A long weekend in the bedrooms of the nation
Discover more from Twelve Thirty Six
Five months after reversing her view on asymptomatic people needing to wear masks at all, Theresa Tam now suggests wearing them in the most intimate moments to avoid COVID-19 transmission between new partners. Tam’s list of recommendations stopped short of echoing the B.C. health department’s great glory hole glorification.
The sobering reality of this job
Demand for one retired teacher to play the part of Canada’s first prime minister has precipitously declined in the past five years: Brian Porter from Brockville, Ontario, is still sticking up for his lookalike legacy. Meanwhile, the John A. Macdonald statue in Toronto remains bagged and boxed in the wake of the toppled monument in Montreal.
Julie Payette’s job sounds safe for now according to Justin Trudeau. After a summer of stories about the governor general’s workplace behaviour, the PM called her “excellent” during an interview—which one former Rideau Hall staffer described as “a kick in the stomach.” A private firm has been hired to review the harassment claims.
Let’s go to laments for the Ex
What would usually be the final days of the Toronto fair is being marked with alarm from the Canadian National Exhibition, which says that next year’s edition could be the last without government help. Previously, the mayor said that its 2020 cancellation provided an opportunity to modernize the CNE, beyond eternally riding on nostalgia:
A generic podcast episode brings it back home to Loblaw. 99% Invisible probes the history of budget-priced store brands, like how the yellow uniformity of No Frills and No Name led to the aspirational President’s Choice. It also prompts a shout-out to the company’s most famous accused bread-price fixer, who’s also hosting a podcast.
Finally, this tale of two Erins
Erin O’Toole is a Colorado public radio host whose increasing receipt of misdirected vitriolic tweets helped her notice a Canadian namesake getting more attention while running for the Conservative leadership. And so it came to pass that one Erin O’Toole interviewed another to marvel at how they share a name and a birthday, if little else:
