Author: ovieoftoronto

The City of Toronto’s new Vacant Home Tax is now in effect on Toronto residences. With certain exemptions, the tax applies to units if they are unoccupied for more than six months during the previous calendar year. Unless the current exemptions are clarified, many unsuspecting property owners will be hit by the one per cent annual tax. Most large apartment and condominium buildings, for example, have a residentially-zoned unit for use as a property management office. Those units will be taxable unless they do not have a kitchen. Another exemption for houses, condos and apartments under construction or renovation requires a…

Bereaved boy, troubled teen, wartime soldier, unhappy royal — many facets of Prince Harry are revealed in his explosive memoir, often in eyebrow-raising detail. From accounts of cocaine use and losing his virginity to raw family rifts, “Spare” exposes deeply personal details about Harry and the wider royal family. The Associated Press purchased a copy of the Spanish-language edition of the book ahead of its publication around the world on Tuesday. Its revelations have electrified the British media — but have been met with silence from Buckingham Palace. BROTHER AND SON The book opens with a quote from American writer…

Open this photo in gallery:Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. SPUTNIK/ReutersTodd Hirsch is chief economist at Calgary-based ATB Financial and author of The Boiling Frog Dilemma: Saving Canada from Economy Decline.Thirty years from now, high school students will be learning an entire chapter about the events of 2022 in their social studies curriculum. The events of 2022 are the year when the global political order was rewritten and events began to take place in a situation that was unthinkable in the second half of the 20th century.Of course, the…

New Delhi CNN — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Kristalina Georgieva has warned that this year will be even tougher for the global economy than the one we left behind. “Why? Because the three largest economies – the US, the EU and China – are slowing down at the same time,” she said in an interview aired on CBS on Sunday. “We expect a third of the global economy to go into recession,” he said, adding that even in countries that aren't in recession, “it will feel like a recession for hundreds of millions of people.” Ta. While the United…

New Delhi CNN — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Kristalina Georgieva has warned that this year will be even tougher for the global economy than the one we left behind. “Why? Because the three largest economies, the US, the EU and China, are slowing down at the same time,” she said in an interview aired on CBS Sunday. “We expect a third of the global economy to go into recession,” he said, adding that even in countries that aren't in recession, “it will feel like a recession for hundreds of millions of people.” Ta. While the United States may finally…

Torontonians far and wide will be ringing in 2023 this weekend. Those who want to make plans for the first day of the new year, however, will want to keep in mind that Sunday is a statutory holiday in the province. Here is a list of what is open and closed in Toronto on New Year’s Day in 2023. NEW YEAR’S DAY – SUNDAY OPEN CLOSED New Year’s Day is one of the few times each year most of the city shuts down. All government offices and banks will be closed. Mail delivery will pause on Jan. 2. Here’s a…

AFROPOP — A catch-all term casting a wide net over the diverse musical approaches originating and dominating from Africa — has long been a center of the Black diasporic experience, from which so much of pop culture borrows. Every year, though, social and technological ingenuity and curiosity has made the world a little smaller and the influence of Afropop a lot greater. Rolling Stone’s inaugural list of Afropop’s top songs scans West, East, and Southern Africa for singles that defined seasons, scenes, moods, and movements all over. Yet rather than recognizing global impact alone, this list also serves as a celebration of what…

Moves by several countries to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and that the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. There have been no reports of new variants to date, but China has been accused of not being forthcoming about the virus since it first surfaced in the country in late 2019. The worry is that it may not be sharing data now on any signs of evolving strains that could spark fresh outbreaks elsewhere. The U.S., Japan, India, South…

Pharmacies across Ontario will soon be allowed to prescribe medication for several minor illnesses, the Ontario government said . The province announced starting on Jan. 1, 2023, pharmacists will be able to prescribe medication for 13 different ailments without the need to visit a doctor’s office. The move will ease the burden on doctors and allow them to focus their attention on more complicated needs, according to the province. In a news release about the announcement, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the change “increases your access to the care you need closer to home.” “Expanding the ability of pharmacists to…

Christmas is coming, and with it, a slew of store and service closures for Toronto. This year, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day fall on the weekend, and while Boxing Day is on Monday, some businesses may choose to run on a modified schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 27. For those who don’t celebrate Christmas, and for those who do, here is what will be open and closed throughout the holiday long weekend in Toronto. CHRISTMAS EVE – SATURDAY OPEN CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY – SUNDAY OPEN CLOSED BOXING DAY – MONDAY OPEN CLOSED DECEMBER 27