A proposed resolution by a major Ontario union to ban Israeli academics at the province's universities has sparked a bitter debate between leaders on both sides over an Israeli attack on a Gaza university.

A multibillion-dollar plan to extend another of Toronto's subway lines north into York Region was approved by Mayor David Miller and his executive committee yesterday, but with all the enthusiasm of a bus driver headed out for a midnight shift.

A 53-year-old man is facing 14 charges after he allegedly posed as a Toronto police officer while robbing a half-dozen people in the city's east end.

Royal St. George's College named its next headmaster yesterday, as the Toronto preparatory school announced the hiring of a senior faculty member from another prestigious school, Upper Canada College.

The SUV's headlights still glowed through the cold, grey morning yesterday, casting faint shadows along the snow-covered lawns of Talwood Drive, near Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East.

In an economic war, the first victim is transparency.The first cheques are ready to be cut for a couple of the troubled Detroit-based auto makers but, despite promises to the contrary, we're no closer to knowing what they plan to do with the money and how they intend to operate once they get off the critical list. This is not reassuring.

It's time for Dalton McGuinty 2.0.The world that sustained the Ontario Premier in his first five years in office has changed utterly and he will have to change, too.

Ontario successfully defended its gold medal yesterday at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge with a 5-1 victory over Pacific. J.P. Anderson made 33 saves and Tyler Seguin, Jeff Skinner, John McFarland, Steven Shipley and Erik Gudbranson each scored, as Ontario won its 15th consecutive game at the tournament. Seguin opened the scoring for Ontario in the first with less than a minute remaining in the period. In the second, Skinner put Ontario up by two before Pacific's Justin Feser cut the disadvantage in half with a goal going into the third. In the bronze-medal match, Jacob Fallon had a hat trick as the United States downed Canada West 4-2.

One had to read almost to the end of the article to learn that the stem-cell transplant costing $500,000 would have increased the odds of survival from 10 to 15 per cent to 20 to 25 per cent, so it's hard to definitively say that OHIP ''robbed'' Valerie Niles of her life (OHIP Delays Robbed Cancer Victim Of Chance To Live - Jan. 2). In an environment with limited funds and unlimited (and ever increasing) demands, paying half a million dollars to improve one's odds by such a small amount maybe doesn't make sense.

The creation of a train linking Union Station to Pearson International Airport appears to have been fast-tracked after more than a decade mired in bureaucratic tangles and objections from local residents.

The city's first homicide of the year was triggered by an argument inside a Rexdale massage parlour involving a 36-year-old Iraqi expatriate and three men he had apparently never met before, police said yesterday.

The Dominion Institute, concerned with all things Canadian, threw itself a party recently, with tiny maple leaf flags in the breaded cheese balls, Gordon Lightfoot on the soundtrack and all the Robert Simpson's Confederation Ale a hoser could drink.

How much is a life worth to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan bureaucrats who hold the purse strings on potentially life-saving treatments for Ontario residents? Apparently, not the $500,000 (U.S.) required for Valerie Niles's stem-cell transplant in Seattle to treat her acute myeloid leukemia (OHIP Delays Robbed Cancer Victim Of Chance To Live - front page, Jan. 2).

The death of Valerie Niles shows how provincial health rationing affects patients' survival outcomes. It also unveils the often unseen partner in the health-care system. Your well-being is not just a matter between you and your physician, but also between you and the whims of faceless bureaucrats.

Ontario's Health Ministry offered sympathy to the family of Valerie Niles - the leukemia patient who died after a treatment battle with government - but could not confirm if an investigation will be launched.

Why is this treatment available in Seattle but not in Ontario?

A FEW OF THEIR FAVOURITE THINGSSarah TaylorVJ, MuchMusicBecause I do get itchy living in one spot, I like the idea of all the different neighbourhoods. They are so intriguing and eclectic. I can feel like I can be part of all these different cultures. You can be a tourist in your own city. My dream Toronto day would include lunch in Chinatown, shopping through Little India, Kensington and Yorkville, followed by dinner at my favourite Ethiopian restaurant, a live show at the Horseshoe, cocktails on Ossington and finally karaoke (with a couple of stops at High Park's dog park along the way).

Toronto police charged more people with drunk driving this holiday season than they have since 2001 - not because there are more drunks on the road but because there are more cops hiding in unexpected places.

When talks resume today to end a long strike at York University, workers, management officials and students won't be the only ones eager for a speedy settlement.Parents, too, will be looking on with hope as they dream of reclaimed televisions, refrigerators that remain full for more than a day and some actual education to show for their financial support.

The last - and, to my mind, best - day of the holiday season is Epiphany, or the 12th day of Christmas. By Jan. 6, I've caught my breath, put away the Christmas ornaments and the menorah (we are a dual-religion family), and I am ready for one last hurrah, the feast of kings, which French people and Francophiles celebrate with champagne and galette des rois, an almond-