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Nov 1, 2019

Encana announces plans to establish a new corporate domicile in the U.S. and change its name to Ovintiv. The new name and logo strongly reinforce our strengths today and our vision for the future. encana.com/ovintiv

Ovintiv is a word that Google Translate recognizes as Albanian, and might as well be something like Qwikster or Tronc. But energy giant Encana changing its name and moving headquarters to Denver from Calgary also comes with a political undercurrent.

No tricked-out treat from PMJT

Yasmine Mohammed ياسمين محمد 🦋 @YasMohammedxx

A friend of mine dressed up as @JustinTrudeau for Halloween 😄k

After years of Halloween photo-ops from Justin Trudeau, the PMO had to answer media inquiries about his plans in the aftermath of the blackface scandal. But it also fed into the perception that Trudeau is laying low.

Meet the teacher on medical leave in Toronto who’s teaching in Montreal. Roseline Dorcin’s pay was suspended in one city after she was spotted in a schoolyard in the other city. She’d previously been noticed running as an election candidate for the NDP.

Book waits on another chapter

Publication of The Billionaire Murders has supplied Kevin Donovan with a forum to air theories of who killed Barry and Honey Sherman. But the Toronto Star reporter was also denied access to their estate files, which now stands a chance of being changed:

Kevin Donovan @_kevindonovan

Sherman family’s appeal to keep estate details secret headed to Supreme Court

thestar.comSherman family’s appeal to keep estate details secret headed to Supreme Court | The StarOn Thursday, Canada’s highest court agreed to hear an appeal of a lower-court ruling, which found the murdered billionaires’ estate records should be made public.

Newspaper publishers have their own secrets to keep. The Tyee’s Bryan Carney still wants to know details that Torstar and Postmedia concealed about a 2017 swap that resulted in the closure of 36 newspapers. Documents related to “Project Lebron” may be more significant now that the companies are claiming journalism fund tax credits.

A different library policy topic

When a librarian questioned whether Kayla Scott’s six-year-old daughter was a girl upon registering for a library card, the Mount Albert, Ontario, mother wondered why they were asking. Now she’s rallying to end this statistical collection of gender data:

YorkRegion @YorkRegion

Gender discrimination complaint sparks Newmarket Public Library policy review. Local mother advocating for legislation requiring all Ontario public institutions require gender inclusion policy. torstar.co/ImkZ50wVL5a

“A Case Study in Media-Driven Social Panic.” Quillette’s Jonathan Kay attempts to untangle reaction to Meghan Murphy’s speech, which was followed by all but one city councillor voting to review Toronto Public Library room rental policies—two years after the last revision. (Murphy’s entire talk at the TPL has been uploaded to YouTube.)

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Finally, the Monster at the end of this week

R.E.M. is promoting the reissue of its 1994 album like it’s 1994, even if it seemed like plenty of the CD copies of Monster were originally pawned off by disappointed buyers. So, a Toronto record store mounted a monument to this very special legacy:

Sonic Boom @SonicBoomMusic

This window was 15 years in the making and we couldn’t of done it without all 400 of you! For the last 15 years we have been collecting 400 copies of Monster by R.E.M. which turns 25 this year with a reissue coming out on Nov 1. What a way to celebrate! 🐻�EH