WHAT’S ON
GIRLS LOVE TO SHOP
OUR VIEW
CHECK OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO PAGE A5 THIS WEEKEND
AND WE DON’T MEAN PAGE A3 AT THE MALL
WE HAVE TO GROW UP, LITERALLY PAGE A6
FORD FUSION ENERGI
Get up to
102 MpG! 18001 LESLIE ST,
yorkregion.com
Thursday, May 19, 2016
$1 store sales / 44 pages
905-853-8888
HOUSING
(South of Greenlane) Newmarket
905-853-5000
LEARNING CULTURE THROUGH ART
Have deep pockets? You’ll need them to buy in hot market Resales at all-time high as house prices climb 13.5% BY LISA QUEEN
H
lqueen@yrmg.com
ere’s good news if you’re planning on putting your house up for sale any time soon. The average price of a resale home in York Region increased by 13.5 per cent in 2015 to $777,927, Paul Bottomley, York Region’s manager of policy, research and planning in the economic development department, said during a presentation on the state of the region’s economy. That has jumped from $491,883 for the average resale home only five years ago. Meanwhile, the price is almost 70-per-cent higher than what the province deems is the maximum affordable homeownership threshold for the region. That stood at $459,000 in 2015.
i
Watch for our in-depth GTA-wide housing series, Through the Roof, starting next week.
“There is an increasing gap between this affordable threshold and the average resale price, with the gap increasing considerably over the last few years,” Bottomley said. If the price of new homes were included, which sat at an average of $987,106 at the end of 2015, the gap between the affordable housing threshold and the cost of buying a home in York would be even higher. The typical price of a resale home in the region is 25-percent higher than the Greater Toronto Area, where the average is $622,217. STAFF PHOTO/MIKE BARRETT
Aboriginal artist Don Chretien teaches art to students at Queensville and Sharon public schools to help them express their purpose through clan affiliation. For the story, see page A2.
See page A9.
PUBLIC PURSE
WHAT’S ONLINE If you owe money for a ticket, be prepared to face a crack down. The region wants its money — $46M worth.
DON’T SEE IT IN THE PAPER? CHECK OUT MORE STORIES ONLINE INCLUDING:
D
❐ SPECIAL DELIVERY: Paramedic delivers own baby on the road: bit.ly/1TnMxgW ❐ UNION CASH: Ontario gave $80M to teacher unions: bit.ly/1TnMUYK ❐ DINE SAFE YORK: Find our which restaurants and pubs aren’t meeting health standards. bit.ly/1KpTRrt FILE PHOTO/STEVE SOMERVILLE
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Physicians college ‘kangaroo court’: doctor BY SIMON MARTIN
A
smartin@yrmg.com
Mount Albert doctor, deemed “incompetent” by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in February, is back at work at Southlake Regional Health Centre. Dr. Andrzej Wojcicki had his certificate of registration suspended for two months three months ago and his ability to practice complementary and alternative medicine terminated after the STAFF PHOTO/SIMON MARTIN College found he acted in a manner that was regarded as disgrace- Dr. Andrzej Wojcicki, who operates this private practice at Vivian Medical ful, dishonourable or unprofesSpa in Mount Albert, was suspended by the College of Physicians and sional. The discipline committee Surgeons of Ontario for “incompetence”. He refutes the ruling. also found that Wojcicki was incompetent. month and her ability to practice The ruling didn’t sit well complementary and alternative with Wojcicki who questioned medicine revoked. the competency of the College. An independent expert ❑ Comments on this or any article “There’s no kind of decent investireviewed 25 patient charts from you read in the paper? Email gation. It’s a kangaroo court. They Wojcicki’s practice and told the tkibble@yrmg.com are a bunch of vindictive SOBs,” College that 24 of the charts he said. reflected a lack of knowledge, While listed as a general medioffered alternative therapies to skill and judgment that would cine doctor at Southlake, much cancer patients. His wife, Dr. Anna likely expose his patients to risk of the case focused on Wojcicki’s Wojcicka, who also practices at private practice at Vivian Medithe spa, also had her certificate cal Spa in Mount Albert where he of registration suspended for one See page A2.
GET CONNECTED
SAVE UP TO 20%
ON OUTDOOR SPEAKERS
C
M
Y
BY LISA QUEEN
lqueen@yrmg.com
❐ DRIVING IMPAIRED: Nearly 140 people nabbed in past month: bit.ly/1TnMIsB
905-898-7133 www.liptons.ca
Region ready to lower boom on ticket scofflaws
save on selected models of weatherproof outdoor speaker boxes, in-ceiling, and rock type speakers.
Full installation available at your location: call or drop by for a quote.
o you have a ticket for speeding, not wearing your seatbelt, being drunk in a public place or selling alcohol or cigarettes to a minor that you figured you could just blow off? Think again. With $46 million in unpaid fines on the books, York Region is about to crack down on people who don’t pay their provincial offences penalties. Regional council is expected today to approve what it is calling “aggressive steps” to make deadbeats pay their tickets.
“Unpaid fines are lost revenue to the hard-working taxpayers of York Region,” Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow, chair of the region’s finance committee, said. Allowing people to not pay their fines “makes a mockery of the whole justice system,” Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, chair of the region’s police services board, said. “We have to do whatever it takes to get this money into our coffers. It’s about increasing the revenues, but it’s about increasing the revenues because we’ve spent a lot of money to make sure our bylaws and the Provin See page A8.
CRIME
Public angry after phallic graffiti crimes Check your child’s backpack, woman’s FB post says BY SIMON MARTIN
Y
smartin@yrmg.com
ork Regional Police are still investigating a spree of phallic graffiti drawings that littered the Mount Albert landscape last weekend. No arrests have been made. Phallic graffiti drawings were spray painted on fences, school signs and other public property in Mount Albert Friday night, York Regional Police confirm. Police said a number of signs, fences and garage doors were targets of graphic black spray-painted penis drawings, some accompanied by incorrectly spelled swear words. The incidents occurred on the east side of Mount Albert along Ninth Line and King Street sometime between Friday evening and early Saturday morning, police said. No arrests have been made and
i
If you have information, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. Comments on this issue? Email tkibble@yrmg.com
police are still investigating, however much of the graffiti has since been removed. The drawings have caused quite stir in the community. “I hope the school security cameras were able to capture their images and I hope all the parents who had kids out ‘hanging with friends’ on Friday night check their backpacks/rooms/recycling/garages for black spray paint!,” Tracy Bell-Schevers said on Facebook. “I hope they catch the little brats who did this and make them pay for all of the damages,” Melody McGlone added. If you have any information about who is responsible, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS.