Political droplets for a pandemic weekend
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The current closure of the U.S.–Canada border to non-essential travel will be extended for at least 30 more days, a decision that came after Donald Trump implied it would happen faster. Doug Ford was no more into it than Justin Trudeau.
Opposition, heal thyself
Conservative leadership candidate Marilyn Gladu echoed Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, as a way for Canada to get back to work. But the MP from Sarnia, Ontario, said her recorded comments were taken out of context. (The other aspiring opposition leaders have mostly stuck to chiding China.)
Liberals considering a law to fight coronavirus disinformation. The interest in matching a U.K. government crackdown on fake health news found a fast foe in those noting how the federal party line on COVID-19 has shifted over time. For its part, Facebook will now warn users who engage with falsehoods, and direct them to truth.
The cost of escaping Ottawa
Justin Trudeau reuniting with family at the PM’s official cottage on Easter weekend continues to provide grist for critics who think he flouted physical distancing rules that others are being policed for. Now the Harrington Lake home itself is the subject of scrutiny, with the revelation of what’s being spent to fix up the 95-year-old retreat:
Brian Dennehy dead at 81. The actor from Connecticut found a second home at the Stratford Festival between 2008 and 2013, when he appeared in plays on all four of its stages. That was after he played “Big Tom” in the made-in-Toronto movie Tommy Boy.
Finally, hang on to yourself
Stardust is the dramatic film about David Bowie trying to make it in 1971 America, co-starring Marc Maron as his publicist. Maron’s tweeting about the “ragtag parade of frenetic sadness” he felt while filming in Hamilton may end up remembered more than the movie, which has no Bowie songs:
