A distinguished Canadian cartoonist, Michael de Adder of the Chronicle Herald, has promised he will “strive to do better” in the face of social media criticism of his portrayal of Jody Wilson-Raybould tied in a chair subject to a beating by Justin Trudeau. It was just too close to home for many in this day and age of intense concern about violence toward women. “Cartoonists sometimes have unanticipated secondary interpretations in cartoons that they don’t intend,” wrote Michael de Adder in a series of tweets on Saturday night.

• ‘No question’ Jody Wilson-Raybould will tell the truth about why she quit, says her father
• Trudeau goes on the attack after former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s shock resignation
• Jody Wilson-Raybould became thorn in Liberals’ side before SNC-Lavalin case

House explosion reported in Calgary; multiple homes catch fire – https://t.co/C1EqQQReEf pic.twitter.com/yoy1dv1nE3

— CTV Regina (@ctvregina) February 17, 2019

Emergency crews are working to determine if anyone was injured in a possible explosion during a two-alarm blaze on Sunday morning. Dozens of 911 calls around 4:20 a.m. Mountain Time reported “a loud bang” in the 300 block of Douglas Glen Close of the fire department said in a statement. One caller said they heard “a loud sound, glass shattering and then flames visible from the second floor of the single-family home.” When fire crews arrived they found a home fully engulfed in flames with fire spreading to the neighbouring residences.

Jussie Smollett

Joe Schlesinger

Theodore McCarrick

Police are leaking revelations that Empire star Jussie Smollett (left) paid two men he knew to stage an attack on him, including the use of a noose around his neck. Smollett plays Jamal Lyon on the prime time soap opera about a hip hop music business. It is wildly popular with millennial viewers. At centre is CBC correspondent Joe Schlesinger who died Thursday after a distinguished career as a foreign correspondent. Mr. Schlesinger arrived in Canada penniless after WWII as one of a handful of Jewish orphans brought here from Germany. He was 90. At right, the Pope has defrocked a once-renowned US Cardinal, Theodore McCarrick. McCarrick was accused, among other things of soliciting sex from the confessional. Many Catholics are pleased at the seriousness with which such offenses are now being treated.

No winning ticket was sold for the $5 million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw. However, the guaranteed $1 million prize went to a ticket holder in Ontario. There were also 25 guaranteed prizes of $100,000 each. The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Feb. 20 will be approximately $7 million.

See later post

Alberta missionaries react with joy at sight of choppers/CBC

Tourists board helicopter early Saturday/CBC

Nurses happy to be heading home/CBC

Helicopters apparently paid for by GoFundMe donations have lifted some 150 Canadian tourists, missionaries and nurses from a distant locale in Haiti to the main airport in Port Au Prince, the capital. Rioting, looting and associated violence has made it too dangerous to travel the roads in the poverty-stricken land. According to Global News, the GoFundMe campaign was started on Friday, with a goal of $9,000. It is said to have exceeded that goal, hitting more than $16,000 as of Friday night. Some 113 Canadian tourists are said to be safe back home. They landed Saturday night on an Air Transat flight along with a few people from other airlines at Trudeau airport just after 9 p.m.

BILLY BISHOP OPEN AGAIN AFTER CRASH

Billy Bishop Airport is open again Sunday after a brief closure Saturday when a small plane flipped over on landing. The pilot is said to be recovering from minor injuries. Police and emergency crews responded to the island airport around 5:30 p.m.

Toronto Police will not be enforcing these on-street parking bylaws on Monday, Family Day.

Pay-and-Display/Metered Areas
Rush-Hour Routes
Posted signs indicating Monday to Friday regulations

All other areas and parking offences will continue to be enforced.

Like-minded people are a marketplace, it seems. This CBC report offers yet another insight on how the social media phenomenon of the last ten years has changed everything.

Josh Matlow (Ward 12) has said in a release Friday that Premier Ford is taking over Toronto subways not to improve transit but to gain control of subway lands and air rights worth billions. Matlow says the subway upload has no affect on the government’s ability to construct and own new lines or extensions. He points out that the province is already building, and will own, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Release and petition

Hydro One and the Ontario government are eyeball-to-eyeball over how much the big-money boys at the top of the utility are going to get in salary and bonuses. So far, Hydro has refused to act on a request from Energy Minister Greg Rickford to cut Hydro’s CEO’s salary and incentives to no more than $1.5 million. Instead, Hydro has maintained that it will stick with a plan to pay as much as $2.8 million for the CEO. But the government has the power to issue a formal, legal directive to the utility on pay. Hydro, like many semi-public utilities and agencies, has once again trotted out the argument that it can only get the best qualified CEO by paying such sums. It is a position to which many taxpayers reply: “Who says?” Canadian Press

Your days on the loose are numbered

41 Division police have had a lucky break in their hunt for a violent ATM thug who grabs women from behind as they are at the automatic teller. In at least one case reported here Tuesday he held a knife to the throat of the victim. The very next day, Wednesday, February 13, 2019, he struck again at Lawrence Ave. East and Birchmount Rd. He had a knife but that it did not stop the woman from fighting back. And this time the bank camera caught the perpetrator’s face full on. Fortunately, the woman did not suffer serious injuries but she is out some cash. The man is described as 6’0″, with a medium build, and a light complexion. He was wearing a black hooded jacket, with the hood worn up, a black and grey toque, grey pants and black shoes. He has committed five other such thefts in Scarborough.