It was early in the pandemic panic when the Collision tech conference, midway through a three-year deal to be hosted in Toronto with government backing, shifted its style to Collision From Home. As a result, Paris Hilton could easily feed the culture of vainglorious video ventilation, which Justin Trudeau is also waiting his turn with virtual attendees.
Saving the next fall TV season
The reboots of Saved by the Bell and Punky Brewster are among the shows that Corus Entertainment has acquired the rights to, which suggests that NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, will be blocked at the border. Similarly, the upcoming CBS All Access animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks will be transmitted via Bell Media.
The Canadian Association of Black Journalists wrote an open letter to Corus. Global News editorial decisions and the alleged mistreatment of staff were raised in a call to improve representation standard at the company, which previously announced an internal review. Meanwhile, the CBC has vowed to accelerate its own diversity goals.
The aftermath of a race row
“Ben Mulroney put on a clinic this week on how to be a great husband,” begins a Star column by Vinay Menon that any crisis PR team could love—whereas the Globe and Mail’s John Doyle revives that time Ben’s dad criticized some criticism. There was also a selectively edited minute on Inside Edition that tried to explain him to the Americans:
TIFF will stick to around 50 new feature films in September. Plans for a slimmed-down event amount to about one-fifth of the previous year’s schedule. Physically distant in-person screenings will be limited to five days. The announcement follows the film festival laying off 31 of its full-time staff.
Finally, going out like a lamb
Jim Karygiannis, a longtime Liberal MP turned Toronto city councillor, was formally removed last November for excessive spending on victory celebrations. Nineteen days later, an Ontario Superior Court judge reinstated Karygiannis, who claimed it was a clerical error. But receipts for a nearly $27,000 lamb dinner cost him the job again:
