Ferguson is Officially Fired from Maple Leafs, Sarah Polley Picks up Oscar Nomination: TorontoIAM

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This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from TorontoIAM where you will find the best blogs from Toronto, Ontario as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

It’s Official: Ferguson Fired

Damien Cox over at The Spin on Sports reports that the official team announcement was made that Maple Leaf GM John Ferguson Jr. has been fired. Cox ponders how Cliff Fletcher plans to “fix this team.” He looks back at Fletcher’s “first moves when he was hired the last time to run the Leafs, back in July, 1991.” Toronto had come off a 57-point season “and had missed the playoffs five of 10 years, meaning they were probably in worse shape then compared to now.”

At that time, Cox writes in his post, Fletcher, then 55, vowed he wouldn’t make any “quick cures.” Instead, he “swung a deal with Edmonton to bring in three veterans - goalie Grant Fuhr, winger Glenn Anderson and forward Craig Berube - in a whopper of a deal.” In exchange, he gave up “a package of young players” that included Vince Damphousse (23), Luke Richardson (22), Scott Thornton (20) and goalie Peter Ing (22). Since then, Damphousse retired “with a Stanley Cup ring from Montreal.” Richardson is still skating for Ottawa and Thornton “is also still playing and gunning for 1,000 games-played.” And the veteran players? “Berube was moved four months later… Fuhr was peddled 18 months later in another deal,” and Anderson lasted until 1994 when he was traded to New York. Will Fletcher take the same approach this time around?

Polley Nabs Oscar Nomination for Away from Her

Tim on Blog T.O. informs us that Toronto’s Sarah Polley just received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for her directorial debut Away from Her, which screened in 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

According to the post, the film “also received a Best Actress nod for Julie Christie who might just be the odds on favourite to pick up the prize.” Polley is up against some heavy Best Picture contenders like “No Country for Old Men, There Will be Blood and Atonement, as well as Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”

End of Year Real Estate Transactions Fueled by new Land Transfer Tax

The latest from Toronto Real Estate Intelligence tells us that the hottest Toronto market is currently district E01, “bounded by Danforth Avenue to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don Valley Parkway to the west and Coxwell Avenue to the east,” up 75% in transactions last month compared to a year ago. According to Toronto Real Estate board president Maureen O’Neill, “In Beaches-Riverdale, there were 63 home sales in December 2007 versus 36 in December 2006.” These figures were mostly fueled by semi-detached home sales. “Semi sales are up by 58 per cent from December 2006 to December 2007 and attached row houses more than doubled in sales,” O’Neill says.

Real Estate Intelligence points to “the City of Toronto's new land transfer tax, which comes into effect February 1,” as the primary reason for this “explosive number of transactions.” The new tax “almost doubles the fees for homeowners as the province already has its own land transfer tax in place.” E01, an area full of “trendy destination communities, was already “doing well,” according to the post. O’Neill states that our “November and December market just revved right up because people want to save that tax.”

York Region Residents Challenged to Quit Smoking

CHEV Local News, serving Markham and York Region, announces the Driven to Quit challenge, in which residents are invited “to participate in smoke-free contest” and possibly win a car. The Regional Municipality of York public health branch invites you to join in the challenge, “hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society and funded by the Government of Ontario.” Last year there were 1,475 York Region residents who “entered into the contest and took a step towards a smoke-free future.”

The 2008 Driven to Quit Challenge “offers the chance to win a Toyota Prius or one of seven regional prizes.” Registration begins this week, National Non-Smoking Week, and ends Friday, February 29, 2008. “Participants must be at least 19 years old, have a non-smoking support person and be smoke-free for the entire month of March.” If you need support to quit, it is available by phone or online. “Helpline is a free, confidential service that provides personalized support, advice and information about quitting smoking.” More information about the contest is available in the post.

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