Justin Trudeau being set to claim the longest term of any G7 leader finds him angling for elder statesman status at the summit. The PM offered to help with Boris Johnson’s border problem while not getting further on a border deal with Joe Biden. American reporters were apparently more curious about why Trudeau couldn’t get a haircut.
The two-dose summer solution
The trend pieces are sprouting up about how social lives are being revived by the wave of vaccinations, more so as the earlier promise of a “one-dose summer” is rapidly transforming to two. Ontario following other provinces in shortening the wait between AstraZeneca doses from 12 to eight weeks is helping its Generation X takers feel relief.
Terrorism charges have been filed against the suspected killer in London, Ontario. Four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder were filed before the Afzaal family members were laid to rest. Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, joined those responding to the deaths by calling for crackdowns on online hate and extremism.
Statue truth and consequences
An effigy of John A. Macdonald removed last summer won’t return to Waterloo, calls to rid one in Kingston are getting louder, and the sculptors of others are expressing regret. Residential school reckonings also loom over a 16-year-old statue in Toronto—although Alexander Wood endorsed a mission that became part of that system after he died:
David Bowie’s painting bought for $5 at a thrift store in Northern Ontario. DHead XLVI is going up for auction for a price estimated between $9,000 and $12,000. This one of 47 portraits the artist created between 1995 and 1997 has come with plenty of press because of how it was found near North Bay—a city with a Bowie mural.
Finally, he gives without taking
William White getting attention for a TikTok lip-synch of “Mandy” from whoever operates Barry Manilow’s social media is now being monetized with merchandise. The 21-year-old landscaper from Niagara Falls, Ontario, has drawn a crowd of cougar fans, signed a modelling contract, and sets the path for whatever will pass for post-pandemic fame: