John A. falls after another Trump goes bust
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While this Montreal monument to Canada’s first prime minister has seen vandalism before, the recent toppling of John A. Macdonald’s statue had more of a social media moment during a protest urging a police budget cut. This led conservative politicians to attack the destruction and Jason Kenney to offer to remount the head.
Large adult sons get evicted
Vancouver’s Trump International Hotel was operated by a Malaysian developer whose subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy. The building will no longer be branded by the U.S. president, who’d been in office for a few weeks when his sons opened it. Toronto’s troubled Trump tower lasted for about five years before it found a new owner in 2017.
Leonard Cohen’s estate is exploring legal options after the Republican National Convention. The two covers of “Hallelujah” played during the fireworks display after Donald Trump’s speech met with rebuke. Cohen’s publisher says they turned down a request for permission, but the estate says they’d have allowed “You Want It Darker.”
Playing the hits on the radio
Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay apologized for her tweet linking Chrystia Freeland with George Soros by acknowledging it echoed conspiracy theories about the liberal billionaire philanthropist. The fallout also helped Global News Radio host Charles Adler promote himself again for switching political teams:
Christopher Nolan’s box office is officially a secret around here. Tenet opened in 41 countries, and globally grossed an estimated $53 million. Warner Bros. Pictures Group blocked detail of its North American ticket sales until the U.S. opening catches up, but the guess that it has made $4 million across Canada is seen as an encouraging statistic.
Finally, if the world was ending
The MTV Video Music Awards first aired in Canada two weeks after the 1984 launch of MuchMusic, and the tradition continued—even if COVID-19 meant little about it was live from New York. Fireworks went off days earlier for the Weeknd’s opening “Blinding Lights,” while Toronto singer JP Saxe exported these apocalyptic emotions: