Many commuters, sick and tired of the endless gridlock on the 400 series of highways opted to pay the tolls and take the 407 ETR instead. And as a reward for your patronage the toll rates on the 407 ETR have gone up every year on February 1st for the last 4 years. And this year will be no exception. The 407 ETR, the only privately owned toll road in the province, has raised the peak rate price by more than 8 cents in the last 10 years. Just last year the peak rate price increase was 1.35 cents.

Motorists who use the 407 ETR will not be amused to know that the rate is increasing 9.4% on February 1st for cars, minivans, and SUVs, making the new peak rate price 19.5 cents per kilometer in the “regular zone” – from the 401 intersection in the west to the 404 junction in the east. In the “light zone” - the remainder of the highway from the QEW in Burlington to Highway
401 and from Highway 404 to Brock Road in Pickering – the peak rate price will be 19 cents per kilometer. The off-peak rate in both zones will be 18 cents per kilometer. The rates for single unit trucks will be 38.5 cents per kilometer and for 18-wheelers the rate will be 57.75 cents per kilometer. The big price break will be for transponder customers, who will be offered a 30 % discount on the transponder lease fee if they choose an annual transponder lease fee instead of a monthly fee.

Of course the party line is that the increases are so that the company can continue to add new lanes. What do you think? Is it road improvement or a cash grab?

The Toronto Transit System’s 501 Streetcar has received high praise indeed. It has made the National Geographic’s list of the world’s top 10 trolley rides because it is one of the longest transit routes in all of North America and it is a very scenic route. The 501 Streetcar line is almost 50 kms long and runs from Long Branch on the Mississauga border to the city’s easternmost streetcar loop at Neville Park. Currently it accommodates 43,500 riders per day during the work week. Unfortunately ridership has dropped dramatically in the last 25 years due to overcrowding, delays, unannounced route changes, and the expansion of the Bloor-Danforth subway and the Scarborough RT.

Never-the-less, the National Geographic was duly impressed and will include the 501 Streetcar in a new book called “Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest trips”. You may take the 501 for granted, but she was named one of the world’s best trolley rides. The 501 is not a tourist line. It is an actual transit line used by the people of Toronto and it is one of the longest lines in North America. Traveling on the 501 is like seeing a microcosm of City of Toronto. Here are some of the sites that can be seen along the 501’s route:
•    The Beach
•    City Hall
•    Osgoode Hall
•    Impressive architecture
•    Nathan Phillips Square
•    Queen Street West with its funky shops, art galleries, bars, and restaurants
•    Old mansions
•    New Condos
•    Urban life
•    Industrial areas
•    Suburban life
•    Luxury
•    Decay
•    Parkdale
•    Roncesvalles
•    The waterfront
•    High Park
•    The Queensway
•    Lakeshore Blvd.
•    Long Branch

It really is quite marvelous when you come to think of it, as long as you are not in a rush to get to work and there isn’t a car stuck on the track……

Let’s face it, Toronto drivers are sadly lacking when it comes to winter weather driving. Snow, even in minor accumulations causes havoc on our highways and byways. And the amount of accidents with just a little snow on the ground is just staggering. During a snowstorm our roads are littered with hundreds, yes hundreds of accidents, and vehicles in snow banks and ditches. There seems to be a brain disconnect somewhere. The entire concept of “slippery roads means slow down” doesn’t seem to register. Very few people seem to have any idea of why 2nd gear is included with all vehicles regardless of whether they have manual or automatic transmissions. And since ABS brakes became standard equipment, drivers live with the mistaken impression that they can stop their vehicles on all road surfaces, including ice and snow.

It appears that there may soon be a penalty imposed for stupidity. There is a proposed change to the Highway Traffic Act to deal with drivers who won’t drive correctly for the road conditions – meaning YOU MUST SLOW DOWN in rain and snow. Failure to adjust your driving habits for the road conditions could result in being charged. It is assumed that the charge would be in line with an infraction like tailgating or making an illegal lane change. There is already a similar traffic policy in New York State where police can charge motorists who don’t respect the weather conditions where the law specifically deals with unsafe speed not befitting the road conditions. The Province of Quebec has just passed a law making snow tires mandatory.

Right now there is no accountability for driving inappropriately in bad weather except for an increase in your insurance rates. Do you think that charging drivers will result in drivers slowing down in bad weather?

The Toronto Transit system is stepping up to the plate this New Year’s eve and offering free rides from midnight to 4:00 AM. In spite of the cost - $80,000 – it is well worth it if it will save lives. Drinking and driving is a horrible problem in our society at the best of times, but on New Year’s Eve it is rampant. The TTC is looking for a corporate sponsor to help offset the cost. MADD Canada and the Toronto police are very supportive of the program.

The Ontario Provincial Police five-week holiday season RIDE program is now in effect and the 6 motorists were charged with impaired driving in the first 5 days. In addition, other police forces in the GTA, including the Ontario Provincial Police, are also conducting spot-checks throughout the holiday season. Unfortunately the recent snow storm has affected the number of spot checks in the city of Toronto as they are not set up as frequently in bad weather as the resources are needed elsewhere. Last year officers stopped almost 815,000 vehicles and charged 339 people with alcohol-related offences. They also issued 802 12-hour license suspensions and 365 suspensions lasting 90 days. Ontario has some of the toughest anti-drinking-and-driving laws in North America.

In 2007, 74 people died tragically and needlessly in alcohol-related accidents, which represent a 25% increase from last year. A study by the Traffic Inquiry Research Foundation says Canadians who drive over the legal limit climbed to just over 8%, up from about 5.5% in 2004. The RIDE program will continue through January 2, 2008. Impaired driving is the leading cause of criminal death in Canada. Have fun this New Year’s Eve but DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE!

Or is the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) heading for a breakup? One of the main reasons is the sheer size of the TDSB, currently at approximately 259,000 students. The ideal size of a board is 50,000. The reason for the enormous size of the current board is that after the amalgamation of the city of Toronto, the Mike Harris government amalgamated 7 school boards into the current TDSB as a cost saving measure. The result has been a board that is too large to manage efficiently.

The reality is that the TDSB has a very large budget deficit to deal with and that the current structure is clearly not working. But, how do you change the system while satisfying the population that you are trying to serve. The board of trustees will consider 4 different models.

•    Full de-amalgamation model - The TDSB would cease to exist and new boards would be created.
•    Increased local decision-making model - The TDSB would remain as is but more resources and decision-making power would go to local entities.
•    Federal model - Regional boards would be set up to deal with local issues but board-wide issues will be decided by a central governing body.
•    Umbrella model - This would basically revert to what it was like pre-amalgamation. Sounds just like the full de-amalgamation model, doesn’t it?

What do you think is the answer? Are you in favour of scrapping the TDSB completely? Or do you prefer more modest changes? Will anyone really be satisfied with the result?

The TTC must feel like it has won the lottery jackpot. The will be receiving 400 million dollars in funding for maintenance and expansion. On top of that an additional 100 million dollars will go toward Metrolinx, the new and improved name for the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, for regional transit.

In case you don’t think that this spending is worthwhile here are some interesting statistics offered by Statistics Canada, Metrolinx, and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

•    Percentage of trips taken on transit in Toronto is 35%
•    Percentage of trips taken on transit in York Region is 9%
•    Percentage of Toronto area residents who say traffic congestion is a severe problem is 41%
•    Average Toronto area round trip commute time in 2005 is 79 minutes
•    Proportion of Toronto area workers with a round trip commute of an hour or more 66%
•    Number of car occupants in Toronto now is 1.1
•    Kilometres of carpool lanes on provincial roads in the Toronto region this year is 39
•    Kilometres of carpool lanes projected for 2031 is 400

As we all know the current transit system is not even close to meeting our needs. Hopefully commuters on the Lakeshore corridor while notice a significant improvement with the addition of 20 double-decker passenger coaches. York University will be better served with 10 new double-decker commuter buses on the Highway 407-Highway 403 corridor, and to York University. All-day, two-way train service between Toronto and Markham and Toronto and Newmarket and East Gwillimbury will be instituted.

Do you think that the 400 million dollars is being well spent?

The disabled face enough challenges in life without having to deal with able-bodied people who manage to obtain handicapped parking permits. These special permits give the disabled the right to park in specially designated parking spaces in shopping malls and other public parking lots, in addition to allowing them to park on the streets of Toronto for free. There 2 types of disabled parking permits – temporary and permanent. The temporary permits are usually given to people whose disability is a short term condition – post surgery or during the rehabilitation of an injury, while the permanent ones can apply to many conditions or illnesses. It is estimated that there are currently 470,000 temporary and permanent permits in use. And, abuse is rampant.

There are several ways that the province is attempting to end the disabled parking permit scams. Temporary permits are now issued for 12 months instead of 24. It has been suggested that these temporary permits should be done away with completely and that only people with serious long-term disabilities should qualify for a disabled parking permit. Interim permits are now issued for 2 months, instead of 6 while the applications are in process. There are many who say that this is a drop in the bucket and until law enforcement agencies get seriously involved, that there won’t be any significant improvement.

In New York City people seeking disabled parking permits must have a physician certify that there is a severe disability, and then this needs to be recertified by a New York City department of health physician. At the moment the only recourse that the city of Toronto has to deal with this problem is that parking ticket officers can investigate whether a permit belongs to the person using it. If the permit number is not registered to the driver or a disabled passenger using the vehicle, the person fraudulently using a disabled parking permit can be fined up to $5,000.

Do you know an able-bodied person who is using a disabled parking permit? What do you think should be done about it?

I’m sure that you remember Dr. Behnaz Yazdanfar, the Toronto cosmetic surgeon who it turned out was not a board certified surgeon. She is a family physician with no hospital admitting privileges. But she does own and operate a fancy cosmetic surgery clinic in Yorkville, where she performed liposuction on a 32 year old Toronto woman who died tragically in September. Not only is Dr. Yazdanfar still operating in her clinic, she is now suing a doctor who she believes is responsible for her drop in business.

Dr. Yazdanfar has got to win some sort of a prize for arrogance and sheer gall. The fact that a patient that she operated on died after a liposuction procedure and that this story was picked up by every newspaper, television station, radio station, and Internet site who also reported that she was not a board certified surgeon was the obvious cause for her drop in business. But this seems to be a small detail that has escaped Dr. Yazdanfar. The fact that she has even one client willing to have her operate on them positively astonishes me! But she has chosen to blame Dr. Sean Rice, a plastic surgeon who is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, with hospital privileges at North York General, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and Women’s College Hospital, for her woes. Dr. Rice also happens to be one of the physicians who tried unsuccessfully to revive Krista Stryland when she was brought into North York General Hospital after Dr. Yazdanfar performed liposuction surgery on Ms Stryland at her cosmetic surgery clinic. Dr. Yazdanfar has launched a $300,000 slander suit against Dr. Rice.

When her business dropped after the tragic death of Krista Stryland, Dr. Yazdanfar looked for someone to blame instead of herself. She hired a private investigator to pose as a patient and spy on other doctors. The private investigator pretended to be interested in liposuction and a breast enlargement. She visited Dr. Rice and recorded the conversation that she had with Dr. Rice, without his knowledge. Dr. Yazdanfar claims that some of the things that Dr. Rice said were slanderous and designed to hurt her business which has seen a number of patients cancel their upcoming surgeries. Big surprise!

None of Dr. Yazdanfar’s allegations against Dr. Rice have been proven and Dr. Rice has plans to defend himself in court. Can someone please explain to me why Dr. Yazdanfar is still performing cosmetic surgery procedures? That seems to me to be the only crime here.

Has the Toronto City council gone completely mad? According to all accounts the City of Toronto is bankrupt. Essential services are being cut as a result. But somewhere, somehow these same people that are enforcing the city-wide cut backs have found a million dollars to test whether we could harvest rainwater to flush toilets. They want to literally flush Toronto’s tax dollars down the toilet.

This pilot project, which could be approved by city council next month, will potentially take place in the Automotive Building at Exhibition Place, currently being renovated. Rainwater would be collected from the roof of the Automotive Building and piped into a cistern in the basement. From there it would be piped into 8 bathrooms and used to flush the toilets in the building. Untreated lake water would be used in the event that there was not enough rainwater collected. Ironically the plumbing in the building apparently works just fine.

Although the city works committee who is pushing city council members to approve this pilot project saying that it would conserve drinking water, save energy, and delay the need for new water filtration plants, I agree with the nay-sayers. Considering that 1 million dollars could be put to much better use than showing the world that Toronto is environmentally conscious and eager to adopt green technology, I would like to question the motives of the people misusing Toronto’s tax dollars. I think that it is a hideous way to flush 1 million dollars down the toilet.

During the holiday season we Torontonians are really generous in our support of many worthy causes. Unfortunately that also makes us easy marks for scam artists who are counting on our good natures in order to take advantage of our generosity.

When a scam artist takes advantage of you, he not only robs you, but robs money from legitimate charities that really need your help. Here are 2 of the most popular and effective holiday scams and how to avoid falling victim to them.

Fake Canvassers: Scam artists use names of charities that are similar to legitimate organizations or pretend to be canvassing for the real organization. But, they are really only ripping you off.

How not to fall victim:

• Ask for identification. All legitimate canvassers carry proper identification cards with a name and photo to prove they are working for the charity they claim to represent.
• Ask questions. Legitimate charities are happy to talk about their organization and give you all of the information that you need in order to make an informed decision.
• Never allow yourself to be pressured. Pressure tactics are sure sign that this is a scam.
• Ask for written information. Legitimate charities have plenty of literature about the organization and how and where the money will be spent.
• Request a receipt.

If you think that you may have been approached by a scammer, contact the organization that the canvasser says that he represents and verify that they have canvassers in the area. Contact Consumer Protection at
1-866-351-5655 or follow the link below to their website.
www.ontario.ca/consumerprotection

For more information on bogus charities and scams call the Ministry of Government Services at 416-326-8800 in Toronto or toll-free at
1-800-889-9768 or follow the link below to their website.
www.mgs.gov.on.ca

Internet Scams: The old adage holds true. If something appears to be too good to be true, it usually is. It is very easy to become a victim of an e-mail scam if you respond to unsolicited e-mail offers from unknown sources.

How not to fall victim:

• Don’t respond to e-mail from unknown senders.
• Don’t respond to e-mail with typos and misspellings in the subject line.
• Don’t respond to e-mails offering prices that couldn’t possibly be legitimate.
• Always use spam filters.
• Never reply to these e-mails – not even to unsubscribe. All that you will accomplish is to confirm that your e-mail address is active.
• Don’t post your e-mail address on public websites. This only invites spammers.
• Buying from unknown sources is a crapshoot. Make sure that you do your research and ensure that you are doing business with a legitimate enterprise.

If you are a victim of any type of fraud, contact Reporting Economic Crime On-Line at 1-888-495-8501 or follow the link below.
https://www.recol.ca/intro.aspx

Do you think that you are savvy enough not to be a victim of fraud? Follow the link below and take the Fraud Quiz. You may be surprised at the results.
http://www.abcfraud.ca/