Uphill battle to build in the heritage district

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A local homeowner has taken his design for a new house in historic Thornhill to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

Carmen Naccarato said he bought the property at 94 John St. back in 1996 with plans to retire there.

But residents concerned about preserving the character of the heritage district are opposed to the design he is currently proposing. This month’s hearing will mark Naccarato’s second trip to the board. His neighbour appealed after he got permission to sever the lot and build a new house on it. He won his case, but with some conditions, including that any design conform to the Thornhill-Markham Heritage Conservation District Plan.

Naccarato filed his own appeal when Markham’s committee of adjustment rejected the variances he requires to accommodate the size and setbacks of the proposed house.

He said that he consulted with heritage staff on the plans.

“All the houses in the area have one or two or three variances, minor variances,” said Naccarato. “It’s not like a subdivision where one cookie cutter fits them all.”

He said he believes his neighbours are trying to make it so difficult for him to get approvals in place that he gives up. Judith Dawson, a member of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Thornhill (SPOHT), said she would like to see Naccarato stick to the OMB’s original ruling.

Any new house should be of an appropriate size, she said. James Makaruk, a local resident and member of Heritage Markham, said he would like to see that whatever house is built on the property adheres to bylaws and the heritage plan. “These are special places that need to be carefully protected from future development in order to preserve the heritage, to preserve the historic aspect of these districts,” he said.

Coun. Valerie Burke confirmed that the town will send representation to the hearing to make sure that, should the OMB accept Naccarato’s appeal, conditions recommended by staff are tied to the approval.

Dan Shulman selected as new voice of ESPN

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The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) recently announced that Dan Shulman, a Thornhill resident, will become the new voice of Sunday Night Baseball starting next season. The broadcaster has quickly risen through the ranks, going from doing play-by-play for the Toronto Blue Jays at The Sports Network (TSN) to landing a spot in the booth on ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball.

Now Shulman is set to take over the plum Sunday night role from Jon Miller. He said his boss called to let him know that there would be some changes and to stay tuned. When it was announced that there would be a shake-up in the booth, Shulman had a hunch he was being considered. He said he was flattered when he was offered the role.

“It’s exciting to be working with the people I am and to be on a show of this magnitude,” he said.

Now that Shulman’s moving to Sunday nights, he’s happy about the fact that his family and friends will be able to tune in, he said. Canadians can’t always catch the Monday night games without the right cable package.

“If they want to turn on the game, they’ll be able to find it,” he said.

Affordable housing condo faces delays

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A heritage designation has caused time delays and financial setbacks for the redevelopment plans at Asbury and West United Church.

Due to a lack of funds for repairs and maintenance, the church struck a deal with Options for Homes to build an affordable housing condominium on part of their property. But issues arose when council approved an Ontario Heritage Act ruling to preserve part of the church.

“The part we have to maintain is smack in the middle of our property,” said Pauline McKenzie, chair of the church’s architecture committee, adding that the process has been frustrating. “All these changes pushed our construction costs up by a million dollars. Our original estimate was $3.6 million, and when our architect finished with the new requirements, we were over $5 million. Since then, we had to scale back and scale back to get it down closer to $4 million again.”

In addition to adjusting their plans, which had called for a brand new church building and would have better fit their size requirements, the designation also meant that fewer units would be built in the condominium.

David Nitkin, president of the Bathurst-Lawrence Four Quadrants Neighbourhood Alliance, said roughly 175 residents have voiced concerns because the changes didn’t serve the community.

“This caused not a small amount of upset on the part of the community because the plan became compromised, not for church reasons, but rather to satisfy a planning requirement,” he said, adding that the designation was, oddly enough, for a portion of the building dating back to 1958, not the oldest portion built in 1899. “They were upset with the previous councillor [Howard Moscoe] and the planning staff for putting in place rules that didn’t seem to be sensitive to the community’s needs.”

Options for Homes is currently working through several planning conditions so they can present a settlement agreement to the Ontario Municipal Board by February, in order to speed up the process.

New TTC headquarters under review

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Although the majority of councillors on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) board before the recent municipal election voted in favour of a new centralized TTC headquarters at Yonge Street and Wilson Avenue, the fate of the deal now depends on approval from the new city council and the new TTC board. And it isn’t looking good.

The project was to see the construction of an eight-storey, 450,000-square-foot building over the current parking lot on the northwest corner.

“Definitely the deal will be revisited and reviewed by both the new board and Mayor Ford,” said Coun. Peter Milczyn, vice-chair of the TTC board. “The new board can get out of the deal if it chooses to. Build Toronto may want some compensation, but the mayor does sit on the board of Build Toronto and can influence that issue.”

Bruce Logan, director of communications and public affairs for Build Toronto, the city’s arm’s-length real estate agency, said he was confident they have made every effort to ensure a positive outcome from both the city’s planning department and the councillors.

“We are working with the key staff to make sure they have all the information they need surrounding the deal,” Logan said. “If all this change at the TTC has an effect on their accommodation strategy then we will need to evaluate the TTC offer to lease in that context.”

As the TTC is only a potential tenant, he added that, if the deal were to be revoked, they would continue their development plans and seek another anchor tenant.

“The site is excellent, and a surface parking lot only is certainly not the best use for the city. While our development represents change, it is an important and responsible change. It is going to be a great building,” he said.

Milczyn said the TTC board will be fully briefed on the potential development at 4050 Yonge St. this month and will then be able to take any next steps.

“Previously as a TTC commissioner, I voted against the new TTC headquarters as it did not represent a good financial outcome for the TTC,” he said. “It would have cost the commission more to accept the deal than to maintain the status quo. Unless the business case for the TTC improves on this proposal, I will continue to oppose it.”

Coun. Karen Stintz, the chair of the board, said she’d have to assess the business case and look at the proposal from the requirements of the TTC before making any decisions but said, from a planning perspective, her concerns haven’t changed. Those concerns include the loss of commuter parking if the site is developed, the height of the building and protection of the nearby ravine.

“The public has also questioned whether or not this is a good investment, to build a TTC headquarters at this location,” she said. “There’s a decision within the administration, as well, the Ford administration, if they wish to continue with this project, and that decision has to still get made.”

As the local councillor, Stintz will be co-chairing the city-mandated public consultation meeting, along with city planning staff members, which will bring the application to the community on Jan 12.

Addressing one of the developments main concerns, the loss of the commuter parking lot, Logan said it was important to note a significant amount of public parking is available in the area.

“We have commissioned detailed studies specifically for parking available to the public. There are more than 600 public parking spots in and around York Mills subway, for daytime use, and more than 1,600 spaces for public parking during evenings and weekends,” he said.

Friend to the Dalai Lama gave peace more than a chance

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When local resident James George first met the Dalai Lama, it was the late 1960s. George, who is now 93, had just started working as the Canadian high commissioner to India, and the Dalai Lama had come to the country as a refugee, along with thousands of other Tibetans.

“The first thing he said to me, he was appealing for the rescue of his Tibetans who were dying,” remembers George. They were too used to a dry, cold climate and were having trouble adapting in India.

So George did what any proper high commissioner would do. He appealed to Immigration Canada. When the appeal didn’t go through, George brought the issue directly to Pierre Trudeau, whom he had known since the 1940s. Trudeau listened.

Starting in 1971, 228 refugees came to Canada. It was one of the first mass refugee operations in Canadian history.

At that point, George had been in the Canadian Foreign Service for more than 25 years. He had been stationed in Greece, Sri Lanka and Belgium.During a stint in New York, he had attended some of the first United Nations general assembly meetings.

“We were concerned with peace, human rights, social justice, international harmony,” he says.

For a man nicknamed “the Bishop” during his time at Upper Canada College and who led a pacifist group while attending the University of Toronto, representing Canada as a peace builder on a global scale seemed appropriate.

In addition to assisting with the refugee operation, George was also instrumental in preserving sacred Tibetan texts. Using his office as headquarters, he and his team microfilmed 500 Tibetan books.

“The people involved had no knowledge of Tibetan,” says George.“So they were secure in not having any of their secrets read.”

Before retiring, George’s final post was in Iran. He was there during the 1973 global oil crisis and left just before the country’s 1978 revolution. During that time, he said he became friends with the shah of Iran’s nephew, who also wanted to help the Tibetan people.

When George retired in 1977, the nephew approached him, and that year they formed the Threshold Foundation.

Initially focused on preserving Tibetan practices, the organization gradually broadened. One of the most successful campaigns was a 1980s joint initiative with Greenpeace calling for a moratorium on whaling.

Also in the 1980s, George became concerned about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. When activist Randy Hayes approached him about forming the Rainforest Action Network, he jumped on board.

Today, George is still an activist. Last year he published The Little Green Book on Awakening, a discourse on how humanity can help the environment.

“We always want something done for us.We’re the agents of change,” he says. George is also still active with the local Tibetan community and, from time to time, he meets up with his old friend the Dalai Lama, such as last October in Toronto.

“He was gracious enough to call [our relationship] a friendship,” says George, “and it’s one that has continued to this day.”

‘Kill bill’ move a blow to environmental progress

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On Nov. 16, Canadian senators killed Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, with a surprise vote. The way the vote was carried out is an insult to Canadians and democracy.

It’s also further evidence that Canada went to the UN Climate Change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, with nothing to offer but empty words and an unwillingness to tackle what scientists say is the most serious crisis facing Canada and the world.

Even though the bill had been delivered to the Senate 193 days before, after being passed by the House of Commons, the vote was called without notice, when at least 15 Liberal senators and several independent senators were absent.

This law, which would have put our country on track to be an environmental leader, was killed by only 11 votes (43 to 32).

Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised he would never allow the unelected Senate to go against the will of the majority of members of Parliament and the Canadian public. But with this vote in a Senate stacked by the prime minister, he has done exactly that.

The Act would have committed Canada to an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a 25 per cent reduction by 2020. Many international scientists agree that these reductions are the least required to prevent dangerous climate change.

But in a near-unprecedented move that flies in the face of democratic traditions and government accountability, Conservative senators killed this modest piece of legislation. At nearly 75 years old, I am sickened to see people my age making such a reckless decision that will affect the lives of today’s young people and generations to come when many of the senators won’t even be around to face the consequences.

When his government was first elected in 2006, Prime Minister Harper told Canadians that “Restoring accountability will be one of the major priorities of our new government. Accountability is what ordinary Canadians, working Canadians, those people who pay their bills, pay their taxes, expect from their political leaders.”

It appears that was just empty rhetoric — especially when it comes to climate change. Our government has dismissed its obligation under the Kyoto Protocol, an international climate change agreement that Canada and 186 countries ratified.

The government claims the cost of reducing emissions will be economically devastating yet continues to heavily subsidize and support the polluting fossil fuel industry, especially in the environmentally destructive tar sands. Canada has even earned itself the shameful reputation for obstructing progress at international negotiations on climate change.

Canadians have seen far more leadership from municipal and provincial governments than from the federal government on environmental issues related to climate change.

Ontario has implemented incentives to attract clean-energy technologies, and B.C. has implemented a carbon tax that increases over time.

As Canadians,we expect more of our leaders. At the very least, we expect them to remember that we still live in a democracy and that its rules must be respected.

That’s my boy! One month old and already playing Massey Hall

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2:41 pm

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Just over a month ago I met one of the funniest young men I’ve ever had the pleasure to encounter — my infant son, Jackson.

I know, I’m biased, you might think. But I’ve been in this comedy racket for three decades, and I think I can judge talent when I see it.

Granted, right now he’s doing a lot of poop jokes and mugging. But isn’t that the combination that earned Jim Carrey the big bucks?

Based on his early work,I booked young Jackson into the New Year’s Gala at Massey Hall as the New Year’s baby. Usually we get a comic to dress up in a diaper, but in the case of some grossly overweight comedians,the fabric was costing us a fortune. But Jackson comes with his own wardrobe, always a plus.

The gig will benefit my son, especially when he gets older. When hassled by no-talents, he’ll be coolly able to say,“Oh, yeah? I’ve played Massey Hall. Have you?” My baby wasn’t exactly planned, but having a first child before I turned 60 was on my bucket list.

Children never figured prominently into my life, but I was always intrigued by their innate ability to be funny and appreciate comedy.

Jon Stewart may be the most sophisticated comic around, but it probably all started for him with a game of peekaboo.

And if all children are naturally funny, what happens along the way to adulthood? Why do most of us lose our inner gift for comedy? And why do only a few of us become Howie Mandel or Martin Short?

Although never formally studied, conventional wisdom seems to hold that comedy is environmentally predetermined.

A lot of factors need to coalesce to produce the odd stew that makes someone able to move a roomful of strangers to guffaws. Most comics I know are too fat, too thin, too poor, too wealthy, too unloved, too loved, etc, and without those external factors wouldn’t be able to be funny.

But consider these examples of comedy DNA: The great comic Albert Brooks’s father was a famous radio comic who went by the stage name of “Parkyakarkus.” Brooks’s brother is Bob Einstein, better known as “Super Dave” Osborne.

There’s the Wayans family:

Damon, Shawn, Marlon and Keenan. And then there’s Abby Elliott, the youngest current cast member of SNL.

Her father is Chris Elliott, who was a long-time regular on the David Letterman Show and whose father was Bob Elliott from the seminal radio duo Bob and Ray — a generational trifecta of superb comedy skill.

In my family, my mother was the funny one. A former child actor on the Yiddish stage, my mother was a great storyteller, punctuating her tales with hilarious impressions and opinions. My friends would make appointments with her for tea, just to hear her monologues.

By the end of her life, confined to a wheelchair in a nursing home, she would hold court as she made fun of the other patients out of earshot: an octogenarian Joan Rivers confined to a motorized scooter.

You would think, then, that she would have encouraged me in my pursuit of a comedy career, but this was not the case.

Unlike my mother,I would not be upset if my son followed in my footsteps, but I wouldn’t insist on it.

Of course, since he’s already playing the soft seat theatres such as Massey, there’s likely no stopping him. I can hardly wait to find out. After all, he’s my boy.

Local kids think globally for summer programs

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2:38 pm

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Is your child looking for change this summer? Perhaps a summer of travel might be the solution. Many summer travel opportunities combine the benefits of camp with international and cultural exposure.

Whether your child is a seasoned camper or has never been away from home, participation in a summer travel program is a great lesson in independence.

“At the end of the summer, parents always tell us how much their child grew up," says Fran Grundman, co-director of West Coast Connection, a teen travel camp based out of Toronto and Montreal. “From learning how to cook, do laundry, budget their money and survive in a group of people they’ve never met, kids develop essential life skills.”

West Coast Connection offers over 25 programs including trips throughout North America, Europe and Australia, and all programs offer slightly different experiences to students.

Spending a summer abroad can be an excellent intermediary step between high school and university and allowing your children to experience travel can help move them out of their comfort zone. “You really see that there is a big world out there, and you learn to respect other traditions,” says Grundman.

For many kids, summer school can be a real drag, but with schools like Blyth Education, kids can get ahead in their studies while visiting some of the most exotic and culturally rich places in the world.

Blyth offers 12 sites of study in six continents, and students can take grade 10, 11 or 12 courses for one month terms.

“Classes are very small, which gives students a chance to do very well academically,” says Sam Blyth, the Blyth Education chair. “We integrate the curriculum into the local venue, and we call it classrooms without walls.”

For students interested in studying biology, Blyth offers a program in Australia where classes are held on a yacht anchored on the Great Barrier Reef, says Blyth.

“Teachers teach on the deck of the boat, and run classes underwater.” “There is a trend in camping that parents are looking for more substance in their children’s summer activities,” says Grundman of West Coast Connection.

“We want to provide something that kids can tangibly take away from their summer experience. West Coast’s community service program aims to provide lowercost travel experiences for students.

Kids have the opportunity to participate in projects such as building homes for low-income families or building playgrounds for village children.

West Coast has three community service destinations: Washington, Belize and Alaska.

The program allows students to complete their high school community service requirements in a community outside of their own.

Blyth Education also incorporates community service into their programming. Through the View Foundation, they have ongoing projects in Cuba, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Sometimes you don’t even have to leave your own country to gain life experiences through travel. Outward Bound Canada offers programs for eight- to 19-year-olds, which involve outdoor travel and adventure.

Trips are based in Ontario, British Columbia and New Brunswick and are aimed at helping kids and teens to establish a sense of their strengths and abilities.

Outward Bound International also operates in 50 countries around the globe.

Mirvish trumps North York theatre maverick

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Theatrical impresario Aubrey Dan of Dancap Productions, which produces Broadway-calibre shows in the city, has once again been left out of a major partnership with one of the city’s finest venues. The company’s rival, Mirvish Productions, recently announced a collaboration to co-produce and cross-promote programming with the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.

“Clearly from my perspective this is just another move to basically try to keep Dancap from gaining a stronger foothold in downtown Toronto,” said Dan, who also lost out to Mirvish in a battle over the prestigious Canon Theatre (formerly Pantages).

Although Dan has expressed interest in the Sony Centre, he has moved on to secure a five-year contract with the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Thanks to the success of his latest project, South Pacific, which ran at the centre last summer, Dancap will be bringing the show back to kick off their 2011 subscription season.

“I’m very excited that we really have a first-class lineup of the best of Broadway shows coming to Toronto and they are now accessible and easy to get to,” he said.

Opening Night: Maestro headlines '80s flashback concert

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Local hip hop legend Maestro returns to his roots with Juno Awards’ Songs of the ’80s at the Horseshoe tavern on January 8, 2011. He answers our questions.

You, Platinum Blonde, Rik Emmett and others are doing a flashback to the ’80s. What do you miss most from that era?

The energy of something new. Kids today, they grew up on hip hop. We were onto something, learning as we grew.

What other ’80s stuff is on your playlist?

Public Enemy, Kool G Rap and Polo, that’s my vibe right now.

Do you see parallels to Drake?

Definitely. We’re both from Toronto, both multi-dimensional artists. I’m proud of the cat. He just took it to the next level up.

Horseshoe Tavern (www.horseshoetavern.com), January 8.

Kates en français

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Canada’s top food critic, Joanne Kates, has had a love of French food dating back to her days as a student of the Ecole Cordon Bleu de Cuisine in Paris, France — the country’s most prestigious cooking school.

Luckily, there are many fine restaurants in T.O. at which she can indulge her love of Parisian fare. Earlier this year, Kates named French bistro Pastis her number one restaurant in Toronto. Here are five more of Kates’ favourites.

Beauty of the food only matched by the room at Niagara Street Café

The talent of a chef can be measured by two simple things — first the degree to which they bring out the taste of each ingredient and second the way they add interest to the main event.

Chef Nick Liu, who was clearly paying attention during his tenure as sous-chef at Splendido, makes passionate and expert love to every ingredient.

Even a commonplace like mushrooms on toast attains seductive taste status in his kitchen, thanks to intense buttery mushroom stew mixed with melted cheddar on fine bread.

His soups are deep strong flavours rendered as liquid velvet.

Mains receive equal attention:

Chef gentles Korean spicing and applies French technique to short ribs, braising them to sweet juicy perfection. His duck confit has crazy crispy skin and erotically sweet gnocchi made with brown butter and fabulous frisee dressed in smoky bacon vinaigrette.

Too bad the room is so small there’s not room for many happy diners.

Niagara Street Café is located at 169 Niagara St., 416-703-4222.

Escape wintry Toronto for the Paris countryside, at least for one dinner

One of the five prettiest restaurants in town: Like a French country cottage, its look and feel mimic a Michelin-starred French country resto, thanks to stone shelves and mantles, pressed tin sconces, orchids everywhere and comfy armchairs upholstered in black and white toile.

The menu is unapologetically old school French: Butter, butter everywhere and not a sign of lemon grass.

Perfectly cooked scallops come with Kobe beef cheek that melts in the mouth like butter, with a sauce made of puréed squash enriched with butter.

Truffle cappuccino is the Oliver & Bonacini trademark mushroom soup with foam on top.

They roast squab ruby red tender and dot the plate with sweet/tart wild grape juice. They butter-poach lobster sous-vide for ultimate tenderness.

Quick, pinch me, is this Paris or north Toronto?

Auberge du Pommier is located at 4150 Yonge St., 416-222-2220.

Scot Woods’ grace and creativity in the kitchen shine at Lucien

Chef Scot Woods’ food is inspired. With silken service from Simon Bower, Lucien is as good as it gets.

Woods is inspired by molecular gastronomy, but he does not get silly about it, as some chefs do. He wraps pork belly in plastic to seal in juices and then cooks it very slowly to create soft fat pink flesh throughout.

How smart to set off smooth pork belly with the bite of kimchee pickle, the liquid of barely poached egg and the snap, crackle and pop of toasted barley on top. Every dish chef Woods does has that grace and creativity.

This is a very fine chef at the top of his game.

Lucien is located at 36 Wellington St. E., 416-504-9990.

Classic French cuisine done the right way at Laurent

Biron’s Tati Bistro Chef/patron Laurent Brion comes from Poitiers, France, where butterfat is not a food, it’s religion. Chef Brion’s charming bistro is old school French in the best sense: tiny, cramped, noisy, and yes, le patron mange ici.

He is a man obsessed with flavour and his restaurant is a labour of love. Eat his chunky duck terrine with pistachios.

Close your eyes and you could be in Paris. Same with his classic French salad frisee aux lardons et Roquefort: The finest blue cheese in the world partners with crisp little chunks of fatty pork to make lettuce fun. Chef also demonstrates his mastery of la cuisine française with a quintessential classic French throwback: creamed mushrooms on puff pastry.

He roasts black cod perfectly with scads of long-cooked garlic and serves it with truffle-scented mashed potatoes. Even his bouillabaisse is unimpeachable, strong tomato-based broth with nicely cooked fish and properly served with rouille to spoon on toasted baguette slices and drown in the soup.

Tati is located at 124 Harbord St., 416-962-8284.

Japanese chef turns out some of the city’s finest French cuisine

Bistros are the flavour du jour not only because even the pickiest becs fins have an eye on their wallets but also because they ask so much less of diners than haute cuisineries, and yet they hold themselves to decent standards.

Simple’s classically trained chef Masayuki Tamaru understands that. He would perhaps rather be selling foie gras for the big bucks, but he knows that’s no longer on.

The byword at Simple is just that: simple. The food is lighter and cheaper than the French food of yesteryear, and our waistlines will thank chef for it.

He invents marvellous salads like red and yellow beets with arugula, chevre and oranges … or Belgian endive with Roquefort cheese.

There are delicious moments when we can taste chef Tamaru’s personal history, his Japanese heritage peeking through the French training — in the delicacy of barely cooked scallops with a vanilla back story and lightly pickled shaved fennel. Each element — the French and the Japanese — brings out the best in the other.

Simple Bistro is located at 619 Mt. Pleasant Rd., 416-483-8933.

A smart in-vest-ment

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FIRST PLACE: CLASSIC BLACK

RUDSAK BLACK FUR-TRIMMED VEST $175 DELUX MONKEY TRAPPER HAT $29

“This vest is just about my favourite,” says Beker. “It’s dramatic and stylish and fabulous. The nipped-in waist makes me feel very put together. This is one little down vest that makes a big fashion statement!” And while winter hats aren’t exactly Beker’s favourite accessories, she’s immediately drawn to Delux’s cute “monkey” trapper: “This is for the monkey in me,” she jokes.

Where to get it: (vest) Rudsak, Bayview Village Mall; (Hat) Over The Rainbow, 101 Yorkville Ave.

THE ‘IT’ VEST

DKNY PUFFER VEST $275 HARRICANA MILLENERY TRAPPER $298

“This is the colour of the moment,” says Beker, referring to the bright coral hue of this DKNY vest. As for the hat? “This riffs on that vintage aviator look. It’s really nice and warm!”

Where to get it: (vest) www.dkny,com; (hat) Andrew’s, 55 Avenue Rd.

THE LIGHTWEIGHT

PARAJUMPERS DOWN VEST $575 RACHEL F. RECYCLED FUR HAT $280

“This vest is very beautiful and lightweight, says Beker. “It really feels like a million bucks!” She likes this Rachel F. recycled fur hat, explaining, “It has a real vintage feel to it.”

Where to get it: (vest) Stylexchange, Promenade Mall; (hat) Shopgirls, 1342 Queen St. W.

THE HOODIE

ROOTS CADOMIN VEST $138 RUDSAK RABBIT TRAPPER $50

“This vest is wonderful because of this detachable hood,” says Beker. And if you want to “look like a bona fide ski bunny,” this grey trapper is the right hat for you.

Where to get it: (vest) Roots, Hillcrest Mall; (hat) Rudsak, Bayview Village Mall

BOYFRIEND’S BEST

NORTH FACE VEST $160 WOOLRICH TRAPPER $120

“It looks like you borrowed this vest from your boyfriend,” says Beker. “No-nonsense warmth!” And the wool trapper hat is “very cosy, and nice and fleecy on the inside.”

Where to get it: (vest and hat) Higher Ground, 2488 Yonge St.

PRETTY IN PURPLE

PATAGONIA LIGHTWEIGHT VEST $180 DANIER FAUX SHEARLING HAT $49

“This is a really great colour,” says Beker of this bright purple vest. “A wonderful vest you could even wear under a parka. She chooses this trapper because of its “serious warmth.”

Where to get it: (vest) Patagonia, 500 King St. W.; (hat) Danier, Fairview Mall

THE FEATHERWEIGHT

CANADA GOOSE VEST $195 NOBIS KNITTED TRAPPER $75

“This is really all about the colour. If you’re a fan of hot pink, this vest is the one.” Nobis’s soft knitted trapper adds another punch of colour and “a fun motif” sewn into the fabric.

Where to get it: (vest) Over The Rainbow, 101 Yorkville Ave.; (hat) Janan, Bayview Village Mall

Jeanne Beker is the host and segment producer of Canada’s leading fashion series FashionTelevision. Catch her Sunday nights at 5:30 p.m. ET on CTV or visit www.FashionTelevision.com