Results tagged “oliviachow”

MUSIC: The squeaky wheels of Toronto get the grease this weekend. Poor ticket sales and feedback were enough to prompt Virgin Festival organizers to bail on Burl's Creek and settle on the Molson Amphitheatre as the festival's new venue. That means there won't be any tents or toasted marshmallows, but your concert ticket will garner you free same-day admission to Ontario Place and the CNE. V-Fest is boasting a line-up of more than thirty bands, with Ben Harper and Relentless7, Pixies, and Franz Ferdinand taking the stage on Saturday. Sunday's notables include Nine Inch Nails, Pet Shop Boys, and Our Lady Peace. There will also be plenty of Can-con this weekend with Sloan, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Thunderheist, Plants and Animals, and The D'Urbervilles. Molson Amphitheatre (909 Lakeshore Boulevard West), Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m., $39.50 and up.

FILM: Given that the world's stash of oil is finite (and some say nearing depletion), and that mining oil is proven to be hazardous to the environment, the production of oil in Alberta is a hot-button issue among activists and economists alike. Tonight, Olivia Chow will be hosting a screening of the 2009 documentary, H2Oil, followed by a discussion with H2Oil Director Shannon Walsh, Indigenous Environmental Network activist Clayton Thomas-Muller, and HERO Project advocate David Booz. They will be discussing the environmental impact of oil sands development in Alberta, among other issues surrounding oil production in Canada. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 7 p.m., FREE (reserve tickets by emailing Chowo1c@parl.gc.ca or by calling 416-533-2710).

On the second-last Sunday in May, Jack Layton and Olivia Chow picked up some cans of spray paint and some acrylic paint, strolled into a laneway in the Annex, and spent the day marking their territory—on the big aqua wall of their own home, previously littered with tags.

Torontoist is officially in election mode. In the run-up to the big day, we'll be profiling some of the most closely contested ridings in the GTA, looking for the bellwethers and offering snapshots of electoral districts in transition.

Anything goes at Kensington Market's monthly Pedestrian Sundays as long as it's entertaining. Political debates, particularly those not involving American presidential candidates, can be on the dull side. So when three out of the four parliamentary hopefuls for the Trinity-Spadina ward (Conservative Christine McGirr was a no-show) came to meet the people, organizer and local musician Michael J (or Johnson if you want to be formal) put his own spin on things, including announcing the start of the discussion with a fanfare on his trumpet.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams addressed an enthusiastic crowd last night at the Hot House Cafe on Church Street, as part of what organizers billed as a "Summer Celebration" of the Irish peace process. Adams is on a speaking tour of North America to thank supporters of Friends of Sinn Fein, a non-profit fundraising group whose Canadian chapter, located in Toronto, was launched by Adams in 2001. Adams was one of the principle negotiators of the Good Friday Agreement, which saw the beginning of stabilized relations among Northern Ireland, Britain and the Irish Republic.

Michael Ignatieff has one, Olivia Chow has one—what if Stephen Harper had a Facebook account?

Canada's second-last WWI veteran dies at 106. Percy Dwight Wilson (pictured) lied about his age to enlist in the army at the age of fifteen. Is that not amazing? Torontoist thinks that's amazing!

Mayor Miller is announcing today that there will be a major competition to redesign Nathan Phillips Square.

Maybe they're just tired of Howard Moscoe but the TTC committee unanimously voted to approve the Bombardier deal. The $499 million deal still has to go through council where we're sure there'll be an acrominous but ultimately futile debate.

Another death on the Gardiner. A motorcyclist died in an accident around 7:30 pm. Earlier reports blamed racing but a police detective said the biker was most likely trying to perform a wheelie when his bike flipped over and killed the rider.

Nonono, Canadian Idull Kalan Porter did not strike it big, but expect to see his name strewn across airplanes this year. (unaffiliated) Porter airlines is slated to begin operations on Toronto's City Centre Airport. Their first destination will be Ottawa, with Montreal, NYC and Chicago coming later.

The last time a vote was this close the Supreme Court had to be called in. Last night's Downtown and East York final for City Idol went to three ballots and a run-off before Desmond Cole (shown here in between Boy Reporter and fellow finalist Karen Sun) was picked by a raucous crowd at Lula Lounge to be downtown Toronto's first City Idol.

While everyone was stressing out over the TTC wildcat strike almost two weeks ago Olivia Chow made an announcement that she will be introducing a private member's bill to the House of Commons that would amend the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act to include sideguards on trucks!

From their no-doubt hilarious training centre,Second City launched a new bunch of comic hacks into the world yesterday with Da Tory Code, their inaugural comedy writers showcase. With a healthy balance of political debate and general Canadian hosery, the players joked about Osama becoming a Scientologist, used five-pin bowling and Korn to describe electoral reform and sang the praises of the Terry Schiavo diet (too soon?).

Union Station is getting a $100 million facelift. Commuters will not just be getting wider platforms but a whole new one when engineers and construction workers finish moving a sewer by 2008.

The OPP report that 800 traffic tickets were given out on this province's busy highways. The worst offenders included a woman not wearing a seatbelt to be able to play with her chihuahua, and a driver in his underwear holding a bottle of vodka.

Adam Vaughan has put down his camera and picked up his political boxing gloves. He filed his nomination papers and is now an official candidate in Trinity-Spadina, the ward vacated by Olivia Chow when she was elected to Parliament earlier in the year. Long-time community activist Tam Goosens and former Olivia Chow assistant Helen Kennedy are also slated to run in the ward.

On Monday night most NDPers were pretty happy. The party got more seats, more votes and Olivia Chow was elected. One let down was Marilyn Churley's defeat in the Beaches to Liberal incumbent Maria Minna. Churley had given up her seat at Queens Park to run federally and now her political career is in doubt.

On Yonge Street just north of Elm Street, in front of the store in which 15-year-old Jane Creba killed by an errant bullet, a group of about 200 gathered to mourn the deaths of all those killed by guns in 2005. There was a moment of silence before each candle was dedicated to a shooting victim; one candle for any one of the 52 victims. Organizer Himy Syed placed his candle down for Jane Creba.

Barring any last minute grovelling from Paul Martin we'll be waking up to an election campaign tommorow. Like last time the GTA is going to be a major battleground and the Liberals and the NDP are already bringing out their heavy hitters. Michael Ignatieff will be running in Etobicoke-Lakeshore despite some complaints amongst the riding association about his acclaimation.

The name of the initiative is a bit cumbersome - Get Your Move On:Making Physical Activity a Toronto Thing - but we wish the campaign success, even if it means we'll have to enter into conversations about mallwalking with greater frequency. And it's especially important for our fair city, which "has the lowest levels of physical activity in urban Ontario," according to Councillor Olivia Chow.

City Council is saying no to nightclubs, putting a moratorium on new clubs in clubland for at least the next year. Thank goodness for Lucid. We kid. Joe is where it's at.

. Good point, Jack, if a little late.

A tipster sends us the following mangled city o' toronto press release. Though the city hasn't been able to help the homeless find housing, they've found an ingenious way of helping settle the recent immigrant pop. To wit:

Councillor Olivia Chow, Chair of the Community Services Committee, visited a bus shelter in Scarborough to unveil new posters designed to raise awareness among non-English-speaking Toronto residents and visitors that they can obtain emergency service in over 150 languages when they call 9-1-1. The posters are being placed strategically in transit shelters and recycling bins across Toronto where large populations of recent immigrants reside.