TCHC urged to provide security in wake of boy's shooting in Toronto

TORONTO - Residents of an east-end social housing complex are certain outsiders came into their community and shot a 10-year-old boy as he slept inside his family’s townhouse.

Toronto Councillor Paula Fletcher relayed that message, following a community-only meeting Tuesday night at the Eastview Neighbourhood Community Centre, just steps away from 70 Blake St. — in the Danforth-Pape Aves. area — where shots were fired at one of the complex’s units Friday night.

TCHC tenants and other members of the immediate community voted to bar the media from the meeting.

“They don’t believe this was the responsibility of anyone in this community, they believe somebody came from another area (into) this community,” said Fletcher, adding that residents called for improved lighting, better fencing and more community meetings.

But Fletcher also said residents are calling for the TCHC to put back in place its own permanent, on-site security.

“I’m not sure we’ll get that. I am going to bring their concerns back to the city, back to the mayor, back to the TCHC,” Fletcher said.

Resident Susan Godin insisted if the TCHC reinstated its own security personnel, there wouldn’t be so many problems at the site.

“We used to have on-site security and they used to patrol the complex,” she added. “Well, now we don’t have on-site security ... It is on-call. By the time you phone them and they come, everything is over and done with.”

The wounded boy is expected to fully recover. He was rushed to hospital after a bullet hit his shoulder.

TCHC spokesman Lisa Murray said Tuesday the shooting prompted the social housing landlord to call a community meeting — a routine move following an incident such as Friday’s shooting.

Murray said security cameras at the complex were recently upgraded and that they’ll play a role in the police investigation.

“We have dozens of cameras in this community,” said Murray. “You can’t get in or out of this community without (being caught on camera).”
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Toronto Star Reporter Raveena Aulakh, 42 Takes Her Own Life, Union Wants Investigation

TORONTO - The union that represents employees of the Toronto Star is calling on the newspaper’s management to organize an independent, third-party investigation into the death of one of its reporters and the “events surrounding the tragedy."

According to a memo obtained by the National Post, Unifor Local 87-M made the request to company officials Tuesday, after the death of global environment reporter Raveena Aulakh, 42, on the weekend of May 28.

Sources confirmed to the Post that Aulakh took her own life. She left a note in the newsroom, which was discovered by colleagues.

Aulakh requested that no obituary be published in the paper, and sources confirmed to the Post that the Star and its staff are honouring her request.

According to sources, Toronto Star publisher John Honderich has been conducting in-house investigations into the matter since last week.

The editor of the Star's tablet app, Star Touch, Jon Filson, is no longer employed by the company. No reason was given for his departure. Filson could not be reached for comment.

Sources confirmed to the National Post that Filson had previously been in a personal relationship with Aulakh.

On Monday, Toronto Star editor-in-chief Michael Cooke announced that “at her request,” managing editor Jane Davenport would move to a new role “outside the newsroom and within Torstar, effective immediately.” Davenport did not reply to a request for comment.

Aulakh’s former colleagues abroad and her co-workers at the Star remember her fondly. As an editor, they say, she made her colleagues better writers. As a reporter, they say, she made the world a better place.

"She hated injustice and unfairness, a trait one of her relatives commented about," said Donovan Vincent, a feature writer at the Star. "That side of her personality was apparent from her teenage and young adult years back in India."

She was born near Chandigarh, the joint capital of India's Punjab and Haryana states at the foot of the outer Himalayas.

Aulakh studied Mass Communication at Panjab University. She began her career in journalism as an editor and writer, first for The Indian Express and then for HT City, the lifestyle supplement of the Hindustan Times' Chandigarh edition.

"She took a huge gamble in moving to Canada," said former Hamilton Spectator managing editor and former Star staffer Roger Gillespie in a Facebook post. "She left everything behind."

Aulakh became a full-time member of staff, and in 2010, a feature on the emigration of young men from Punjab villages to Canada earned her a National Newspaper Award nomination. She won an NNA and global acclaim when in 2013 she worked undercover at a Bangladesh clothing factory. Please share this

Toronto City Council OKs looking at new "Revenue Tools" i.e. TAXES and FEES

TORONTO - City council marked Tax Freedom Day by directing Toronto finance officials to examine ways to create new taxes and tolls.

After a day-long debate over Toronto’s long-term financial plan, councillors voted 40-3 on Tuesday to give city manager Peter Wallace the go-ahead to investigate new “revenue tools.”

The report, which will come back to council this fall, will lay out a wide range of possible taxes, tolls, asset sales, and the possible contracting out of services in a bid to address the city’s financial needs, including $29 billion in unfunded capital projects.

Tuesday marked Tax Freedom Day, the day when people have earned enough to pay all their taxes for 2016 in a lump sum, according to the Fraser Institute.

Mayor John Tory stressed there should be no “sacred cows” as several councillors tried to delay the debate on new taxes or put some asset sales aside. Council has to take this discussion seriously and have it soon, he said.

“I just believe the great thing about this report is it is honest,” Tory said. “A number of people have used that word today. It’s honest and it puts on the table a real conundrum for us because we want to build a great city ... (but) we don’t have, at the present time, the financial framework that allows us to do that.”

Wallace said last month that in order to keep transit and housing investment promises, council must consider creating new revenue.

Councillor Josh Matlow urged council to put off making decision on revenue tools before examining its priorities and existing revenues.

“I’m not against revenue tools, but I believe that council needs to demonstrate to Toronto that it’s going to be honest and efficient and responsible with the tax dollars that it’s already entrusted with before it knocks at people’s doors for more money,” he said.

Councillor Paula Fletcher said that council has to address pressures from three agencies that soak up the majority of the city budget: Police, housing, and the TTC.
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Four Seasons Toronto for sale by Saudi Prince

TORONTO - Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud is seeking to sell Toronto's landmark Four Seasons hotel for almost C$1 million a room in what would be the highest price for a hotel in Canada, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kingdom Holding Co., the investment firm owned by the Saudi prince that holds the Toronto property, put it on the market this year, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

The building is operated by Four Seasons, the closely held operator owned by Kingdom, Four Seasons chairman Isadore Sharp, and Cascade Investment, a vehicle controlled by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Gates. The seller is targeting as much as C$250 million, the people said.

Representative for Kingdom Holding and Cascade didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment. A Four Seasons spokeswoman referred questions to Kingdom Holding.

"At Four Seasons Hotel Toronto we continue to welcome guests and patrons with the legendary service and attention to detail for which Four Seasons is known worldwide," Four Seasons spokeswoman Sorya Gaulin said in an e-mailed statement.

Kingdom Holding, Cascade, and Sharp, the hotelier's chief executive officer at the time, purchased Four Seasons Holdings Inc. for $3.8 billion including debt in 2007, taking the company private. The hotel chain has been growing since then, and is nearing completion on its 99th property, Sharp said at an event in Toronto last week. The Toronto property is managed by Four Seasons, but owned by Kingdom Holding, according to Sarmad Zok, chief executive officer of Kingdom Hotel Investments.

The Four Seasons Toronto property in Yorkville, near high-end shops on Bloor St. W., is comprised of two buildings that are a mix of hotel and luxury condo units that opened in 2012. The offer is only for the hotel portion, with about 250 rooms, the people said.

The Four Seasons asking price per room would exceed others in the country, including the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, which fetched C$290 million or about C$567,500 per room last year, according to Colliers International Group Inc. Also last year, KingSett Capital Inc. and InnVest Real Estate Investment Trust purchased majority stakes in Toronto's historic Fairmont Royal York hotel for C$187 million from Ivanhoe Cambridge, the brokerage said in its 2016 Canadian hotel investing report.
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Two Toronto Taxi Drivers Muhammad Tariq, 26, left, and Ahmed Dogar, 25 Accused of Swapping Passengers' Bank Cards

TORONTO - Two taxi drivers are accused of switching customers’ bank cards and withdrawing money from their accounts.

Toronto Police officers from the financial crimes unit began their investigation in fall 2015 after taxi customers reported their cards were replaced with similar-looking cards.

Police allege the suspects took out money and bought retail items with the customers’ bank cards.

Ahmed Dogar, 25, of Toronto, is charged with theft of credit card, three counts of forgery, six counts of fraud, and six counts of possession of a credit card obtained by crime.

Muhammad Tariq, 26, of Toronto, is charged with forgery as well as three counts of fraud and possession of a credit card obtained by crime.

Investigators are concerned there may be additional victims. Police are also reminding cab passengers to hold on to their cards and request a receipt.
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No More CHIN Bikini Pageants

TORONTO - Say goodbye to Mr. and Miss CHIN Bikini.

The organization has decided to do away with one of its main events at the 50th annual CHIN Picnic.

The reason? CHIN wants to fall back on its origins.

“CHIN Radio’s mandate has always been to promote multiculturalism in Canada, and after 49 years of hosting the bikini contest, they have decided to say goodbye and focus on their roots,” president Lenny Lombardi said in a statement to the Toronto Sun.

The free event began in 1966, but the bikini contest wasn’t added until 1978. The popular attraction started as a separate event in 1976 and 1977 and was held on the now-defunct Captain John’s Harbour Boat Restaurant.

The picnic later added the annual Mr. CHIN bikini contest in response to allegations of sexism. But now, Lombardi does not want the spectacle getting in the way of the event’s main message.

“The picnic represents the work we do each and every day on radio. The picnic is a snapshot of our efforts to spread the importance of multiculturalism and all its benefits, and in our 50th year it is important to us that this message is clear,” he said.

“Our true message is that of celebrating our cultural diversity and that point is best enhanced by focusing on what we do best: Celebrating cultural diversity through information, music and entertainment, and not distract from that message with a bikini pageant.”

In the past, the bikini contest has seen contestants from various diversities, but Lombardi says it’s time to move forward.

“Times have changed and as much fun as we had, and support we received producing it each year, we believe that our focus today should be clearly directed to the reality of our mandate of multiculturalism and cultural diversity,” he said.

The CHIN Picnic runs June 17-19 with a main stage in the heart of Little Italy at College and Markham Sts.
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Your Ward News and Canada Post Censorship

Canadians who value free speech – and let’s hope that is all of us – should be deeply troubled by Ottawa’s decision to tell Canada Post to stop carrying a fringe Toronto newspaper. Public Services Minister Judy Foote ordered the postal service to cease delivering Your Ward News, which has been accused of being anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi. Her “interim prohibitory order” gives its editor 10 days to appeal.

Those who have campaigned against the free paper are “ecstatic.” But consider the awful precedent this act of postal censorship sets.

If people who are offended by something that appears in their mailbox can complain and get it banned from the post, where does it stop? Can a pro-choice feminist block the graphic pro-life pamphlet that comes in the mail? Can a fierce pro-lifer ban a flier from an abortion clinic? Or consider the feelings of the victim of East European communism who gets a Marxist tract in the mail? Why should an agency of the government that her taxes support be allowed to introduce that propaganda into her home?

This is the trouble with just about all limits on free speech. Who says what is beyond the pale? Deciding to block child pornography or open incitement to violence is easy enough, because of the direct physical harm they can be shown to cause. After that, it gets tricky.

Someone must have the power to determine what is dangerous or odious speech and what is merely passionate expression. It is always a matter of opinion. The line is impossible to draw, the scope for abuse endless.

Even in democratic countries, authorities have often succumbed to the impulse to black out what they don’t like. Communist propaganda was blocked on the grounds that it threatened national security, erotica on the grounds that it undermined public morals. The postal system was once one of the main agents of censorship. A century ago, postal censors blocked mailed instalments of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Your Ward News is not Ulysses. Its editor, James Sears, who has been known to style himself as Dimitri the Lover, told City News that Hitler is his second-biggest idol, after Jesus. He ends his e-mails “Expel the Parasite!” – all in capital letters, of course. The group that has been fighting him calls his publication a “neo-Nazi-rag” that “has been permitted to disseminate racism, homophobia, misogyny and anti-Semitism to as many as 300,000 homes in Toronto.”

If so, there are a couple of ways to fight back short of censorship. One is simply to toss Your Ward News where it belongs: in the recycling bin. Nobody is forced to read it when it comes in the mail. People like Mr. Sears thrive on the oxygen of attention. Ignoring him is the best revenge.

Another is to argue back. If his opponents feel his maunderings are too despicable to pass over, they can always denounce or refute him. It is always better to fight speech with speech than to gag the speaker.

It is a good time to remember these old lessons about how to handle troublesome speech. Free expression is always under attack to some degree, and the danger seems especially acute today. The little tussle over Your Ward News is part of a wider struggle.

Overseas, authoritarian governments from Moscow to Beijing to Cairo are cracking down on the right to speak openly without fear. Canadians got a small glimpse of their attitude when China’s foreign minister dressed down a reporter in Ottawa for daring to ask a question about human rights. At home, on university campuses and beyond, the tendency to take offence is stifling healthy debate and silencing dissenting voices.

Sometimes those voices can be obnoxious, but it won’t do to try to snuff them out. Ottawa has no business telling the postal service to censor the mail just because some people don’t like what comes through the slot.
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Beady-eyed man sought in violent sexual attack in North York

 TORONTO - Toronto Police are seeking help from the public to identify a man wanted in a violent sexual assault in North York earlier this year.

A 50-year-old woman was attacked while walking through Roding Park, near Keele St. and Wilson Ave., around noon on March 8, investigators said Tuesday.

The woman was grabbed from behind, forced to the ground, beaten, and sexually assaulted, police said. She also suffered broken bones in her face during the attack.

“The level of violence used by the suspect is a concern to us and public safety in general,“ Det. Raj Patel said.

The attacker is described as Asian with a grey complexion, 18 to 25 years old, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 with a thin build, flat nose, skin irritation on the bottom of his face, thin lips, and small, beady eyes.

He was last seen wearing a grey, long-sleeved top and baggy pants, along with a white hat, which was left at the scene.

Anyone with information is being asked to call the sex crimes unit at 416-808-7474 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.
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Christopher McLean, 25, of Brampton, Killed in a shooting in Toronto on Friday, June 3, 2016 Was Targeted, Black Lives Matter

TORONTO - A 25-year-old Brampton man was shot to death during a violence-filled weekend in Toronto that saw seven other victims wounded by guns and knives.

Toronto Police say Christopher McLean was gunned down in a parking lot near Weston Rd. and Imogene Ave. around 6:30 p.m. Friday.

“The shooting is believed to be targeted,” Const. Craig Brister said Monday.

He said McLean suffered “multiple gunshot wounds” and died at the scene.

Investigators are looking for two men who may have fled in a black sedan.

McLean is the city’s 32nd murder victim of the year, a sharp increase over the 20 slayings in Toronto at this time last year. And so far in 2016, 20 killings have come by way of guns.

McLean’s murder came the same night a 10-year-old boy was wounded by gunfire inside his family’s Pape-Danforth Aves. home.

The sleeping child was hit in the shoulder by one of the dozen or so bullets that riddled the townhouse at a TCHC complex on Blake St.

“(The boy’s family) say he’s doing OK,” one neighbour, who asked not to be identified, said at the complex Monday.

“My heart goes out to them,” she said, adding the shooting is especially troubling because it involves an innocent child.

A man in his 20s also suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot in the west end over the weekend.

Five others suffered stab wounds in altercations around town, including a 23-year-old man who was critically injured near Spadina Ave. and College St.

Const. David Hopkinson said the man was with friends when another group of men robbed them of their phones and jewelry around 3:20 a.m. Sunday.

“A struggle ensued,” he said, explaining one of the robbers pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim in his chest.

Mayor John Tory called the recent violence “heartbreaking” but insisted the city is “very safe.”

TORONTO'S CHILDREN UNDER FIRE

A 10-year-old who was shot in the shoulder inside his family’s townhouse near Danforth and Pape Aves. and an infant who died three weeks after he was delivered via C-section from his dying mom, Candice Rochelle Bob, are just the latest innocent children hurt or killed by gunfire in the city.

    June 13, 1999: Breanna Davy, 3, was in the front seat of a car when a gunman shot her and her father, Warren Blackstock, 27, at a TCHC housing complex on Driftwood Ave., near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W. The toddler was killed and her father paralyzed.

    Aug. 3, 2005: Shaquan Cadougan, 4, was out front of his TCHC townhome on Driftwood Ave., near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W., when more than a dozen gunshots were fired from a passing car. The toddler survived but was left with life-long injuries.

    Dec. 26, 2005: Jane Creba, 15, was shopping with her family on Yonge St., near Gerrard St., when she was caught in the crossfire of a gangland shootout. Seven others wounded in the Boxing Day bloodbath.

    May 23, 2007: Jordan Manners, 15, became the first victim murdered in a Toronto school when he was gunned down at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate, near Keele St. and Finch Ave. W.

    July 22, 2007: Ephraim Brown, 11, was outside enjoying a relative’s birthday party at a TCHC housing complex, near Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W., when he was caught in the crossfire of a shootout — allegedly involving rival gang members — and killed.

    July 16, 2012: Shyanne Charles, 14, was one of two killed when a gun-battle broke out during a barbecue at a TCHC housing complex on Danzig St., near Morningside Ave. and Lawrence Ave. W. Another 22 were injured, including a 22-month-old boy, in the city’s worst ever mass shooting.

    July 9, 2015: Lecent Ross, 12, was visiting a friend’s home at a TCHC townhouse on Jamestown Cr., in Rexdale, when she was shot and killed.
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Murder Victim Candice Rochelle Bobb, 35, premature baby dies

After three weeks of fighting to survive, the baby boy who was removed prematurely from his dying mother’s womb after she was shot in a drive-by in Rexdale has died.

Toronto Police revealed the tragic news late Sunday at the request of murder victim Candice Rochelle Bobb’s family.

The Malton woman, 35, was about six months pregnant when she was fatally shot as she sat in a car with friends near Jamestown Cres. and John Garland Blvd. around 11 p.m. on May 15.

The group had attended a basketball game together and stopped by Jamestown afterward to drop one of the friends off, detectives have said.

The four friends, none of whom were known to police, were still inside the car when it was riddled with bullets.

Bobb, a mother of two older kids who was awaiting the arrival of her third child, was the only one hit in the shooting.

The child was removed from his mom’s stomach during an emergency c-section at Sunnybrook Hospital, but Bobb died before seeing her son.

Chief Mark Saunders recently provided an update saying the baby remained in stable condition and was growing stronger every day.

It was the one happy note in an otherwise horrific story.

But sadly, Bobb’s family says the boy’s brief life ended at 7:10 p.m. Sunday.

It was not immediately known if the infant’s death would be deemed a homicide.

“We will be speaking to the Crown’s office,” spokesman Mark Pugash said Sunday.

No arrests have been made in the drive-by shooting.
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