Getting internationally known as the city that declared a state of emergency due to a pandemic-era occupation is something Ottawa would like to end. GoFundMe initially claiming $10 million in convoy donations would go to other causes also fed the culture war. Parallel protests in Toronto will mostly be remembered for alleged poop throwing.
Saturday night’s main event
The posting of Pierre Poilievre reached a pinnacle with the Ottawa-area MP announcing a bid for the Conservative leadership. While it seems like he sewed it up before Erin O’Toole was out the door, some strategists are hoping for a race. Poilievre focused on promising to “give you back control of your life.”
A weird new twist in the history of Canada vs. Russia hockey games. Masks were worn by women during a Beijing game, which was delayed due to COVID-19 test processing. (Team Canada then won 6–1.) It was a day after Rosie DiManno got widely ratioed for a column that argued women’s hockey doesn’t belong in the Olympics.
BCE’s radio revolving door
“Did Bell Media just try to buy my silence?” asks Jamil Jivani in his second dispatch about losing his radio show. Meanwhile, the company didn’t comment on ex-NHL enforcer Chris Nilan saying he was fired from TSN Radio Montreal for not getting vaccinated. But at least another Bell outlet in that town will be rebooting its legacy:
John Honderich dead at 75. The former editor turned publisher of the Toronto Star followed in the footsteps of his father, Beland—although John started his career at the Ottawa Citizen. He later had multiple editorial roles at the Star before first taking the helm in 1988. Naturally, the tributes were plentiful in the newspaper he exited in 2020.
Finally, the first of the last
The Who have Toronto enshrined as the location of two notable concerts: October 21, 1976 was the final one with Keith Moon; December 17, 1982 was billed as a farewell. While they’ve visited six more times, it seemed fated that the actual last Who show would happen in the city. But instead, it’s where their next final tour leg will begin:
