Brand Twitter never got as provocative as the Maple Leaf Foods thread blaming Iran’s admitted downing of PS752 on the U.S. government, confirmed to be genuine words from its CEO. A tweet from Jagmeet Singh referenced “the shifting stories” about the tragedy, although Maclean’s columnist Scott Gilmore regretted linking it to Trump.
The passengers of PS752
Postmedia gathered all the stories it could about the Ukrainian International Airlines passengers with Canadian ties. The tragedy had a particular impact on the academic community—more than 20 schools were represented among those killed.
The emergency nuclear alarm that shook every Sunday sleep-in. Ontario apologized for the 7:24 a.m. province-wide alert about an incident at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, which was followed by a 9:12 a.m. message regretting the error. Calls for an investigation include wondering why the follow-up took 108 minutes.
We stand on guard for Megxit
Princes Harry and William deny that bullying is behind the Sussexes now confirmed to be at least partly relocating to Canada, a prospect that gave all Canadians an excuse to ratio a New York Times tweet about them “injecting some razzle dazzle to the sprawling, bone-chillingly cold country.” But one buddy denies he’s helping them hide:
“Look after Dad and Rob, up there in heaven, and I know the three of you are already planning Rob’s re-election campaign as the Mayor of heaven.” Doug Ford’s eulogy at the funeral for his mother, Diane, who died on January 5 at age 85, concluded a week of tributes to the woman whom her premier son credits with significant political influence.
The most Objectivist lyricist
Neil Peart’s death on January 7 at age 67 was announced three days later, befitting the Rush drummer’s private public profile. But the deluge of tributes included “The Spirit of Radio” spun on the modern rock station he wrote it about. It also revived discussion of how libertarian politics influenced the lyrics Peart penned for Geddy Lee to sing:
Florence Richler dead at 90. The wife and “editor-in-residence” of the late Mordecai Richler met him via her first husband, screenwriter Stanley Mann—the novelist was best man at their wedding. (Florence’s official obituary acknowledges this fact.)
Finally, 15 minutes of chicken
Eve Dubois took a day off work to field media inquiries about her viral moment on Family Feud Canada, where she joined 46 out of 100 people surveyed in not knowing that Popeye’s favourite food is spinach. The chicken chain compensated the Lorette, Manitoba, woman with $10,000 in product, a moment she was evidently rehearsing for:
