The pro wrestler who’s now a mayor in Quebec
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Having recently lost a longtime gig as a French-language commentator with World Wrestling Entertainment—for which he and his Québécois brother once tag-teamed in the biggest rings—Raymond Rougeau is now mayor of Rawdon. Following his 1986 to 1990 run with the Fabulous Rogeaus, he rebranded as a villain named “The Mountie.”
French class underway at AC
A letter to Air Canada’s board of directors from Chrystia Freeland had the deputy PM ramping up pressure for its CEO to learn French if he wants to keep his job. Michael Rousseau responded by writing to employees in the language he can’t fluently speak that he hired a private tutor after getting caught at his first major speech.
“The Conservative party encourages people to vaccinated.” Erin O’Toole condemned MP Marilyn Gladu, who’s spearheading a “civil liberties caucus” to defend COVID-19 inoculation privacy. Gladu and rookie MP Leslyn Lewis, who also spoke out against vaccine mandates, were left out of the shadow cabinet under O’Toole.
A pause from the 6ix God
The lawsuits are piling up in Houston over the Astroworld concert crush, as rapper Travis Scott announced he’ll pay the funeral costs for the eight dead and foot the bill for mental health services for those impacted. Drake, who’s also being sued due to being onstage at the time, released his social media statement regarding the tragedy:
Trooper’s two founding members are officially retiring. Ra McGuire and Brian Smith have stepped back from the road while giving the rest of the band the blessing to carry on. The pair started performing in 1967 in the Vancouver group Winter’s Green, which became Applejack—and then renamed Trooper by producer Randy Bachman.
Finally, a click of the heart
Kaya Usher kept a low public profile as the wife of the late Gord Downie. But that’s changed upon the announcement of a debut album of her own. All This Is is credited to Kaya Usher and the Family Band, as two of their four children participated in the recording, tied to her online self-healing platform. But first she’s delivered this song: