Scott Moir and Tess Virtue

George Herbert Walker Bush

“Say, what’s in this drink?”

Olympic medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, movie star Seth Rogen with his writing partner Evan Goldberg and retired astronaut Chris Hadfield were among those who received a star on the Walk of Fame in Toronto’s entertainment district Saturday night. Then, former prime minister Brian Mulroney will be one of the speakers at the funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush. Below that, a radio station in Cleveland has been cowed into banning the 1944 song Baby, It’s Cold Outside. Take a look at Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán debuting it in that year. Finally, police and animal services staff have removed a plastic jug from the head of a deer on Long Island. Good work men.

William Nylander, 22, has signed with the Maple Leafs and will play with the team this season and for five more seasons as well.  His six-year deal is worth nearly $7 million a year and totals $41.4 million. The Hockey News

Brampton MP Raj Grewal has admitted that he borrowed and lost millions playing high-stakes blackjack at Gatineau’s Casino du Lac Leamy across the Ottawa River from Parliament. He says in a statement Friday that he has paid it all back but he does not say how nor from whom he borrowed these fantastic amounts in the first place. Remarkably, he also said on Facebook that he is thinking of staying on as an MP for Brampton East. Sources have told the Canadian Press that they expect Mr. Grewal to be expelled from the Liberal caucus if he does not resign. Grewal is saying that his gambling folly became too big to keep secret in November even though he insists that his wife did not know what he was doing. Nor does he say just how he accomplished the repayment of such sums in such a short time.

No one claimed the $60 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw. But 11 of the 35 Maxmillions prizes of $1 million each that were up for grabs were won. The jackpot for the next Lotto Max draw on Dec. 7 will remain at approximately $60 million, but the number of Maxmillions prizes offered will increase to 42.

Good morning. Events of interest Saturday include the Briton House Winter Fest, the Maurice Cody Winterfest and a book signing and presentation by Alan Redway at Walter Stewart Library in East York. Details on the South Bayview Bulldog Bulletin Board.

Uber appears to be getting ready to deliver groceries but just how is not quite clear. It has posted an opening for a “head of grocery product” whatever that may mean. As is known, the digital taxi firm has had great success delivering food by way of Uber Eats. The most reasonable surmise given its history is that Uber will try to muscle in on the Instacart style of business. That is, contracting with grocers to deliver orders. It seems unlikely that Uber is going to go head to head with brick and mortar players like Loblaws, Longo’s, Metro or even Rabba.

The Supreme Court of Canada has found in a 9-0 decision that a reporter for Vice Media must give the RCMP material he gathered for stories about an accused ISIS terrorist. This outcome has been met with a typically misguided response by some reporters. Canadian Press says it will be seen as making reporters an arm of the police. Vice Media declared the SCOC unanimous decision “a dark day for press freedom.” Such interpretations are demonstrably untrue and represent a disservice to a free press. The media in Canada is free. It must, of course, operate within the law in a land where there is eminent rule of law. There is nothing to fear in this context. Seasoned, sensible jouralists know that the cardinal protection of a free press is freedom from prior restraint to publish. But reporters are not — nor should they be — beyond the law.

Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7 and 5.80 magnitude have slammed Anchorage and areas nearby. The City sits on two “plates” which tend to shift about every few years. The first of these quakes rivalled but did not exceed the 9.2 quake that demolished parts of Anchorage in 1964.

Marriott Hotels has revealed a huge hack of customer data at its Starwood group of hotels. As many as 500 million persons may have had their names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers and quite possibly credit card numbers taken. The hack has been in progress for four years up to September and could happened at W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Westin Hotels and Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton and Design Hotels that participate in the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program. 

PAYLESS TRICKS SNOOTY BUYERS INTO PAYING $600 FOR $20 SHOES

Bargain shoe retailer Payless has used the bogus label Palessi to trick social media influencers in Los Angeles into paying as much as US$600 for footwear sold at Payless for $20. Payless ShoeSource recently set up a fake luxury pop-up shop in a former Armani store along the upscale Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif. The affordable shoe company then invited social media influencers to a ritzy two-day “grand opening” for Palessi.

• The $100,000 a year waitress isn’t a myth

There will be a Town Hall meeting with Councillor Robinson and her team a week Sunday (December 9) at Manor Road United Church, 240 Manor at Forman Ave., between 3 and 5 p.m.  The church says the event is called Toronto: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and is inviting the public to send in topics for the agenda to Rev. Roberta. The Town Hall is the day following MRU’s annual Pancake Breakfast on the morning of Saturday, December 8. It’s always fun.

Councillor Robinson Town Hall Dec 9, Pancake Breakfast Dec 8 including Santa and Mrs. Claus (Heather Fogarty and Michael Schneider 2016)

Let’s just say it was not the party of the year. Justin Trudeau, Enrique Pena Nieto and Donald Trump looked like that would rather be almost anywhere else as they formalized the new NAFTA agreement on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires Friday. The pact, which was more or less forced on Canada and Mexico, will be known as CUSMA here. That’s the Canada US Mexico Agreement. It still needs ratification in the U.S. Congress. The road to the rewrite of the North American trade agreement was a “battle,” Donald Trump said at the signing.

Normal practice requires that each country puts its own name first in multilateral treaties. That is why Canada says “Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement” but Chile says “Tratado de Libre Comercio Chile-Canadá.” Also why Mexico will call new NAFTA “TMEUC”. It has always been thus.

— Evan Dyer (@EvanDyerCBC) November 30, 2018