Tim Hortons Employee Fired

Nicole Lilliman, a 27-year-old mother of four children has been fired from her job at Tim Hortons after she gave away a free Timbit to a baby. The retail value of the Timbit is $0.16, however, on the day following the incident, her manager called her into the backroom of her Tim Hortons and made her sign a letter of termination stating that she had given away the Timbit. The woman had had aspirations to become a supervisor at Tim Hortons however her hopes were soon dashed after being fired. She is now in search of work that will enabled her to provide for her children.

This is an extreme way of dealing with this issue. The mother was simply trying to be nice and give to a young child. I understand where the manager was coming from by disciplining Mrs. Lilliman, you do not want it to become a habit of giving free food away however it is far too excessive to fire an employee over such a small thing. What should have been done in this instance is the employee called in and explained to why Timbits can not be handed out for free. If the employee was given a warning on the subject i am sure it would not happen again, it is just that in this case, the manager took the wrong course of action for the issue.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/080508/K050808AU.html

City Of Toronto Considered High Risk Employer

The city of Toronto has been given 39 orders to correct unsafe working conditions in the second half of 2007. The orders were issued by the Ministry of Labour for unsafe excavations, guardrails, stepladders, and scaffolding. A report says that the city posted 1,924 lost-time injuries last year, up 7.7 percent in one year. In certain sectors of government work injuries have been decreasing like garbage collection, road maintenance, and fire protection but this is being overshadowed by the overall bad numbers. In 2007, the city paid workers $30.9 million in compensation up from the $29.8 million in 2006.

This is not acceptable that the City of Toronto is not a safe working environment. As Mayor David Miller has said, it is not very difficult either to provide these safe conditions, it can be as simple as having ramps, guard rails, proper scaffolding, etc. If there are poor contractors that the city is useing, they should not be rehired. Currently, there are unsafe working conditions in the City of Toronto and this ends up costing tax payers millions, something must be done in this situation and it can be very small changes.

Solar Roof For Markham Walmart

Walmart Canada has produced plans this morning to build the world's largest rooftop solar-energy system in the country. This solar-panel will be built atop the new Walmart superstore in Markham Ontario this year and has the potential to spread nationwide through the retail chain. Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation is donating $3 million to the project. This project will provide emission free electricity and heating to the Walmart Store, this can end up taking off 390 tonnes of gas emissions per year. The contract has gone to a small local company, tool and die maker, who have been struggling in recent years.
It is great to see such a large business taking initiative in eco-friendly energy options and supporting local businesses. Even though i am not a supporter of Walmart, it is good to see that they are looking into new types of technology to help the environment as well as supporting local businesses like Tool and Die Maker, as these are two prominent problems in our world and economy today.

http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/428983

Cyclist Dies After Injuries Sustained

On Thursday, a 57-year-old cyclist died after sustaining injuries from being hit by a cube van. The events took place at around 1 p.m. when the cyclist was traveling along Eglinton Avenue. The occupant of a parked car along the roadside opened his driver side door. The cyclist collided with the open door, lost control and fell onto the road where he was hit by a cube van. The man died four hours later in hospital.

This is a tragic occurrence and very unfortunate to have happened. This incident seemed to have been an accident and somewhat of a fluke, however the driver of the parked car should have been more aware of what was going on around him. I would say that the blame falls on his shoulders as he should have been watching when he opened the door. Riding a bike quickly on the road the cyclist would not have had adequate time to react. People should be more aware of the events taking place around them including things like opening the door of a parked car.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/05/23/cyclist-death.html

New Powerplant

A new power plant is set to open on Toronto's waterfront. The Portland Energy Centre has two natural gas turbines, these turbines will be tested until the planned opening on June 1st. This power plant is expected to supply around one quarter of Toronto's overall energy needs. The power lines coming from Pickering are just about maxed out and the city was warned that they could face brownouts, this problem however will be resolved upon completion of the plant. In addition to the two gas turbines, an additional turbine will be introduced in the fall that will run off steam from the heat of the first two turbines. Some criticts like Greg Bosner tried to stop the plant from being built in this area and instead build up the parks and recreations aspect for the neighborhood.

Although i think this is a great idea to build a new power plant to supply energy to our growing city, and i think that it is also smart to have another turbine run off the heat of the previous two to save energy and resources i agree with Greg Bosner. To build the power plant on the lake front is in my opinion a mistake. It could have been built in another location more removed and inland so that this area could be developed for parks purposes to aid the surrounding communities. It is good that a new plant is being built to stop the energy crisis the city is in but it should have been built elsewhere.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/05/23/portlands-energy.html

Parents Charged in Infant Abandonment

A thirty-year old couple has been charged for abandoning their baby daughter in a freezing parking garage back in January. In January, the 11 month old baby was found by a passer-by lying face down on the concrete in -14 C weather with minor cuts and bruises on the face. The baby is now in a foster home and the parents are being charged with a number of things under the criminal code including, failing to provide the necessities of life, abandoning a child under the age of 10, assault causing bodily harm and criminal negligence. The parents have been found through tips and have moved to Kitchener in April, following the events.

If in fact the parents charged turn out to be guilty of abandoning their child, then i think that they should be punished harshly. It is a horrible thing to abandon a defenseless infant to a sure death. The parents should be held accountable for this crime and should be punished accordingly.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/05/22/angelica-leslie.html

Man Turned Down On Award

A man was recently turned down for his $300,000 lawsuit against Culligan of Canada Ltd. after he found a fly in his water bottle. The man claims that after his experience with the water bottle he had trouble sleeping, working and his sex life even went down. The man has been assessed by a number of doctors that say he now has sevre depression, anxiety and phobias of flies. The man was after a lengthy trial turned down for this lawsuit.
This is insane that this man could get severe depression over such a small thing like a fly in a water bottle. This is taking things to the extreme and i find it extremely hard to believe that a man could conceive so many issues from such an insignificant problem. I understand that it is not very pleasant to find a fly in your water bottle, however to claim a $300,000 lawsuit against Culligan for your psychiatric problems is ridiculous and a complete waste of tax payer's dollars to bring this to court. I am glad the man did not receive compensation for this ridiculous claim.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/428663