The mask has come off Steven Del Duca
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The newly glasses-free Steven Del Duca announced his first platform plank with a new circular logo and a rebuke of Doug Ford’s 2022 campaign jingle. But the Ontario Liberal event in Toronto was also noticed for a relative lack of masks. At least a couple candidates took to Twitter to regret that they let standards slip.
The convoy aftermath rolls on
Ottawa police headquarters had a visit from MPP Randy Hillier as he surrendered to nine new charges related to the Freedom Convoy protests, adding to his collection of them during the pandemic. On the weekend, a “Next Generation Convoy” rolled in to the capital to demand an end to remaining mandates.
The expanding vortex of Conservative leadership candidates. Liberal floor-crossing MP Leona Alleslev launched her website, joining a second-tier field featuring five men including exiled Ontario PC MPP Roman Baber. Meanwhile, an Angus Reid poll says those who voted Liberal in the past favour Jean Charest.
When the 2020s begin to roar
The new $13.2 billion child-care deal for Ontario was finally signed after every other jurisdiction in the country got it done with the federal government—although the final drop to $10 a day will take until 2025. But that’s a lot faster than building transit, even if officials have vowed less traffic disruption in the course of creating 14 new stations across Toronto:
Denis Villeneuve has to settle for hardly any headlines. Dune won six Academy Awards, four of which were awarded in the off-air ceremony, but the Quebec director had his triumph overshadowed by a slap. Preparation for the sequel is now getting started. The director will expect more big-screen respect.
Finally, life before fighting Foo
Taylor Hawkins died March 25 at age 50, and the preliminary toxicology report in Colombia found 10 substances in his system. Before his 25 years as the Foo Fighters drummer, Hawkins played with Alanis Morissette, a gig he got after her manager saw him backing Sass Jordan, which once meant being on the CBC: