Justin Trudeau taking a shot at gun laws
Discover more from Twelve Thirty Six
Gun control laws are being rebooted in Canada, announced Justin Trudeau in a context that contrasted with recent events in the U.S. The new Bill C-21 includes a pledge to buy back assault-style weapons. But the proposed freeze on ownership of handguns is being criticized for targeting legal owners.
A last-minute appeal to Ottawa
Pushback to the Online News Act has arrived from a group of publishers arguing that Bill C-18 excludes funding for innovative outlets, which is presumably due to it being the byproduct of lobbying from legacy players. But the concept of Facebook and Google offsetting newspaper revenue declines is a story that the government has stuck with as a motivator.
Rogers and Shaw have paused merger plans while trying to solve issues with the Competition Bureau. The announcement means the bureau won’t block the $26-billion deal as Rogers completes full divestiture of Shaw’s wireless business. Freedom Mobile is being eyed by players who are pledging to compete enough to bring prices down.
“Yes… Ha Ha Ha… Yes!”
After fulfilling the filmmaker’s prophecy of walkouts at the Cannes Film Festival, a wide range of reviewer opinions have been registered for Crimes of the Future, which David Cronenberg subsequently premiered in Toronto with two stars. It was dubbed “a sicko-cinema masterpiece” by the Globe and Mail as a shout-out to this cartoon from The Onion:
Norm Macdonald’s final act is now on Netflix. Nothing Special is a single-take of a stand-up act he ended up performing at home due to venues being shuttered in summer 2020, about a year before he succumbed to leukemia. The performance is followed by commentary from comedian colleagues.
Finally, the sound of aluminum
Denis “Piggy” D’Amour, who died of cancer in 2005 at age 45, was the guitarist of Voivod—which continued its 40-year run with an album released this year. The idea of a memorial for Piggy in Saguenay, Quebec, was first floated a few years ago, but the aluminum monument will get closer to reality if $100,000 is raised:
