The search into Col. Russell Williams past has led to speculation of ties with serial killer Paul Bernardo. While police believe that the connection is coincidental, they are not leaving any Scarborough cold case unexamined.

Williams, a decorated colonel, was recently charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of forcible confinement, two break and enter charges, and two counts of sexual assault.

He attended the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus (UTSC) and graduated in late ’80s with a degree in political science and economics.

This week, any Scarborough cold cases that coincide with Williams’ studies at the campus will be examined.

“Everything’s on the table,” said homicide Det. Doug Sansom. “There’s nothing that is specifically jumping out, but any reasonable cases will be looked at.”

The investigation into Williams’ past has reminded some Scarborough residents of other incidents that occurred when Williams was attending UTSC.

Plagued by a series of murders and rapes, Scarborough was terrorized from 1984 to 1990 by an unknown attacker, nicknamed the “Scarborough Rapist”.

Bernardo, the notorious serial killer and rapist, was apprehended in 1993 and convicted in 1995 for two first-degree murders and two sexual assaults. He is alleged to have committed many more.

Police have said they are re-examining the cases that overlap with when Williams attended UTSC.

The similarities in the studies of the two men have led to speculation.

The Toronto Sun reports through a number of sources that it is possible Williams and Bernardo knew each other.

The police have stated that there is no known connection between the two men.

Bernardo also attended UTSC and graduated in the late 80’s with a degree in commerce and economics.

After graduation, Williams began his 23-year career with the Canadian Forces.

He has been posted in a number of military bases in western, eastern and central Ontario, moving up the ranks until he was promoted colonel in Jan. 2009.

The OPP have begun to examine cold cases in the areas Williams is known to have lived.

In July 2009, Williams became the commanding officer at Canadian Forces Base Trenton. He is also commander of 8 Wing.

Since then, Williams has been interviewed by media for 8 Wing’s involvement in the Haiti relief effort.

Williams will appear in court, over video up-link, on Feb. 18.

Her phone keeps ringing off the hook. Donations pour into her restaurant daily. She had to rent an empty store beside her just to make room for the donations. Her name is Sheyla Cadet-Walker. She is Haitian and this is Scarborough’s response to the Haiti quake disaster.

The room is now filled with small mountains of canned foods, water bottles, clothing, diapers, shoes and mattresses.

“It shows that in a time of need, people do rise to the occasion,” said Cadet-Walker, owner of Lakay Caribbean Restaurant in Scarborough.

Lakay, the only Haitian restaurant in the Greater Toronto Area, has become the gathering spot for Haiti relief.

Since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti last month, aid has been pouring into the impoverished nation from around the world and Scarborough is no exception. The majority of donations the restaurant has received, have come from neighbours in Scarborough, Cadet-Walker said,

“It’s been great to see how people in the neighbourhood come out and respond to such a disaster,” she said. “It’s heartwarming and shows humanity at its best.”

But the generosity from Scarborough has not stopped there.

The Malvern Christian Assembly has raised $15,000 for Haiti aid groups, while a group of high school students is raising thousands at Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate with bake sales and movie screenings. The University of Toronto Scarborough did their part, hosting a candlelight vigil and is working to fundraise $20,000 this month.

“A lot of students have contacted me saying they want to get involved,” said Murali Thambiaiah, vice president of students and equity for the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union.

These are glimmers of hope for Haiti, and many say the response by the international community has been unprecedented.

World leaders gathered late last month in Montreal to discuss support for up to 10 years, while both Canada and the United States held Haiti benefit concerts. The concerts raised nearly $70 million.

“A lot of people before didn’t know where Haiti is,” said Abner Agenor, a Haitian student at U of T Scarborough. “But now with this earthquake, everybody knows the Haitian people and where Haiti is.”

Agenor, who has lost family to the quake, says he sees this as an opportunity to build a new Haiti.

“I know it will be hard, it could take 10, even 25 years to rebuild Haiti. But if we work together, Haiti will rebuild.”

Cadet-Walker, on the other hand, has her doubts whether Haiti will ever be the same.

“It’s mind-boggling to envision your entire country has been so damaged that you cannot even recognize it and you would no longer know where home is,” she said, adding that she hopes the world will not forget about Haiti in the years to come.

Lakay Caribbean Restaurant is still accepting donations, and will be sending its first shipment to Haiti this month.

The University of Toronto Scarborough did their part for Haiti this week by hosting a candle light vigil to raise aid money.

Dozens of students and professors participated in the event on Tuesday, holding candles and giving memory and prayer to those most affected by the earthquakes.

“A lot of students and student clubs have contacted me saying they want to get involved,” said Murali Thambiaiah, vice-president of students and equity for the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union.

The need to get involved is great, many say, as a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, devastating an already politically and financially ravaged nation. The earthquake was the strongest to hit the region in the last two hundred years and is estimated to have killed nearly 200,000 Haitians, and left many more homeless.

World leaders gathered in Montreal on Monday, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, discussing long-term aid support of up to 10 years for Haiti’s reconstruction. Over the weekend, Canada and the US held benefit concerts raising nearly $70 million collectively.

“A lot of people before didn’t know where is Haiti,” said Abner Agenor, a Haitian student at U of T Scarborough. “But now with this earthquake, everybody knows the Haitian people and where Haiti is.”

Agenor, who has lost family to the quake, says he sees this as an opportunity to build a new Haiti.

“I know it will be hard, it could take 10, even 25 years to rebuild Haiti. But if we work together, Haiti will rebuild.”

At U of T Scarborough, the campus community is helping Haiti in that rebuilding. A U of T professor and pathologist, Michael Pollanen, is part of a team of Canadians sent to assist in Haiti last week. He is currently helping to identity victims.

The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union is hoping to raise $20,000 in the coming month, which the Canadian government has agreed to double. All proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders.

“Our students have traditionally had a history of being very sensitized to international development relief because we are a very diversified international community,” said Tom Nowers, dean of student affairs.

Nowers said that the students raised $50,000 within two weeks after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia in 2004.

When Canadian Olympic hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep was growing up, Toronto had a severe lack of sporting infrastructure.

That situation has changed now that Toronto has won the bid to host the 2015 Pan American Games.

The winning city was announced Friday and supporters say holding the events will bring countless opportunities for the next generation of Canadian athletes to excel in their sport.

“This is going to help bring more opportunity for the younger generation,” said Olympic hurdler Priscilla Lopes Schliep, just before the announcement. “Once the Games have taken place and the facilities are there, it’s going to enrich those kids and help with other events.

“I wish we had more facilities when I was growing up because we were kind of limited to certain places to go and work out.”

Athletes from all over the world will compete in 50 venues in 17 municipalities across the Golden Horseshoe.

Potential projects in the bid include a Pan American stadium and velodrome to be built in Hamilton. The stadium will be able to seat 15,000 spectators.

A Pan American aquatic centre, two new 50-metre, 10-lane pools, and the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, are also slated for the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty noted Canada’s struggle to compete on the world stage and believes the new venues will help change that trend.

“On a per capita basis in terms of competitive athletes on a national level, we have fallen considerably behind,” he said.

“What I really want to do is extend the net a lot wider so that more kids from all backgrounds who have the talent and the desire will have the opportunity to participate in amateur sport.”

The Toronto games will include $1.4 billion going towards sporting infrastructure. Along with the construction of six new facilities, existing venues such as the pools at the Etobicoke Olympium and the track at Centennial Park will be refurbished.

“The benefit to our athletes would be immeasurable,” said rhythmic gymnastic Alexandra Orlando. “I think this is the largest investment in sport infrastructure this province ever will have seen.

“Not only will it be putting up new facilities, which is incredible, but it also will be renovating existing ones.”

But it’s not just athletes who will benefit from the new venues. The construction of the aquatic centre will speed up the building of the TTC’s Scarborough-Malvern Light Rapid Transit Line so it is expected to be ready in time for the Games.

Also included in the bid proposal is $1 billion athletes village in the West Don Lands, expected to become a mixed-income neighbourhood after 2015.

Existing venues in Toronto’s plan include the Rogers Centre, BMO Field, the Air Canada Centre, Rexall Tennis Centre, Copps Coliseum, Fletcher’s Field, the Hershey Centre, Ricoh Coliseum, Ryerson University, Roy Thomson Hall, and the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.

The venues will be separated into three Games Zones. The Central Zone will consist of facilities in Toronto, Brampton, Markham, and Mississauga.

Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, and Oshawa will make up the East Zone, and the West Zone will include Burlington and Hamilton.

Students at University of Toronto Scarborough celebrated Cultural Mosaic week during the week of March 16. Continue Reading