The disputes over whether or not the Toronto chair-tossing video was produced by Marcella Zoia herself contributed to the delay of her sentencing—even though a chair made an appearance with her at Old City Hall. Chair Girl soon returned to Instagram with a picture of fancy Saint Laurent sneakers, via her verified account.
The calling from behind bars
Recent rallying via the Twitter account @letstalkjails renewed attention to something that’s been in the air for a while: a system that caps collect calls from Ontario inmates to 20 minutes, while limiting them to landlines. Bell Canada holds a contract to charge up to $1 a minute on prison phones, which the province is now looking to change.
Jessica Mulroney is the supporting character that the Megxit saga needs. Instagram stories about her prolific plane travel, recently to Jamaica, fed the Daily Mail focus on Meghan Markle’s BFF. The tabloid also claims that Mulroney tried to sway an article in favour of the Duchess of Sussex—who visited a Vancouver women’s shelter.
Rona won’t be doing it right
Conservative leadership aspirant Bryan Brulotte dropped out of the race due to tight new rules. Candidates must now show support from 3,000 members of more than 21 days, and a $300,000 submission to the party, making it trickier for those who haven’t been MPs. The field also looks very male:
Who wants to write about Jessica Yaniv? The transgender woman bringing another case to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal looked likely to again have the story spun by right-wing outlets, portraying it as part of a phenomenon. Yaniv’s apparent physical confrontation with Rebel News reporter Keean Bexte contributed to the new content.
Parkdale’s post-slumlord era
The story of a Parkdale homeowner who won permission to build a parking pad for his Tesla, despite opposition at Toronto city hall, was a reminder of all that comes with gentrification. How the neighbourhood got here is the focus of a Guardian feature from art critic Murray Whyte, who recently moved to Boston after 20 years around Parkdale:
The wrong kind of publicity for Uncle Ray’s. A press release for the upcoming Toronto location of a Southern food restaurant—which had a photo of a gorilla next to a touting of fried chicken and waffles—brought on attention that led its management to delete the image, and acknowledge their lapse in judgement.
Finally, springtime for a secret
Secret Hitler is the name of a board game removed from three Montreal stores after complaints escalated by Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada. But designer Max Temkin, who also co-created Cards Against Humanity, has spent the past three years explaining how his game is anti-fascist by design. Overall, it seems to be translating: