It’s the least wonderful wrap of the year
The final 12:36 newsletter of 2020
A disturbingly vigorous Santa Claus supplied Theresa Tam with some levity. Justin Trudeau then rallied cabinet members into certifying the essential worker status she granted Saint Nick. And then everyone went back to worrying about the pandemic.
Retraction from a Zoom room
A video chat posted on Facebook by Ryerson University’s conservative student group was a window into Erin O’Toole’s advice about how to win a debate. This included the federal leader sharing his views on the case against Egerton Ryerson’s role in the residential school system, which he walked back while stopping short of an apology.
The sign of the Matador Ballroom will be saved. But the city of Toronto otherwise approved the rezoning application that will turn the storied site into a six-storey condo, after its revival as a restaurant was blocked. The sign of another local institution, Fran’s Restaurant, illustrated the stories about one of its location closing due to COVID-19.
A time of restaurant reckoning
Restaurants Canada launched a campaign to show what life would be like without eateries now that more than 10,000 have permanently closed across the country during the pandemic. Meanwhile, a chain that previously thrived via sexist marketing is the subject of a Vice investigation into allegations about treatment of female staff:
A cop was arrested in conjunction with the Wayne Gretzky memorabilia theft. June Dobson, an Ontario Provincial Police detachment commander currently on leave, was charged with fraud in relation to a hockey stick sale. Ken Hadall, who allegedly stole multiple items from Walter Gretzky’s house, has ties with several hockey legends.
Finally, can’t let this one slide
Drake had the quickest TikTok hit of the year, as “Toosie Slide” generated one billion video views in three April days. At the time, it was an early anthem for living under quarantine, albeit in a mansion big enough to model with Lego. And so, 2020 ends within the infinite loop where it began, only there’s more dancing with yourself than initially expected: