The authorities keep apologizing for travel

Winter of pandemic vacation regrets

CityNews Toronto @CityNews

“I regret this non-essential travel and I’m sorry,” said Dr. Tom Stewart, the CEO of St. Joseph's Health System and Niagara Health and a member of Ontario's COVID-19 advisory table. Stewart travelled to Dominican Republic over the holidays.

bddy.meHospital CEO resigns from Ontario COVID-19 advisory table after holiday trip to Dominican Republic - CityNews TorontoThe CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System and Niagara Health, Dr. Tom Stewart, has resigned from Ontario’s COVID-19 advisory board after travelling to the Dominican Republic over the holidays. A statement from the Senior Vice President of St. Joseph’s Brian Guest said Stewart had been approved for vacat…

Tom Stewart will no longer be advising Ontario on COVID-19 issues, but remains a hospital CEO after the Dominican vacation he regrets. Pandemic travel confessions also came from the chief of staff to Calgary’s mayor and a Victoria city councillor who went to Somalia. Justin Trudeau expressed his disappointment with all of the above.

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Seeking the shots in the arm

CTV Toronto @CTVToronto

NEW: Ontario's Liberal Party is calling for military support to help speed up the rate of inoculations.

toronto.ctvnews.caOntario Liberals call for military assistance in COVID-19 vaccine rolloutAs Ontario ramps up it’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, the province’s Liberal party is calling for military support to help speed up the rate of inoculations.

While the Ontario Liberals want Queen’s Park to get military help with inoculation speed, task force leader Rick Hillier says the province is running out of vaccines, after the PM expressed his frustration with how slow it’s going. A more virulent third wave looms, after a holiday season during which around half the country visited friends and family.

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Wattpad is reportedly preparing to be bought for at least $500 million. A source told the Globe and Mail that bidding for the made-in-Toronto self-publishing app followed an unsolicited takeover offer from a U.S. internet company. Meanwhile, buzz about an autonomous driving car from Apple is boosting fortunes for Magna International.

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Craving new waves of media

The official changing of the guard at the top of Bell Media was swiftly followed by news of several other executives exiting the company as part of apparent streamlining to streams. But one ascendant star has voluntarily left Bell in favour of a YouTube project, as Brandon Gonez got LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Uber to sponsor his act:

ByBlacks @ByBlacks

Big News! @brandongonez is launching his own show January 17! Read the exclusive interview with @marcus_roi here: byblacks.com/news/2674-bran…

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Moses Znaimer mused about two decades of Zoomer Radio. Toronto’s former CBC frequency at AM 740 was revived on January 8, 2001: its eventual president ordered the station to play more Leonard Cohen. As for the Zoomer show on Vision TV, its recent Barbara Amiel episode was prefaced by Znaimer noting his erotic cameo in her book.

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Finally, he can’t feel his face

The Weeknd trashed the Grammys for snubbing his music, but the decision to postpone the ceremony means he’ll get his Super Bowl halftime spotlight beforehand. Moreover, a new music video for “Save Your Tears” is making headlines due to its apparent shading of the awards show ritual, while playing a plastic surgery disaster: