News: December 2007 Archives

Canada wins the Spengler Cup. If you are like us, your first reaction to this news was, "What the hell is the Spengler Cup?" It very probably has nothing to do with famed Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (played by great expat Canadian Harold Ramis), so it can't be that good. Give us a moment while we do some research... huh. Apparently it's a professional hockey tournament. Who knew.

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse.

Reader Ted M. tipped us off this morning to the extremely unfortunate ad placement on the Star's online article about an eight-year-old girl who drowned after being trapped inside her mother's car when it slid into a river: a Flash ad for Expedia asking the reader, "Feeling trapped this winter?" Whoops.

It's Boxing Day! Go spend money! If you don't, Canada's economy will suffer and it will all be your fault! You probably don't even own all the seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD yet, do you? You slacker.

Oscar Peterson passes at 82. The great jazz musician was a Canadian hero and he did many amazing things, including spending the twilight of his career essentially playing jazz piano one-handed and doing it better than most people who had use of both their hands.

Queen Elizabeth II––who you will recall is our Head of State and yet still won't pony up to fix the TTC ––- has had her annual Christmas address posted on YouTube this year. The 81-year-old monarch gives a dignified formal message about her thoughts on the past year and hopes for the future before stripping to bra and panties and lip-syncing to Nellie Furtado's "Promiscuous."

Torontoist is one of fourteen cities in the worldwide Gothamist network. Each Sunday, the editors of every site—from LAist to Londonist—choose their most interesting article, a list which is compiled into the network-wide feature Elsewhere In The Ist-A-Verse.

The Missed Connections forum on Craigslist is usually a repository of "the urban equivalent of messages in a bottle." It’s home to those wishing for a second chance at a serendipitous encounter and to cute, shy-person flirting, as nameless, faceless people share their private emotions in a very public way. The messages usually affirm that no matter how much coldness there seems to be at street level, there’s just as much hope and optimism fueling city life.

There is a prominence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in peacekeepers, suggests a new study [PDF] that also tries to shed light on the risk factors that lead to mental health conditions incurred by peacekeeping service.

A new poll shows that the majority of Canadians will call the cops on you if your party is too loud. Thus proving once and for all that we are a nation of killjoys.

This is outside––far outside––of Torontoist's scope, but reader Chris Stone e-mailed us to ask for help in publicizing a missing child case, and we figured we should do what we can.

If you're a tree hugger who takes the GO bus instead of driving like a regular person, you might want to limber up that hippy hitchhikin' thumb. GO bus drivers are leaning towards a strike sometime in the next few days, although they've agreed to give 48 hours notice before any walkout. A strike wouldn't stop GO train service, although pickets could slow them down.

The Toronto Public Library is an undeniably important public space in this city. Beyond offering a sanctuary for quiet study and learning, library branches provide after-school programming for youth as well as settlement information and language resources for newcomers. It’s little wonder that this fall, even as he was threatening budget cuts, David Miller remarked: "Our libraries are where people become Torontonians." Striving to remain relevant and innovative, the public library constantly introduces new programs, such as this year’s Museum and Arts Passes, free Wi-Fi access, and downloadable books, movies, and music.

Last week, Toronto-based advertising agency TAXI announced 15 Below, a new project to coincide with TAXI's fifteenth anniversary that would see the company create, manufacture, and distribute 3,000 coats for homeless people across North America. Designed by TAXI's executive creative director Steve Mykolyn and designer Lida Baday (pictured), the waterproof, windproof, and plentily-pocketed coat serves as a lightweight jacket during not-too-cold weather, can fold into a backpack during decent weather, and—when you fill the pockets up with newspaper—converts into a super-warm jacket that was tested (in a meat locker, no less!) to be effective up to -29° celsius.

Gate House goes coed. After a series of puerile, childish, vaguely misogynistic stunts, the infamous all-male U of T residence has been come down upon by that stuffy old dean. Of note is Gate House's claim to be an inspiration for the movie , just like every other "look at us we're so wild" frat house on every college campus ever, despite the fact that Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis went to McMaster.

We’re going to take a break from our usual Torontoist style in this post because the passing of John Harkness, the film critic for Now magazine since its inception in 1981, is something that has particular importance for me. As the writer of Torontoist's weekly “Film Friday” column, which, as you know, very often quotes the reviews from local critics, I have probably quoted John Harkness more than anyone.

The Harper government will introduce legislation to protect consumers more effectively from dangerous products, in part by holding importers more accountable for the goods they bring in. Christmas isn't going to be the same without the traditional lead-laden toys and minor brain damage.

It snowed a whole lot. Of course, you probably didn't need Torontoist to tell you this, unless you've been on a serious World of Warcraft run all weekend. In which case you are probably trapped inside your home, and soon will perish—which probably gives you just enough time to make it to level sixty!

It sounds pretty simple. There's one rule, right? Don't get so wasted that you a) spill the beans to your boss about i) the fact that you hate him/her or ii) the fact that someone is quitting, b) touch someone inappropriately, or c) throw up in your boss' lap. And yet come holiday season, we're bombarded by so much inane advice on how to not screw up at your office party that it's enough to make anyone paranoid. So to save you some time, we thought we'd do a summary of the not-so-helpful suggestions from our local etiquette experts.

A new study says that diseases and parasites from farmed fish are having devastating effects on wild salmon stocks in parts of B.C. Skyrocketing global demand for seafood means fish farming can be very profitable, even when the cost of frequent tractor replacements is taken into account.

Rarely does a Toronto murder get such visceral international attention.

Canadian DMCA to be introduced to Parliament today? That's what a lot of sources are saying, and the bill will likely be an abomination, essentially outlawing, among other things, freeware hacks for the iPod, automatic intellectual property rights for research purposes, making copies for your own personal use, and the above image.

Well, it's about time. Two years after launching downloadable television shows south of the border, Apple has finally flipped the switch here, albeit with a dearth of content. Single television episodes are available via iTunes for $1.99, and full seasons range from about $10–$30. Most of the shows currently available are for domestic productions, like CTV's Degrassi: The Next Generation and the CBC series Little Mosque on the Prairie, but non-Canadian shows, like South...

The Auditor General's report notes that drivers who graduate from Ontario's volunteer driver's education program have a much higher accident rate than motorists who don't. Stay out of school, kids! Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said his government will restart the Chalk River nuclear power plant, in spite of a warning from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission that such a move poses an accident risk until needed safety equipment is installed. To minimize the...

A UN Envoy is calling Canada a climate hypocrite. Harper, in return, stomped his feet and said he was going to throw a party and only invite the people who didn't call him names. The Queen is upset with Canada because she wasn't invited to Quebec City's 400th birthday bash. The Queen then stuck her tongue out at Harper, and he told her to blame the UN. The OPP spent money meant for the...

Google has always been known for its clean, lightweight, ad-free search page, but Canada's largest provider of broadband internet is under fire today for messing with it. Toronto-based Rogers has begun testing a controversial technique that allows the media empire to insert its own content into another entity's web page, angering net neutrality proponents. According to a tip passed to L.A.-based technology expert Lauren Weinstein, the system being employed is manufactured by the "in-browser...

This just in: Conrad Black has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his role in "misappropriating" (which is Rich People for "stealing") millions of dollars from the Hollinger newspaper empire, and for obstructing justice by allowing certain documents, which would have determined whether or not he was guilty of the nine charges he managed to evade (including racketeering), to "disappear." Now, of course the National Post is all over this...

After refusing to allow environmentalists into the official Canadian delegation at the Bali Climate Change Conference, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has raised some hackles by bringing businesspeople, including oil company executives, into the group. Wow, he's not even pretending to care anymore. In other Bali news, a proposal to eliminate tariffs on "green" technologies was shot down at the conference on the weekend, the victim of bickering between developed and developing nations. The human...

Per a suggestion by chairman Adam Giambrone, The TTC has voted to provide free service after midnight this New Year's, along with extended subway hours until 4 a.m. The free service—an attempt to deter people from drunk driving—hasn't been offered by the TTC since the late 70s, and you'd think it might be a costly venture. But it's not exactly setting them back that much; the free admission offer will only cost the TTC an...

City councillor wants to bring in the army—literally—to fight gangs. Torontoist ultimately decided to link to the Star's version of this story over Holy Shit Somebody Actually Said That Weekly. You are welcome. Mitt Romney delivers passionate speech defending religious plurality in America. The gist of the speech is thus: "Don't be intolerant of me because I am a Mormon; be intolerant of those agnostics and atheists over there who should not even be...

Provincial Education Minister Kathleen Wynne has tabled a bill that would ban trans fatty foods from Ontario schools. Trans fats and young people have been a hot public safety issue since 2005's infamous "Summer of the Muffin." Conservative MP James Moore yesterday angrily rejected allegations from NDP MP Irene Mathyssen that he had been viewing a picture of a "scantily clad woman" on his laptop while in the House. Although Mathyssen later apologized after...

In Tuesday's news round-up, we told you that the plan to sell McDonald's the land at Bloor and Avenue had been halted until January 18. It's a good thing, too, as there are many questions that must be answered before the $3.38 million sale is finalized. Is it in the best interest for Toronto taxpayers? Is the sale a smart corrective action to the bungled 1971 lease agreement or another dumb move we'll regret for...

Almost half of all Toronto-area residents are foreign-born. This is the first little tidbit released from the 2006 census, which the government is doling out as if it were a movie trailer or something. (Will Smith versus zombies: probably more entertaining.)

A Milton woman went on a rampage with a samurai sword on Sunday, injuring her boyfriend and an off-duty firefighter, smashing windows at a gas station and hacking at a parked car. While Torontoist doesn't condone senseless irrational violence, you've got to give her points for style.

In a September news release, the University of Toronto announced in a roundabout way its intention to sell the historic David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill to the highest bidder. Opened in 1935 and home to the second-largest telescope in the world at the time (and still the largest in Canada), the Observatory was overrun by light pollution by the 1960s. Although no longer very suitable for visual astronomy, the DDO continues an active...

Honest Ed's turkey giveaway successful like always. Which, Torontoist supposes, is not technically "news," but considering the rest of today's actual news, we felt it appropriate to lead off with a softball.