When it comes to finding a good mortgage consultant, adviser, or broker, there are a few factors you need to consider. Look for someone who has the right title, not a fancy one. If it’s a consultant you want.

Another thing to consider is the service. If you’re trying to secure a housing loan for your home, then you’ll want a mortgage consultant who’s ready to give you loan rates and the like. Be mindful of this, since the last thing you need is a consultant who is all gung-ho about getting you a loan right away. Excellent consultants will give you options and wait for you to make a careful decision.

Here in the Brampton/Mississauga area, Ted Evans with The Mortgage Group Ontario Inc. is your man. As a certified mortgage professional, Ted is ready to provide you with unbiased advice on how to secure you and your family’s mortgage needs. With Ted, you are offered comprehensive mortgage rates, as well as terms and conditions that you need to know more about.

Ted Evans is just one call or email away if you need a mortgage consultation. The best part is that it’s free. Call 1-888-626-2656 ext. 130 or email tedevans@mortgagegrp.com right now and be one step closer to your goal of getting a loan. FXVF6579DXQ4

Those interested in participating can select from a wide variety of water-based oils and acrylic paints for the workshop, which runs through 5 Sundays, starting on the 23rd of May until the 27th of June. Each 30-minute course takes place at exactly 1 in the afternoon at the Visual Arts Brampton Creative Studios.

If you want to know how to play around with oils and acrylics, then this workshop is for you . You get to learn the basics of colour mixing, perspective, drawing, composition, image cropping, and many more. But more importantly, you also get the opportunity to express yourself.

Instructor Debra Ali will be helping participants learn the ropes of this art form. Ali is an artist and graphic designer who graduated from Sheridan College with a degree in Fine Arts. She’s been a member of VAB since 2005, and has won numerous awards for her amazing work.

Mark your calendars and register now! You can  sign up for only $65, that’s if you’re not a member of the organization. The cost of registration for VAB members is $50.

Brampton’s animal services staff are sticking to their claim that the two dogs are Pit Bulls, something vehemently opposed by the owners, who say that the dogs are mixes between Boxers and American Bulldogs. The two parties apparently have documents from veterinarians who support their respective claims.

The City of Brampton and the Gaspar and Branco families have been working to reach an agreement in the hopes of avoiding an expensive and ugly legal dispute. On January 13, 2010, Rambo and Brittany were seized from their homes, due to the existing legislation against the keeping of Pit Bulls in Ontario.

The move to bring in an independent veterinarian is a very recent agreement between the two sides. If the vet finds that the dogs are in fact, Pit Bulls, then the city will be holding them until the Gaspar and Branco families find a new home for them outside the province. On the other hand, if the vet rules that they are indeed crosses, then the city will release them immediately, albeit with a few minor conditions.

The dogs have been staying at the animal services shelter for 92 months so far.

Titled Healthy, Wealthy&Wise 2010, the 6-part information session is a project of Wallis for Wellness, a health facility in Brampton, and is aimed at providing the public with tips and strategies on how to be healthier and more active.

Each session will cover a unique subject and will come with educational materials, an interactive activity with professional trainers, and some hands-on lessons on exercise techniques.

All 6 workshops take place on a Thursday evening from 7 to 8 in the evening. Participants not only get to learn valuable lessons on health, they’ll also receive a goodie bag stuffed with educational materials and health products. Furthermore, everybody gets a door prize during the end of each workshop, and a grand prize will be given away at the end of the series.

So what’re you waiting for? Register now! Call Wallis for Wellness 905-840-3486 or send them an e-mail at mwallis@wallisforwellness.com for more information.

According to Rui Branco, the owner of Brittany, who has been held by the city since her seizure last January 13, the upcoming court battle now feels like a David versus Goliath story.

And there might be some truth to his opinion. Weirfoulds is a tenured lawyer who specializes in legal advice for municipal and other governments in areas such as contracts, land planning, and more.

Branco said that he’s exhausted all efforts to get the dogs back home, leaving him with no other choice but to head to court. It’s a depressing situation he said, he has to pay for the lawyer’s fees, while his taxes as a resident of Brampton are being used to pay for the opposition’s legal counsel.

Joining him is Maria Gaspar, whose family owns Bruno. The two have tried to convince city officials that their dogs are boxer and American Bulldog mixes after an Animal Control Officer from the city seized their dogs after classifying them as Pitbulls, which are banned in the city.

According to the 25-year old, anti-violence is one of the causes he’s most passionate about, and the music he creates often touches on the subject. Busari’s music is a blend of light reggae, R&B, hip-hop, and even world music. Each song is undeniably packed with meaning and soul.

Such is Busari’s dedication to his cause that it’s led him perform for the Connect 2 End Violence campaign, an initiative of the Peel Region. The campaign was aimed at spreading the message of anti-violence, be it domestic or youth related.

Busari is gearing up to release his debut record, True Stories, over the next few months. He will also be representing the City of Brampton this Saturday, the 20^th of February, at a relief concert for Haiti which will be held in Toronto.

You can check him out for yourself if you’re in the area,

For more information on Akin Busari, you can logon to www.akinbusari.com.

In a memo issued to paramedics in Brampton by Peter Dundas, Director of Peel’s Paramedic Services, he announced that representatives from Trillium and the William Osler Health System have put pen to paper, agreeing to allow the bypassing of their facility for patients suffering from STEMI, or ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Emergency response teams in the Peel region have been directed to transport heart attack patients directly to the cardiac catheterization laboratory in Trillium, without having to make a stop at Brampton Civic Hospital first. The new directive is effective on the 1st of March.

The move is in response to the requests of Brampton physicians towards local health officials, asking them to update cardiology services and treatments in the city by having a new angioplasty program.

At present, patients suffering from heart attacks are immediately brought to Brampton Civic’s E.R. for a dose of powerful drugs that break down blood clots. However, this kind of treatment is considered unreliable and outdated.
With the new directive, paramedics hope they can save more lives in time.

For those in the Brampton and Peel Region, H1N1 vaccinations are once again available today, as the flu clinics in the area reopen. The clinics will be open to those needing a second shot of the vaccine.

The follow-up vaccinations will be for kids aged 6 months to 3 years of age, as well as those aged 3 to 9 who suffer from chronic health problems like asthma, bronchits, and the like.

Susan Sterling, Toronto Public Health’s spokeswoman, urges residents in the area to remember that children can only be vaccinated 21 days after their first shot. This is to prevent unwanted reactions and side-effects.

Aside from H1N1 vaccines, seasonal flu shots will also be available to the general public at these clinics.

Sperling admits that health officials in the region don’t quite know how many people will show up this week. In spite of this, she says medical staffs in Peel and Brampton are more than ready for the crowds.

Those living in the City of Brampton and the entire Peel Region have one more week to cherish their Christmas tree before bringing it down and setting it outside on the curb for pickup.

Christmas trees all over the region are due for pick-up on the 11th of January, Monday next week. Waste collection agencies in Brampton expect not to finish the work in one day, so they’ve extended the pickup dates on the rest of the week’s waste collection days.

Locals are requested to remove ornaments, tinsel, nails, wire, lights, and other decorations from their trees before leaving them on the curb. Residents can also help in making things easier for the region’s waste collectors by dropping the Christmas trees at Community Recycling Centers scattered throughout the area.

Residents are also reminded that this week will be the last for the two-week exemption period for waste pickup. Locals can put out all the garbage bags they want at the curb until Friday, January 8, with no garbage tags necessary.

The usual two-garbage bag limit resumes next week on Monday.

For the City of Brampton, the New Year also means the implementation of a new set of laws and regulations. One such area that’ll be affected this year is traffic enforcement.

In a move to better discipline drivers and car owners in the city, officials have now either doubled or tripled traffic fines and penalties for violations on the road.

The adjustments are stated under the provisions of Bill 126, or the Road Safety Act of 2009, which officially took effect on January 1, 2010.

Yes, it’s a pretty gutsy way to the start the New Year.

The Act stipulates that:

• Drivers caught not wearing seatbelts, wearing it incorrectly, or improperly restraining a child in the vehicle will be fined $240 (the old fine was pegged at $110).
• From the old $110 fine, drivers caught running a red light will be slapped with a $325 penalty.

These are just some of the new adjustments city officials have made on the traffic code’s existing fines. They hope the stiffer penalties encourages drivers to follow the law at all times.