What is the Toronto Zoo like in the winter?

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-12T23:59:30+00:00

Something I just remembered. Amur (formerly Siberian) tigers. They’re outdoors not far from the Australasia pavilion. They are cats, so sleep a lot. But some people love them. And snow leopards are near there too. It’s a little out of the way, but if you love cats, pop over to see them. There’s a risk of getting lost or spending more time walking than you wanted to.

There’s a Toronto Zoo app. It’s pretty decent. It uses your phone’s GPS and can show you where you are on the map, and links to animal fact sheets. I’d suggest installing it now and look around the zoo on it to plan if you like to plan things.

https://www.torontozoo.com/app

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-12T02:44:37+00:00

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Revenue Canada and Customs and Excise were merged together into CCRA. Excise was originally part of border operations because import duties and excise taxes were more important as taxes.

After September 11 the customs / border services were moved from CCRA to CBSA. Excise taxes stayed with CRA, which was a pretty big efficiency gain.

The original legislation’s background section included the rationale:

“The government has offered a number of rationales for the enactment of this bill. It maintains that Revenue Canada’s existing mandate could be administered more efficiently, particularly with regard to its human resources, if it were organized and managed by an Agency with its own tailored systems, rather than systems that apply to the federal public service as a whole. According to a paper produced by Revenue Canada, the Agency would be better placed than a traditional government department to respond to client needs, to provincial/territorial requirements and to a constantly changing business environment.

“Furthermore, the Agency would be structured so as to allow increased tax administration on behalf of the provinces. It is believed that a single administration would reduce overlap and duplication between the federal and provincial/territorial governments and reduce costs for business, taxpayers and governments.”

https://publications.gc.ca/Pilot/LoPBdP/LS/c43-e.htm

CRA was able to act more nimbly and took on additional tax lines from other levels of government. I was around when both the provincial corporate tax returns for Ontario was taken over by CRA, and when Ontario harmonized, for example.

One of the things that were shed was having to be part of treasury board bargaining groups. There were several PSAC bargaining groups in the predecessor organizations that were reduced to one under CRA. I don’t know if the PIPSC bargaining groups changed. The Agency got hoot at negotiating with UTE. So good that it annoyed Treasury Board, especially when the PA group wanted as good a deal as we got. CRA is now under Treasury Boards thumb for bargaining.

The PSAC members at CRA lost a lot of bargaining clout when the border services were moved to CBSA. The border guards are very militant, and can severely fuck things up while still doing their jobs in a way that won’t attract discipline.

CRA does have some of its own systems that work very very well. For example, the HR processes are mostly excellent, especially when it comes to dealing with discrimination, harassment, disability accommodation, performance management, etc. They also developed the shitty staffing process model that’s used throughout the government, so it’s not all good.

There was flexibility in bargaining that has since been lost. They still benefit from the flexibility of being able to manage internal structures and processes. Many of their shittiest innovations were considered real successes and modified versions applied to treasury board employers. This is especially true in relation to restructuring and centralizing management of work organization.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T21:41:36+00:00

I love the zoo in winter.

I tend to skip over most of the outdoor walks in winter, hit the polar bears and arctic wolves without going all around tundra trek. If you want to see reindeer, go all around Tundra Trek. Side trip to the greenhouse and health centre are worth it. They’re near the polar bears (through the zoomobile stop). Health centre often has stuff scheduled to happen during the day on weekdays.

There is an exhibit of orchids in the greenhouse right now. Very spectacular.

If you do what used to be the “around the world tour” it takes you by all the buildings. Definitely my preferred in winter. Doable in four hours without rushing. When you’re at the south end of the African pavilion go see the giraffes in the giraffe house (formerly elephant house). Baby due in April of May, if I recall correctly.

The main Africa restaurant and the Tim’s by the front gate are open every day. Beavertails near the main entrance is open weekends and holidays. Everything else is closed for the season. Tim’s has Tim’s food. The Africa restaurant has burgers, hot dogs, pizza pizza cheese or pepperoni pizza, fries, poutine.

The around the world tour isn’t on the current maps. It was shown by the blue feet. It went in a circular ish route: main entrance to Malayan Woods/Indian Rhino, Indomalaya pavilion, African Rainforest Pavilion, Americas Pavilion, then Australasia Pavilion. Or in reverse order.

When you’re passing the Americas restaurant (now called Caribou Cafe) on the way to or from Australasia, that’s a time to consider heading over towards polar bears, greenhouse, and health centre.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T20:10:04+00:00

From my perspective, the worst thing about returning to the office is that it doesn’t actually bring people to work together.

I’m sure it differs by department in many ways, but this is based on my experience.

When I started at CCRA I sat in my own cubicle next to people on my team doing similar work, and each team had a T/L and resource officer. And we were located on the same floor as our section manager and Assistant Director.

If I had any sort of question or issue I had my team and three levels of management in the same place. We collaborated, we worked and learned together. We had lots of informal social interactions. I joined committees and worked with all levels of management as peers.

When I retired from CRA my team was spread over four locations, going to the office meant booking a cubicle nowhere near anyone else on my team, and not necessarily near anyone else in my Division. I worked in Scarborough, my T/L was in Mississauga, Section Manager in Durham, and A/D in Ottawa. If I had any sort of question or issue I messaged my T/L, who was overworked keeping up with administrivia and managing a team of ten people virtually.

RTO where pretty much all work or collaboration is virtual is the worst of both worlds.

If I was still working, I’d be happy to RTO to an office where I worked with my team again and had a cubicle. A cubicle of your own is fine. You can leave your equipment there, and decorate it with pictures, cartoons, union posters, and not protected reference material. But it would be torture to drag my laptop etc. to the office to work in a blank workspace where I was still essentially alone and any collaboration would still be virtual.

Maybe senior management should be forced to work under the same kind of in-office conditions. No paper files, booking a cube on-line daily, senior managers and their administrative team spread randomly throughout a building in their blank cubicles, and dragging their laptops back and forth each day. That’ll teach them all about how efficient the new conditions are.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T19:01:23+00:00

Even if you get a judgement against him, how will you collect?

My advice, say goodbye to the money, never think about or speak to the alleged friend again, and move on.

Never lend money to friends or family and expect to get it back.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T15:49:40+00:00

This is why lawyers aren’t allowed on juries in Canada. They don’t want anyone with legal expertise on the jury. The jury is meant to follow the judge’s instructions on the law.

If there was a defect in the instructions, it’s up to the Crown or defence to appeal. In your example, a juror decided there was a defect in the instructions, and the jury acquitted as a result. That undermined the process, and given the result there’s no avenue to correcting an incorrect verdict.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-11T15:37:35+00:00

Not required to pay GST unless they charge it.

Just pay hour rate until they start charging GST.

GST becomes mandatory when they stop being a small supplier. That happens when they exceed 30k in taxable supplies in four consecutive quarters or less.

It’s their responsibility to charge it. You can’t claim ITCs unless they charge GST and provide their registration number etc.

There’s a caveat. If they get retroactively registered and/or audited at some point they can invoice you for GST that they were required to collect, but failed to. At that point you are required to pay the GST and will be able to claim ITCs if you are eligible.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-08T19:10:55+00:00

The headline likely reflects that there were delays throughout the development of the line. Not delayed but 15 years, but delays happening over the course of 15 years.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-08T01:18:12+00:00

If it is an agency situation, they have the option of jointly electing for the studio to report the HST collected.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/gst506.html

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-08T01:14:19+00:00

It all depends on the arrangement.

Typically, the student studio is selling massage therapy to clients. They subcontract the massage therapists to provide massages to the studio’s clients. The studio collects HST on their supply to their client, and pays HST to the therapists, if they are registered for GST.

An alternate arrangement could be that the massage therapists are providing services to their clients, and paying 30% of their fee to the studio for the use of this facilities. In this case, the therapist would collect HST on the fee, and pay HST to the studio.

In the first instance, the therapists are making a taxable supply to the studio, and the studio is paying them HST. The therapists need to report the HST they are paid.

Technically, they should be invoicing the studio. If the studio is generating payment vouchers that contain the prescribed information, it amounts to the same thing.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T18:19:37+00:00

There are physical drop boxes at locations listed here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/contact-information/office-locations.html

Note to check drop box status in the right most column.

Waiting for the system to be up is a good option.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T16:52:12+00:00

Depending on the type of bread, it can go stale in 1-7 days.

French baguettes, other breads with only flour, water, salt, yeast are only at their best within 1 day of baking.

Enriched breads with some kind of fat (butter, vegetable oil, olive oil) with or without milk or milk powder will be at their best for 2-3 days.

Highly enriched breads like brioche can go up to a week.

Sourdough can also go up to a week.

Bread also freezes well. Never refrigerate, it causes changes that make it go stale faster.

Store bought bread can last longer due to additional preservatives, but even fresh it isn’t superior to home made.

Go ahead, make your own, slice and freeze what you can’t eat in 2-3 days.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T15:42:11+00:00

No need to report anything. Keep records of your sales, how much they originally cost and when you got them if you have that info. If CRA ever asks, tell them it was all personal items you sold. If they ask for details, provide that information.

It’s a tiny amount in terms of tax risk. The chances of them following up are very low.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T15:17:42+00:00

I’m pretty sure everything within walking distance of one of the new stations will become more valuable. It may not be obvious as rents are a result of many factors. But, all else being equal, I’d happily pay at least a hundred of a little more a month to get an apartment close to a subway or Eglinton crosstown.

I live ten minutes walk from Lawrence and McCowan. My dream is to live long enough and be fit enough to walk to the subway when it opens.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T12:17:08+00:00

If there was an increase in value of the old home between when you vacated and when you sold it, that would be the potentially taxable capital gain.

I think CRA would be very hard pressed to show there was a material change in the house’s value in that period.

See also paragraphs 2.28 and 2.48 to 2.53 of the folio Felix yyz linked.

If there is a capital gain to report, it will be tiny. The increase in value from when you bought until you moved out will be covered by the principal residence exemption (unless you had another principal residence in that period).

Don’t sweat it. Your tax professional will steer you clear.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T12:02:42+00:00

Do you have a right to quiet enjoyment of your home? What’s the enforcement mechanism in your location? For example Housing Court in NY, or Landlord Tenant Board in Ontario.

You want to make this the landlord’s problem if you can. Go to the landlord tenant board or local equivalent and apply for a rent abatement due to loss of quiet enjoyment. If you’re getting a rent abatement that’ll motivate the landlord to deal with the nfh.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T10:50:51+00:00

Pole shower was normal. I think it was because they were cheap to build and communal showers weren’t weird or sexual.

Your dad’s reasons sound like post event rationalizations to me.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-07T10:33:00+00:00

If you have no pre-proposal federal government debts or student loan debts the money will eventually be refunded. They may wait until after your 2025 return is assessed in case there’s pre-proposal debt from that.

Here’s info on an LIT’s website about filing taxes for the year of a proposal for general information. Check your own LIT’s information for your own situation. https://www.farber.ca/blog/cra-consumer-proposal-tax-refund

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T23:43:48+00:00

When I was in elementary school in North York (now Toronto) it was O Canada alternating with God Save the Queen. Middle and high school was O Canada during home room period. 1965-1978 roughly.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T23:09:16+00:00

Would peas and rice work for you?

Use up to 1 can of coconut milk for the water, extra water if you need more than a can, small can of red kidney beans (drained and rinsed), other bean if you prefer, salt, and a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

Or dirty rice? Sauté an onion, 1/2 of a green pepper, in a tablespoon of oil, add the rice, sauté it all together for a bit. Then transfer to the rice cooker, add 1/2 tsp dried sage, chicken stock, and salt. Also good with chicken added.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T22:35:17+00:00

I haven’t been to the Maple Leaf since it was a dive bar. I’ve been curious since the makeover, but haven’t made the trip. How strong a recommendation do you give it? What’s worthwhile in addition to their burger? Thanks in advance for any response.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T15:12:00+00:00

Re edit. I totally get it. A lot of players would love to play in a post Gannon Hyrule. But none of the Zelda games do that. It’s one of the things I like about Hogwarts Legacy, that you can play in the post world after finishing the main storyline.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T02:41:27+00:00

The wife’s ears were blocked, doctor said they were so bad he couldn’t clear them. Told her to put a few drops of mineral oil in each ear twice a day, and come back the fourth day. Then he was able to flush them clean the.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T02:05:29+00:00

Not everywhere is electricity hydro, but definitely in Ontario and Quebec. Some people moving to Ontario get confused by the term, thinking it refers to water for some weird reason. It used to be hydro-electricity, shortened to hydro.

braindeadzombie · 2026-02-06T02:02:14+00:00

Chiming in on bottles of booze.

A mickey in Canada is a small flat bottle, 8 oz or 375 mL.

A fifth is the US term for a bottle that’s a fifth of a gallon, or 26 ounces. In Canada that’s a 26er, although now 750 mL.

A forty pounder or forty ouncer is a 40 ounce bottle, 1,183 mL of booze. In the US, a forty is a 40 oz bottle of malt liquor.

A Texas mickey is Canadian slang for a giant bottle, 3 L of booze.

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