Dunlap development plans cause uproar

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8:16 pm

A Subdivision draft for the David Dunlap site, rumoured to have been submitted months ago, was made public recently by the Town of Richmond Hill.

“I was absolutely appalled,” said Karen Cilevitz, of the David Dunlap Observatory Defenders, regarding the development proposal. “I actually felt physically ill. I had to seriously control myself."

Submitted by property owner Metrus Developments, the draft plan proposes a total of 833 residential units, including detached houses and townhomes, as well as number of streets and laneways covering roughly 70 per cent of the 190-acre site.

The plan leaves the observatory and administration building untouched on a nine-acre plot called the Observatory Heritage Precinct. Cilevitz described the proposal as a slap in the face.

“It’s not possible to say that one respects the cultural heritage aspect of this property and then slap down a plan of subdivision, which basically rapes the entire property,” she said. “In my view, it does not take into account the heritage or culture of this property,” echoed Brenda Hogg, deputy mayor of Richmond Hill. “When you look at the plan, the message to me is ‘We are house builders. That’s the extent of our interest here.’”

Michael Pozzebon, project manager at Metrus Developments, was unavailable for comment. Ana Bassios, commissioner of planning and development for the Town of Richmond Hill, described the plan as very complex. She added that a proper examination would be a time-intensive process. Under the Planning Act, council has 180 days to make a decision on the proposal, after which Metrus may appeal for a hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board, Bassios said.

At least one statutory public hearing on the proposal would also be required, she added. The application may be viewed at the town’s planning department, 225 East Beaver Creek Dr.

Thornhill man at middle of alleged $131M tax scam

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8:11 pm

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The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) recently revoked the charitable registration of two Markham area charities it said were being operated for the private benefit of its directors. The president of these organizations is Thornhill resident David Singh.

In two separately published reports, the CRA concluded that Destiny Health and Wellness Foundation and Liberty Wellness Initiative issued tax receipts greatly exceeding actual received donations. According to the agency, between 2005 and 2006, Destiny Health and Wellness Foundation issued in excess of $42 million in receipts for cash received through the Universal Donation program and through the Destiny Gifting program.

The overwhelming majority of these funds, the report claimed, were transferred to company employees and an investment company. Similarily, between 2004 and 2006, Liberty Wellness Initiative issued nearly $89 million in receipts, five times the actual value of donations, the release stated.

“It is our position that [the organization] has operated for the non-charitable purpose of promoting tax shelter arrangements and for the private benefit of its directors and the tax shelter promoters,” concluded the CRA in each report. In a March letter, Cathy Hawara, director general of the charities doctorate for the CRA, wrote that “these arrangements have resulted in substantially all of the actual cash received being diverted into the hands of the promoters and related companies rather than used for charitable purpose.”

The reports also stated that each charity had issued receipts for transactions that did not qualify as gifts, issued receipts contrary to the Income Tax Act and failed to meet annual disbursement quotas. In a prepared release, Singh described a 42-page response sent to the CRA in May 2009 “refuting each and every allegation put forward.”

“Liberty Wellness Initiatives and Destiny Health and Wellness Foundation are each challenging the actions of CRA through Notices of Objection as set out in the Income Tax Act,” the release added. “In due course, once our legal team and CRA have successfully resolved the matter, we will be positioned to provide any futher information you may require.”

The biggest fight of their marriage

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8:04 pm

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Respectively serving as leader of the New Democratic Party and member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina, Toronto’s political power couple, Jack Layton and Olivia Chow, have found common ground both in and out of caucus. The democratic duo discuss how they came to be a party of two and how their respective battles with cancer have brought them closer than ever before and why, even after 20 years, they still agree that love is the best policy.

How they met
I was the auctioneer at a Mount Sinai Hospital fundraising auction at Village by the Grange in Toronto organized by Dr. Joseph Wong. Olivia was the translator for the auctioneer, as the audience was primarily Cantonese speaking. I fell in love instantly. Olivia took a few weeks longer.

The first date
Jack invited me to talk about my run for the school board and to have a drink together. July 19th was the date. It was a hot Friday night with many stars. It was love all around, and we began to plan much more
time together.

What happened?
Magic happened.

The courtship
Our second date was swimming together in the pool at the Sheraton Hotel. One more evening together, then Olivia took off as the only woman in a four-person, three-week canoe trip, previously planned, followed by a trip to see her family in California. We didn’t see each other for four weeks! Our next date was a weekend at a friend’s cottage. That sealed the deal, and we made plans to move in together the next month.

The proposal
Although we were living together already, after three years, we jointly realized two important things: Olivia’s mum would be much happier if we were married, and the wedding could be one terrific party with our family and friends!

The wedding
July 9, 1988, Toronto: The first part was midday, Toronto Islands, an outdoor wedding with 400 friends and family. The second part: a Chinese banquet with 600 family and friends. Third part: official Chinese tea ceremony and dance with the band Parachute Club and rapper Clifton Joseph at the St. Lawrence Farmers’ Market with 1,100 family and friends. We danced until 4 a.m., even though Jack had a cast and cane, having broken his leg in a bicycle accident 10 days before the wedding on the tandem bike that was our wedding gift to each other.

The honeymoon
With a broken leg, the planned whitewater canoe and hiking trip was replaced by a sedate week at Arundel Lodge in Muskoka.

Kids
Sarah Layton, 34, and Michael Layton, 31.

Shared goals
We have loved working side by side as city councillors and now as members of Parliament, trying every day to build a better world. We share goals, hobbies and family.

Their lives now
We live in downtown Toronto with Olivia’s mother, Ho Sze Chow. We have a place to stay in Ottawa when we are there. We have bicycles in both places (no car needed).

Secret to success as a couple
Shared values and deep respect for each other’s commitment and work. And then there’s the fun, in all its dimension.

On fighting cancer as a couple
The fact that Jack and I encourage each other and give each other strength in dealing with cancer is very helpful in our recovery. Since I have fought the battle and won, I think it encourages Jack and helps with his own outlook.

Police say Bathurst bus that hit girl unable to manoeuvre

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7:58 pm

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An 11-year-old girl was sent to hospital with serious injuries on April 18 after what appeared to be an attempt to catch a bus on Bathurst Street south of Sheppard Avenue.

Police said she was stopped on a pedestrian safety barrier that divides northbound and southbound traffic when she stepped off and walked past a stopped bus only to be struck by another Toronto Transit Commission bus travelling in the passing lane.

“Our hearts go out to the little girl,” said Danny Nicholson, TTC spokesperson. Constable Hugh Smith, spokesperson for Toronto Police Traffic Services, said the driver is not at fault. “The driver couldn’t stop, there was no real area to manoeuvre,” he said. “All in all, it’s just a tragic set of circumstances.”

While there were several vehicle-related pedestrian deaths earlier this year, Smith said that recently there have been fewer pedestrian accidents. However, he did say the Bathurst and Sheppard area is a danger spot.

“You have these main roads going through these communities, and everyone wants school and commercial places nearby that they can walk to,” he said. “It’s a matter of communities saying, if you want things slowed down … then you have to avoid the main road and go further to do your grocery shopping.”

Smith said it is also important children learn about local traffic.

Fundraising in her brother’s honour

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7:57 pm

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Richmond Hill resident Jalal Rafinejad was always getting noticed, says his sister Golbahar. He was a kind, fun, talkative 16-year-old. When he was diagnosed with leukemia as a Grade 11 student at Langstaff Secondary School in December of 2007, that didn’t change.

“It showed the kind of spirit that he has, and I really admired that in him,” she says. Jalal endured five rounds of chemotherapy over a six-month hospital stay. Afterward, showing no signs of cancer, he entered remission and was able to return home. Jalal was back for two months before he started to feel sick again.

A week later, his lung collapsed, and after spending a month in the intensive care unit, he passed away on Oct. 11, 2008. Jalal was 17 years old.

In honour of her brother’s memory, Golbahar Rafinejad, 22, hosted a fundraiser on April 10, the day Jalal would have turned 19. All the money that was raised went to SickKids in support of finding a cure for childhood leukemia. This was Golbahar’s second fundraiser, organized with the help of family and friends.

With 300 guests in attendance, last month’s event brought in $20,000, matching the $20,000 raised at their first event. She feels as though any contribution that can be made, however small, counts.

“I hope that everything we’re doing will make a difference one day, and we’ll actually prevent others from going through what we have,” she says. Only four years older than Jalal, Golbahar says she had a close relationship with her brother. “He was always happy and smiling,” she recalls.

He was a source of strength for the family as they struggled through the ordeal. Golbahar says that’s the type of person her brother was, and she hopes to carry on in this spirit in his honour. “I think he would be really proud, and he would be happy that we’re helping others and trying to find a cure for the disease,” she says.

“I think the kids that have to go through this, my brother, they’re the real heroes. They’re the ones who inspire everyone else.”

For anyone who wishes to contribute or help, please contact Golbahar Rafinejad at [email protected].

Pro athletes questioned in area doctors case

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7:55 pm

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Dr. Anthony Galea, a Toronto sports medicine specialist and former director of the Clinic for Sports Medicine at North York’s Fitness Institute, is in hot water as United States federal agencies continue investigating his alleged distribution of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to high-profile athletes — an investigation confirmed by Galea’s lawyer Brian Greenspan.

“We’re quite confident that, if everyone tells the truth, then we’ll see this is much ado about nothing,” said Greenspan.

Most recently, Tiger Woods said his agent had been contacted by U.S. federal investigators and that he would be willing to comply with an interview.

Woods has publicly declared that he never received illegal human growth hormone (HGH) or PEDs from Galea, but that the Canadian doctor only performed a legal “blood-spinning” therapy to help speed the healing of Wood’s injured knee and Achilles tendon.

Federal investigators have also attempted several times to meet with New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez to discuss the relationship between the athlete and the doctor, but Rodriguez and his lawyers have delayed those meetings.

The delays have aroused public curiosity about whether Rodriguez did perhaps receive PEDs from Galea. “I can assure you Dr. Galea did not engage and has never engaged in the use of performance enhancing drugs,” said Greenspan. “He is a healer.… Professional athletes come to him in the hopes of returning to the playing field as soon as possible.”

Steve Roest, president and owner of the Fitness Institute, said while Galea hasn’t worked for the clinic for more than a year, he is a capable specialist. “I think he’s probably one of the best doctors ever. Everyone I talk to says the same thing, he’s a fabulous doctor,” said Roest. “I trust him completely.”

Galea, in addition to working at the Fitness Institute, has also been a team physician with the Toronto Argonauts and is founder of Toronto’s I.S.M. Health and Wellness Centre. His office was raided last year after American authorities discovered illegal drugs and medical supplies in a car driven by his former assistant.

Galea is currently facing four criminal charges in Canada related to distribution of HGH and PEDs, in addition to the current investigation under U.S. federal authorities.

High school club paints picture of tolerance

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7:53 pm

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While Last Month’s protests were enough to send Premier Dalton McGuinty’s sex ed. curriculum back to the drawing board, a William Lyon MacKenzie Collegiate Institute group is fighting hard to have greater sexual and gender tolerance in schools.

The Rainbow Club, which has 12 members, supports the school’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer (LGBTQ) community. Last month, 600 school students participated in the national Day of Silence, protesting the silencing of those who live alternative lifestyles. Openly gay teacher Alvin McIntyre founded the club in 2007 and said every year events get bigger.

Next month is the first official Pride Week at the school. Members are also currently filming a video on the homosexual and transgendered community that they hope other schools can use as an educational tool. However, while teachers at the school wear rainbow pins, there are still instances of homophobia.

Last fall, some students decorated the halls with stickers portraying two males holding hands with a slash across the image. Outside the school, there is less awareness of the club’s mission. Out of nearly 600 schools in the Toronto District School Board, only 20 have clubs that address gender and sexuality issues.

But the Ontario educational system is making strides to create a more tolerant school atmosphere. A few months ago Bill 157 (Keeping Our Kids Safe at School) came into effect, requiring all school staff to support students if they wish to start a LGBTQ club. As for McGuinty’s contested curriculum — which includes learning about same-sex relationships in Grade 3 — Kim Martyn, sexual health educator for the Toronto District School Board, said the point was to offer more inclusion in the schools.

That has been the mission of the Rainbow Club since day one. “I would run the club even if no students came back,” said McIntyre. “Just the fact it’s in the school helps.”

Songwriting award a ‘Rush’ for locals

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7:51 pm

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When Rush was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) recently, a part of Willowdale went with the rock legend. The North York neighbourhood figures in the song “Subdivisions,” which was inducted as an example of Rush’s stellar songwriting abilities.

“The song very much speaks to their sensibilities about where they come from,” said Sylvia Tyson, CSHF president, referring to the members of Rush, who are lead vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neal Peart. Tyson — best known as one-half of Canadian classic folk duo Ian and Sylvia — said Rush was a natural choice for the hall of fame, since the group has been in existence for more than 25 years and has left a mark on both the Canadian and international music scenes.

“They’ve been extremely popular for a very long time, and all their music is based on good solid musicianship and songwriting,” said Tyson. Tyson also said, when musicians are honoured publicly, it creates a buzz in the communities the musicians hail from. “Chances are, most people from Willowdale don’t know Rush is from there,” she said, “but an event like this really draws attention to that fact.”

Jamaican me hungry!

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12:59 pm

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GOOOAAALLLL!!!
CARIBBEAN JERK PIT

What’s the key to great jerk chicken? “The person cooking it. I’m used to the way my grandma or my mom cooks it,” says the Jamaican-Canadian star defender. “It needs the right amount of spices and ingredients but also love. That’s the key ingredient.” The people at Caribbean Jerk Pit must be loving people because this dish earns rave reviews from the perennially positive de Guzman.

The crunchy skin, moist tender chicken and rich oxtail gravy remind him of a home-cooked meal, though he could have handled a little more heat. “A good plate for someone who wants to enjoy the spiciness of the jerk and also the aftertaste,” he says.

Price: $6.20 for a small, 10737 Yonge St., 905-883-5798

Click here to watch Julian de Guzman pick his favourite dish

ISLAND STYLIN’

Caribbean Bistro, 2439 Yonge St.

“The spices are perfect. The initial bite, you don’t really taste them, but it has a nice finishing touch.” De Guzman loves the slightly burnt outside and the tender inside. “This is what jerk chicken looks like to me. I give it two thumbs up.” Price: $11.95

A BEAUTIFUL GAME

Albert’s Real Jamaican Foods, 542 St. Clair Ave. W.

“Not as crispy as some would like, but not bad,” he says. “This is something I would eat at a barbecue on the weekend, licking my fingers.” In all, an impressive traditional jerk dish, but it too could use a bit more heat. A solid beginner plate. Price: $8 for a small

THE SPICE IS RIGHT

Island Foods, 1310 Don Mills Rd.

“I guess this is good for a nice date,” says de Guzman. “With jerk chicken, I like to use my hands and get messy with it. But with this one, you can use a knife and fork.” A bit too meaty and a bit drier than the others, but a nice finishing spice bumps it to fourth. Price: $7.45

COOL RUNNINGS

Mr. Jerk, 3050 Don Mills Rd.

“A mix of some on the bone, a lot of big meaty pieces and a lot of sauce used on the chicken and the rice. This is going to be a messy one,” he says. It loses points for lack of spiciness, but overall a good introduction to the world of jerk chicken. Price: $8.99 for half

Click here to watch Julian de Guzman pick his favourite dish

Highly anticipated music release hits this month

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12:41 pm

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One of the most highly anticipated album releases of 2010 is arriving on store shelves this month as Broken Social Scene prepares to celebrate a decade of their original chaotic hipster-pop orchestrations.

The Juno Award–winning group’s latest album, Forgiveness Rock Record, is a sonic feast of sounds crafted into disarmingly tight ambient pop jams playing off the themes of love found and lost as well as letting go of baggage and moving on.

With the release comes a new period for the band, boasting its most consistent and “together” lineup since the band’s inception. And back then there were only two members crafting groovy instrumental compositions in the basement. According to Andrew Whiteman, for the first time, band members are actually taking time off from their myriad of side projects to concentrate on this release. And it seems to be paying off.

Although as anarchic as one might expect from a BSS album, there is a consistency and a togetherness that is new and elevates the music to previously uncharted territory.

The core of the touring band remains with Brendan Canning and co-founder Kevin Drew, along with Charles Spearin, Whiteman, Justin Peroff and Sam Goldberg. Added to the mix is a more solidified role for singer Lisa Lobsinger with past singers, including Leslie Feist, Metric’s Emily Haines and Amy Milan of Stars moving aside, save for one track, “Sentimental Xs” that features all three. And that, says Whiteman, has proven to be a major boon for the band.

“Lisa has been very involved in this record, and I feel very fantastic about that,” Whiteman explains. “She’s had to put up with a lot of bulls–t, but she’s stepping up and playing a lot more now.”

For Whiteman, after 10 solid years, the band is more family than anything else.

“The band is like a weird combination of things. It is my dysfunctional, mostly male family,” he says. “They are all pretty incredible musicians … and I feel like we know each other pretty well, so we give each other a fair amount of room.”

After the album release, the band heads out on tour for the summer, including a performance at their own concert on T.O.’s Olympic Island next month. Despite the band’s success, and the wave of “indie” fever the last few years, Whiteman remains but a humble music vessel.

“This is my living, you know. I have to be thankful,” says Whiteman. “When the hype wave hits someone else, they won’t give a s–t about you.” For more information, go to www. brokensocialscene.ca.

In search of the perfect steak

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12:35 pm

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The slight, smartly attired scribe sitting across the table does not meet expectations.

Having recently completed an around-the-world culinary adventure in search of the perfect steak, one would expect to find a rather large individual decked out in stretchy pants in the throes of epic meat sweats squeezing his hefty keister into the slim-fit café chair at the Starbucks at Yonge and Roxborough for the interview promoting his new book, Steak.

Toronto writer Mark Schatzker, a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail and other publications, looks as if he could up and run a marathon.

After completing a story on steaks for online magazine Slate, where Schatzker ordered and evaluated a number of varieties from online sources, he found out rather quickly there was more to it than marbling.

“I knew there was a bigger story, and it involved everything from flavour science to Nazi Germany to the evolution of humans as meat eaters,” says Schatzker. Four years later, Steak chronicles his beef-based adventures: from eating mutton in Mongolia to facing an ungodly wall of stench in the ranchlands of Texas, combining a travel and culinary narrative in one tidy package. But why him?

“I think I have fairly sensitive taste buds,” says Schatzker, “but I think that I am also curious, and I have a desire to understand.”

After securing a fortuitous travel piece for Condé Nast that involved travelling the world for 80 days without taking a plane, Schatzker had the opportunity he needed to go on a steak-sampling marathon for the ages, including stopovers in the carnivore capitols of Texas, France, Scotland, Italy, Japan and Argentina.

But, where the book gets really interesting is when Schatzker returns home, purchases three Canadienne cows, and raises them on a farm near Singhampton, Ont., with the help of Michael Stadtländer, local food luminary and one of the country’s top chefs. The story of the first and best of his trio of cows, Fleurance, is worth the cover price, alone, including the cans of Creemore he brought for the cows on their last morning.

“I found the experience of owning and raising a heifer, slaughtering it and eating it very satisfying in ways I didn’t anticipate at all,” says Schatzker, who marks his ability to feed his three young children food that he raised himself as a monumental achievement.

“And her hide is on my family room floor and the kids sit on her.” As for the elusive, perfect steak, Schatzker has learned to lower his expectations. “I’ve given up the idea of perfection,” says Schatzker. “But I’m always looking for a good steak.”Steak hits shelves on May 8.

Raise a glass to dropping a few pounds

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12:06 pm

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Eat local, drink low cal. That sounds like the clarion call to a healthy diet.

But how many calories are there in a glass of wine?

And don’t get trapped into thinking a glass of red wine has more calories than a glass of white.

The calorie count all depends on the amount of alcohol or residual sugar in the wine.

So, basically, the lower the alcohol the lower the number of calories per glass. The LCBO does not have a low-calorie wine category, but they do have a formula by which you can determine the number of calories in a 100 ml serving (equivalent to a 3.5 oz pour).

Look for the percentage of alcohol by volume on the label and multiply that number by seven. Then add the total of the sugar code multiplied by four (this should be printed on the self sticker with the price and the product code number).

Say the wine you’ve chosen declares it’s 12 per cent alcohol and it’s a (1) on the LCBO sugar scale. This computes to 88 calories per serving. If you’re intent on drinking the whole bottle then multiply that 100 ml pour by 7.5 (660 calories).

As a simple rule of thumb, the dry wines from cool-climate growing regions will have lower alcohol readings than those from warm growing regions.

Sunlight develops sugar in grapes. The more sun, the more sugar. The more sugar, the higher the potential alcohol in the wine when it’s finished fermenting. So a Riesling from Germany,whose wine regions are at the most northerly latitude for ripening wine grapes, can be as be as low as 8.5 per cent alcohol, whereas, a Chardonnay from the Napa Valley can be as high as 14.5 per cent or more.

There is a move in California and Australia to bring down alcohol levels. This can be accomplished by picking the grapes when they are not fully ripened or by adding water to the fermenting wine (which really isn’t cricket).

More and more wineries in warm growing regions are reverting to the use of high-tech processes, such as reverse osmosis or spinning cones, that will reduce the alcohol volume by one to two per cent.

If you want to select naturally low alcohol wines for summer drinking, head for German Riesling, Portuguese Vinho Verde, French Vouvray and Muscadet and Portuguese rosés. Most Ontario wines, incidentally, are around 12 per cent alcohol.

If you really want to cut down your alcohol intake, take your wine as spritzers (but please, not Puligny-Montrachet spritzers. Choose a simple wine less than $10 or I’ll cut you out of my will.)

A word to the wise: Drinks, whether they be alcoholic or not, make up about 20 per cent of the calories you consume every day.

I surfed the net to find out how many books I could find on the subject of wine and dieting. In no time at all, I came across The Red Wine Diet, The Wine Lover’s Healthy Weight Loss Plan, California Wine County Diet, The Sonoma Diet and The Sonoma Diet Cookbook.

None of these is French or Italian — which must tell you something.

GOOOAAALLLL!!! CARIBBEAN JERK PIT

ISLAND STYLIN’

A BEAUTIFUL GAME

THE SPICE IS RIGHT

COOL RUNNINGS

GOOOAAALLLL!!!
CARIBBEAN JERK PIT