Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers issued a press release stating the Ottawa protest will go on for “as long as it takes” to get what they want. For his part, Justin Trudeau issued appreciation to vaccinated truckers. But this all may end up being remembered most as the backdrop for the Conservative caucus ousting Erin O’Toole as party leader, if that happens.
The two-year green drought
“Two weeks to slow the spread” had hardly just begun when the promise of proclaiming a “St. Patrick’s Day 2” was made by the mayor of Toronto—but the entirety of 2020 and 2021 passed without it. Whatever the debt is up to, a 2022 St. Patrick’s Day parade is now scheduled for March 20, six days after Ontario plans to lift all the indoor capacity limits.
“Pride Toronto mishandled grant funding, exploited Indigenous and Two-Spirit artists, investigation finds.” The story from Xtra picks up the baton on research that York University history professor Tom Hooper dropped via Twitter. Pride Toronto then revealed the organization hired KPMG last fall to conduct a grant compliance review.
ZoomerMedia is paying $15 million for Freshdaily Inc. The revelation about the purchase price for BlogTO was tucked into quarterly results on the heels of the acquisition announcement. The deal was also marked by Zoomer boss Moses Znaimer making the declaration “Ich bin ein blogger” as part of a five-minute report on ZNews.
Finally, a sidekick still standing
Late Night with David Letterman had its 40th anniversary marked on NBC with the show’s original host visiting current successor Seth Meyers, along with a new official Letterman archive on YouTube. The date also came with his bandleader from Thunder Bay reflecting on scoring the steady gig, which began with playing the song “Physical” behind Bill Murray: