The Truth About Toronto Mayor John Tory, and candidate Faith Goldy

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Teen boy shot on 5 Capris Rd in Etobicoke, Toronto

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More than $500Gs in synthetic drugs seized by York cops: Shiyuan Han, 21, Weiduo Kong, 19, Zehao Li, 23, Yanan Yang, 21, Ziwei Cheng, 25, Tennyson Loi, 23 and Zhipeng Wang, 23

A drug trafficking investigation spanning more than half a year by York Regional Police has uncovered more than $500,000 in synthetic drugs and the arrests of seven Toronto men.

The Organized Crime Bureau’s investigation began in Richmond Hill, zeroing in on two men believed to be trafficking synthetic drugs. Investigators found the trafficking ring was well-organized and involved a number of additional suspects who were acting as runners.

Then, on Aug. 22, undercover officers allegedly bought more than 3 kilos of methamphetamine from one of the suspects in Markham. The men were arrested and a residence on Brigadoon Cres. in Toronto was searched and officers seized two kilos of ketamine and 10 ounces of cocaine worth more than $500,000.

Shiyuan Han, 21, Weiduo Kong, 19, Zehao Li, 23, Yanan Yang, 21, Ziwei Cheng, 25, Tennyson Loi, 23 and Zhipeng Wang, 23, face various drug-related charges, including possession for the purpose of trafficking, conspiracy to import, export and conspiracy to commit trafficking.

Still outstanding is Bo Li, 24, or Richmond Hill, wanted for allegedly trafficking ketamine and methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit trafficking.
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GTA GUN BUST: Array of frightening firearms taken off the street

A scary collection of illegal firearms — an assault rifle, a submachine gun and two handguns — has been seized in separate busts at homes on opposite ends of the GTA.

On Monday in Ajax, Durham Regional Police say officers responded to Monarch Ave. — near Bayly St. W. and Harwood Ave. S. — around 5:30 p.m. after receiving information about “an armed party” operating a blue Hyundai in the area.

A suspect vehicle was located several blocks away at a home on Lawrie Rd.

"Officers investigated the incident and arrested the suspect at his residence,” police said in a statement released Wednesday, adding three firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were allegedly found inside the home.

Quintin Cook, of Ajax, was arrested.

The 23-year-old faces a slew of firearms charges.

On Tuesday, Peel Regional Police say they received a report of a man with a firearm at a home in Brampton around 11:00 p.m.

Officers responded, arrested a suspect “without incident” and later located an Uzi submachine gun inside the residence.

Anthony Singh, 33, of Brampton, faces numerous firearms offences.
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Chad Day, 42, was killed Sept. 8, 2018. He is the 75th homicide of the year in Toronto. 2 arrested 1 sought

Two Hamilton men are facing murder charges after deadly fall from a Parkdale high rise last weekend.

A little after 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8, emergency crews were called to 103 West Lodge Ave.  for reports of a man — identified as 42-year-old  Chad Day — who apparently fell from an apartment balcony.

The death was deemed suspicious, and the investigation was taken over by the Toronto police homicide squad.

On Wednesday, investigators arrested two men in connection with Day’s deadly plunge.

Thirty-year-old Lee Newelln was charged with first-degree murder, while 28-year-old Christopher Small faces second-degree murder charges.


A third, unidentified suspect remains outstanding.

Newelln appeared in court on Wednesday, while Small is scheduled to make his first appearance on Thursday.

Anybody with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7400, or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.
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Father-son fight over car led to fatal stabbing: Mom

A family dispute over the use of a car allegedly led to a son stabbing his 50-year-old father to death Tuesday afternoon in Etobicoke.

Toronto Police were called to an apartment building on Redgrave Dr. — near Martin Grove Rd. and Hwy. 401 — around 4:30 p.m. and found a man with no vital signs who was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim’s wife, Shabana Saib, says she was home when the altercation allegedly unfolded between her husband, Amir Saibby, and their 20-year-old son.

“My son came home from work and my husband said he needed the car to pick up a brother at the airport, but my son said ‘no, he had to go to the gym,’” Saib recalled on Wednesday.

Saib, who is staying with a neighbour, suffered cuts to her forehead while allegedly trying to disarm her son.

“His dad took away my son’s keys and told him to get his own apartment,” she alleged. “That’s when he ran to the kitchen and got a knife and stabbed my husband in the shoulder and the stomach.

“Then he stabbed himself in the stomach and took off in the car,” Saib claims.

Police located a suspect after a car crash near Hwy. 401 and Islington Ave. The man was arrested and taken to hospital.

Noah Saib, 20, of Toronto, is charged with second-degree murder in the city’s 76th homicide of the year.

Ontario’s Special Investigation Unit is also probing the deadly incident.

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Toronto man in his 50s killed near Redgrave and Martin Grove in Etobicoke stabbing

An altercation between two men in Etobicoke preceded the stabbing death of one man and a collision on Hwy. 401, police say.

Emergency services rushed to a residential area at Redgrave Dr. and Martin Grove Rd. around 4:30 p.m. for the report of a stabbing. A man was found with stab wounds to the upper body and no vital signs. Paramedics attempted to save him, but shortly after they arrived, he was pronounced dead at the scene. They say he was in his 50s.

Toronto police detective Paul Worden identified the man as Ameer Saib.

A woman was also found at the scene with minor injuries. Police say she was “trying to de-escalate” an altercation between two men.

“(She) was injured to the upper body (while) trying to disarm one of the males,” said Toronto police spokesperson Katrina Arrogante.

Police say the other man fled the area in a vehicle following the altercation. Arrogante said the man had an upper body stab wound, but the full extent of his injuries are unknown.

Not far from the scene, a man was later apprehended and transported to hospital following a collision on Hwy. 401.

Spokesperson Gary Long said the vehicle hit “a couple other vehicles,” but it’s unclear whether any other people were injured in the collision.

The Ontario Provincial Police have tweeted that all collector lanes on Hwy. 401 eastbound between Dixon Rd. and Islington Ave. are closed due to a single vehicle collision.

The homicide unit is taking over the investigation.
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Woman on mobility scooter killed after being struck by vehicle in south Etobicoke near Sixth and Lakeshore

A woman has been killed after being struck by a vehicle while she was riding a mobility scooter in south Etobicoke.

Police were called to the area of Sixth St. and Lake Shore Blvd. W. for a reported collision, and found a woman between 60 and 70 years old who had been hit by a vehicle.

She was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries, where she later was pronounced dead.

Police initially thought that she had been on an e-bike, but the investigation found that it was a mobility scooter.

The driver of the vehicle remained on scene to co-operate with police.

Rene Noel, who walked past the scene of the collision shortly after it occurred, said what looked like a “smashed up mobility scooter” was lying in the road, a short distance away from a vehicle Noel described as a “somewhat rare Mercedes.”

Collision: Sixth & Lake Shore, 60-70 year old female on a E-Bike stuck by a vehicle which remained on scene. Injuries are serious and she was transported by emerg. run to hospital. Intersection closed.lThe investigation continues.#GO1685122 ^gl

— Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) September 11, 2018

The sun was very low at the time, Noel said, and “often is directly in the eyes of westbound traffic at this time of day.” Noel added that across the street is Konrad Lounge, a popular bar and grill, and that it’s not uncommon to see people travelling back and forth from that establishment and the nearby New Toronto Senior Centre, at Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Fourth St.

Police are still investigating the circumstances of the collision, and have not yet confirmed what happened.

The intersection was closed down for the investigation.  
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Toronto needs fairer distribution of Section 37 funds

Developers pay Section 37 funds when they exceed building limits in local wards

For Michelle Holland, the figures reflect Toronto’s have and have-not areas, and growing differences between them.

Section 37 of the Ontario Planning Act lets developers pay each time they build bigger than zoning allows.

These Section 37 monies pay for park improvements, library expansions and other amenities in wards where they were given, to make up for the needs extra density brings.

But a city councillor like Holland, whose Ward 35 in Scarborough Southwest receives little development, must deal with crumbling infrastructure and poverty without this help.

After calling for “full and uncomplicated transparency” from the city on how much Section 37 monies are being banked and spent in each ward, Holland saw a listing of Section 37 funds each councillor had banked, as of Sept. 30, 2017.

And next to Kristyn Wong-Tam’s $66.8 million in Ward 27 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale), her $67,000 was “a drop in the bucket.”

The issue smoulders in Scarborough, where politicians often mention disparities between their districts and the city’s wealthier core.

Provincial rules say Section 37 funds must stay in their wards, but this month the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization told Mayor John Tory this must be reviewed, and perhaps changed, to “share the wealth” city-wide.

At an SCRO summit in April, people representing 18 neighbourhood associations voted on the organization’s policy priorities. A centre for skilled trades topped the list, but pooling Section 37 funds across Toronto was second.

The group’s leaders aren’t suggesting how this might work, or even whether Section 37 contributions — negotiated by councillors and city staff behind closed doors — are a good way to pay for density.

Still, they noticed $127 million, or over half the $210 million held last September, was tied to four wards forming Trinity-Spadina and Toronto Centre-Rosedale, meaning, the group says, “12 per cent of Toronto’s residents would benefit from over 50 per cent of the funds.”

Section 37 was always controversial, said Mimi Lau, an urban planner chairing SCRO’s planning committee, but it may be time for the city to help out “disinvested” areas needing more.

Holland, “obviously enthused” the group is championing her issue, said funds over $5 million or perhaps $10 million in each ward should be pooled for use elsewhere.

It’s unlikely councillors from “have” wards would agree, she said, but she’s confident Premier Doug Ford will.

John Filion, whose Ward 23 (Willowdale) ward had $21.8 million banked last fall, said he’d gladly “trade my Section 37 money and not have the development” that produced it.

Even with those contributions, he said, he can’t keep up with local demands for new child-care centres, community centres and parks.

Portions of development charges and park levies — larger amounts than Section 37, when added up — are spread across Toronto, said Filion. “People in Scarborough got a ton of money because of development in my ward.”

This year, he added, Scarborough councillors approved a 34-storey mixed-use building on Markham Road with a “piddling amount” of Section 37 — $832,000. In his ward, Filion insisted, he’d have got at least $4-5 million from the builder.

“You need councillors that will give developers a hard time,” and ask for more, he argued.

Gary Crawford, an incumbent councillor running against Holland, said he supports a review, given Scarborough wards’ disparity with downtown. “I do feel we need to look at this more closely and to disperse this in a more equitable way.”

Suman Roy, a candidate challenging Crawford and Holland’s bids for re-election, said he doesn’t support redistribution of Section 37 out of ward. Instead of looking for “handouts,” councillors should work harder to attract development to their districts, Roy said.

Mike Layton, whose Ward 19 (Trinity-Spadina) had $8.2 million in funds, said they aren’t being spent on “vanity projects.”

Layton said he’s not opposed to changing Section 37 distribution, “but I think you’ll find communities will be less accepting of development if they aren’t getting benefits.”

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Explosion of gun violence not confined to Toronto

Gun and gang violence has been on the rise west of the city where cops recently seized eight firearms in 11 days.

But Peel Regional Police say most gun crimes committed in their region “involve guns that were illegally obtained and possessed.”

So unlike Toronto, which has seen an explosion of bullets flying in recent years, there has been no talk of banning those who are licensed from owning legal handguns.

And cops in Peel have openly acknowledged that the suspension of carding in 2016 and the subsequent introduction of strict provincial regulations governing street checks have contributed to increased gun violence.

“The new regulation restricts how officers are able to interact with members of the public, and in doing so, it also gives criminals an option not to talk to police when officers attempt to collect personal information,” police recently told the Toronto Sun.

“The result is criminals feel empowered, thinking officers won’t stop them and they now are more confident they will get away with carrying guns and knives,” police said.

There have been 20 murders in Peel already this year, eight by guns — compared to 16 in all of 2017, nine of which were shootings.

In 2017, cops took 429 guns off the streets of Peel. This year officers had already seized 247 firearms off the streets of Brampton and Mississauga by July.

And between Aug. 15 and Aug. 25, Peel cops seized eight firearms:

– On Aug. 15, two 9mm handguns were found during a traffic stop near Hwy. 50 and Bellchase Trail, in Brampton, and a Richmond Hill man, 45, was charged.

– On Aug. 16, a suspicious activity call near Flowertown Ave. and McLaughlin Rd., Brampton, led to the seizure of a shotgun from the trunk of a vehicle and charges against four Brampton men in their 20s.

– On Aug. 21, a .22-caliber revolver was seized during a traffic stop near Mclaughlin Rd. and Williams Pkwy., in Brampton, and a Brampton man, 19, was charged.

– On Aug. 24, a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum long barrel revolver was recovered after an armed robbery in Mississauga and a Toronto man, 19, was charged.

– On Aug. 24, a 9mm semi-automatic handgun was seized from a Brampton residence, near Chinguacousy Rd. and Queen St., and a Brampton man, 34, was charged.

– On Aug. 25, a Glock 22 .40 calibre handgun with a loaded magazine and a Blue Line Solutions .22 calibre handgun with a loaded magazine were seized in a traffic stop near Tomken Rd. and Steeles Ave., in Brampton, and charges were laid against a Caledon man, 18, and a Bolton man, 17.

In a recent statement, Peel Police Chief Jennifer Evans called the spike in violent crime and firearms use “unacceptable.”

“I have initiated a plan to add additional officers to front line to increase enforcement and want criminals to know that if you commit a crime in Peel then my officers will find you,” Evans said.
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