George Stroumboulopoulos is starting a summer gig with CNN on June 9th. He’ll be doing ten weeks of a show called, simply, Stroumboulopoulos. The network says his guests will include fellow Canadian Ellen Page, as well as Robert Kirkman, who writes the Walking Dead comic books. Will Americans enjoy Strombo? Will they ever learn to pronounce and spell his name as well as we have?
With the warmth of summer finally here, Torontonians are coming out of hibernation and making use of the many City parks at their disposal. But these parks need to be maintained, they need programming, they need recreation staff, and they need groups of dedicated citizens who care about them. To this end, Toronto Parks People has launched Parks44, a program with the goal of starting a local parks group in each of the city’s 44 wards.
Mark Towhey (left) with Rob Ford during Tuesday’s casino debate at City Hall.
For reasons that are not yet clear, Rob Ford has fired one of his closest advisors, chief of staff Mark Towhey. Reporters who were standing outside the mayor’s office at City Hall this afternoon were surprised to see Towhey departing unexpectedly, escorted by security. As he left he spoke very briefly, saying “I am no longer the chief of staff, I did not resign.” He was asked whether he gave the mayor any advice about how to handle the recent allegations he was caught on video smoking crack cocaine and making racist and homophobic slurs; Towhey said he did, but that advice would remain confidential.