As if we’re not taxed enough, now the powers that be are looking into a road congestion tax. How many more taxes can possibly be passed onto Toronto drivers?

It appears that Mayor Miller is sending someone to London, England to study their congestion tax. He will be briefed by London’s deputy mayor. Comparing the situation in Toronto to the situation in London is absolutely absurd. What Mayor Miller is really trying to do is punish Toronto drivers because the city has a totally inadequate transit system. If you want people to leave their cars at home, then you must offer an alternative, efficient, cost effective mode of transportation. London, England has a magnificently efficient system with a transit stop virtually on every corner that extends to the far reaches of this enormous city. Unfortunately if you live in Toronto and are not on the Yonge line or the Bloor/Danforth line, then you are out of luck. Perish the thought that you live outside the 416 area code and have to come into the city for work on public transit. So let’s leave the comparisons aside and call a spade a spade. Toronto is trying to pass the buck to the drivers instead of developing the necessary infrastructure.

To read more about this issue follow the link below.

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/183534

How do you think that a congestion tax will affect drivers? Will you leave your car at home if the tax is imposed? Do you think that this will drive more businesses from the downtown core into the suburbs, hurting Toronto’s economy?

If you’ve had any dental work lately you may have found that you were left with a greater pain in your wallet than in your mouth. The cost of dental work can be staggering and it is not covered by OHIP. Not everyone can afford it or is lucky enough to have private insurance to cover part of the bill.

Dental care is very important and shouldn’t be neglected. Toronto Public Health does offer free dental care for low-income seniors, children up to grade 8, and high school students. For all of the details follow the link below.

http://www.toronto.ca/health/dental/index.htm

There are some student dental hygienists who advertise on Craigslist from time to time offering dental cleanings at no charge. Of course all work is done under the supervision of qualified hygienists and instructors. See the 2 ads from Craigslist below.

http://toronto.craigslist.org/zip/274585588.html

http://toronto.craigslist.org/for/279261265.html

Cleaning and whitening services can be had at greatly reduced rates by George Brown College students. And University of Toronto dental students offer a complete range of dental services including orthodontics, endodontics, and periodontics at greatly reduced rates. Unfortunately these services are in great demand and there are very long waiting lists.

To learn more about these services follow the link below.

http://www.torontoist.com/archives/2007/02/big_book_of_tor.php  

Do you take care of your dental health or has the cost stopped you from making regular trips to the dentist? Have you ever considered using any of the services from students?

We live in a world where instant seems to be the operative word. Now we can be physically fit in an instant - actually not in an instant but in 4 minutes. If you are one of the legions of Torontonians who regularly goes to the gym for a workout or to attend fitness classes, these claims will come as a shock to you.

A company called H.I.T. Fitness is promoting their 4 minute workout which they claim is the equivalent to 45 minutes of resistance training, 30 minutes of running, and 20 minutes of stretching. Although the workout will only burn from 40 - 50 calories, the company is claiming that an additional 500 calories will continue to be burned over the next 24 hours. The workout, and I use the term loosely, is based upon spending 4 minutes on a machine that has 2 parts - the front works like a rowing machine and the back is like an elliptical step machine. Like most pieces of cardio apparatus, there are different levels of difficulty. 

The research to justify these fabulous claims is in the form of a PDF document on their website. It does not appear that any studies have been done and published in any reputable journals. I suppose that if someone has never exercised, then 4 minutes on the wonder machine will definitely be an improvement. However to date the finest medical minds in the world have not found a quick way to become physically fit. It’s amazing that this company has.

The first location is now operating on the Concourse Level of the TD Centre. The target market is all of you busy working folk who have no more than 4 minutes to spare for something as important as your physical well-being. H.I.T. is hoping to open between 40 and 50 locations within the next 5 years.  

The only thing that I have to say is consumer beware. To read more about getting fit in 4 minutes follow the link below.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/02/13/short-workout.html

Please let us know if any of you have tried it and what you think about the 4 minute workout.

Toronto is known as “Hollywood North”. Our film and television industry contributed $928 million to our economy at its peak in 2001. Unfortunately 9/11 and SARS put an abrupt end to the boom and the industry has been in a downward spiral ever since. Now we have no outside forces to blame for our troubled industry. A strike by 21,000 members of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) which began on January 8^th has all but ground production in the city to a halt. At issue are wages and compensation for Internet use. It is estimated that Toronto may have already lost over $400 million in production revenue as a result of the strike, which is not showing any signs of resolution. Of course the stronger Canadian dollar hasn’t helped any. Nor has the fact that other regions eager to capture some of the market have been offering very enticing tax credits in order to lure business away from Toronto. However the belief is that once our labour problems are resolved that U.S. and foreign production will return to Toronto.

To read more about our film and production problems follow the link below.

http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/181471

Do you think that our film and television production industry will ever return to its former glory? Or do you think that this strike is the kiss of death?

 Is scrapping the disabled parking system the answer? That’s what Toronto city councillor Howard Moscoe thinks is the answer to ending abuse of the system. Isn’t that a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water? Will we next move to end welfare because we know that there are some people who abuse it? Howard Moscoe also wants the disabled to pay for parking in metered street parking spaces.

 The reality is that no matter what system we put in place there are always going to be people who figure out how to beat the system. Mr. Moscoe will never see any system that is free of abuse. The reality is that many disabled people are already financially disadvantaged and on fixed incomes.

 There are currently 470,000 permits in Ontario. In spite of Mr. Moscoe’s rhetoric neither he nor anyone else has any hard data showing how many permits are being abused. He has estimated that the city is losing 3 million dollars in revenue as a result of bogus permits. Unless we have privy to someone’s medical data we have no way of knowing if they are truly disabled. Someone may look able bodied to you, but may have heart, lung, or vascular problems, validating the issuing of the permit. It seems to me that if the city wants to make up a potential loss of 3 million dollars that they can find a better way to do it than on the backs of the disabled.

 To read more about this issue please follow the link below.

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/181018

 Do you think that we should scrap disabled parking, institute a fee structure, or leave it as it is?

Are you caught in Passport Purgatory? When you go to Passport Canada’s website this is what you will find posted.

“Volume Increase

Passport Canada is experiencing a sharp volume increase in passport applications in all of its offices, by mail and through its receiving agents. Please note that we are also experiencing up to 25 business days delays, in addition to our service standards when delivering your new passport. “

Not very encouraging, is it? The sad reality is that if you were planning a March break get-away south of the border and you have not already applied for your passport, you are out of luck. Since last November Passport Canada has been receiving approximately 21,000 applications a day. Due to this absolute deluge of applications the process will realistically take almost 9 weeks if you apply by mail. To try to respond to the demand Passport Canada is currently hiring 300 additional workers. They had better be prepared because another deluge is expected later this year. Everyone crossing into the United States by land will need a passport in January 2008. Sadly, it appears that we have gone from road rage to passport rage. In Toronto 5 provincial police officers were brought in to keep the peace and restore calm as applicants became increasingly agitated in very long line-ups.

For more information follow the link below to the Passport Canada website.

http://www.ppt.gc.ca/index.aspx?lang=e

One of the most exciting things about living in Toronto is our availability of world-class live theatre. We boast the third largest theatre centre in the English speaking world after New York and London, featuring everything from blockbuster musicals to experimental fringe theatre.

The Entertainment District is the heart and soul of live entertainment in Toronto. The range of venues that we have will quite frankly amaze you from the 2,000 seat fabulous Roy Thomson Hall to the intimate 200 seat Glenn Gould Theatre/Recording studio in the CBC national headquarters. Toronto’s Entertainment District is home to major productions, symphony, opera, dance, rock concerts, drama, comedy, and dinner theatre. In addition to theatres and concert venues, the club scene is centred here with bars, clubs, lounges, and pubs galore. And the Entertainment District is an oasis of culinary delights with everything from elegant French cuisine to Asian fusion and traditional English pubs. It’s not hard to see why the Entertainment District is always hopping.

For up-to-the-minute details on the live theatre scene in Toronto, click on the link below.

http://www.torontolivetheatre.com/

For a list of restaurants in the Entertainment District click on the link below.

http://www.thedistrict.ca/sections.cfm?section_id=1

For a list of the nightlife in the Entertainment District click on the link below.

http://www.thedistrict.ca/sections.cfm?section_id=6&display=all

 For an Entertainment District event calendar click on the link below.

http://www.thedistrict.ca/calendar.cfm

What is your favourite place in the Entertainment District? Do you regularly attend live entertainment? Anything to recommend?

In case you are looking for the Financial District, you can find it directly above PATH, which connects more than 50 office towers and 20 parking garages. The Financial District is defined as the area bounded by Queen St., Front St., Yonge St. and Avenue Road, and its subway stops are King, Union, and St. Andrew stations. In addition to banks, insurance companies, and financial institutions, the Financial District will also be home to the Trump International Hotel and Tower. This 500 million dollar extravaganza located at the corner of Bay and Adelaide is designed to be the tallest and most luxurious residential building in Canada. The opulent tower features 291 luxurious hotel guestrooms and 147 residential condominiums available for purchase to those with very deep pockets.

However, the interesting thing is that this building will be cooled by an Enwave Energy deep lake water cooling system, which uses 90% less electricity than conventional cooling systems. Enwave sources power from the water of Lake Ontario. The lake water runs through Toronto’s filtration system to Enwave’s facilities where the energy is extracted from the water. It is this clean, reliable, sustainable, low cost energy that is used to cool the buildings. To learn more about Enwave click on the link below.

http://www.enwave.com/enwave/

Did you know about this cooling system before? If this system was available for home use, would you consider it?

Did you know that you can explore downtown Toronto’s underground city by following PATH?  – an underground walkway linking 27 kilometres (16 miles) of shopping, services, and entertainment. This amazing subterranean walkway features more than 1,200 retail stores and services. According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex with 371,600 sq. metres (4 million sq. ft) of retail space. To give you some idea of the enormity of the space, PATH is similar in size to the West Edmonton Mall.

Tourists and locals alike love PATH and it plays an integral part in Toronto’s economy. Its temperature controlled environment remains cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And PATH provides valuable links to public transit, accommodating over 100,000 daily commuters. It connects five subway stations, two major department stores, six major hotels, a railway terminal and links to the CN Tower, City Hall, Hockey Hall of Fame, Roy Thomson Hall, Metro Hall, Air Canada Centre, and the Rogers Centre, bringing people to work, events, attractions, and activities.

To find out more about PATH follow this link.

http://www.toronto.ca/path/

Do you regularly use PATH? Do you prefer to shop underground? Have you visited other cities that have a subterranean walkway similar to PATH?

There is a great deal of public outcry to legally ban panhandling altogether from our streets. City Councilor Case Ootes wants Toronto to institute a ban on panhandling in officially designated tourist areas like Yonge and Dundas Streets. This attitude just goes to reinforce the notion that if we don’t have to look at beggars, then it means that we don’t have any.

Instead of trying to legally end panhandling, why don’t we start to address the real problems like affordable housing, the costs of daycare, disability payments, and appropriate medical care for the mentally ill who have fallen through the cracks and are out on the streets begging?

Isn’t it time we faced up to our big city problems and tried to fix them? However there are those among us who think that “those people” choose to be homeless and that they are lazy and don’t want to work. We’ve all heard and read the stories about the few who are making a really good tax free income from panhandling. But these people are the exceptions to the rule, just as the people who get welfare and disability payments that they don’t deserve. Do you really think that homeless people choose to live in filth and squalor on the streets, cold and hungry? Would it shock you to know that according to the Housing and Homelessness Report Card 2003 that 31,985 homeless individuals (including 4,779 children) stayed in a Toronto shelter at least once during 2002?

For the full report click the link below.

http://www.toronto.ca/homelessness/

Do you really think that laws will make over 30,000 homeless people disappear? What do you think that we should do about this growing problem?