Scenes from the class war in the federal election
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Gagan Sikand, a Liberal MP from Mississauga, tried playing along with hashtag gags about Andrew Scheer’s claim of a lower-class upbringing—and set up a grandstanding reaction from the Conservative leader. Meanwhile, the covering of finance minister Bill Morneau’s pricey cufflinks on a poster was apparently the byproduct of vandalism.
The anti-social-issue stuff
Revived debates that RM Vaughan is lamenting at Xtra appear to have quieted for now. Instead, abortion is back: Elizabeth May said that Green MPs wouldn’t be prevented from trying to reopen the debate, then later said that her party is against doing that.
Vice Canada’s former music editor pleads guilty in cocaine conspiracy. Yaroslav Pastukhov admitted in court that he was involved in smuggling drugs into Australia, which was allegedly linked to connections he made through Vice. After his plea, Pastukhov disputed that characterization on Twitter, describing it as bad journalism.
Stars—they’re sorta like us!
After TIFF hero Tom Hanks made like Mister Rogers by visiting Grinder Coffee in Leslieville, Joker star Joaquin Phoenix joined a vegan protest inside St. George subway station. But neither one could beat the surreality of this:
A midnight launch for Margaret Atwood. The Testaments officially went on sale in London, England, with a reading at Waterstones. But for a contrarian take on The Handmaid’s Tale sequel’s modern-day momentum, here’s Colby Cosh in the National Post.
Queen B pages Champagne Papi
With many lucrative endorsement deals expected for the U.S. Open champ, Bianca Andreescu turned up on The Tonight Show, to wonder aloud why Drake hasn’t called:
Little Canada is coming to Dundas and Yonge. A new attraction designed to take visitors on a tour of the country through miniature models leased 45,000 square feet at 10 Dundas East, the complex which first opened in 2008 as “Toronto Life Square.”
Finally, invisible days of rave
23 Hop was a storied Toronto venue, which ran from 1990 and 1995 without a sign. The club is credited with planting roots for the rave phenomenon. Now, it’s the subject of a YouTube documentary—even though no footage exists of what it was back then: