Then and Now: Old Long Branch

Long Branch was once a sleepy village and summer destination centered on Lakeshore Blvd., between the villages of New Toronto and Port Credit, along the shore of Lake Ontario. Long Branch stretched from the Lakeshore Psychiatric facility lands in the east, to Etobicoke Creek, which is the now the border with Mississauga, in the west. Long Branch was named after the tremendous, once-plentiful old oak trees whose branches shaded the region and its cottages. A few of these old cottages still remain in the area.

Long Branch had the Grand Trunk rail line running north of, and parallel to, Lake Shore Rd. [now "Blvd."], which is still today a heavily-used main line into Toronto. Long Branch also had streetcar service along Lake Shore Rd., from Toronto all the way to Etobicoke Creek, starting July, 1895, on track built by the Toronto and Mimico Electric Railway.

The National Post (Aug.23, 2008) had an article about author Derek Hayes' new book, Historical Atlas of Toronto, which contained this photo (below) of old Long Branch:

(Click on photos to enlarge!) (above) A map of Long Branch, from the former City of Etobicoke, showing the same area as the older map. This map, dated June 9, 1967, was signed by A.G. Taylor, Chief Technical Engineer.

Lovely Long Branch Ave. as seen on the old map is still known by the same name today, but "Lansdowne Avenue" is now the creatively-named 33rd St., and the idyllic "Lake View Avenue" is now an equally non-descript 35th. St. I guess Long Branch Avenue is the '34th St.' that, thankfully, never was! "Lake Shore Road" is now Lake Shore Blvd. W.

"Edgewood Rd." is now Marina Ave., "Elm Road" is now Dominion Rd., the "Arbour Reserve" is now Muskoka Ave., "Park Road" today is Park Blvd., and "Beach Rd." is now called Lake Promenade.

The old map shows interesting details like the "Church Reserve" square at the west end of the old Arbour Reserve, and the "Gymnasium Hall" at the east end. Was there ever was a church or a gym hall at these locations?

On the Gymnasium Hall square of land, at the east end of today's Muskoka Ave., there is now a group of low-rise 1950's era apt. buildings.

At the "Church Reserve" square of land on the west end, Muskoka Ave. today crosses 35th St (old Lake View Avenue) into the Church Reserve, and becomes a dead end. Today there are homes in that square. It looks like there was an extra lot added at the south-west corner of old Lake View Ave. and the Church Reserve (ie, directly north of Lot 1, Block R on old map) ; and also, an extra lot was added on the north-west corner of Lake View and Church Reserve. (ie, directly south of Lot 5, Block Q on old map). Also, lots 8 and 9 of Block Q, and lots 7 and 6 of Block R, were given additional depth. Even today these lots sport extra deep front lawns.

Also of interest are the two squares called the "Electric Place" shown at the north-east and north-west corners of Long Branch Ave. and old Elm Rd. (today's Dominion Rd.) I wonder what Electric Place was meant to be. Today, there is a small, 1960's era, six-plex-style building on each of these two corner squares.

Then, on the south-west and south-east corner of Long Branch Ave. and the old Park Rd. on the old map, there are two squares called "Fountain Square". The lot on the south-west corner now has a small 1950's or earlier era low-rise apt. building.

The square on the south-east corner of Long Branch Ave. and today's Park Blvd. (measuring, like the other squares, approx. 100 by a 100 feet), can be still seen today as a nice tree-filled parkette. There is no fountain today (if there ever was one) but right in the centre of this land now stands a fine, large stone memorial Cenotaph.

The area south-east of the Cenotaph is shown in the old map as perhaps a kind of park, with a pier into Lake Ontario, a tree-lined circle road called Long Branch Drive, and also shows two grand buildings. (I wonder if they were ever built.) This was a heavily-treed area even into the 1950's, and there had once been a popular dance-hall-hotel located there. There is no trace today of Long Branch Drive; that entire area contains five mid-rise apt. buildings, and the 'new' Lake Promenade now winds its way east along the waters edge.

Also interesting are the squares of land laid out within the blocks of lots, as seen with blocks L,M,N,G and H on the old map. They were served with access from the main road by two small laneways leading into the interior blocks from different roads. This was where you could drive your carriage into the rear of your property, and have a little place for the horses to stretch their legs out back too!

The interior squares of blocks L, G, M, and H, and their access laneways have all but disappeared, as they were sold over the years to adjoining property owners, which extended the depth of their backyards. Even on the new map, you can still see the dotted lines which show where the interior squares and their access laneways had once been. It was within these interior squares that some of the oldest remaining trees could be found.

However, the access laneway of Block N, as seen on both maps, does still exist today; the old lane has now become a narrow street called Chapel Rd. But in this case, the interior square of Block N has also been sold off; the difference being that the front yards of these lots were extended towards the lane, allowing new houses to be built, using Chapel Rd. as a city road frontage.

Is the Skyway safe from below?

John Schudlo wrote in “Skyway safe, officials assure” (Niagara This Week, Aug.8, 2007) about Rene Moreau, who often drives over the St. Catharines Skyway, saying: “I’m always worried about it when I go over that bridge because of the work that they always seem to be doing on it and the age of it…That skyway is scary, man.”

Then-Tourism Minister Jim Bradley, the Liberal MPP for St. Catharines was quoted in the story saying that people don’t need to be alarmed, and that the construction work is routine. Bradley “said people should have faith in their bridges because the provincial government – which looks after the 43-year old skyway, is very committed to inspecting them.”

“There is a pretty rigorous process involved with bridges” said Bradley “It’s sophisticated stuff.”

But does this rigorous inspection Bradley talked about include assessing what’s under and near the bridge?

In light of the propane blast several weeks ago in Toronto, will Jim Bradley, now Ontario’s Transportation Minister, publicly issue assurances that there is absolutely no danger having propane trucks parked near the bridge piers, or having a large four-tank propane station about 300 metres away? Officials in Toronto were saying that a safe zone should be about 1.6 kilometres away.

How safe is the Skyway should the worst happen? What contingencies has Bradley’s ministry prepared?

In the above Niagara This Week article, Transportation Ministry spokesperson, Jamie Rilett, said about the pier maintenance: “I think people should have confidence that we are doing our due diligence…We do take it very seriously. If anything does concern us, we do err on the side of caution.”

So, then, is having propane stored so close to a bridge a concern to Jim Bradley?

(click on photos to enlarge) (above) Looking north under the Skyway, a row of truck-mounted propane tanks are parked near the bridge pier, and more permanent tanks can be seen farther back. (above) This newer 4-tank storage facility is about 300 metres north of the QEW Skyway bridge, which can be seen in the background to the right.

(above) Looking north under the Skyway, about six propane-tanker trucks can be seen parked very close to one of the bridge piers currently under restoration. (below) Same location, looking south, showing proximity of parked tankers near Skyway.

Stephane Dion: self-proclaimed Saviour Of God's Environment

Bumbledore Dion was on The Michael Coren show on CTS (Aug.21, 2008), where he claimed that the Conservative minority government was spreading "fear" - this from the green-shafter who fearmongers everywhere he goes (by jet and limo) that the earth is about to collapse if we don't vote Liberal! Twice during the show Dion threw out the line that only he can somehow become the saviour of, as he put it, "God's Environment"!!

What a satire of liberalism this clown is!

This Liberal joker bleated about "human rights", yet said nothing about Russia's invasion of Georgia.

Also, in an hour of interview, Stephane Dion said nothing about health care - no mention whatsoever.

Lady M visits Port Dalhousie

(click on photos to enlarge)The ocean yacht Lady M, of Belize City, visited Port Dalhousie, seen here on Aug.19, 2008. Photos by R. Bobak
(above: Looking north, in the distance in Lake Ontario, a laker can be seen heading towards the Welland canal)

It's not often a ship like this pulls into our port. A constant stream of admirers flocked to get a close-up view of the gleaming 164 foot long vessel and to inquire about its passengers. The yacht, docked on the Michigan side of the waterway, had to use trees for its moorings!

Don't send us more patients, says hospital in Liberal health-care monopoly

The Sarnia Observer wrote this editorial, “Hospital funding needs checkup”, (Aug.14, 2008):

“It's not every day that we agree with Mike Bradley. But the Sarnia mayor was right on the mark when he said a critical bed alert issued by London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) last week was a "huge step backwards."

LHSC sent surrounding hospitals -- including Bluewater Health -- a letter urging them not to send critically ill patients there unless they are near death.

LHSC notified area hospitals they were closed to all regional referrals with the exception of regional trauma, renal and stroke care. Cancer and cardiac patients would also be accepted and prioritized on an urgency basis.

Bradley wisely sounded the alarm, expressing concern the lives of patients are being put at risk.
Of course LHSC is not to blame for this. It cannot accept patients if it doesn't have any room for them.

The real problem is that the Ontario government is not spending enough on health care.
Bradley is right when he says the lack of adequate funding for provincial hospitals is putting people's health at risk at a time when they are paying higher taxes specifically aimed at improving care.

As he noted, "The whole point of the London Health Sciences Centre being a tertiary centre is to deal with the seriously ill patients who cannot receive the assistance they need as well by smaller hospitals who are not set up to deal with them."

The time is coming soon when Queen's Park is going to have to make some hard decisions about what it can and can't afford to pay for. It's going to have to eliminate entire ministries (such as the Ministry of Culture) and start funnelling more money into health care. Otherwise, there isn't going to be enough to take care of aging baby boomers.”

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We know what Mike Bradley is saying in Sarnia.

But what’s MPP Jim Bradley saying in St. Catharines?

“The real problem is that the Ontario government is not spending enough on health care,” writes the Observer.

Say what?? McGuinty - after raking in some $12 billion with his Health Tax since 2004, IS NOT SPENDING ENOUGH?!

But St. Catharines Liberal Minister Jim Bradley has said that healthcare funding is not a problem in Niagara! Former health minister Smitherman even hinted that the Niagara Health System was spending money in a ‘free for all’! Liberals denied there was any link between their funding model and their government-run health-monopoly’s problems. They ran their last election pretending that health care in Ontario was fine!

Now we see London’s hospital is warning other smaller local hospitals “NOT TO SEND CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS TO THEM unless they are near death”!! Unbelievable.

What are these Liberals doing, for God’s sake?

Where else are these patients to go, then ??!

Can – or will – Jim Bradley's government answer that question?

Is this what is in store here in Niagara (see: Possible beginnings of a health-care mutiny in Niagara? ) once Jimmy’s monopoly consolidates its facilities? (‘We’re sorry – the only choice hospital in St. Catharines is now full. Please try again later. Vote Liberal! Have a nice day.’)

We know that the Sarnia/Windsor area regularly exports Ontario patients to the U.S. for treatment, (see: Allow U.S. hospitals to open Canadian branches) as is also happening in Niagara. Sarnia's Bradley notes that (as in Niagara), their smaller local hospitals are not set up to deal with tertiary care needs.

Yet Jim Bradley’s Liberals have run all of Ontario’s hospitals for five years - so who’s responsible for this? As I asked in a previous post (see: Pressing hard, or hardly pressing, for more Niagara long-term care beds), what’s Jim Bradley done about new beds in Niagara?

“The time is coming soon when Queen's Park is going to have to make some hard decisions about what it can and can't afford to pay for,” the Observer wrote.

What’s health-care monopolist Jim Bradley, or his Liberal government, got to say about that?

How much longer until the Liberal's single-payer health-care-monopoly house-of-cards collapses?

Skyway scaffolds

(click photos to enlarge)
A north-bound ship, having just passed the raised Homer Bridge, glides under the Skyway past a crew of scaffold installers. Photos taken by R. Bobak, Aug.11, 2008.

Workers were continuing to erect scaffolding under the QEW Skyway bridge at the Welland Canal in St. Catharines today, Aug.11, 2008. They were lined up standing above each other for hours, passing sections of tubing up to the top in order to construct the scaffold around the bridge piers. The bridge's concrete columns are to be repaired and resurfaced.

Possible beginnings of a health-care mutiny in Niagara?

Derek Swartz wrote in “Alternatives to NHS plan eyed by Port Colborne, Wainfleet” (St. Catharines Standard, Aug.1, 2008):

“If Niagara Health System wants to cut back emergency room services in Port Colborne, it is time for the city to consider setting up a different hospital corporation, the mayor says.


Vance Badawey said the city is serious about helping form a new hospital corporation to operate the hospital, and it is looking for allies.


The newly formed Port Colborne- Wainfleet Health Care Services task force met Tuesday evening to start formulating a response to the NHS hospital improvement plan.


Wainfleet Mayor Barb Henderson sits on the committee, which has contacted Fort Erie, whose hospital is also facing the scaling down of its emergency department.


Part of that response will be to make the case that around-the-clock emergency services must remain in the hospital, even if thatmeans the hospital is no longer part of the NHS.


Badawey believes the Port Colborne General Hospital could break away.


"Some people might think it's unrealistic, but it is realistic in light of their own recommendations," he said.


The NHS plan states many of Port Colborne's health-care needs can be handled by establishing community health centres, walk-in clinics, improved transportation and educating city residents.
None of those services are administered by the NHS, the mayor points out.


"We understand change occurs from the Ministry (of Health) on down. We understand things can be done better, but we'll be damned if it's at the expense of Port Colborne and Wainfleet.... At the end of the day if (the NHS) can't do it, we'll do it ourselves," Badawey said Thursday.


Henderson joined the committee because of the potential impact on Wainfleet residents.


"I am pleased to be a part of a task force whose intent is to defend the level of health care that our residents are justifiably entitled to. We expect the same level of care and service as the residents of north Niagara," Henderson stated in a news release.


There is not much evidence in the report, though, that the NHS consulted with physicians in Port Colborne, Badawey said.


Port Colborne General's emergency department sees more than 25,000 visitors a year, and in the summer --with cottagers in Sherkston and in Wainfleet -- it serves a population that rivals Welland's, Badawey said.


The NHS plan will go to the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network later this summer. Port Colborne's committee will develop a counterproposal for the LHIN to consider, Badawey said.


The committee's next steps include hiring an experienced consultant to help draft a response to the NHS report and exploring a co-ordinated response with Fort Erie.”

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What an interesting reaction by these Niagara mayors to Dalton McGuinty’s authoritarian health care monopoly, which is proposing cutting services almost everywhere in Niagara but St. Catharines, ostensibly to ' save money'.

What a sad legacy Liberal MPP Jim Bradley’s years of blustery adherence to single-tier medicare has brought; such divisiveness and callousness that cities in Niagara are considering opting out of the Niagara Health System!! Yep, let’s not forget this Liberal health care duplicity is all happening under Jim Bradley’s own government.

We’ve seen that Jim Bradley’s assurances a year ago to Port Colborne were worth less than a pile of crap. ( see: Meaningless assurances from Jim Bradley)

Jim Bradley, a senior minister with McGuinty’s government was looked upon by certain believers as some kind of guarantee that Niagarans had an ‘in’ with the Queen’s Park Liberal inner-circle; that somehow appealing to Bradley would yield results.

But, like on so many issues, Stealth Minister Bradley has vanished on this controversial health care issue right in his own backyard.

It’s as if Good Ole Jimmy had, and has, nothing to do with any of this!!
No quotes at all in any of the papers pressing Jim Bradley to explain his government monopoly’s actions. Where did Jimmy disappear to?

Badawey’s comments are extremely interesting – it is as close to mutiny that any politician in Niagara has dared go to challenge the authoritarianism that is imposed by adhering to a single-payer, government-run health-care monopoly.

Badawey (a Liberal) was lulled and duped by his Liberal colleagues George Smitherman and Bradley before; hopefully this firebrand mayor will now put McGuinty and new health-czar Caplan on the defensive.

"At the end of the day if (the NHS) can't do it, we'll do it ourselves", said Badawey: very brave words. Liberal Badawey has obviously recognized the harsh impositions and limitations of trusting that only the Ontario Liberal government will always offer you its teat. Can a constitutional challenge not be lurking in the background here?

And why not openly challenge the Ministry of Health to sue Southern Niagara communities for considering alternatives, like possibly pursuing a medicare-free zone in the region?

I touched upon this kind of rebellion back in Nov. 2007, (see: Time for Ontario towns to declare themselves a medicare-free zone.)

The drawback of simply moving from the purview of one currently failing LHIN, to another LHIN within the same system, only postpones and ignores that it is the spectre of monopoly-medicine, doled out by government, which is the underlying problem.

The challenge for Badawey and the other mayors and councillors is to demonstrate the utter disregard that McGuinty’s Liberals have shown the southern Niagara tier, and also to demonstrate that when they talk about “alternatives”, that they seriously mean real ALTERNATIVES – not simply repositioning the same old problematic monopoly in a different way.

We should be seeking a healthy private-parallel health system – not a Liberal health-care monopoly/dictatorship.

Badawey is in an incredible position to renounce his Liberal’s asinine monopoly for the failure and charade that it is. (...update: by 2013 we have unfortunately seen that Badawey's idea of some kind of "break-away" was a bust; it was just plain ole diversionary Liberal Bullsh!t. Badawey was all bluster and no bite. Badawey's attachment to McGuinty-style Liberalism superseded him making any real changes to monopoly health care in Niagara. Being a stalwart Liberal, Badawey, in the end, did nothing but blow hot air and toe McGuinty's statist anti-patient-choice single-payer line. Showing his disgusting allegiance to the Liberals, not only had Vance Badawey run for McGuinty's Ontario Liberals in 2003, Badawey also announced in Jan. 2015 that he would be seeking to run for Justin Turdeau's federal Liberals, as well.)

Really, at the heart of all this, is that this is simply another aspect of what brought about and led to the famous Chaoulli decision in Quebec, the implications of which were simply ignored by McGuinty’s Ontario Liberals.

This is simply another aspect of what the McCreith/ Holmes constitutional health care challenge now in the courts against McGuinty’s health monopoly is all about.

Now, Jim Bradley’s bait-and-switch tactic (see: Liberal Healthcare Duplicity) has found another victim by targeting southern Niagara.
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Don’t roll over, Niagara.

Don’t let Liberals such as Jim Bradley and Kim Craitor (...and, Vance Badawey) or their bureaucratic sycophants, deceive you any longer.

Sanctimonious Grits were the first to whine and fear-monger about health-care when in opposition; now when their own monopolist policies fail in their own ridings, these flicking pathetic Liberals are nowhere to be found.
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