December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on NEWS: By The Way closes after more than 40 years (Oct./Nov. 2025)
A community favourite, doors closed at the end of August
By Zoe Mason & Gleaner Staff
When Amir Benedikt left Israel for Canada in 1980, he didn’t dream of working in the restaurant business. But after almost 40 years at the helm of By The Way, running a restaurant gradually became a labour of love.
By The Way closed its doors at the end of August. It’s not the end that Benedikt wanted— conflict with the City of Toronto pushed him to his breaking point. He hopes future restaurant owners in the Annex won’t face the same bylaw enforcement issues that led him to walk away.
The loss of By The Way marks a major change in the neighbourhood where it operated since 1978.
“We’re the last restaurant standing from the ’80s,” said Benedikt. “Everybody else came after us. So many things change, but By The Way has been here.”
In fact, the restaurant’s presence on Bloor predates its owners. Amir and his wife met on a kibbutz in Israel and were married in her hometown, Mexico City. On their way back to Israel, they stopped in Canada to visit Amir’s sister, Esti Filar. Esti was running the restaurant, then called the Lick’n Chicken, with her husband Dubi. She invited the newlyweds to join the venture.
“It was an opportunity to change my life. To try something completely different,” said Benedikt.
In 1980, the Benedikts immigrated and partnered with the family on their restaurants. In 1986, they split their holdings—the Filars took the Rosedale Diner, and the Benedikts took By The Way.
The work was gruelling. Benedikt often put in 15-hour days, seven days a week. “I cooked, I did dishes, I even served sometimes; I did everything,” he said.
But his hard work didn’t go unnoticed. By The Way quickly became a beloved neighbourhood haunt.
The restaurant’s early quirky nomenclature is remembered fondly by regulars. In its early iteration as the Lick’n Chicken, it inherited the name and décor of the fried chicken joint that preceded it, even though it served up a vegetarian menu. To dispel confusion, they displayed a cheeky sign that read: “Sorry, out of chicken.” When it was renamed By The Way, the chicken signs remained.
By The Way was also known as an early adopter of vegan offerings and yogurt-based smoothies. “Middle Eastern cuisine features a lot of vegetarian and vegan options like hummus, falafel, and babaganoush, and even in the ’80s, it quickly became apparent that there was a real need to provide these options in Toronto,” explained Benedikt.
The restaurant was perhaps best known for its weekend brunches on the patio that featured their infamous dill sauce that smothered the cheekily-named Eggs Benedikt and French toast sandwiches that were stuffed with brie and apples.
In the ’80s, By The Way was frequented by University of Toronto students. It was one of the first patios in the area, and its young clientele would sit outside on milk crates. It was a casual dining establishment, but the Benedikts were committed to providing healthy, high-quality food. Everything was made in-house from scratch, including the French fries, the falafel, and the hummus.
Over the years, By The Way became a favourite spot for locals. “We’ve heard from so many of our customers that they had their first date at By The Way and that their children grew up coming to the restaurant,” said Benedikt. “Couples got engaged to be married here, some got divorced here too, but not the same couples.”
But clashes with bylaw enforcement were frequent throughout the restaurant’s operation. In the late ’80s, a noise complaint from an upstairs tenant led to patio restrictions, prompting Benedikt to hire a lawyer and appeal to city council. He eventually regained patio hours but was troubled by the city’s approach. He hadn’t known about the complaint until the restrictions were levied.
“The attitude was the city deciding things instead of engaging the parties,” he said.
A few years later, a bylaw officer came knocking again, complaining about the canopy and other elements that had been installed on the patio. This time, Benedikt brought his case to the city councillor who provided assistance.
That was around 1990. For 30 years, By The Way flourished. In 1993, its signature mural was painted. In 2014, a new set of renovations revitalized the aging restaurant and ushered in an era of finer dining.
But in 2023, Benedikt was charged with infractions concerning the same patio issues from the ’80s, as well as issues relating to patio heaters he installed during COVID-19. Despite receiving support from City Councillor Dianne Saxe, it took two years to reach a conclusion, and under the advice of his legal team, he felt compelled to settle with the city and pay substantial punitive fines.
“I survived it, but it could have had [the effect of] me going bankrupt if it was a different business,” he said.
And the principal cost was not financial. In November 2023, Benedikt suffered a breakdown that left him hospitalized.
“I reached a point where I couldn’t take it anymore,” he said. “What came to my mind is: is my city my friend? Or my adversary? It felt like one half of the city, city council, wanted to support small business and work collaboratively, while the other half, municipal licensing & standards (MLS), was aggressively punitive. I hope that this culture changes for future small business owners.”
In 2025, he made the call to close. It’s a bitter end to a business that has meant so much to not only the Benedikts, whose three children have grown up living and working in the restaurant, but to the community.
Just before the restaurant closed, Wensley Ng, a server at By The Way since 2014, reflected on the Annex community. “Our regular customers are loyal. They keep coming back. I think we provide amazing food, and we provide amazing service.”
The staff at By The Way also became like family, with many employees working there for over a decade. One longtime employee, Don Dolan, worked there for 26 years until his passing in 2023. A memorial was held at the restaurant in his honour.
“There are regular customers that I got to know over the years, and watch their kids grow up. I watched all [Benedikt’s] kids grow up,” said Ng. “They share things with me. I share things with them.”
“It’ll be a sad day when we close. I’ll miss the restaurant. I’ll miss the customers. I’ll miss the staff.”
Looking back, the Benedikts are proudest of the people.
“I had such a good team here. It wasn’t just a place to get the best food in the world. I never wanted to be Michelin. I want to be myself, down to earth, and make good food for good people,” said Benedikt.
The Gleaner reached out to the head of MLS, Carlton Grant, for comment.
Grant was provided a complete summary of the events leading to Benedikt’s decision to close By The Way’s doors when he did.
The summary chronicled both Benedikt’s persistent efforts to become compliant with the patio regulations and the relentless enforcement by bylaw officers to punish him while he tried.
In a written statement to the Gleaner, Grant did not acknowledge any failure on the part of the city: “City staff worked closely with By The Way Café to support their efforts to meet these requirements and appreciate their collaboration and commitment throughout the process…. Businesses operating in Toronto can now report their experiences with red tape or regulatory burdens encountered at the municipal level such as permitting delays and duplicative or outdated bylaws.”
The publisher of this newspaper is also the general manager of the Bloor Annex BIA. In this capacity he advocated for By the Way Café. The art director of this newspaper also advocated for the restaurant as a consultant.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK: 351 Palmerston Blvd. (Oct./Nov. 2025)
Politics and comedy add to home’s aura
In January of 1928 the Toronto Star featured Mayor elect Sam McBride and his family home at 351 Palmerston Boulevard. COURTESY THE CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES
By Michael Mastromatteo
This is the second in a series of columns speculating on the lived history of various houses in the Annex. Imagine that the “walls” of these homes secretly absorb some of the actions and experiences of those living within. If we accept that the “listening walls” witness the lives and actions of its occupants, we can ruminate about the stories they might tell.
It’s a big house on the east side of Palmerston Boulevard, just a little north of College Street. Befitting its big size, 351 Palmerston also has a big history.
The apex-style three-storey house has been home to two iconic figures in the history of the Annex, and in turn, all of Toronto.
Between 1910 and 1930, the home was the residence—and probably the campaign headquarters—of Sam McBride (1866-1936), the 41st and 45th mayor of Toronto (1928-29, and 1936). Centre Island habitués might have also noticed that the esteemed early 20th-century municipal leader has a ferry boat named after him.
For 20 years the walls of this impressive and expansive residence no doubt reverberated with many social engagements and political strategy sessions. McBride or his house lieutenant placed several help wanted ads over the years. In September 1912 someone at 351 Palmerston advertised for “a competent general,” and eight years later, the household advertised for “a cook general – no washing.”
However, it wasn’t always housework and drudgery. A Toronto Daily Star news item on June 8, 1920, described an evening of frivolity: “Mr. and Mrs. McBride held a reception at their home at 351 Palmerston Blvd., where white lilies and snowball decorated the pretty room. Mrs. McBride was wearing black kitten’s ear car crepe and carrickmacross lace, a black mohair hat with bird of paradise and a bouquet of orchids and sweetheart roses.” It’s interesting to note what passed for news in the Toronto dailies in the early 1920s.
The walls and atmosphere in the home might have taken on a more sombre note on New Year’s Day 1930. Again, the Toronto Daily Star reported that “His Worship [McBride] received the [municipal election] returns at his home, 351 Palmerstone Blvd. Surrounded by his friends and relatives, he listened with some stoicism to the returns as they came in by both telephone and radio.” McBride alas lost that mayoralty race to the unfortunately named Bert Wemp.
While the McBride era at 351 Palmerston may have ended on a sullen note, the new occupants turned the place into a house of mirth. Garment industry worker Charles Weingarten owned the home from 1931 until 1948. One of his sons, John Lewis Weingarten—later to become Johnny Wayne—was 13 years old when his family moved into their new home. Shortly afterward, Wayne met fellow Harbord Collegiate classmate Frank Shuster, and an iconic Canadian comedy partnership came into being.
If we accept that Wayne developed and refined some of his comic skills while living at 351 Palmerston, we can speculate that the walls within echoed with a lot of good gags—and perhaps a few clunkers.
There’s no need to rehash the comedic accomplishments of Wayne and Shuster, but there’s no doubt their success over the next several decades created an atmosphere of pride and contentment at 351 Palmerston.
Wayne’s son Michael Wayne, an author and history professor at the University of Toronto, told the Gleaner that his late father was tight-lipped about his time at 351 Palmerston. “I’m afraid my dad never said a word about 351 Palmerston to me,” Michael Wayne said. ”All I know is that he was born on McCaul Street in 1918, so they moved to Palmerston some time after that.”
Another academic with special interest in the Weingarten homestead is Robert Vipond, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto. In 2019, Vipond and the Palmerston Area Residents’ Association were instrumental in having an unassuming path running north-south behind several Palmerston Blvd. homes renamed Wayne and Shuster Laneway. The laneway renaming project was their way of honouring individuals, families, or institutions that were important to the neighbourhood’s development.
While Vipond has no particular insights into the zeitgeist at 351 Palmerston during the Wiengarten era, he can visualize a likely scenario. “Johnny Wayne’s house at 351 Palmerston Blvd. backed onto this laneway, and my fantasy—based on nothing but my imagination—is that he and Frank Shuster would have walked to and from Harbord Collegiate along this laneway, dreaming up skits as they went.”
In 1949, the Weingarten/Wayne family sold the house to Fred Zahrebelny, owner of the neighbourhood butcher shop. Municipal records indicate that Zehrebelny resided at 351 Palmerston until about 1951, after which the house was sold to a Sam Engelhardt, who may have been employed as a travel agent. It was during Engelhardt’s ownership that parts of the house were rented out to various roomers. A Toronto Daily Star classified ad from May 11, 1953, offered two rooms to let at number 351. Other ads would follow.
Walking by the house today, one notices four separate letter boxes affixed to the front porch indicating that this stately home—as with many of its Annex neighbours—is moving into the future as a rooming house. It’s yet to be determined if any present-day occupants can detect the spirits of McBride, Wayne, or other souls who lived out their time within this space.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on FROM THE ARCHIVES: Remembering an Annex race riot (Oct./Nov. 2025)
The riot at Christie Pits on Aug. 16, 1933
Approximately one hundred “Canada First” marchers were met by hundreds of counter-protestors in Christie Pits and as they made their way to Sankofa Square, like this one at Bloor and Spadina. NEILAND BRISSENDEN/GLEANER NEWS
The September 2025 edition of the Gleaner featured a photo of a counter-protester holding a placard that read “Christie Pits Nazi-Free since ‘33.” This person was protesting against the anti-immigration rally held near the park on September 13. Not every reader will understand the significance of the reference to the events of 1933. We are republishing our story from the summer of 2023 which chronicles that event.
By Fox Oliver
In the 1930s, Toronto was predominantly British and anti-Semitism was commonplace and permeated all neighbourhoods in the city.
In an already difficult depression-era city, Jews had an even more difficult life. They were routinely excluded from high-paying jobs, from attending universities, and from buying homes in certain neighbourhoods. Many Canadians used Jews as scapegoats for the cause of the ongoing economic depression.
Taken by an unknown photographer, this is the only known photo of the riot on August 16, 1933. COURTESY THE CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES, Globe and Mail fonds, Fonds 1266, Item 30791
Newspapers in Toronto, such as the Toronto Daily Star, reported on Hitler’s rise to power and the atrocities committed in Nazi Germany in great detail.
“Torontonians probably knew more about what was occurring to Jews in Germany during those fateful months than most Berliners. For the Jews of Toronto, the swastika immediately became a symbol of persecution, torture, and death,” wrote historian Cyril H. Levitt in The Riot at Christie Pits.
Swastika clubs, groups of Toronto youth flaunting the swastika began to form in Toronto.
One swastika club told the Toronto Evening Telegram that “[w]e, the members of the Swastika Club do hereby declare that we are in no way connected with any political or racial organization.”
Another told The Globe that the club was an “orderly and strictly legal campaign to clean up the beaches.”
However, it was clear these “clubs” were a way for Toronto youth to spread anti-Semitic hate throughout the city under the masquerade of do-gooding. “Secretiveness about the club’s organization masked its real purpose, which was to capitalize on the dissatisfaction of the Beaches’ residents…in order to organize a Nazi movement in Canada,” wrote historian David Rome in Clouds over the Thirties. Swastika clubs regularly harassed and initiated needless violence against Toronto Jews in the summer of 1933.
On Aug. 16, 1933, during a baseball game in Christie Pits (Willowvale Park until 1983) tensions were high, and thousands of people gathered on the hills to watch the game.
As the game ended, members of swastika clubs flew a large swastika flag across the baseball diamond and yelled cries of “Hail Hitler.” This sparked outrage and violence, and a large brawl in the park broke out.
Italians and other persecuted minorities fought alongside the Jews against the swastika clubs and other Anglo-Canadians for control of the swastika flag, which was eventually torn to shreds.
“An unusually large number of mounted men and constables were stationed nearby,” reported the Toronto Evening Telegram, suggesting police were prepared for the riot.
However, it was only at 8:45 p.m., an hour after the first blows were struck, and nearly three hours after the game had started, that mounted police arrived at the park.
Even then, the brawl raged on through the night and only ended the following morning.
Police were harshly criticized by many, including the Toronto Daily Star, for their lack of preparation, slow response time, and apparent disregard of warnings of expected violence.
The Toronto Daily Star reported that over 10,000 people were involved in the riot, and although rioters used baseball bats, lead pipes, and other improvised weapons, no one was killed.
The one person convicted for their involvement in the Christie Pits Riot received a sentence of either two months in prison or a $50 fine.
Following the riot, Toronto mayor William James Stewart outlawed displays of the swastika, making this one of Canada’s first policies prohibiting hate speech.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on CHATTER: The great Harbord Street pumpkin “reshowing” is back this year (Oct./Nov. 2025)
An example of some of the spookier carved creations one might see on the night of Nov 1. ARCHIVE PHOTO BY BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
Harbord Village’s cherished pumpkin festival is back this year on Nov. 1. Dozens of pumpkins will light up the neighbourhood along Harbord Street, from Spadina Avenue to Borden Street. After what seems like years of construction, neighbours can finally begin to reclaim their street and gather for what has historically been a cherished event.
Between 5:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., people will parade along the street to view each of the lit pumpkins, drinking hot apple cider, eating baked goods from Harbord Bakery, and displaying the last of their Halloween spirit. Pumpkins carved at homes in the neighbourhood are brought to Harbord Street for a “reshowing.”
A lot of effort goes into this green community event. Sponsored by the Harbord Street BIA and the Harbord Village Residents’ Association, event staff hire students to prepare and clean up after the festival. “We call them the pumpkin heads,” said Neil Wright, chair of the Harbord Street BIA, and they do the heavy lifting, taking carved pumpkins from neighbourhood porches. Local businesses provide free food and drink for the public along with their own admirable creations. At the end of the night, the city collects and recycles the artwork.
Residents within Harbord Village receive a blue flyer explaining the event and if they wish to contribute their pumpkins to the event they leave the flyer near the pumpkin for volunteers to collect on Nov 1.
Harbord Village has opened the event up again this year to anyone willing to contribute their jack-o-lanterns to the parade; the more, the merrier at this family-oriented event
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Governing by gut, not facts (Oct./Nov. 2025)
As the RCMP criminal investigation surrounding the Greenbelt scandal drags on, Premier Doug Ford is feeling like he just might be untouchable. Emboldened by a combined sense of invincibility and righteousness, Ford is getting sloppy. Most of his initiatives are not evidence-based, and he is unabashed when he says he is governing by gut instinct.
Recently, the auditor general revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars were given to friends and supporters of the party through a jobs training slush fund with no regard for facts or transparency; it’s reminiscent of so many other files handled similarly.
Untold millions are being spent on Highway 413 and the Bradford bypass when expert analysis reveals this will not ease congestion. Only a couple of minutes of commuting time will be saved by those coming and going from the 905 region.
The Ontario Science Centre was shuttered suddenly when facility consultants reported it could be easily fixed.
Select and disconnected parcels of the Greenbelt were declared available for development with no viable plan for the infrastructure needed to support that development. There was also no evidence of a plan outlining how this would solve the housing crisis.
The premier is just about all on his onesie in thinking that building a tunnel under Highway 401 is a good idea; and yet, he is steam rolling ahead.
Ford has just introduced legislation to ban municipalities from using speed cameras because he says, “enough is enough.” Enough of what Doug? Safety in school zones?
He introduced legislation to remove bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and Avenue Road. Removing bike lanes would not ease congestion and would likely increase it, and the safety consequences for all road users would be negative. But that advice disagrees with Ford’s gut apparently.
Now it has been revealed by the province’s auditor general (AG), Shelly Spence, that the Ford government has been doling out $237 million to groups that endorsed the Conservatives in the last election. This was part of the government’s Skills Development Fund. She said there was no transparency in deciding who got the money, but she was able to determine that medium- and low-ranked applications from government supporters were successful.
Of the 20 unions and groups who endorsed the Conservatives in the last election, 17 were successful in securing grant funds; however, the province has refused to release the scoring system used to award the funds making it next to impossible to know if decisions were based on merit or influence.
One firm, Rubicon Strategy, led by Ford’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, claims on its website that it “has successfully secured millions in training dollars.” According to The Trillium, Teneycke’s firm has nine clients who received funding in this round. One of those clients is Sal-Dan General Contractors who received $3 million. Sal-Dan’s owner, Salvatore Biasicci, his wife, and his son, donated $50,000 to the party between 2017 and 2025. That’s a pretty good return on investment if party donations were the government’s driving metric.
The AG notes that these decisions are being made by political staff, not civil servants. This is not the case in Alberta or British Columbia. She also found that in at least five cases, political staff provided “inaccurate” explanations as to why they made their decisions which she found “troubling.”
The Ford government is making no effort to justify rewarding their supporters with preferred access to slush funds. The most alarming part is they feel no need to justify their decisions with facts; there is no pretense whatsoever that their decisions are evidence-based. It’s an arrogant and entitled approach to governing that has run its course.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on FORUM: Twelve active files (Oct./Nov. 2025)
Speed cameras and electric Zambonis make for a busy October
By Dianne Saxe
The top three things you should know about in University-Rosedale this month:
Harbord/Hoskin reconstruction is wrapping up after sustained pressure from our office. We’ll have an official opening to celebrate, but it was allowed to drag on far too long and to cause far too much neighbourhood disruption due to lax contracting practices. I have submitted an administrative enquiry and will seek a formal investigation. I’m trying to get benches installed on some of those puzzling concrete pads.
The large Rowanwood water main project will begin again this fall. A few months ago, the excavation had to be paused when a sheet steel obstruction was discovered deep underground. While it is essential to replace the old, undersized water main, the excavations will be disruptive to residents in the Rowanwood area, and they have already cost many well-loved trees. Engineering services has promised not to repeat the mistakes it made on Harbord. We’ll be keeping a close watch.
Doug Ford’s latest—promising to ban speed cameras that help save lives in our school and community safety zones. This again drives home why Toronto needs more financial and legal autonomy. To get it, we’re going to need overwhelming public support before the next provincial election.
In other news:
I’ve cut some more red tape. During the 2024 budget, staff admitted that the bid award panel caused unnecessary cost and delay to city construction projects without any offsetting benefit. I pushed to get rid of the BAP; as of October 1, it’s gone.
After two years of my motions and pestering, we have finally had an education and enforcement blitz aimed at those who ride motorized micromobility vehicles (bikes, scooters, mopeds, etc.). Although overdue, this was a good start, and I am pushing staff to build on it. The infrastructure and environment committee passed my further motions to improve rider education, to try to compel vendors of these devices to give buyers information about rules and risks, and to look at licensing all motorized micromobility devices that operate on our streets.
Navigation apps are causing heavy cut-through traffic and speeding across Ward 11, including in the Castle Frank, Barton, Roxborough, Elm and Euclid areas. We cannot legally prevent non-residents from driving through residential neighbourhoods. Wherever possible, and as requested by communities, we are fighting dangerous speeding with speed cameras, bump outs, planters, crosswalks, and humps. I am open to adding turn restrictions and one-way mazes when communities agree that they want them, although these measures have knock-on effects and local opinion is often divided. In the Euclid area, the city is collecting more data; two rounds of traffic monitoring are scheduled in the next few months. And we will be asking residents if they want a one-way maze.
The parks and recreation department has informed me that the Ramsden Park skating rink should open by January 1, and the basketball court will be restored by spring. The Bill Bolton Arena roof is almost finished, and the dressing room heating system will be replaced in February.
The Markham Street reopening (Lennox to Bloor) has been delayed again, but it might happen in November (hurry up, Westbank!). Do you think it will beat the Eglinton Crosstown?
The Toronto preservation board has refused a Heritage Act application for the large wall that was illegally built on public property at Glen Road and Whitney. Council has already directed that the wall be removed.
We are working with municipal licensing & standards to fine-tune bylaw enforcement for minor breaches by small businesses so that we don’t keep losing well-intentioned small businesses such as the much-loved By the Way Café.
The city is buying 53 electric Zambonis to keep our skating rinks in good order with less noise and pollution. I’m lobbying to get some for Ward 11.
North of Bloor, parking changes this fall will make the Bathurst bus faster and more reliable. In the spring, RapidTO Bathurst streetcar lanes will be installed from Dundas to Bloor.
Dianne Saxe is city councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on FORUM: A troubling track record (Oct./Nov. 2025)
Has the auditor general just exposed Ford’s next Greenbelt scandal?
By Jessica Bell
Ontario’s auditor general, Shelley Spence, has a vital job in holding the public service to account. Her office investigates government departments, agencies, and organizations to see if they’re efficiently delivering high quality programs and services.
This week, the auditor general released some damning special reports. I attended the media briefing. Ms. Spence was asked by a reporter if she had a favourite report, and she said “that’s like asking me who is my favourite child” because every report has a story to tell about an issue that affects thousands and sometimes millions of us. Here’s what you need to know about the auditor general’s reports.
The auditor general found the province’s management of its $2.5-billion skills training fund was troubling and not fair or transparent.
The Skills Development Fund gives employers, unions, municipalities, non-profits, and colleges funding to train people looking for work.
The auditor general found that David Piccini, the minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development and his political staff were giving contracts worth millions of dollars to companies with close ties to the Conservatives, while rejecting applications from far more qualified applicants. They were playing favourites.
Here’s some troubling examples.
King Animal Hospital received $1.3 million to address workforce shortages. The founders of the hospital and their family have donated over $80,000 to the Conservative party.
The wife of the former Labour minister, Monte McNaughton got $2 million to help dentists sell their businesses to investment firms.
A night club owner with ties to the Ford family got $6 million to hire workers.
If it looks like corruption, it probably is corruption. You can bet that reporters, the NDP, and the auditor general are going to be digging deep into this program to find any corruption.
This is about trust. Ontarians expect the government to deliver efficient programs that help people, not their well-connected friends.
Highly qualified applicants should receive funding from the Skills Development Fund over less qualified applicants. Our public colleges should be properly funded by the province so they can provide affordable education to students who want a practical career. The government’s latest cuts to public colleges, along with a drastic decline in international student enrollment, has led to layoffs and the closure of entire departments and campuses.
The auditor general’s damning report on Ontario’s progress to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions is downright embarrassing and devastating.
The Conservatives will admit that climate change is caused by human activity, but they’ve basically abandoned their duty to do anything about it.
The province will not be meeting its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets, and they refuse to even set targets after 2030. They’re not even publishing their plan or their progress on reducing emissions; in fact, that’s why the auditor general wrote this report.
Scientists have been issuing stark apocalyptic warnings for years. Unless governments everywhere do the necessary work of curbing pollution and making societies sustainable, our economy and our standard of living will decline.
The auditor general’s report on Ontario’s affordable childcare program shows the program is in jeopardy and is failing to create enough childcare spaces or hire enough qualified workers to meet its targets.
Affordable childcare is essential to families because an affordable childcare spot means you can go back to work.
It’s one of those government programs that pays off for the government in the long-term because parents who return to the workforce earn income and pay taxes.
The program needs $1.95 billion dollars just to keep operating. Where is that money going to come from? And if the money doesn’t come, what’s going to happen to the program? So far, almost all the funding for Ontario’s childcare program has come from the federal government—we’re talking about 98 per cent.
I was also very concerned to learn that low-income families are now less likely to find an affordable childcare spot because they cannot compete with the increased demand for the limited number of affordable childcare spots available.
Ontario needs to bring in policy fixes so families most in need of affordable childcare can get that childcare spot.
After the reports are released and the reporters file their stories, my job begins.
As a member of the public accounts committee, I work with the auditor general to improve the performance of the departments the auditor general’s investigates.
On average, 43 per cent of the auditor general’s recommendations are implemented. I want to get that number to 80 per cent. I think we can do it.
Jessica Bell is the MPP for University-Rosedale and the Shadow Minister for Finance and the Treasury Board. You can reach her office at jbell-co@ndp.on.ca or 416-535-7206.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER: Nazi-free since ’33 (Sept. 2025)
On Saturday, Sept. 13, a “Canada First” rally of approximately 100 anti-immigration demonstrators were met by hundreds of counter protestors in Christie Pits Park. Tom Needham, a former resident of the area, said “given the history, I felt I had to come down. My uncle was here in 1933.” NEILAND BRISSENDEN/GLEANER NEWS
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on NEWS: Maple Leafs wrap up historic season (Sept. 2025)
A summer of memorable moments outshines early playoff exit
Jordan Castaldo of the Toronto Maple Leafs captured the 2025 IBL home run crown with 12 round trips this summer. CRAIG AIKEN/GLEANER NEWS
By R.S. Konjek
For fans of the game, baseball is the annual accumulation of statistics and memories.
Another season of Toronto Maple Leafs baseball has been recorded onto spreadsheets and written into hearts.
After finishing a disappointing seventh in the regular season, the Leafs upped their game in the Intercounty Baseball League playoffs and almost ousted the defending champions.
They made trouble for the Barrie Baycats and pushed their longtime rivals to the brink of an upset in the quarterfinals.
The best-of-five series went to a deciding game on August 27 in Barrie. It was a close battle, and the Leafs took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. They were unable to hold onto it, as the champs came back to win in the ninth with a final score of 5-4.
It was a frustrating finish to a season that left fans with many indelible memories.
The club made history before a single pitch was thrown, signing Ayami Sato of Japan as the first woman in Canadian history to play baseball professionally in a men’s league.
Sato was a sensation whose presence drew larger-than-average crowds to the ballpark at Christie Pits all summer.
The Leafs also welcomed an enthusiastic group of youngsters to the team.
Spencer MacInnis, Kalayo Shaw, and Ben Sitarenios may be budding stars of the future. MacInnis hit a couple of home runs and showed speed on the basepaths. Shaw caught everything hit to his vicinity in centerfield. Sitarenios flashed his stuff as a two-way player, playing outfield and also pitching in a couple of games.
Former player and general manager Damon Topolie made a surprise return to the Leafs. One weekend in July, the 49-year-old came out of retirement to fill a roster hole. He played in a couple of games and was all smiles during his brief comeback.
Ryan Dos Santos set a single-season record with 46 walks, breaking a record that had stood since 1988.
While there were plenty of highs, there were some lows too. The Leafs’ 18-24 record was underwhelming, and they won only six out of 21 games at home.
The nadir of the season came in July, when general manager and pitcher Dustin Richardson resigned after falling out with club ownership. Conflicting views of the roster’s makeup proved irreconcilable, and the two sides parted ways.
For the Leafs, the highest of highs had to be the season that first baseman Jordan Castaldo put together.
The 15-year veteran and former league MVP had a resurgent year at the plate. Castaldo batted .336 and led the club with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs. The dozen round trips were his second highest in one season and won him the IBL home run crown.
In one game in August, he hit a grand slam and drove in eight runs.
At 36, Castaldo ascended to some rarified air among the league’s all-time greats. He became only the third man to record 500 career RBIs, the fourth man to hit 100 home runs, and the fifth man to reach 700 hits.
He credits his great season with being in better shape.
A hero on the diamond, Castaldo is also a hero in real life.
In 2024 he became a full-time firefighter with Toronto Fire Services. Based out of North York, he finds a way to balance his job’s 24-hour shifts with playing for the Leafs.
“It can be tough, especially with a hot summer like this,” Castaldo said prior to a recent game at Christie Pits. “It was a busy summer call-wise at work. You take off that gear and you put on this gear; you lose a few pounds that’s for sure.”
This is Castaldo’s second stint with the Leafs. In between, he played parts of seven seasons with the Baycats and enjoyed some memorable moments at the Pits. He is the only man in memory to hit a home run that not only cleared the centerfield fence but went over the concessions stand and hit the clubhouse roof, a monster shot that may be the longest in the park’s history.
He was also on the Baycats team that clinched an IBL title at the Pits in 2016.
“The Pits has always had its charm,” he said. “We’ve had really strong fan support this year, and we’re all grateful for the fans who come down and watch us.”
A quiet leader in the clubhouse, Castaldo is happy to help younger players seeking advice.
“If there’s something they want to talk about, I try to be somebody they can talk to or ask questions,” he said. “It’s never been my style to go around and tell people what to do or how to do it. I just try to be a good teammate and listen and provide what knowledge I can. It’s a tough game. I try to take care of myself and my performance first and then help out the other guys the rest of the way.”
Castaldo can’t see himself playing at age 49 like Topolie. Then again, Topolie had a few years off and seized the opportunity to make a brief return, something many athletes wish they could do.
The pull of the diamond is strong. If he can continue to balance work and baseball, Castaldo is likely to return to the Leafs next year.
After falling short, the Leafs will rebuild and bounce back for another season at the Pits in May 2026.
More information about the Leafs can be found at www.mapleleafsbaseball.com.
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on HISTORY: If these walls could talk (Sept. 2025)
St. George Street home has many stories to tell
Circa 1915. Left to Right: William Arthur Peel Durie (left, the war veteran), Anna Durie (mother, centre), and Helen Durie (sister). COURTESY TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY
By Michael Mastromatteo
This is the first in a series of columns speculating on the lived history of various houses in the Annex. Imagine that the “walls” of these homes secretly absorb some of the actions and experience of those living within. If we accept that the “listening walls” witness the lives and actions of its occupants, we can ruminate about the stories they might tell.
The house at number 306 doesn’t stand out among its St. George Street neighbours. Nestled on the west side of the street a few doors south of Dupont, the semi-detached, 115-year-old home is tall, symmetrical and stately.
But while the home blends in well with its neighbours on the outside, it has a history all its own.
The first occupant was “agent” Henry J. Hollinrake who resided at 306 with his wife from 1908 to about 1912.
The social columns in the newspapers of the day recorded the Hollinrakes’ frequent receptions for well-heeled friends and neighbours.
A Toronto Globe and Mail news report from Nov. 6, 1912 heralded the beginning of the Durie era at 306 St. George.
The story reads: “The inaugural meeting of the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was held Nov. 5 at the residence of the president, Mrs. [Anna] Durie, 306 St. George St.”
Anna Durie was certainly energetic and civic minded, but the sprightly spirit would not last. The atmosphere within the home undoubtedly changed after Anna’s son, William Arthur Peel Durie, left his position as a clerk at the Royal Bank to join the Canadian army in the First World War.
Durie was killed in action on Dec. 29, 1917 near the small village of Lens, France.
A telegraph addressed to Mrs. Anna Durie of 306 St. George Street arrived on Jan. 11, 1918. It read: “Regret to confirm Captain William [Arthur] Durie officially reported killed Dec twenty ninth nineteen seventeen. Have asked England for circumstances death report copy.”
Devastated by William’s death, Anna and her sister’s misery clouded the atmosphere for the next 12 years; however, Anna eventually succeeded in having her son’s body exhumed from a cemetery in England and reburied in St. James Cemetery in Toronto.
306 St. George Street today. MIKE MASTROMATTEO/GLEANER NEWS
One can imagine that the gloomy atmosphere at 306 St. George Street lifted in the 1930s. The parade of owner/occupants included: real estate agent Alex Sutherland, insurance salesman Huson Coon, insurance adjustor Neville Howard McDermott, and dentist Charles Collard. They all no doubt experienced the regular highs and lows of life in Toronto during the Great Depression. That they were all gainfully employed suggests more good times than bad.
The 1940s brought a new raft of occupants to number 306.
Perhaps the most intriguing resident at this time was lawyer and civil engineer William B. Raymond, who purchased the home in 1944.
Born in Welland around 1858, Raymond achieved notoriety in the 1880s for his work in the construction of the Welland Canal.
He later earned his law degree and practiced with the firm Raymond and Honsberger until his death in 1945. He was survived by his wife Alexis Cromer Raymond who remained at 306 St. George Street for another 14 years.
Photographer and “rooming house operator” Pauline Rinas moved into the well-worn home in 1960.
Her time there coincided with the conversion of 306 St. George into a rooming house, a fate common to many Annex homes between 1950 and 1980. After that, gentrification restored value and appeal to many older homes.
A Toronto Star news report from June 4, 1974 reveals some of Rinas’s safety and property value concerns. T
he newspaper reported a meeting of disgruntled Huron and St. George Street homeowners objecting to the establishment of homes for “disturbed children” in the area.
“The place is becoming a slum,” Rinas said. “It’s impossible to get decent people to rent rooms.”
However, “decent people” continued to find their way there. One of the more recent occupants of number 306 was Vera Cudjoe who resided there for a short time in 1970.
The Trinidadian native arrived in Canada 10 years earlier and toiled as a nurse at the Toronto General Hospital until she acted on a dream.
In 1973, Cudjoe founded Black Theatre Canada which opened the door to a flourishing of acting and stage production opportunities for Black actors, playwrights, and producers.
Although the organization ceased operations in 1988, it marked a milestone in the diversification of theatre in Toronto and across Canada.
We’ll close our examination of 306 St. George Street and its lore with the thoughts of Dr. Anthony Strelzow, a Toronto-born orthodontist who now practices in Vancouver and Whitehorse.
Strelzow owned the property from 1983 until 1986, during which time he undertook several renovations, including removal of the stairs to the servants’ quarters.
Although he has owned and lived in a number of houses since 306 St. George, Strelzow has special regard for the old Annex home and for the stories it harbours.
Describing one of his upgrading projects, Strelzow told the Gleaner that “While removing some of the original lath and plaster…we stumbled across a single page of a newspaper hidden in the vacant stud spaces. We spent an evening reading and imagining the times gone by. There was no date on the paper fragment we found, but it had a horse and buggy feel to the various ads and snippets of stories we could read. When we finally closed the stairwell, I placed a full Toronto Star newspaper in the stud wall with my and my wife’s names on it, wishing whoever finds the buried treasure a warm hello. I wonder if anyone has discovered this treasure?”
Comments Off on HISTORY: If these walls could talk (Sept. 2025)Tags:Annex · History · Life
December 15th, 2025 · Comments Off on CHATTER: JCC gets some protection (Sept. 2025)
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (MNjcc) is adding substantial security bollards to its Spadina and Bloor Street frontages. In a statement, the MNjcc said the measures conform to a “widely adopted security standard now common among major public buildings across the city.”
Comments Off on CHATTER: JCC gets some protection (Sept. 2025)Tags:Annex · News
