Candidate cancellations have peaked for now

It can always get worse later on

May 16, 2022

Ottawa Citizen @OttawaCitizen

Chris Selley: Ontario's social media mini-scandals are a glimpse into a hellish future

ottawacitizen.comSelley: Ontario’s social media mini-scandals are a glimpse into a hellish futureParty politics was never supposed to be fair. But the way the Ontario Liberals jettisoned two young candidates raises larger questions

“Enough is enough” said Steven Del Duca after prior comments from a fourth current Ontario Liberal candidate emerged: Noel Semple once criticized a student subsidy for an LGBTQ group at the University of Toronto. But this followed two other political aspirants being jettisoned for their respective trails of online comments they posted as young teens.

Train stunt lands with a thud

Cynthia Mulligan @CityCynthia

New: Liberal candidate Mitzie Hunter calls Doug Ford the "conductor" of a gravy train. She says his government gave out 16 patronage appointments to PC candidates who ran and lost in 2018 #onpoli

Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter pulled out all the stops in promoting a Sunday morning revelation that amounted to saying that 16 of 41 unsuccessful Ontario PC candidates of 2018 got patronage appointments. The spectre of the Ford era of Toronto’s local government also factors into an NDP campaign promise to make city council have 47 members again.

At least the Toronto Maple Leafs loss provided content worthy of 6ixBuzzTV. Video of fans fighting each other at the Scotiabank Arena captured a mood of losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. A meme noting the Leafs blew a first-round winner-take-all game for five years in a row was amplified by the long-suffering holder of NHL broadcast rights.

Juno jingoism transcends Twitter

National pride at the Juno Awards took the form of host Simu Liu doing an updated version of the “I Am Canadian” rant from a 22-year-old Molson beer commercial, albeit with political tinges safe enough for an event sponsored by TD Bank. Less successful in stirring support was an ex-politician’s tweet:

Catherine McKenna @cathmckenna

Reading the news today, I'm feeling very fortunate to live in Canada - a diverse and tolerant country that values freedom while respecting human rights. We aren't perfect and building our country is an ongoing project but I wouldn't choose anywhere else. ❤️🇨🇦

Google is now arguing that Bill C-18 could make it subsidize biased news outlets. Russian state media outlet Sputnik is cited as an example for concern of what may be rewarded in the stealth eligibility criteria to benefit. Meanwhile, new Montreal Gazette editor-in-chief Bert Archer just wants the regular website readers to subscribe already.

Finally, what the morning brings

David Milgaard died in Calgary at age 69 as a noteworthy national figure for having spent 23 years in prison for a 1969 Saskatoon rape and murder he didn’t commit. The works inspired by his story included a made-for-CTV movie and a telling in comic book format by David Collier. Both came after the Tragically Hip: