In The News

The National Post features Toronto entrepreneurs Alicia Belvedere (29) and Leanne Milech (29) co-founders of Picture It Picture Books -- a company that produces children's books with space for kids to illustrate. Less than two years old, Picture It already has six different titles carried across GTA Indigo and Chapters stores. An excerpt from an interview with founder Leanne Milech:

"About a year and a half ago, I was a discontented Bay Street lawyer at the young age of 28. During my equally discontented articling period, when I was 27, my elementary school teacher girlfriend, Alicia, asked me to write a story for her grade four class. My true passion has always been creative writing, and I felt rather disconnected from that side of myself amid the pile of legal memoranda, research and drafting I was doing at work. I wrote a short story, and Alicia read it to her class. Her class loved the story, and Alicia thought it would be cool to go ahead and get the book published. I knew better.  "Absolutely not," I said, standing in the kitchen, waving a butter knife around while making toast. "Getting a book published is very, very hard. Besides, it's a kids' book. Who would illustrate it? We can't do that ourselves" I said, resting the knife on a plate. Alicia's eyes lit up.  "What if there weren't any pictures at all? What if kids illustrated the book themselves?" The idea was born."

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original source National Post

Toronto's newest Vietnamese restaurant Ha Long Bay gets a rave review from the Toronto Star. Located in Forest Hill, the restaurant is lauded for its service, atmosphere and, of course, its delicious food.

"I respect a Vietnamese restaurant that won't serve pho. Ha Long Bay is such a place, at least at night. Even when it's cold and rainy, and a steaming bowl of noodle soup would greatly hit the spot, we can't get pho at dinner."

"It's really a lunch thing," says the waitress firmly."

"Really, though, do we need another fluorescent-lit pho joint?"

"Ha Long Bay chef/owner Lynn Hoang didn't think so. This June, in upper Forest Hill no less, she opened an upscale Vietnamese dining room with a streamlined menu of homey dishes. I respect Ha Long Bay for other reasons, like its modern decor. Tables are free of battered napkin dispensers and stacked plastic soup spoons. Instead, we get elegant celadon china and black-and-sliver wooden chopsticks. An abstract painting of the namesake body of water, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Hoang's homeland, floats over a long banquette.I also approve of Ha Long Bay's competent, encouraging service. Unlike in certain Chinese restaurants, where I've been told "That's not for you," the waitresses at Ha Long Bay encourage us to try new things, such as cuon diep ($5), or winter rolls: bitter mustard greens wrapping fried tofu. Thanks to such coaxing, I discover sticky rice pudding with coconut cream and sweet corn ($3.50), a new dessert favourite.Not that you need to be adventurous at Ha Long Bay. Hoang's cooking is soft and sweet; any heat comes on the side, in small saucers of Sriracha. Nor do you need to spend much, not with a nightly $25 three-course prix-fixe that features the restaurant's three best entr�es."

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original source Toronto Star

The National Post features the North Toronto Baseball Camp (NTBC) as part of the paper's ongoing "Young Entrepreneur Spotlight" series. Launched in 2007 by five friends--Alex Day (23), Jeremy Weisz (23), Simon Weisz (20), Gabe Diamond (23), and Lee Berger (23)--NTBC offers summer baseball camps, coach's clinics, and private and group lessons for Toronto youth.

"The Main Camp program started in 2007 at Memorial Park, located in the heart of mid-town Toronto. This program was developed as a specialty baseball day camp which caters to all ages and skill levels. After a successful inaugural summer, the camp expanded to include a second summer program at another location � Elite Camp located at Sentinel Park, near Keele & Sheppard.  Elite Camp was developed for more competitive baseball players looking for advanced skill development."

"Enrollment has grown steadily from 140 campers in 2007 to over 400 in 2010. Furthermore, the number of staff has increased from 9 to 25, together with the establishment of a Counselor-in-Training (CIT) program. Our CIT program allows older campers to slowly transition into staff members, and learn the necessary leadership skills to be successful."

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original source National Post

The Huffington Post's Marissa Bronfman raves about the Art Gallery of Ontario's latest exhibit, Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts describing  the show as "an opulent celebration of a dazzling period in Indian history." Organized in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Maharaja runs from November 20th until April 3rd and features over 200 objects (including furniture, paintings and jewelry) created for Indian Royalty.

"Every object in Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts is a jewel in its own right but the AGO hopes the exhibit will get beneath the jewelry to tell a captivating story about a fascinating time in history. With more than half of Canada's South Asian community residing in Ontario, the AGO is the perfect home for Maharaja, and it's a home that will be welcoming everyone under the age of 25 to view the exhibit for free, thanks to generous donations from four prominent Canadian companies. Mandhatasinhji says Maharaja "brings to life the beauty and aesthetics of a bygone era," and he couldn't be more right -- one walk through this exhibit will make you feel like Royalty, even if only for a day."

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original source Huffington Post

The Toronto Star writes on the small Toronto moving company based on simple but savvy business concept--the company is staffed entirely by firefighters. Firemen Movers, founded two years ago by firefighters Lorne Babiuk and Doug Harper, capitalizes on the public's high esteem of the profession and the less than stellar service records of some competing moving operators. With four leased trucks and a revolving crew of active and in-training firefighters, the company estimates it will perform as many as 750 moves in 2011.

"The concept is simple: neatly attired, off-duty firefighters in signature red shirts show up with the speed and precision they are known for and move your stuff."

"Our goal is to offer our clients a stress-free option for their move day," says Babiuk, who is an acting captain, a rank that means he is in charge of a truck at a fire station. "They don't have to worry about who is showing up at their home, or when they will show up. You get a highly motivated crew that shows up. We don't use any day labour, we don't subcontract anything out."

"He acknowledges that the moving industry doesn't have a great reputation. "There are lots of good moving companies, and we are not out here to slag anybody, but the stories are well-documented."

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original source Toronto Star

Business Week reports on Toronto-Dominion Bank's (TD) ongoing expansion into the United States. A combination of strategic growth and emphasis on customer service has put Toronto-based TD on track to become the first Canadian bank to excel south of the border.

"At the main campus of TD University in the Philadelphia suburb of Mount Laurel, N.J., bright green, red, blue, and yellow walls of varying angles brighten dozens of classrooms, complete with mock teller stations and a bank vault. A 400-seat theater hosts everything from pep rallies to air-hockey tournaments. All of Toronto-Dominion Bank's (TD) 24,000 U.S. employees must attend a five-hour training session here or at one of 47 other campuses across the country. "You have to buy 100 percent into our culture," says Fred Graziano, president of U.S. consumer banking for the Toronto-based company. "That's how we start them off and let them know what we stand for."

"The training is a centerpiece of Chief Executive Officer Edmund Clark's strategy to export the customer service model that has made his bank the most profitable consumer lender in Canada. If he makes it work, he'll do what most Canadian banks have failed to do: post sustained profit in a market more than four times the size of Canada's."

"The next step will be proving the bank can consistently grow revenue in a marketplace in which the competitive, economic, and regulatory backdrop appears much more difficult than what TD faces at home," says Sumit Malhotra, a bank analyst at Macquarie Capital Markets in Toronto."

"So far, Clark is succeeding. Canada's second-biggest bank recorded C$282 million ($276 million) in U.S. consumer bank earnings in the most recent quarter�a record for the fledgling division and almost a quarter of the company's overall profit of C$1.18 billion. Toronto-Dominion said in June that U.S. operations may have earnings of $1.6 billion a year within three years."


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original source Business Week

The 64 organizations selected as the 2011 winners of Mediacaster's fifth annual GTA's Top Employers contest, may vary widely in industry-type and workforce-size, but, as reported by the Globe & Mail, they all share an impressive commitment to employee engagement and fulfillment.

"With so many national and international head offices in or near Toronto, the 2011 winners of the fifth annual GTA's Top Employers contest faced fierce competition. Size didn't matter. Companies making this year's list range from Newmarket's XE.com Inc., in the Internet publishing and broadcasting sector, with a staff of 19, to Ontario Public Service, with 65,234 employees. Employers were compared with others in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs."

see full list of winners here
original source Globe & Mail

Toronto's Cowbell restaurant has been awarded a Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF) certification by a new Alberta-based organization that help diners identify green restaurants. As reported by Toronto Life, the Queen West restaurant was lauded for its dedication to buying local, its efficient use of energy and water, and its commitment to recycling.

"When it comes to providing environmentally sustainable cuisine, locavore haven Cowbell walks the walk, according to Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF)."

"Mark Cutrara, Cowbell's co-owner, considers it an honour. LEAF offers a certification on three levels, with three representing the ultimate in culinary green-dom. Cowbell got a level two, but Cutrara says it's difficult for a non-vegetarian restaurant to get much higher�and if there's anything Cowbell is not, it's vegetarian. "Meat production in itself is less sustainable," he says. "And I'm not about to go and change the name of the restaurant to Veg-Bell."

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original source Toronto Life

University of Toronto scientists have discovered a new and potentially ground-breaking method for preventing the bone-wasting disease osteoporosis. As reported by the Daily Mail, the UofT researchers found that patients who used an ointment made of nitroglycerine (the same chemical used to make dynamite) saw significant increases in their bone density over a two-year period.

"Researchers at the University of Toronto tested the dynamite ointment on 126 women aged 50 or older with osteopenia, a condition where the bone density is lower than normal, but not bad enough to be classed as osteoporosis. Without treatment, most people with osteopenia end up with osteoporosis."

"Each woman rubbed 15mg of ointment - costing less than £1 a day - into their chest or arms at bedtime (the cream can be applied on any area of hairless skin). A separate group was given a dummy ointment. After two years, women using the nitroglycerine ointment had higher bone density in all the major fracture risk sites - such as the spine, femur (thigh bone) and hip".

"Research leader Dr Sophie Jamal said: "I'm pretty excited. The group with nitroglycerine had huge improvements in bone density and strength." Dr Claire Bowring, of the national Osteoporosis Society, says: "The results are very interesting, especially as the treatment is an ointment, rather than injection or tablets. However, a larger trial is needed, looking at improvements in bone density for people with osteoporosis and, ultimately, whether broken bones can be avoided. If the results show the same benefits, it could be exciting news."

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original source Daily Mail

The Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) has released its list of organizations who have made the finals for this year's "Hottest Innovation Companies" awards. CIX--an annual conference celebrating Canada's innovation economy--will take place on December 7th at the MaRS Centre in Toronto. As reported by Media Caster, 11 Toronto companies made the prestigious list.

"CIX, taking place December 7th at the MaRS Centre in Toronto, ON, provides a platform for these companies to showcase their great Canadian innovation while catalyzing strategic relationships and transactions across this dynamic sector."

"Congratulations to all our nominees for showing the best that Canada has to offer the world," said Rick Nathan, Co-Chair of the Canadian Innovation Exchange. "These companies truly reflect what Canadian business innovation means," added Robert Montgomery, Co-Chair of the Canadian Innovation Exchange."

"Finalists will make live presentations in front of leaders of major corporations, entrepreneurs and investors. Winners in each category will be announced at the Canadian Innovation Exchange on December 7, 2010 at the MaRS Discovery Centre, Toronto."

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original source Media Caster

The New York Times writes on Roots of Empathy, a Toronto-based charity that is brightening elementary classrooms across the globe (see our August Yonge Street story on the organization). Launched in 1996 by educator Mary Gordon, Roots brings mothers and their babies into school classrooms with the goal of increasing empathy among students. Researchers studying Gordon's innovative program have concluded that the babies do indeed have positive effect on student behaviour, kind and accepting behaviours increase while negative aggressive behaviours decrease. Roots has now been active in over 2,600 classes across Canada, and has recently expanded to classrooms in the Isle of Man, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the United States.

"Here's how it works: Roots arranges monthly class visits by a mother and her baby (who must be between two and four months old at the beginning of the school year). Each month, for nine months, a trained instructor guides a classroom using a standard curriculum that involves three 40-minute visits � a pre-visit, a baby visit, and a post-visit. The program runs from kindergarten to seventh grade. During the baby visits, the children sit around the baby and mother (sometimes it's a father) on a green blanket (which represents new life and nature) and they try to understand the baby's feelings. The instructor helps by labeling them. "It's a launch pad for them to understand their own feelings and the feelings of others," explains Gordon. "It carries over to the rest of class."

"The baby seems to act like a heart-softening magnet. No one fully understands why. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, an applied developmental psychologist who is a professor at the University of British Columbia, has evaluated Roots of Empathy in four studies. "Do kids become more empathic and understanding? Do they become less aggressive and kinder to each other? The answer is yes and yes," she explained. "The question is why."

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original source New York Times

The Toronto Star writes on the Independent Living Account, an program that helps struggling Torontonions living in shelters save and manage their money. By providing $3 for every $1 participants save up (to a maximum of $400), the Independent Living Account helps people move from the shelter system into permanent housing. Launched by national charity Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) in 2005, the program has been a tremendous success, helping 300 people in eight Toronto shelters.

"The Independent Living Account program, which has helped about 300 people in eight Toronto shelters since 2007, was designed by SEDI (Social and Enterprise Development Innovations), a national charitable organization dedicated to helping poor, unemployed and underemployed people become self-sufficient. It began as a pilot project in 2005 which found that 57 per cent of participants who opened bank accounts moved out of the shelter system. About 95 per cent were still renting their own place up to 15 months later, said Barbara Gosse of SEDI."

"For every $1 spent on the program, taxpayers save $2.19 in shelter and welfare costs as participants move into stable housing and employment", said Gosse who wants to expand the program to help public housing tenants."

"Although this is a small program, it is enormously successful and cost effective," she said."

"The program's $200,000 annual cost is funded through the federal Homelessness Partnership Initiative and is used to train about 16 hostel workers a year who help participants open bank accounts and manage their money. An additional $40,000 for the matched savings is raised through private donors, such as TD Bank."

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original source Toronto Star

Bavette, Toronto's newest restaurant/nightclub hybrid and sister restaurant of Toronto mainstay Marben, has opened its doors on Wellington St. West. Located just down the stairs from Marben, Bavette is being advertised as the more "fun-loving" of the two, turning into a lounge with DJ after 10pm. A Blog TO review lauds the new restaurant for its perfect mix of good food, friendly service and pleasant atmosphere.

"Located on the stretch of Wellington St. west of Spadina that is ad agency central, Bavette continues Marben's theme of farmhouse revival in a sleeker and more nightlife-esque environment. Most of the walls are covered with exposed brick and there is wood everywhere, giving the room a really cozy and rustic feel. The majority of the seating consists of velvety red banquettes with mirrors hung over them, giving the space a little sparkle. The restaurant is dimly lit but has a warm amber glow. There is a bar at the back of the room covered in copper and there are various works of art around the space."

"I had no idea what to expect from a restaurant that was bringing farmhouse revival to the city, but was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable and interesting Marben/Bavette makes comfort food. Our entire dining experience was so warm and welcoming from our very nice server to our huge mugs of coffee at the end of the meal. You really do feel at home at Bavette even if you've never spent a day in the country, much less a farmhouse."

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original source BlogTO

Toronto's Citizen Lab, the UofT-based digital media research centre, is being recognized by the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CGFE) for its commitment to fee speech and human rights. As reported by CBC News, the Citizen Lab will be presented with the prestigious 2010 Vox Libera Award for "an outstanding commitment to the principles of free expression" at the CGEF annual gala on November the 25th.

"The Citizen Lab's fight for open communication and free expression is making a significant difference for those living in repressed regions of the world," CBC broadcaster Carol Off, who chairs the CJFE gala steering committee, said in a statement Monday announcing the win."

"Their work enables people to share crucial information and exposes those who would try to do them harm."

"Citizen Lab, which runs out of the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, gained prominence in 2008 after it uncovered an alleged internet spy network based mostly in China."

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original source CBC News

Fast Company writes on Toronto's " doubly virtuous" 60 Richmond East Housing Co-operative, both a housing project for relocated hotel and restaurant workers and a urban mini-ecosystem where residents can grow their own produce. Designed by Teeple Architects for Toronto Community Housing, the 11-story, 85-unit complex was completed in March of 2010.

"Only in squeaky-clean Toronto could you find a housing development that's doubly virtuous, like this one. Designed by Teeple Architects, it houses hotel and restaurant workers relocated from another housing project. But the building is also designed to provide produce for a restaurant, so that the residents can make a living close to home."

"The architects collaborated with the city and a local labor union to create this award-winning structure. Teeple took inspiration from the residents' professions, installing a training kitchen on the ground floor and a sixth floor vegetable garden to supply it. Storm runoff from the roof irrigates the garden while composted waste from the kitchen fertilizes it. Teeple calls this self-sufficient mini-ecosystem "urban permaculture."

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original source Fast Company