So what is the Bombardier #C-Series anyway?

It’s a nice looking jet and it’s great to see that a #Canadian company may possibly compete with the likes of #Airbus and #Boeing. Seating between 100 – 149 seats and leaving a smaller environmental footprint I dare to say that maybe “less is more”. With the rumors of Porter Airlines purchasing these jets it will be interesting to see what happens in the long-term. Will they expand Billy Bishop Airport? Will these planes fly out of Montreal? Maybe, with the new Airport link, they will fly out of Pearson? What about Hamilton, Oshawa Airport or Buttonville? We will have to wait and see what actually happens today at the announcement. Hopefully the Bombardier C-Series will shake up the industry. Maybe we are just a bit nostalgic over the prominent days of the Avro Arrow and Canada being on top once again.

By: @iammannyj

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Bombardier CSeries is a family of narrow-body, twin-engine, medium-range jet airliners that are being developed by Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace. Models are the 110-seat CS100, and the 130-seat CS300. These were initially named C110 and C130, respectively. In November 2012, Bombardier announced that the CS100 would take its maiden flight in June 2013 and enter service in 2014. 

To learn more about the CSeries go to http://cseries.com/info/en/

Related articles

• Porter Airlines set to announce Bombardier CSeries order: report (business.financialpost.com)
• Porter Airlines reported to be on verge of ordering first jets from Bombardier (globalnews.ca)
• Porter Airlines reportedly to buy $2B Bombardier jets (cbc.ca)

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Different modes of transit in Greater Toronto – removing political spin and disinformation

Photo By Myke Waddy, Sept 5th 2006. Health Sciences LRT Station, Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Explaining different modes of transit in the G.T.A; removing political spin and disinformation

Found a great article on transit through “What happens to public opinion when LRT is explained”. It is a great piece, which is quite informative. Take some time to read the article. Cherise Burda takes to time to explain the differences between subways, light rail, GO Trains, rapid bus and right-of-way streetcar modes of transit.

Related articles

• Future north C-Train route to be re-considered (cbc.ca)
• The Game of Thrones and Transit in Toronto (thegtapatriot.com)
• James: Return to LRT is a gift for both sides in the debate (thestar.com)

Embarrassed to sing “O Canada”? It’s only a ”Pittance in Time”!

national Flag of Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Toronto Catholic District School Board had to pass new guidelines, forcing students to “sing” O’Canada. I just listened to the news and heard students state that they will not sing “O Canada“, or that they were “embarrassed” to sing it. Also heard one say “I will not be singing it because its my right not to”, with a very disturbing tone. How did we get to this point? What happened to our patriotism? Do we care about Canada? It’s only a “Pittance in Time”, to those who fought and died so we could enjoy it. Just saying!

Read more “Students must sing O Canada, school board rules”

Related articles

• Students who don’t sing O Canada appear ‘unpatriotic’: Toronto school trustee (calgaryherald.com)
• Toronto Catholic students to sing O Canada without music (thestar.com)

A great source for transit information – The LRT Information Blog

my photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With transit in Toronto taking a back seat to casino expansion and red-light districts it’s nice to see that there is still action taking place outside of the G.T.A. In particular York Region and expansion of the Yonge line, north of Steeles and LRT expansion in Peel. With the Yonge line I am still a bit concerned about the load factors affecting affecting travel along the route. Toronto needs to seriously look into expansion of a Downtown Relief Line, as soon as possible; to ease the congestion on the Y-U-S. The Toronto LRT Information Page provides updates and commentary on both the Yonge Subway extension and the Brampton / Mississauga LRT expansion plans.

Read more

Related articles

• Subways for the Downtown Relief Line (thegtapatriot.wordpress.com)
• Toronto transit: ‘Downtown’ relief line could be the subway suburbanites crave (thestar.com)
• Despite wide support for proposed Eglinton LRT changes, Ford not budging on initial plan (theglobeandmail.com)
• Subway the clear choice at loud Scarborough transit meeting (thestar.com)
• Mississauga mayor says Ford transit plan can’t come at other cities’ expense (thestar.com)

Have you seen missing teen Michelle Yu

Michelle Yu, 18, has been missing since Tuesday

Toronto police are seeking the public’s help in locating Michelle Yu, an 18-year-old who has been missing since Tuesday.

Police say she was last seen at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the TD Bank at 354 Bay St., near Temperance Street. Her image was captured on the bank’s security camera and she appeared to be alone. Members of her family say this is not the bank branch Michelle regularly uses.

She was also seen at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the York Mills Road/Chipstead Road area.

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It’s not exactly Toronto the good anymore, eh?

So what is Toronto becoming?

• MGM wants to build a massive casino on Toronto’s waterfront, preferably turning Ontario Place into a mini Vegas.
• Ashley Madison wants to sponsor Toronto Zoos, as long as they get naming rights
• Dennis Hof looking to expand to Toronto and build a Bunny House
• Giorgio Mammoliti wants to build a dedicated red-light district in Toronto

What is happening to Toronto? It’s simple, Toronto is broke! Year’s ago we talked about the hollowing out of Toronto, forcing families to move to the suburbs, such as Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and farther. I am not saying that this is the reason. The majority of jobs are still in Toronto, however what will Toronto look like in 20 years? Yesterday Rob Ford said “he is all business”, and he will entertain any business idea. I am not sure if Torontonians would have supported Ford Nation if they knew what the vision was for Toronto. This is definitely not in the same scope of David Miller. As a mayor he seemed to have a different vision for the city. The question is what happened to the debate over these ideas? I am starting to hear rumblings of dissatisfied voters in Scarborough and other parts of the city. Sure, I am not taking stock from a large base, but these are individuals who were stark supporters of Rob Ford coming in to clean house.

Toronto Residents: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. 
Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”? 
Toronto Residents: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies over Toronto! The Don river and Lake Ontario boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…Mel Lastman rising back to power! Human cooperation, politicians actually working together… mass hysteria!

So will Toronto become the new promised land?

Related articles

• So who really runs the city of Toronto? (thegtapatriot.wordpress.com)
• MGM targets Toronto for ‘spectacular’ casino resort (ctv.ca)
• Game over for Rob Ford in Toronto? (thegtapatriot.com)
• Rob Ford non-commital on Pride (thestar.com)
• Nightlife at Harbourfront could fall victim to whining locals (thestar.com)
• MGM eyes Toronto for sprawling integrated resort and casino (theglobeandmail.com)
• Woodbine location favoured for Toronto ‘entertainment destination’ (theglobeandmail.com)

You burb I burb we all scream for the suburbs

Cookie cut lives in the suburbs

It’s a cookie cut life of mediocrity, welcome to the burb. It’s all the same, we love it and it’s nothing to absurd. Admit it, we were sucked into the dream; the dream of owning a piece of Canadian terra-firma and all that it means. You love the plastic playground and uniform styles. The box stores and endless cars scream out the word character. It’s perfect and fun! It’s lovely and glorious, isn’t it? We enjoy the hours spent in the daily commute; a life like this is a wonderful pursuit. We love, even more, waking up early to catch a GO Train; packed in like sardines, it’s all normal, we are not insane. We enjoy closing ourselves out from the world; shielded by our iPhone, Android, Blackberry and tools. Thank you fast food, easy meals, it’s all so divine. Yes, we live in the suburbs and our lives have never been better. It’s all so simple and pedestrian.

Related articles

• This is why we call it Northern Ontario (thetwentiesroar.wordpress.com)

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Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, no more…

Image via Wikipedia

TORONTO – Second World War pilot Philip Gray says it is “immoral” that Downsview Park is evicting the Canadian Air and Space Museum.

“This is a terrible way to repay young 21-year-old boys who went to war and never turned 22. I am disgusted that their heritage can be just wiped out,” the 89-year-old Gray said Tuesday as the museum was packing up artifacts.

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Conservatives and Toronto’s Rob Ford Nation – Subways please…

Interestingly enough this election may be a boon for the G.T.A. Not that Toronto can expect the Conservatives to only pander to their needs. As the Prime Minister said last night “we will govern for all Canadians“. Despite that the Liberals took for granted the support of Torontonians and the G.T.A. For years, we voted for the Liberals without our needs being heard. Now the Conservatives will have to listen. However, my take is the Conservatives will take a page out of Rob Ford‘s book. Rob said “we will get subways”. Will the Conservatives deliver? I imagine that they will have to. Why? Rob Ford nation is a powerful force. Although he is now mayor and tends to be on the right-wing of the political spectrum, Rob is not afraid to push his agenda and fight for what he believes. The Conservatives would be wise to not upset Toronto’s exalted leader. He wants subways and an end to waste. The Conservatives will have to deliver. He wants Toronto’s common-sense issues listened to. The Conservatives will have to deliver. The Conservatives can no longer ignore Toronto. The Prime Minister had a strategy to target the G.T.A and it worked. Albeit, a lot of vote splitting happened. It does not matter. They solidified their base, in the G.T.A and gained additional votes. You cannot take that away from the Conservatives. However, much care is needed. Ontarians are also sometimes not as forgiving. The Conservatives would be wise to not follow their Liberal predecessors. Do not take that vote for granted!

By Mannee Jay

Election Day in Canada – May 2, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Well a historic election has just taken place in Canada. The Bloc was decimated in Quebec, and almost wiped off the map. Newfoundland told Conservatives what to do with themselves. The Greater Toronto Area is painted blue and Toronto has gone NDP Orange. Also, it looks like we have our very first Green member of Parliament. So what went wrong for the Liberals? They took their support for granted. Canadians were looking for change and they did not see it in the Liberals, in Ontario. Yes, there was a lot of vote splitting, however lets be honest. Ontario has been red for a long time. This is a breakthrough for the Conservatives in Ontario. The question is, can they live up to that support?

The G.T.A is an important battleground and they better take note. As for the NDP, they better not take their Quebec support for granted. The Bloc imploded, Liberals were yesterdays news and they did not like the Conservatives. So we are left with the NDP. Jack the time to start working is now. As for the Liberals, there is a lot of soul searching.

However I will offer this advice to all parties. (1) Liberals, you need to go back to your roots. Your party is not dead. I’d rather say that it is in hibernation and healing. Canadian’s have not forgotten you, rather the opposite happened. You forgot them. Remember who you are and what you stand for. Otherwise, what is the point of the Liberal Party. It is time for you to reconnect. (2) NDP you have been given the chance to prove your worth, so do not disappoint. From the people I have spoken to many parked their vote with the NDP. Also, in Ontario, people simply love and trust Jack Layton.  It will be important, despite a majority Conservative government, that the NDP choose their battles well and fight for those who voted for them. Less we forget, as often Canadians do! (3) Conservatives fought a simple and straight-forward campaign. You delivered your message and Canadians listened. We are concerned about the economy and trust in that has been given to you. However, do not take that trust for granted. A lot of Canadians still do not trust the Conservative Party and a lot of seats were gained from vote splitting. Be careful how you govern. Canadians are watching. Do not slip to the right with arrogance. As Harper said, keep a steady ship. If you can prove your worth maybe your quality will be remembered. (4) Finally, to Elizabeth May and the Green Party. You have made Canadian history! Despite the media ignoring you, thank you for running and not giving up. The Green Party should be a wake up call to ALL parties. People voted for Elizabeth May and the Greens across Canada. Their ideas and policies should not be ignored! Summed up in Elizabeth May’s own words “amateurs built the ark and professionals built the Titanic”. People are wary in Canada and if the status-quo parties cannot deliver, Canadians may decide someone else can.

Congrats to Prime Minister Harper, who has finally gotten a majority government for the Conservative Party. We will all watch, wait and see what policies are implemented and what happens in the next Parliament. See you in 2015!

By Mannee Jay

Election Day

Well its election day in Canada! I’d offer some predictions, however I imagine that the election will be overshadowed by Osama Bin Laden today. In light of that there will be a dynamic shift today. Question is what will really happen. This is hard to predict. Canadians are angry. The Conservatives were arrogant, in demanding a majority. They should have reached out early to soft-C Conservatives in the Liberal party. However, it is too late. They waited until Jack Layton, whom both the Liberals and Conservatives ignored, sprung to life in the polls. However, all may not be lost for the Conservatives. It all depends on vote splitting in Ontario and other provinces. There is a chance they may sneak through.

It will be an interesting night, however I predict that the NDP will gain a large amount of seats. The Bloc will tank and the Conservatives may end up with a majority. However, there is a slight chance that Canadians are so angry that the NDP could win, but I doubt it. It will definately be an interesting night in Canada.