All your GTA Santa Claus Parades

I'm a bit late off the gun with the Christmas season this year. Hard to believe we're already almost halfway through November.

If you're looking to boost the holiday spirit, here's a full list of Santa Claus parades happening around the GTA, along with routes and road closures. If I've missed one, mention it in the comments and I'll add it to the list.

A lot of hard working volunteers put months of effort into creating the magic, so get out, support them, and have a great time. Don't forget you can also catch most of the parades on either Rogers TV or Cogeco TV. Check your local listings.

November 19th, 2016

Oakville Santa Claus Parade @ 9:00am

• Lakeshore from Allen to Kerr
• Kerr from Lakeshore to Stewart
• Stewart from Kerr to Maurice Drive
• Felan Avenue from Stewart to Rebecca
• Rebecca Street from Dorval to Forsythe
• Robinson Street from Navy to Allan

Newmarket Santa Claus Parade @ 11:00am

• Starts at Lorne and Eagle
• Travels east along Eagle to Main
• North on Main, ending at Ontario Street

Acton Santa Claus Parade @ 11:00am

• Hwy 7, downtown Acton

Hamilton Santa Claus Parade @ 4:30pm

• Starts at Main and Queen
• East along Main to John
• North on John to King
• West on King to Bay
• Ends on Bay at FirstOntario Centre

Georgetown Santa Claus Parade @ 5:00pm

• Starts at Guelph St & Sinclair, travels along Guelph to Charles.
• Up Charles Street to Fairgrounds

Brampton Santa Claus Parade @ 5:00pm

• Starts Ken Williams Drive & Sproule, continues along Sproule to Main.
• Down Main St/Hwy 10, ending at Elgin Drive. 

Richmond Hill Santa Claus Parade @ 6:00pm

• Leslie Street from 19th Avenue to Major Mackenzie. 

Oshawa Santa's Parade of Lights @ 6:00pm

• Starts at King and Stevenson
• East along King to Simcone
• North on Simcoe to Bond
• West on Bond to Stevenson

November 20th, 2016

Toronto Santa Claus Parade @ 12:30pm

• Parade Starts at Christie Pits and Travels along Bloor to Avenue
• Down Avenue Bloor to Wellington
• Along Wellington from University to Jarvis
• Ends at St. Lawrence Market

Milton Santa Claus Parade @ 1:30pm

• Starts at Main & Scott Blvd
• Continues along Main Street to ending at Milton GO Station. 

November 25th, 2016

Markham Santa Claus Parade @ 11:00am

• Markham Road between Hwy 7 and Bur Oak Ave.

November 26th, 2016

Pickering Santa Claus Parade @ 10:00am

• Starting at Vaughan Willard Public School
• Travels east along Glenanna Road between Dixie and Pickering Parkway.

Ajax Santa Claus Parade @ 6:00pm

• Starting at Bayly and Mackenzie Avenue
• Travels east along Bayly then north on Harwood, ending at Ajax Town Hall

Santa Under the Stars Parade Aurora @ 6:00pm

• Yonge from St. John's Sideroad to Orchard Heights
• Yonge from St. John's to Wellington 
• Old Yonge Street from St. John's to Twelve Oaks Drive
• Yonge from Orchard Heights to Industrial Parkway South
• Englehard Drive from Edward to Industrial Parkway

Flamborough/Waterdown Santa Claus Parade @ 6:30pm

• Starts on Hamilton Street at Rockhaven
• South on Hamilton to Dundas
• East on Dundas to Main
• North on Main to Parkside Drive
• West on Parkside, ending at Hamilton Street

November 27th, 2016

Streetsville Santa Claus Parade @ 1:00pm

• Queen Street, downtown Streetsville

Santa Fest in Maple Parade @ 2:00pm

• Major Mackenzie from the 400/Canada's Wonderland to Vaughan City Hall, east of Keele.

Weston Santa Claus Parade @ 2:00pm

• Starts at Weston and Church
• Heads south on Weston ending at Sidney Besley Cres. 

December 3rd, 2016

Etobicoke Lakeshore Christmas Parade @ 10:00am

• Starts at Dwight Avenue, and continues along Lake Shore Blvd West

Dec 3rd: Whitby Santa Claus Parade @ 10:00am

• Route TBA

Dec 4th: Burlington Santa Claus Parade @ 2:00pm

• Starts at Prospect Street and Guelph Line
• South on Guelph to New Street
• West on New Street to Brant
• North on Brant, ending at Caroline Street

Dec 3rd: Bolton Santa Claus Parade @ TBA

• Parade route TBA

Deadliest Labour Day weekend in 20 years, OPP

This was the deadliest Labour Day weekend in 20 years according to OPP.

Fourteen people died on provincially patrolled highways over the long weekend. This includes single vehicle crash on Hwy 17 near Wawa, which claimed four lives early Monday morning. The vehicle hit a rock cut before catching fire. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the collision.

Police have also released statistics for their distracted driving blitz, and they're not good.

800 charges were laid despite an aggressive campaign to get motorists to put their phones down. That brings total distracted driving charges laid this year up to 8,800.

OPP are reminding motorists that distracted drivers are twice as likely to get into a collision than even impaired drivers.

"While both of these driving behaviours are equally threatening to the safety of road users, this latest data has the OPP calling for a heightened awareness of the prevalence of distracted drivers and the risks they pose on our roads. The OPP is also calling on Ontarians to develop a similar level of public intolerance of these dangerous drivers that exists of impaired drivers."

Failure to use turn signals more dangerous than texting, study

Driver's who refuse to use their turn signal are twice as likely to get into accidents than those who drive distracted. 

That's according to new data from Society of Automotive Engineers, which stated that failure to signal causes 2-million collisions per year.

The study found drivers in the United States use their turn signals only half the time when changing lanes, and a 75% of the time when making a turn. 

Engineers are recommending that authorities need to crack down on repeated offenders. They also suggested that new cars should be equipped with a warning system to remind driver.

Source: CBS Philadelphia 

Gardiner to close this weekend for Spring maintenance

The Gardiner Expressway is set to shut down this weekend for its annual Spring checkup.

The highway will be CLOSED in both directions from Carlaw to the 427 starting Friday, May 13th at 11:00pm. It is not expected to reopen until Monday at 5:00am, just in time for the morning commute.

With the Toronto FC in town and a potential Raptors game planned for this weekend, this will mean significant delays for those heading downtown.

Drivers can expect Lake Shore to fill up quickly. With other alternate routes slow at the best of times, transit will definitely be the better option.

Crews shut down the Gardiner twice annually to perform routine maintenance without having to worry about traffic safety. However, the city has faced criticism in the past for failing to coordinate highway closures with major events.

Camero driver caught speeding down Vancouver sidewalk

Pedestrians jumped out of the way after a red Chevrolet Camero convertible was spotted travelling along the sidewalk near Hornby and Dunsmuir in the city's downtown.

Surveillance video caught the tail end of the incident, showing a brave bystander trying to confront the driver. The car is then seen tearing off into traffic. 

Fortunately nobody was injured or killed. Police say they are looking for the driver but do not have a suspect at this time. 

Anyone with information is being asked to call Vancouver Police at 604-717-9974.

Source: AutoBlog.ca

Volkswagen to buy back emissions cheating vehicles, sources say

Volkswagen is expected to buy back 500,000 vehicles which used a defeat-device to cheat emissions tests.

Quoting unnamed sources, Reuters reports the company is expected to make the announcement official when them meet with a US federal judge later today.

The buyback is expected to involve Volkswagen Clean Diesel vehicles with 2.0L engines sold since 2009. This includes the popular Jetta, Golf, and Audi A3 models. Vehicles with larger 3.0L diesels will not be included.

Volkswagen may also offer to repair affected vehicles if US regulators approve of a proposed fix. Owners will have two years to decide whether they want to sell back their vehicles or get them repaired.

The German automaker admitted last year they had been using a device to falsify diesel emissions tests. The vehicles in question will activate their full emissions control system only if they detect they're plugged into testing equipment. During normal driving, the effectiveness of the control system is greatly reduced. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says this exposed people to potentially harmful pollutants.

Volkswagen is still dealing with 500 civil law suits surrounding the issue. Their compensation fund is expected to top more than $1 billion USD on top of the cost of buying back the vehicles. It is unclear how much each owner might receive.


Source: Reuters

Mitsubishi caught cheating fuel economy tests

Mitsubishi Motors has admitted they cheated efficiency tests to overstate the fuel economy of 625,000 vehicles.

The Japanese automaker's tomfoolery was outted by Nissan, a sales partner in its minicar venture.

According to Bloomberg, Mitsubishi modified the weight of cars during testing, as well as used inaccurate tire and air resistance numbers in computer models.

These tests overstated fuel economy between 5 and 10 percent.

Most of the effected vehicles are Kei style cars exclusive to the Japanese market.

Mitsubishi has halted sales and production of the eK Wagon, eK Space, as well as the Nissan badged Dayz and Dayz Roox. 157,000 Mitsubishi cars and 468,000 Nissan cars are involved. A Nissan spokesperson said that sales will not resume until the two companies hold talks regarding compensation.

The fuel economy violations may result in Mitsubishi having to pay back government tax for the vehicles. Mitsubishi's shares fell 15% on the announcement.

Mitsubishi is the latest automaker to come under increased scrutiny for fudging environmental performance numbers. Volkswagen was implicated last year for rigging their diesel vehicles to cheat US emissions tests.

Source: Bloomberg, Engadget
Photo by: DY5W-sport via Wikipedia, used under CC 3.0 license