New fears somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge

Delta can’t help ya reopen faster

Jul 8, 2021

The risk of reopening the border this summer is too great, especially with the more transmissible Delta variant spreading in parts of the midwestern U.S., Dr. Mustafa Hirji said.

toronto.ctvnews.caNiagara top doctor says reopening border with U.S. this summer is too riskyThe top public health official in Ontario’s Niagara Region says he wants the U.S.-Canada border to stay closed until the fall even as local business leaders and politicians call for the opposite to support the area’s tourism-reliant economy.

“I expect, probably, we need another two or three months,” says Niagara Region’s top doctor about the prospect of the Canada–U.S. border reopening plan that Justin Trudeau promised is coming soon. But the new concern surrounds delta variant cases increasing and fear of unvaccinated Canadians becoming more vulnerable.

Just not ready for an election

The Canadian Press Politics @CdnPressPoli

Green party layoffs are leaving leader Annamie Paul without staff in her office as a feud goes on, @ChrisAReynolds reports bit.ly/3dOVocT #cdnpoli

bit.lyAnnamie Paul loses key staffers in Green Party layoffs | CBC NewsA recent round of layoffs mean Green Party Leader Annamie Paul no longer has any staff in her office, as a feud between Paul and party executives drags on.

Annamie Paul losing her paid staff due to party layoffs continued the drama ahead of a July 20 non-confidence vote faced by the leader of the Greens. Meanwhile, ahead of the election call, Jody Wilson-Raybould announced she won’t be running federally again—she’ll exit “toxic and ineffective” Ottawa in order to address issues elsewhere.

Black Lives Matter is getting a permanent home in Toronto. Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism will move into 24 Cecil Street, a downtown Victorian mansion recently listed for sale at $8.2 million. The purchase by BLM will allow the building to fulfill the objectives of Wildseed, which initially launched a smaller rented space in March 2020.

No more hockey nights in July

The second straight Stanley Cup victory by the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed to get less attention than Ron MacLean did after failing to ask Gary Bettman about sexual assault allegations surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks. But after a police tear-gassing following the one Montreal win, the final defeat looked calmer on those streets:

Montreal Gazette @mtlgazette

'We were so close to winning': Canadiens fans come together outside Bell Centre zpr.io/svszTQjBxznQ #GoHabsGo

Torstar’s next play involves making news media for Gen Z. AFK, a joint venture with Toronto company Enthusiast Gaming, will be a brand whose acronym refers to “away from keyboard.” The publisher is also planning to launch its online casino in December, once Ontario has established its new legal entity to manage single-game sports betting.

Finally, the opposite of Bart

Finding D.W. is a new podcast series in which former voice actor Jason Szwimer talks to six other guys who had the role of Dora Winifred “D.W.” Read. The younger sister to the title character of Arthur, a show recorded in Montreal and Toronto for 25 years, remains a job only given to a boy whose voice has’t broken yet:

The Hollywood Reporter @THR

‘Arthur’ Casting Director Reveals Why D.W. Read Has Only Ever Been Voiced By Young Boys

thr.cm‘Arthur’ Casting Director Reveals Why D.W. Read Has Only Ever Been Voiced by Young BoysDora Winifred “D.W.” Read, the bratty, tomboy younger sister of the title character from PBS’ long-running animated series Arthur, has only ever been voiced by boys because young girls “were just too sweet” for the role, according to the show’s voice director. Debra Toffan, who has worked as a voice…