Anglais

This is Toronto’s most-ticketed parking spot

Published

5 années ago

janvier 28, 2019

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It’s a small part of big-city living that nobody loves: getting a parking ticket.

But parking enforcement is essential to keeping the city running, yielding anywhere from $95 to $100 million in annual revenue.

Sunnybrook hospital at 2075 Bayview Ave. hires its own parking enforcement officers — perhaps accounting for the fact that it tops of list of most-likely place to get a parking ticket. (Rene Johnston / Toronto Star)

In 2017, the most recent year for which complete data is available, more than 2.1 million tickets for parking-related offences were issued across the city, the vast majority of them by about 300 parking enforcement officers who are technically civilian employees of the Toronto Police Service.

Uniformed police officers, including traffic unit officers, issued a mere 10,723 tickets, just 0.5 per cent, according to a police spokesperson.

There’s also a veritable army of municipal law enforcement officers, numbering around 2,500, who are hired by private-property owners and public institutions such as hospitals and universities. This little-known group is empowered to provide security and issue parking tickets at an estimated 12,000 properties across the city.

While all revenue from parking tickets goes directly to city coffers, property owners benefit by ensuring their lots are secure and function smoothly and by sending the message to potential scofflaws that there’s a penalty for not following the rules.

These municipal law enforcement officers — trained and certified by the Toronto Police Service in a program that has been around for two decades — issued about 10 per cent of all parking tickets in 2017.

Here is a list of Toronto’s Top 10 spots for tickets issued in 2017. The numbers, based on an analysis of City of Toronto data, show that hospital visitors, students and even those already facing legal troubles often bear the brunt of parking enforcement.

1. 2075 Bayview Ave. — 8,232 tickets issued

A perennial chart topper, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has 4,500 parking spaces, which it oversees using its own staff parking officers — certified municipal law enforcement officers — rather than a private company. A statement from the hospital to the Star notes most tickets are issued to people parking in drop-off areas as well as fire and ambulance lanes and spots for people with disabilities. Parking at the hospital is not cheap: $4.75 a half hour or less on weekdays with daily maximums of $26. Evening maximum rates are $10 and weekend/ holiday rates are $15. City coffers were potentially enriched to the tune of $247,205.

2. 20 Edward St. — 6,302 tickets issued

There’s a hole in the ground where the World’s Biggest Bookstore operated for 34 years before closing in 2014. But there’s no parking allowed on the north side of the street, a short walk to Yonge St., Yonge-Dundas Square, the Eaton Centre and the 14-storey Atrium on Bay on the south side of Edward St., which houses an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation prize office.

3. 199 Richmond St. W. — 4,060 tickets issued

This 31-storey, 337-unit highrise condominium is located in the heart of the Entertainment District, near the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts and venues such as Roy Thomson Hall and the Royal Alexandra Theatre. Parking on private property accounted for 2,292 offences — more than half the total — although not feeding the Green P machines on the south of side of Richmond St. W. resulted in 703 tickets while 324 cars were ticketed for parking during rush hour.

4. 1265 Military Trail — 3,713 tickets issued

Set on 303 acres in the city’s east end and with more than 13,000 undergraduate students attending, the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus has 10 parking lots with daytime rates of $3 an hour, although a main lot has a four-hour maximum stay. The lots are patrolled by city parking enforcement staff and campus police special constables. Parking on private property tickets were issued in all but 29 cases. Tickets may (or may not) be cancelled by campus police. The campus website notes “infractions will not affect your academic record.”

5. 3401 Dufferin St. — 3,468 tickets issued

Yorkdale Shopping Centre bills itself as “Canada’s most profitable shopping centre,” with more than 18 million visitors annually, more than the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the CN Tower and Canada’s Wonderland combined, the company notes in a statement to the Star. “Ensuring that our shoppers have convenient access to parking is a priority,” the company said, noting commuters hoping to save a few bucks on parking is a major issue despite a nearby TTC parking lot. And who knew? Parking at the mall for more than five hours can net you a ticket.

6. 15 Marine Parade Dr. — 3,045 tickets issued

Humber Bay Shores Park has a mere 14 spaces in its parkade, a minuscule amount to handle visitors to the scenic Etobicoke waterfront, which includes Humber Bay Park to the west and the majestic Humber Bay Arch Bridge to the east, which leads to the Martin Goodman Trail along the Toronto waterfront. Not paying the parking machine accounted for two-thirds of total offences while parking along the street resulted in more than 500 tickets. Oddly, 196 vehicles were ticketed at the site for failing to have a valid Ontario licence plate.

7. Laplante Ave. — 2,862 tickets issued

There are no street numbers on Laplante Ave., an innocuous two-block street running between Gerrard St. W. and College St. That’s because everything backs on to Laplante, including the Ministry of the Attorney General at 720 Bay St. and a multi-storey parkade and ground-level parking lot on Elizabeth Street, which faces the east side of the Toronto General Hospital. Not feeding the Green P machine accounted for nearly half of total offences, while parking at prohibited times led to 1,079 tickets being issued.

8. 103 The Queensway — 2,747 tickets issued

Two condo towers at 103 and 105 The Queensway, 31 and 28 storeys respectively, are nestled in a private road adjacent to a townhouse development. As a result, the narrow roadway is a fire route, meaning virtually no street parking at all. As a result, the NXT and NXT II have a lot of people parking on their private lots (possibly Airbnb guests, a city official surmised). Of the total, issued, only six tickets were issued for offences other than parking on private property.

9. 150 Gerrard St. W. — 2,565 tickets issued

With one of the city’s busiest emergency departments with than 28,000 patients annually, the largest organ transplant centre in North America and the number one research hospital in Canada, it’s not difficult to understand why so many people are coming and going at Toronto General Hospital. Ample parking abounds at 201 Elizabeth St. at $4.50 a half hour with $25 daily rates. That’s incentive enough for many to take their chances on illegal street parking. Parking at a signed transit stop resulted in 100 tickets while 120 vehicles were tagged for not having a valid Ontario licence plate.

10. 1000 Finch Avenue West — 2,536 tickets issued

It’s not the Mr. Greek or the GoodLife Fitness in the two 10-storey towers at this location that draws an audience. It’s the Metro North criminal court that has defendants, witnesses, family members and court officers coming and going in such high numbers. The property owner pays the private firm Parksmart to monitor the lot. Only five tickets of the 2,538 total issued in 2017 were for offences unrelated to parking on private property.

David Weisz is a Toronto-based journalist specializing in data-driven reporting. He currently works as the in-house data journalist at Zolo.

Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

Published

3 années ago

août 10, 2021

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

admin

In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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Anglais

MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

admin

MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.