This newsletter was sent 24 hours late
The day before April Fool’s was filled with rumours about Ontario implementing a provincial “emergency brake” shutdown after Good Friday. Probably gone for at least 28 days is the patio dining that Toronto had for two weeks. The delayed March Break could also be postponed again for schools, where COVID-19 cases reached a record high.
The current state of outrage
Justin Trudeau was roasted on Tucker Carlson Tonight during a segment about “COVID internment camps” amid American arguments about national mask mandates, despite a vaccination rate that Canada can’t compete with. Meanwhile, a month into the policy, one quarter of international travellers were exempt from quarantine hotels.
“The Rise of the Anti-Mask Influencer.” Mack Lamoureux offers this Canadian contribution to The Fame Issue of Vice. The return of a print edition coincides with a report that Vice Media is about to go public after a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. The $2.5-billion valuation is about half of its peak in 2017.
Life as a major league nomad
The Blue Jays season will open in New York, with socially distanced Yankees fans in the stands, although Toronto home games are scheduled through May in Dunedin, Florida, at the same time the Raptors are playing in Tampa. Getting traded to the Portland Trail Blazers without saying goodbye north of the border inspired Norman Powell to write this:
There’s about $32 million ready to rain on the stage of the Brass Rail. The property housing the Toronto strip club is expected to be put up for sale to a developer soon, similar to what happened for Filmores, and what’s likely to happen to the Zanzibar. A few blocks down Yonge Street, the former Gasworks tavern building is for sale.
Finally, a non-fungible anthem
Jacques Greene was a lively guest on the podcast How Long Gone, as the electronic music producer from Toronto via Montreal has been prolific during the pandemic. The publishing rights to one of his new songs was offered as an NFT with just a six-second snippet: “Promise” ended up selling for 13.00 ETH, which is now worth about $25,000: