Delta dawns with threat to keep lockdowns on
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Dr. David Williams is almost gone as Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, but not before he warned the Step 1 reopening could be jeopardized by the Delta variant, even if a second shot strategy could be accelerated in the effort to outrun it. For now comes a hint of more freedom before June 14 and all things restored by September.
The face of uncertain future
A pair of Ryerson University history professors wrote a defence of the man who inspired the school’s name, but the Indigenous faculty is calling for it to change in the wake of the mass grave detected in Kamloops. Egerton Ryerson’s statue took a beating this week as his recommendations to create the residential school system are facing renewed rage and more protests.
CityNews brand is rolling over to nationwide radio. The stations that Rogers gave uniform green logos to in 2015 will shift this fall to aligning their audio with a televised identity, a concept already entrenched at Bell and Corus. CityNews Ottawa was the first to make this move.
Network TV: the final frontier
Canadian broadcasters are forced to navigate the fear that the total collapse of linear entertainment viewing is nigh, reflected in the aging flavour of American primetime. But the Paramount Plus investment in Star Trek spin-off series Discovery and Strange New Worlds, both produced in Toronto, feed CTV with something to sell before the era ends:
Harold Ballard is getting his story directed by Jason Priestley. CBC Television’s fall schedule announcement included news of Power Player, a documentary about the late Toronto Maple Leafs owner. Demand is there, given all the Ballard stories recently told on podcasts, and Joel Cadieux of Red Deer using Lego to reenact the ridiculousness.
Finally, nature is still healing
Neko Case retains honourary Canadian status, even if it’s been 15 years since she left Vancouver, eventually buying a farmhouse in Vermont. Reflections about how it burned down initiate a newsletter called Entering the Lung, an expansion of nature contemplations she posts to Instagram, which comes with a remix: