say that their investigation has revealed she also suffered a gunshot wound.

Police say the incident happened at about 10 p.m. on Wednesday when the 23-year-old was walking on a pathway on the York University campus.

They say a man assaulted her, knocking her to the ground and dragging her a short distance.

She was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition.

Police say the suspect at large, and they have yet to find the gun.
Please share this

TRIPLE SHOOTING: One dead, two wounded as gunfire erupts in Scarborough


Gunshots rang out in Scarborough Saturday night killing one man and leaving two others — a man and a woman — injured.

Toronto Police tweeted about the triple shooting shortly after 9 p.m., explaining the violence occurred near Markham and Kingston Rds.

“One male shot in head is unresponsive,” police said. “Another male shot in chest.”

The tweet also states a female suffered a hand injury that may have been the result of a “ricochet.”

About 20 minutes later police confirmed the victim who was shot in his chest died at the scene.

The man who was shot in the head was rushed to a trauma centre by paramedics, police said, adding the woman’s hand injury was treated at the scene.

In the wake of the shooting, officers cordoned off the parking lot out front of Centro Pizza shop — located on the north side of Kingston rd. just west of Markham Rd. — and numerous evidence markers could be seen on the ground.

Officers were scouring the area with help from police dogs in search of two men seen fleeing the scene on foot.

Last year Toronto endured a record high of 492 shootings.

The city’s latest gun violence unfolded four days after innocent 15-year-old Safiullah Khosrawi was shot to death walking home from high school at Markham and Ellesmere Rds. — about four kilometres north of the triple shooting.

Meanwhile, police also revealed Saturday that a 23-year-old woman who was attacked and stabbed Wednesday night by a man as she walked along a pathway near York University — northwest of Keele St. and Finch Ave. W. — was actually also shot in the ordeal.

The victim suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in hospital.

No arrests have been made in the woman’s attack, the deadly triple shooting or Khosrawi’s murder.
Please share this

Canada's first case of deadly coronavirus lands in Toronto

Have you been exposed to the coronavirus yet?

Regardless of where you live in Canada, the real answer is that we don’t know yet.

The virus has finally made the jump to Toronto from the distant Chinese city of Wuhan. If you thought the city had been closed off from travel, well you are right, but not before the virus arrived earlier this week on a flight that landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

What we are relying on now are the assurances of public health officials that this new virus with a habit of killing people is being contained here, is not easily transmitted, and that we are all safe.

What we know so far is that a man in his 50s, who officials are calling the first “presumptive case” of coronavirus in Canada, had been visiting Wuhan and then boarded a flight to Wanzhou before taking off Tuesday on a flight to Toronto.

The man arrived in Canada on Wednesday.

He was transported by ambulance to Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital the next day. The ambulance crew knew enough to show up in protective gear, or what most of us might call HazMat suits.

The good news is he didn’t call a cab, or walk into the emergency room, potentially infecting other people. We are also told by officials the infected man did not take public transit from the airport to home –he travelled in a private car.

The bad news is that there can be several flights a day between Wanzhou and Toronto. If you, someone you know or someone who you came in contact with was infected, then you may not know yet.

Speaking at a hastily called news conference at Queen’s Park Saturday evening, Ontario’s Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said the protocol for a disease like this is to identify people within three rows of the sick individual “because they would be at risk, potentially.”

Health officials said they were working with the information they had been given but that is was too early to say how many people would be at risk.

The most common flight from Wanzhou to Toronto appears to be carried out via a Boeing 777-300 — a plane that, depending on the configuration, ranges from 300 to 360 passengers.

How many of those passengers could have been infected either on the plane or in the airport waiting to board is unknown. How many people those infected could have come in contact with and where they are in Canada is also not known.

Health officials believe that this first case is someone who did not have much contact with other people once he arrived in Canada.

“The evidence to date is that this is not easily transmitted between people,” Dr. Yaffe said. “In terms of transmission it’s mostly to very close household contacts.”

“And I can assure you that any close household contacts have already been put into self-isolation and are being monitored,” she added.

Even with all these reassurances, health officials were clear this will not be the last case of coronavirus that we see in Canada.

So why are they so upbeat? Didn’t we deal with the deadly SARS epidemic years ago in Ontario?

“We are in a very, very different place than when we were responding to SARS,” said Dr. Peter Donnelly, president of Public Health Ontario. “One of the things that is very different is that we know what the virus is, we have a fast, reliable test and that really is a game changer.”

Donnelly said that test means that not only can we test those with symptoms but we can test and monitor those who have come into contact with an infected individual.

This news will obviously put many people on edge, and understandably so. So far, coronavirus has killed 56 people in China and sickened nearly 2,000 others.

We can take some comfort in knowing that local, provincial and federal officials are working closely together to detect and stop this virus.

But we need to be concerned about how many people have already been infected in Canada and make sure they get the care they need and that the rest of us take precautions.

Please share this

Terrelle Talbot, 44, of address unknown, is wanted for Fraud Under $5,000 and Utter Metal Resembling Coin in connection with four separate incidents in 2019


FRAUD WARRANTS

The hunt is on for an accused fraudster who allegedly scammed four Durham Region banks using a fake coin con.

Terrelle Talbot, 44, of address unknown, is wanted for fraud under $5,000 and utter metal resembling coin in connection with four separate incidents in 2019.

Durham Regional Police say a man exchanged 20 paper rolls of $2 coins for cash at a TD Bank in Ajax on Dec. 20 and metal washers were later discovered inside the rolls.

A similar scam hit a BMO in Whitby and two TD branches in Oshawa.

Talbot, identified as a suspect, is wanted on 22 outstanding arrest warrants throughout Canada with the most recent incident occurring in Toronto on Jan. 17. Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts is asked to call police at 1-888-579-1520, ext. 2676.

MISSISSAUGA STABBING

One person is in stable condition after being stabbed in Malton early Saturday.

Peel Regional Police say the violence occurred near Goreway Dr. and Derry Rd. around 1:30 a.m. and the victim was taken to a nearby trauma centre.

So far, few details have been released, including the age and gender of the victim.

Cops describe the incident as “isolated” and no arrests have been made.

JUNKIE ROBS CEMETERY

A 45-year-old Niagara-area grandfather addicted to drugs has been sentenced to five months in the slammer after pleading guilty to his role in the theft of 300 bronze vases from a local cemetery.

Judge Joseph De Filippis described Joshua Hillgardner’s crimes as “mean and disgraceful.”

According to the St. Catharines Standard, the value of the vases was more than $226,000.

Hillgardner’s lawyer said his client tried to sell the vases to raise cash to buy fentanyl.

Co-accused, Joseph Gaulin, 48, pleaded guilty to the same charge earlier and received a five-month sentence.

An ongoing dispute between two men ignited a blast at a Niagara Falls home that caused $60,000 in damages.

According to Niagara Regional Police, Tyler Sterling Rivard, 34, allegedly detonated a commercial-grade pyrotechnic that started the blaze.

A man and woman fled the scene before the blast. Her involvement is under investigation. Four others escaped the blaze but were treated for smoke inhalation.

The suspect and the woman were last seen pushing a wheel-barrow full of their belongings. It’s believed they have a pitbull with them.

Rivard is wanted for using explosives, arson and disregard for human life.

Anyone with information on the suspect’s whereabouts is asked to call cops at 905-688-4111, ext. 9408.
Please share this

Friday, January 24, 2020

Man sought for sex assault of girl, 17, near Yonge and Sheppard in North York


The hunt is on for a man after a teenage girl was sexually assaulted in a North York mall last week.

And Toronto Police have now released an image of a suspect hoping the public can help identify him.

The victim, a 17-year-old girl, was walking in the area of Yonge St. and Park Home Ave. — north of Sheppard Ave. — around 10 a.m. on Jan. 15 when the encounter began, Const. David Hopkinson said Friday.

“A man approached her and attempted to start a conversation,” he said. “She ignored him and kept walking towards the entrance of a mall”

“As she entered the mall, she was approached from behind by the man and sexually assaulted,” Hopkinson explained.

He said the girl ran into a store for safety but the man followed her inside.

However, the man took off when bystanders confronted him.

The man is described as 24 to 25, about 6-foot-1, clean-shaven, with a slim and athletic build. He was wearing grey ‘Roots’ pants, a black and grey jacket, black hoodie, black toque, and black or brown work boots.

Police have released a photo of a suspect and are urging anyone who recognizes him to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-3200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1800-222-TIPS (8477).
Please share this

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Toronto developer challenges city's position on ownership of rail deck park airspace


In the wake of a report before Thursday’s executive committee meeting, a Toronto developer is challenging the city’s position on airspace needed for a downtown park project.

Rail Deck Park — a proposed city-owned urban greenspace over the Union Station Rail Corridor (USRC) between Bathurst and Blue Jays Way — requires the acquisition of 1.2 hectares of airspace over the busy rail line.

But while a city report claims the airspace is owned by CN and Toronto Terminal Railways (TTR,) CRAFT-Kingsmen Rail Corp. president Robert Sabato told the TorontoSun it actually belongs to them.

He also alleged negotiations, which the city claims to have had to acquire it, never took place.

“We’ve kept the city completely informed on our plans, and what our prospects for the property are,” he said, adding the purchases took place in September 2018 and May 2019.

“They absolutely know 100%, unequivocally, that we own it.”

CRAFT intends to develop a mixed-use development called ORCA along and over the rail line, a project in the works since 2013 that includes nearly five hectares of parkland and resembles the city’s eventual plans for Rail Deck Park.

In January 2018, council rejected CRAFT’s plans, prompting an unsuccessful appeal with Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT,) with CN Rail and TTR as co-appellants.

Deputy City Manager Josie Scioli recommended in Thursday’s report the city pursue expropriation if negotiations to acquire the rights fall flat.

“City and CreateTO staff have been engaged in negotiations with the various air rights holders to acquire the property interests and additional properties in the Rail Deck Park project area since 2018,” the report reads.

“To date, these negotiations have not been successful in producing an agreement between the parties.”

Those negotiations, Sabato says, never happened.

He noted May 27, 2019 LPAT hearing transcripts in which city lawyer Brendan O’Callaghan was asked by tribunal chair Susan Schiller where the city was in its efforts to acquire the airspace from CRAFT.

“To my knowledge, that process has not really started,” O’Callaghan said,

“I can tell you it’s certainly started in terms of the valuation.”

While a statement from the city contends many parties own the property under the Rail Deck Park site, it concedes most of the airspace between Spadina and Bathurst is indeed owned by CRAFT-Kingsmen.

CN Rail declined comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, Sabato says they’re waiting patiently for the supposed negotiations to begin.

“Our doors are open,” he said.

“They know how to reach us.”
Please share this

Safiullah Khosrawi, 15, was shot to death in Scarborough, allegedly by another 15-year-old, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020


Mourners gathered Wednesday to say goodbye to Safiullah “Safi” Khosrawi at a mosque in Scarborough located just steps away from where the innocent 15-year-old was gunned down in broad daylight earlier this week.

Friends and family leaving the funeral service at Masjid al Jannah on Ellesmere Rd., just east of Markham Rd., could look across the street and see the Canadian flag flying at half-mast in front of Woburn Collegiate Institute — the high school where the slain boy was a Grade 10 student.

“His parents came to Canada from Afghanistan so their four sons would be safe and have a chance for a better life, now one of their boys is gone,” Zakia Alam said Wednesday in front of Masjid al Jannah, explaining she knows the “devastated” family from attending the mosque.

“All four sons are good boys,” she said. “This should never have happened.”

Alam also urged politicians to stop talking about the shootings plaguing Toronto, as well as other Canadian cities, and start doing something to put an end to the gun violence.

Toronto Police have said Khosrawi was walking from school to his family’s home — a townhouse complex about 500 metres away — when tragedy struck Monday.

The teen was nearing his home when gunfire erupted around 3:10 p.m. and he was fatally shot at Markham and Ellesmere.

A 15-year-old boy, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested within 20 minutes of the deadly shooting and charged with second-degree murder.

At a news conference Tuesday, Det.-Sgt. Andy Singh said the accused teen also attended Woburn Collegiate and it’s believed he has gang ties.

He said Khosrawi — the city’s fourth murder victim of the year — was not known to police and does not appear to have known the accused teen prior to the shooting.

“The victim was completely innocent,” Singh said.

A GoFundMe page — set up to help the victim’s grief-stricken family — describes Khosrawi as a “quiet, shy, good kid” who minded his own business and “never got into any trouble.”

“To have lost Safi is heartbreaking — it has come as such a shock to us all,” the GoFundMe states.

Arthur Matheson, one of the many who have posted condolence messages on the GoFundMe page, says he taught Khosrawi in two classes and the teen was a “wonderful young man” who was “always happy.”

Another message, posted by Rifat Baig, states the boy’s death is “really sad.”

“It’s unfair that he had to pay with his life for someone else’s mistake,” Baig writes. “Kids should not have access to guns.”

Any witnesses who have not yet spoken to police are urged to call investigators at  416-808-7400.
Please share this

Monday, January 13, 2020

Toronto Liberal MP Michael Levitt brushes off allegations that MP Jowhari is Iran supporter



David Menzies of Rebel News reports: Liberal MP for York Centre Michael Levitt had his New Year's levee recently in Toronto. Rebel News dropped by to ask him why the Trudeau government has done nothing so far in terms of retaliating against Iran for murdering more than 50 Canadians.

Please share this

Ron MacLean dodges Don Cherry questions as police threaten David Menzies with arrest for journalism



http://bit.ly/3a9BSEj David Menzies of Rebel News reports: David Menzies paid a visit to a Rogers Hometown Hockey taping in Vaughan, Ontario, yesterday to ask former Coach's Corner sidekick Ron MacLean about the plunging ratings at Hockey Night In Canada after Don Cherry was fired in November.

Please share this

San Antonio Spurs at Toronto Raptors NBA FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS January 12, 2020



The San Antonio Spurs overcame a 13-PT deficit heading into the 4th quarter to defeat the Toronto Raptors 105-104 in Toronto. DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Spurs with 25 PTS, 8 REB and 4 AST, while Rudy Guy recorded 15 PTS and 3 AST in the victory. Pascal Siakam tallied 15 PTS, 5 REB and 4 AST for the Raptors in his first game back from injury.

Please share this

Toronto Maple Leafs at Florida Panthers January 12, 2020 NHL Game Highlights



Please share this

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Immigrants to Canada Struggle in Toronto

Sakineh Balouch and her 10-year-old son, Arshia Gholezadeh, are supposed to be out of their east Toronto apartment by March 31, and they fear their next home will be a shelter.

Their basement apartment smells wet, has a window that doesn’t open and they can hear mice scratching through the walls at night, but it’s $1,400 a month – all Ms. Balouch can afford on a fixed income of $1,500 a month. She gets her groceries at the food bank and cannot scrounge together the cash to replace her son’s hole-ridden shoes, which make his feet wet when he walks to school. All the other apartments she’s seen are even more expensive than this one.

With a vacancy rate that hovers around 1 per cent and rents that have skyrocketed in the past five years, Toronto’s housing crisis has had an outsized effect on newcomers, particularly refugees, who the city identifies as some of its most vulnerable residents.

Settlement agencies say the crisis has left their clients stuck in crowded, poorly maintained units or, in the most extreme situations, out on the street. Families seeking subsidized housing face waiting lists that can be more than a decade long.

Before she arrived, Ms. Balouch heard Canada had a reputation as a world leader in providing support and housing for refugees. In 2018, it accepted 28,100 refugees –more than any other country in the world. But if she knew life would be so hard here, she “would’ve stayed in Turkey or gone back to Afghanistan and risked getting killed,” she said through an interpreter.

Her experience is common: A report published last fall by the Migration Policy Institute found that many refugees who arrived from 2015 to 2016 received little predeparture training on life in Canada and “were unprepared for the extremely high rents and limited housing choices they would face.”
In their first year, government-assisted refugees receive funds to cover their most basic costs – shelter and food – and private sponsors provide refugees with similar support. In Ontario, a couple with two children would receive $1,250 a month and would be eligible for a bonus housing supplement of $200. But that funding doesn’t go far: The average rent in the Greater Toronto Area for recently leased and available units at the end of 2019′s third quarter was $2,515, according to real estate consulting firm Urbanation. After that first year, some find work or transition to welfare. Many families rely on the child tax benefit just to pay rent.

It used to be that when refugees arrived in the offices of Newcomer Women’s Services, staff would call up one of 10 landlords they routinely worked with to set them up with an apartment in a high rise with reasonable rent and populated by many other immigrants. But demand means landlords don’t need them anymore.

“We have clients who feel it’s really a hopeless situation – there’s nothing within their budget," said Judy Fantham, executive director of the organization. “Some people are left waiting for social housing in shelters.”

In 2014, a three-bedroom unit in a high rise in Toronto’s Flemingdon Park neighbourhood – a popular landing spot for immigrants – rented for $1,310 a month, according to archived pages from the building’s website. Now, a three-bedroom unit goes for $2,300 – a 76-per-cent increase in just five years.
Sigmund Lee, accounting manager and operations administrator for Gateway Properties, which owns that building, says turnover has been extremely low in the past few years, but when a unit becomes available, his company scopes out what other buildings are charging for similar units and sets prices accordingly.

“Well, it’s market, right? We are not trendsetters, right? We can’t go out and ask for a lot of money,” he said.

Adeena Niazi, the executive director of Afghan Women’s Organization, said the high cost of housing has contributed to a failure to launch for many of her clients. Instead of focusing on their education, teenagers are picking up part-time jobs to help their parents pay rent. Instead of taking English classes to aid in integration, adults are turning to precarious shift work.

In late December, the provincial and federal governments announced a housing benefit deal that would provide annual subsidies of up $2,500 to help low-income individuals and families in Ontario better afford rent. But settlement workers, housing advocates and economists dismiss these kinds of fixes as Band-Aid solutions.

In a July, 2019, housing report, David Macdonald, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, wrote, “In the long term, rental subsidies are no substitute for the construction of new affordable housing, which would increase vacancy rates, cool rental prices and allow more people to live closer to where they work.”

In December, Toronto city council approved a 10-year housing plan, which, among other things, proposes the construction of 40,000 new affordable rental homes. While the city has committed $8.5-billion to the plan, it is still waiting for an additional $14.9-billion from the province and Ottawa to carry it out.

Six years after arriving in Canada as a refugee from Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Amiri was offered a tiny subsidized bachelor apartment for $115 a month. Five years later he’s still there, but now with a wife, toddler and baby. He can’t afford a market-rent upgrade and has been told it’ll be another seven or eight years before he can get a bigger subsidized unit.

Mohamad Khalil Aldroubi, a Syrian refugee who lives in a three-bedroom apartment in Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood, has contemplated moving his family of seven out of the city to escape the housing crisis. But there are trade-offs to consider: reduced transit, fewer job opportunities and limited access to the settlement services his family has come to rely on.

There is also the question of fitting in. On a summer trip to a city a few hours north of Toronto, Mr. Aldroubi noticed others staring uncomfortably at his wife and daughter, the only women in the vicinity wearing hijabs. Friends have advised against the move, warning they might be the only Muslims in their new home.

“I’m scared when people tell me that," Mr. Aldroubi said. “I don’t know where can I go.”

Please share this

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Winnipeg Jets @ Toronto Maple Leafs 1/8/20 NHL Highlights



Please share this

Toronto Raptors at Charlotte Hornets January 8, 2020 NBA Game Highlights



The Toronto Raptors defeated the Charlotte Hornets, 112-110 in overtime. Serge Ibaka (23 PTS, 11 REB, 2 BLK) and Terence Davis (career-high 23 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST) combined for 46 PTS to lead Toronto, while Kyle Lowry added 15 PTS and 9 AST. Terry Rozier tallied 27 PTS, 3 AST, and 3 STL for the Hornets.

Please share this

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

Portland Trail Blazers at Toronto Raptors January 7, 2020 FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS



Carmelo Anthony (season-high 28 PTS) hit the game-winning jumper with 3.3 seconds remaining to lift the Portland Trail Blazers past the Toronto Raptors, 101-99. Damian Lillard dropped 20 PTS and 9 AST, while Hassan Whiteside (14 PTS, 16 REB, 7 BLK) stuffed the stat sheet. Kyle Lowry led Toronto with 24 PTS and 10 AST.

Please share this

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Toronto Raptors at Brooklyn Nets NBA Highlights January 4, 2019



The Toronto Raptors defeated the Brooklyn Nets, 121-102. Fred VanVleet led the Raptors with 29 PTS and 11 AST, while Kyle Lowry added 26 PTS, 5 AST, and 4 REB. Spencer Dinwiddie tallied 23 PTS and 7 AST for the Nets.

Please share this

Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Islanders NHL Highlights January 4, 2019



Please share this

Friday, January 3, 2020

Toronto Raptors at Miami Heat NBA Game Highlights January 2, 2020



The Miami Heat defeated the Toronto Raptors, 84-76. Bam Adebayo finished with a team-high 15 PTS along with 14 REB and 2 AST for the Heat, while Tyler Herro tallied 13 PTS and 4 REB. Serge Ibaka recorded 19 PTS, 10 REB, and 2 BLK for Toronto.

Please share this

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Winnipeg Jets 1/2/20 NHL Highlights



Please share this

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Clinton Phil Williams, 43 of Toronto was victim in New Years Eve Shooting in Malvern


Toronto police have identified the victim of a fatal shooting in Scarborough on New Year's Eve as Clinton Phil Williams.

The shooting happened in the area of Neilson Road and McLevin Avenue in Scarborough's Malvern neighbourhood.

In a news release Thursday, police said the 43-year-old had been walking into the underground parking lot of an apartment building when he was shot. Emergency crews were called to the scene around 6:15 p.m.

Williams was rushed to hospital but died soon after.

Police say the suspect fled in a light-coloured car toward Crow Trail. The suspect is described as male with a slim build, wearing black pants low on his hips, a black jacket with a hood or a hoodie underneath and dark running shoes.


Homicide investigators have taken over the case.

Police are asking anyone with information or who had contact with the victim earlier in the day to contact them at 416-808-7400 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 416-222-8477.
Please share this

Ahmed Yakot, 21, of Toronto first homicide victim of the year


On Wednesday, January 1, 2020, at approximately 10:30pm., officers responded to a call to the sound of shots fired in the Oak Street and River Street area.

It is reported:

- two men – both 21– were shot at by suspects in a dark coloured sedan

- the car fled the scene

- on arrival, officers located two men with gunshot wounds and they were taken to hospital

- one of the men suffered life-threatening injuries, while the second man had serious but not critical injuries.


On Thursday, January 2, 2020, Ahmed Yakot, 21, of Toronto, died in hospital as a result of his injuries. His family has been informed.

His image has been released.

The investigation remains ongoing and officers are urging anyone who was in the area at the time, or has any information about the shooting, to immediately contact police.

In particular, anyone with CCTV or dash-cam footage, around the time of the incident, is also encouraged to contact detectives.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).
Please share this

Teen injured, two youths arrested after stabbing at Vaughan Mills


York Regional Police have arrested two suspects after a stabbing at Vaughan Mills on Thursday evening.

It occurred just after 6 p.m. near entrance three of the mall, which is located near Jane Street and Rutherford Drive.

The victim, believed to be between the ages of 14 and 16 years old, was rushed to The Hospital for Sick Children, police said. The severity of the injury is unknown.

Two youth suspects have been taken into custody, said police, adding that several others are being questioned.

It is unclear if the stabbing happened inside or outside the mall, police said.

Investigators are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident to contact them.
Please share this

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Toronto SunShine Girls 2019 Archive


Please share this

Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors NBA Game Highlights December 31, 2019



The Toronto Raptors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 117-97. Kyle Lowry led the way for the Raptors with 24 PTS and 8 AST in the victory, while Serge Ibaka added 20 PTS and 10 REB. Collin Sexton tallied 22 PTS for the Cavaliers.

Please share this

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Minnesota Wild NHL Highlights 12/31/19



Please share this

Toronto Maple Leafs beat Minnesota Wild 4-1 on New Years Eve



The Toronto Maple Leafs have earned themselves a night out.... in Minnesota.

With a 4-1 victory over the Wild on New Year’s Eve, the Maple Leafs ended the calendar season on an impressive and season-saving 13-4-1 run since the switch to Sheldon Keefe.

The usual suspects cashed in the final game of the decade, with lead goal-getters Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares registering goals, while Alexander Kerfoot counted his 100th career point with the other marker. Meanwhile Frederik Andersen bounced back after a difficult week-long spell with 26 saves, and remains the primary reason the Leafs will head into the 2020s as the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division.

Toronto will be in Winnipeg to clash with the Jets this week, but not before the new year is rung in.

Until then, four points:

While Tyson Barrie received most of the attention when considering the philosophical divide between old and new with the Toronto Maple Leafs, we shouldn’t overlook how the reality has changed for William Nylander.

No longer being challenged to be the player he isn’t, Nylander is now being used exactly as he should: a weapon unfixed to a specific position within the Leafs lineup.

His minutes way up, as Keefe always looks to optimize in high-leverage situations, Nylander is amidst of an in-season and career breakout. He’s registered 18 points in as many games since the switch to Keefe, and with a goal and an assist in the win over the Wild, he now has six goals and 11 points in the last six games.

His current run has him on pace to exceed 30 goals and 70 points for the first time in his career, and author career numbers in every meaningful individual offensive category.

And the expectation should be that he not only hits those projected totals, but fly by them altogether — if for no reason other than the fact that Keefe is doing everything he can to tether him to the other difference-making forwards on the roster.

John Tavares didn’t exactly come advertised.

Made famous for his ability to turn scrubs into 30-goal scorers, instead it was Tavares himself who became the sniper in his first season with the Leafs, hitting a career-high 47 with the help of the play-making Mitch Marner.

Now separated from the dynamic winger, it seemed plausible that Tavares would revert back to his facilitative ways. But with Nylander being such a dominant possessor of the puck, more often than not in the last few games it’s still been Tavares teed up for high-percentage looks.

It was no different versus the Wild, with Nylander finding Tavares time and time again.

But with converted third-line centre Alex Kerfoot now on the other wing, perhaps it sets up Tavares with a chance to do both.

We caught a glimpse of the vintage Tavares set-up ability in the first period, with his new winger on the receiving end.

With cuts or when just settling into space, that’s where Kerfoot has been a dangerous shooter in his short time with the Leafs. That’s an area of the ice Tavares has traditionally been able to supply passes to, from deep in the offensive zone.

It’ll be interesting to see if this combination sticks, and what that means for the captain.

So much for the impending doom of the Maple Leafs roster.

If there’s an upside to not once being able to ice the roster that general manager Kyle Dubas had intended, it’s that the Maple Leafs have avoided making weighty decisions to manoeuvre under the associated financial bind.

I mean, look at the cap-strapped Leafs now; they are calling up prospects that belong to the hometowns of the rinks they are visiting, just to make moments and collect some of that NHL cash.

Quite a few players that were supposed to be either cut or demoted by now are playing crucial roles, and it’s possible that the Leafs survive the entire season without those decisions ever having to be made.

But more importantly, despite the injuries, and with that supporting cast, they are playing their best hockey of the season.

The Justin Holl thing, it’s wild.

Buried in the Mike Babcock era and likely left to wonder from press box to press box where his career was ultimately headed at this time last the season, the veteran defenseman is now leading the transition under Sheldon Keefe by example, as he’s been leaned on to shut down the opposition’s best. And though the influence and matchups may vary, Holl will at the very least be a part of the equation for three more seasons as just the second Leafs defender to be locked up beyond the current year.

Rewarded for his efforts, Holl will nearly triple his annual intake come by the start of next season on his new two-year deal worth $6 million total. It’s a payday Holl may have never thought was possible, and a brilliant deal for the Maple Leafs if the player can simply perform at a fixed standard throughout.

Even better, the Minnesota native was able to celebrate the occasion with family, and by choosing to sign the deal in his hometown, the Maple Leafs were able to again demonstrate that compassionate side since the change at coach.
Please share this