The federal government's defence plan will cost $20 billion more than the federal government said it would cost, at least according to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Stephen Harper responded to the criticism by explaining that the country would be purchasing its planes and tanks through Canadian Tire, and that the Canadian Tire money generated by the purchases would be applied directly to the national debt, thus equalizing out costs. Tory MP Jason... [continue]

WestJet and Porter Airlines both added fuel surcharges to their ticket prices, because it turns out jet fuel is getting more expensive what with, you know, oil prices and all. So obviously this means that you should plan your expensive, environmentally wasteful trip sooner rather than later, when all the gas runs out and the only airline left is the Gyro Captain from The Road Warrior. The company head of Taser International told a... [continue]

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.... [continue]

Toronto health officials tied an outbreak of measles to the financial district yesterday, and more specifically to the TD Waterhouse and the Scotia Tower, thus confirming what we have known for many years: bankers and stockbrokers are dirty, filthy people. A government report condemned the Toronto Catholic District School Board for spending more money on itself than any other board in Ontario, at an average of a hundred thousand dollars per member. John Tory... [continue]

Barack Obama inched closer to the Democratic Presidential nomination last night, winning North Carolina pretty decisively and holding Hillary Clinton's victory in Indiana to a near-tie. Pundits and prognosticators alike agreed that at long last, Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the nomination were almost totally nonexistent, now that America has finally come to terms with the fact that Barack Obama is black, y'all, he's black, y'all, he's blackety-blackety-black, y'all. According to the Auditor General, the... [continue]

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.... [continue]

A ten-year-old Toronto girl with a lemonade stand is more than three-quarters of the way to raising $100,000 for heart and stroke research. For purposes of comparison, when I was ten years old, I really liked riding my bike. Former Liberal MP Charles Caccia died of a heart attack on Saturday. The highly respected MP represented Davenport for approximately seven thousand years and was both a former Minister of Labour and Minister of the Environment.... [continue]

This Saturday is the annual celebration of all things graphically novelistic: Free Comic Book Day. Free Comic Book Day is a very simple exercise: you go into your local comic book shop, and there are free comic books. This may seem complex, so we'll go over it again: Step 1. Find a convenient comic book store. In the downtown core, you have umpteen choices: Hairy Tarantula, The Labyrinth, 1,000,000 Comix, Silver Snail, or 3rd... [continue]

TTC riders can get a refund after last weekend's strike (see Torontoist's story here). If you bring your pass to a collector's booth, you will get $7.50 back. Torontoist personally plans to invest its Metropass refund in the stock market, purchasing 1/95th of a share of Google. The United States Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by a quarter-point. On second thought, maybe Torontoist should invest its $7.50 in a wheelbarrow factory. (Obscure... [continue]

General Motors cut 900 jobs in Oshawa yesterday, mostly related to the production of oversized trucks and sport-utility vehicles. A spokesperson for the CAW angrily called upon for the Canadian government to "discover more oil somewhere so these jobs can remain relevant." The United Nations formed a task force today to tackle the global food crisis. Oh, well, now that the United Nations is involved in the global food crisis, all our problems are... [continue]

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.... [continue]

Don't panic, but food prices are rising. Turns out that oil becoming an inelastic commodity, collapsing fish stocks, climate change affecting crop growth, and increased demand for food in China and India as they grow richer makes food more expensive! Who could have foreseen this happening? Oh, right, lots of people. Speaking of oil becoming an inelastic commodity, gas prices are going to skyrocket this summer and continue climbing for the foreseeable future. When... [continue]

Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania primary. The Clinton campaign remains alive after a ten-point win in the state, thus proving that a campaign currently in debt can win if it runs enough negative attacks and limps along to the next contest. This is also known as the "limping zombie" theory of electoral campaigning. The Tories are defending their election financing shenanigans. This marks the "what we did was perfectly okay" stage of the... [continue]

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.... [continue]

No TTC strike! Now we can all rest easy, content that we will continue to have access to the same below-par underfunded service we all know and love. (More details here.) Elections Canada has accused the Tories of violating federal elections law. The Conservative Party apparently overspent by over one million dollars during the last election and intentionally filed misleading statements in its returns. The Conservative party responded by pointing out that a million... [continue]

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.... [continue]

Copper theft in Toronto has reached record levels. Thieves just can't get enough of that golden-brown stuff. You can do anything with it—sell it for four dollars per pound, or...well, actually that's pretty much all a copper thief can do with copper, come to think. Jim Flaherty will have a nice sit-down with Dwight Duncan. The federal and provincial finance ministers are tentatively scheduled to enjoy a nice snack of tea and crumpets before... [continue]

China vows to continue the international Olympic torch relay despite lots of protests. The International Olympic Committee suggested that they might do away with the international route in upcoming games, because from now on, all Olympic games will be held in authoritarian dictatorships and they "don't want to look bad" when they award the next few Games to Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, and the Equatorial Republic of Hate-Land. (The President-For-Eternity of Hate-Land responded by saying, "ooooooh,... [continue]

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.... [continue]

Waterfront Toronto considers corporate naming scheme. On the one hand, yes, it's a travesty. On the other hand, does anybody call the Skydome anything other than the Skydome, regardless of what Rogers wants us to call it? Feist sweeps the Junos, winning all five awards for which she was nominated. Feist wisely kept everything in perspective, explaining in her victory speech on Saturday (yes, the Junos, like all Canadian awards shows, stretch things out... [continue]