Now in its 12th glorious year Canada Blooms, Canada’s largest indoor garden show will be taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building from March 12 – March 16. The show hours are:

• Wednesday, March 12 - 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
• Thursday, March 13 - 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
• Friday, March 14 - 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
• Saturday, March 15 - 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
• Sunday, March 16 - 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

This year’s magnificent display showcases over 250 exhibitors - leading garden centres, equipment and accessories vendors, florists, designers, educational and horticultural organizations - and 40 features gardens on 6 magnificent acres created by Canada’s top landscape designers. Leading experts will be on hand giving over 200 hours of demonstrations and talks.

Canada Blooms is a not-for-profit organization that supports community garden projects across Ontario including:

• Toronto Botanical Garden Entrance Garden Rejuvenation
• Ontario Heritage Foundation’s Garden Conservancy Fund
• The Tree Conservancy Fund, Toronto
• The Weston Quarry Garden at the Don Valley Brick Works, Toronto
• The Teaching Garden at Edwards Garden, Toronto
• The Royal Botanical Garden Perennial Border Project, Hamilton
• Humber Arboretum, Toronto
• The Sustaining Project at the Humber Arboretum, Toronto
• Elevated Wetlands, Toronto
• Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto

Tickets are $18.00 for adults, $16.00 for seniors and students, and free for children 12 and under. Save $2.00 by purchasing your ticket in advance at any Sobeys store in Ontario or on the Canada Blooms website at the link below.
http://www.canadablooms.com/

Save $8.00 per ticket when you come to the show after 5:00 PM where you can purchase your tickets at the South Box Office.

In spite of efforts to wean Torontonians from driving their vehicles to work and using the public transit system instead, Statistics Canada reports that in the past 5 years only 216,000 (½ of 1%) commuters in all of Canada have been converted. In the GTA public transit use actually declined slightly (less than ½ of 1%) in 2006, while in the municipalities bordering Toronto there was an increase of public transit usage of 1%. However there has been an increase of 1% in the number of people who now travel as passengers in a vehicle. Canadians prefer to carpool than to use public transit. In Toronto:

• There are 2.4 million commuters
• The average commuting distance is 9.4 kms
• 74% of commuters travel in a vehicle – either as a driver or as a passenger
• 22% of commuters use public transit

One of the major issues facing commuters living in the suburbs is the increase in time and money once you have to transfer from one public transit system to another. Clearly public transit is not serving the public and it is forcing them to continue commuting in their cars. Hence, the increased interest in carpooling. With carpool lanes on many roads, the drive can be quite time effective.

Carpool Zone is a carpool matching service. It is free to use and is for regular commuters only, not just for the occasional trip. There are currently 5,000 registered users, with more signing on every day. If you are interested in learning more about it follow the link below.

http://www.carpoolzone.smartcommute.ca/en/my/

Is advertising really the cause of childhood obesity?A report recently issued by the House of Commons health committee on Canada’s obesity epidemic found that:

• 26% of Canadians aged 2 – 17 are overweight or obese
• Over 50% of children living on native reserves are overweight or obese
• Obese children face an elevated risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, joint problems, and mental health issues
• Obese children are at risk for heart attack and stroke
• Children are eating food in portions that are too large
• Children are consuming too many fatty foods and sugary drinks
• Research shows a link between childhood obesity and the advertising of high calorie, low nutrient foods

As a result the Toronto Board of Health is urging federal and provincial governments to impose a ban on food and beverage advertising aimed at children under the age of 13. Quebec, Sweden, and Norway all ban direct television advertising to children. Two years ago, Britain adopted a ban on junk food advertising on television programs geared to children under 16. In response 16 of Canada’s largest candy, fast-food, and soft-drink companies say that they will not advertise directly to children under the age of 12. However, no one has yet done a study to see if these measures are effective.

While I have no argument in principal about ending junk food advertising to children, I do know that advertising is not putting the food in the mouths of the children. Nor are these children doing the grocery shopping or earning money to go out and buy the junk food. So, where is the parent or guardian’s responsibility in all of this? One of the major causes of obesity is eating portions that are too large. Are the advertisers responsible for this? If the children are drinking sugary drinks at home, are the advertisers responsible for this as well? Where is the role of the family when it comes to the health of the children?

The first episode of Star Trek set off on its mission in 1966 and no one could have predicted the cultural phenomena that it has become. The social impact of Star Trek cannot even begin to be measured and many of the phrases used by the characters have found their way into our popular lexicon. Even those who are not die hard fans, or Trekkies, recognize “Beam me up Scottie”, or “Live long and prosper”.

Star Trek, Star Trek: Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, and 10 major motion pictures have provided us with a wealth of magnificent music. On June 20 and June 21 at 8:00 PM the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) presents STAR TREK: THE MUSIC at Roy Thomson Hall. The guest conductor will be Erich Kunzel, the Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The TSO will perform:

• Alexander Courage’s theme from the original TV series
• Jerry Goldsmith’s theme for Star Trek: Voyager
• the Klingon battle theme
• the opening music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• music by Cliff Eidelman from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• music by Leonard Rosenman from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• music by Dennis McCarthy from Star Trek: The Next Generation
• music from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• music from Star Trek: Generations
• music by James Horner from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• music from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The very special guest hosts for the evenings will be the infamous Q, played by John de Lancie, and the holographic doctor, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, played by Robert Picardo. What a Trekkies dream!

It’s not often that I have something nice to say about taxis in Toronto, but this is one time that I say Bravo Co-Op Cabs. They have taken very important steps in making transportation more accessible to people with disabilities in Toronto. Most of us who are able-bodied have no idea how difficult it is to do something simple like get into a cab. In case you think that this is not a major problem have a look at these statistics.

You may be surprised to know that:
• Over 1.5 million people in Ontario have a disability
• Only 4.8% of taxis in Ontario are accessible to the disabled
• Many people with disabilities in Ontario rely on public transit

A year ago Co-Op Cabs began a pilot project with the TTC’s Wheel-Trans program to increase the quality of service to Wheel-Trans clients. The program was a cooperative effort between both companies with Co-Op Cabs handling over 110,000 TTC Wheel-Trans rides between March and December, 2007. The joint effort guaranteed a portion of disabled accessible rides to the Co-Op drivers who were trained to provide the service and who had disabled accessible vehicles. As all Co-Op Cabs are owned and operated by independent contractors, this provided incentive for drivers to up-grade or to replace their vehicle with one that was accessible. The program is a resounding success for Co-Op Cabs and TTC Wheel-Trans. Co-Op Cabs has since set up a separate disabled accessible division with its own call centre and customer service reps that have had special training.

To contact Co-op Cabs follow the link below.
http://www.co-opcabs.com/

		Sunday, March 2nd was the day the music died in Toronto. Tragically, Jeff Healey succumbed to cancer at the age of 41. Jeff Healey had battled cancer his whole life – a rare form of cancer called retinoblastoma. According to Retinoblastoma International, “Retinoblastoma is a childhood cancer arising from immature retinal cells in one or both eyes and can strike from the time a child is in the womb up to 5 years of age. This cancer is curable if caught early enough.

However, 87% of the children stricken with this disease worldwide die, mostly in developing countries. In developed countries, 97% of those who do live have moderate to severe visual impairment.

Retinoblastoma is a relatively uncommon tumor of childhood that accounts for about 3% of the cancers in children under the age of 15. The tumors originate in the retina, the light sensitive layer of the eye, which enables the eye to see. When the tumors are present in one eye, it is referred to as unilateral retinoblastoma, and when it occurs in both eyes it is referred to as bilateral retinoblastoma. 60% of the cases involve only one eye (unilateral); the rest affect both eyes (bilateral). 90% of retinoblastoma patients have no family history of the disease and only 10% of newly diagnosed patients have other family members with retinoblastoma”.

It was this cancer that robbed him of his vision when he was an infant. But even cancer couldn’t keep his music genius from emerging. At the age of 4 he taught himself how to play the guitar by laying it across his lap and playing it the way you would play a keyboard. He also played trumpet and clarinet.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is the one credited with discovering Jeff Healey playing in a Toronto club in 1982. He played with the all-time greats in music including B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan and recorded with legends like George Harrison. Healey was passionate about jazz and until recently he had a radio show on the Toronto jazz station CJRT – FM. He had a personal collection of 35,000 rare and obscure 78 rpm recordings and an encyclopedic knowledge of the music.

Jeff Healey wasn’t just a Canadian musician, he was an international star. The world of music mourns his loss.

This issue of Toronto’s stores remaining open on holidays has been controversial and bantered around for years. For some reason we have been resistant to let stores open on holidays. Of course our neighbours to the south have no such qualms, so cross-border shopping trips heat up when our retailers remain closed, robbing them of holiday shopping.

The City of Toronto, who makes these policies, is absolutely hypocritical. They allow stores in designated tourist areas to open on any day of the year except for Christmas Day. Tourism officials want the entire city to enjoy the same benefits and offer holiday shopping from 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM. However the Toronto Economic Development Committee wants businesses not in designated tourist areas to remain closed.

For years the City of Toronto had the same reaction to Sunday shopping. It appears that we have a great resistance to change, even if it makes economic sense. City tourism officials feel that Toronto’s tourism industry would be better served if the entire city was open on holidays. After all, that’s when the tourists are out in full force with their shopping dollars. It’s arrogant to designate only the area downtown around the Eaton Centre as a tourist area when tourists are all over the GTA. Unless we plan to confine our tourists to a narrow geographic area of downtown Toronto, then the tourism officials are quite right that the entire City of Toronto should be open for business on holidays. One suggestion is that the entire GTA be designated a tourist area and solve the problem. What do you think? Should all stores be able to open on holidays?

		March break is the time when many families head off to the sunny south. But, you don’t have to leave home for March break fun. Toronto will be bustling with activities for the whole family. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission has a great family pass deal that gives families unlimited travel for an entire day. Follow the link below to check it out. www.ttc.ca

If you’re not sure about what to do during March break, here are some fun ideas for the whole family that won’t break the bank:

• Be a tourist right here at home and take in 6 of Toronto’s most popular attractions – Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower, Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Casa Loma, Ontario Science Centre, and Toronto Zoo – for one great price. Follow the link below for all of the details. http://www.citypass.com/city/toronto/now.html

• Toronto City Hall and the Harbourfront Centre both offer FREE outdoor skating with music and rink-side hot chocolate. Don’t worry if you don’t have skates. Both venues offer skate rental on site.

• There are fabulous March Break historic programs from March 8 – March 16 at Colborne Lodge, Fort York National Historic Site, Mackenzie House, Gibson House, Scarborough Historical Museum, Spadina House, Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum and Arts Centre and Montgomery’s Inn. Pre-registration is required at most programs. For more information call 416-338-0338 or follow the link below.
  http://www.toronto.ca/culture/camps.htm#marchbreak08

• Try some delicious maple syrup at the Kortright Maple Syrup Festival from March 10 – March 14. There will be FREE maple syrup demonstrations, all-day creative crafts, horse-drawn wagon rides, and pancakes with maple syrup. Follow the link below for all of the details. www.trcaparks.ca/maplesyrup

• The McMichael Gallery has a great March break planned with art, music, clowns, circus acts and more! From March 8 – March 16 from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM daily, they’ve got a full slate of fun planned for the whole family. For more information follow the link below.
http://www.mcmichael.com/

• Although you’d never know it by the cold temperatures and snow that still clearly have a grip on Toronto, it is time once again for Canada Blooms. From March 12 – March 16 in the South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the garden industry and community show off the best in flowers, gardening, and landscaping. Admission for kids under 12 is absolutely FREE. And they have tons of things to see and do including the fabulous Green Playground. It’s a must see! For all of the details follow the link below.
www.canadablooms.com