118 posts tagged with ontario.
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“You know, this car is becoming a curse to us.”
The story of the 1967 Ferguson Super Sport, the product of a Canadian couple's years of obsessive planning and labour. [Mod Note: if access is denied, try refreshing, opening a second time, or opening in new window]
Every Chip Stand is a project to illustrate every chip truck in Ontario.
"The chip stand differentiates us from our American neighbours. It is not a food truck. It is not a diner. The very nature of the chip stand is defined by it being a combination of both." Every Chip Stand, by illustrators Chantal Bennett, is an attempt to illustrate every chip stand in Ontario and some neighbouring provinces, "thus chronicling the visual history of these structures that are slowly being replaced by professional food trailers and trucks."
When come back bring very expensive pie
This pie sold for $15,000 at an Ontario fair auction. Lonie Kady loved pie. And pie auctions. After his death, his business partner paid tribute by bidding high on pie.
"This event is bought to you by Pinterest fails"
“Santa Claus is about to arrive!!”
The Complete 1984 Metro Toronto Santa Claus Parade with Original Commercials [YouTube] Here is the complete broadcast of the 1984 Metro Toronto Santa Claus Parade, now with corrected audio. This was the last parade before broadcast duties were taken over by Global TV in 1985. BONUS: The Complete 1986 Metro Toronto Santa Claus Parade, Eaton’s Toronto Santa Claus Parade (1954),
60+ Minutes of Awesome '80s Xmas Commercials, [via: Retrontario]
Notwithstanding your right to strike
The Ontario government is preparing to use the notwithstanding clause - "a magical section of the Canadian constitution that allows provincial governments to simply ignore... the fundamental freedoms and legal rights of Canadian citizens" - to force the lowest paid education workers who have fallen furthest behind inflation to stay on the job. The union has vowed to strike anyway, starting Friday, despite the threat of daily fines of $4,000 for each worker and $500,000 for the union. [more inside]
Another day in Pontypool
Originally released back in 2008, Canadian indie horror flick Pontypool [trailer] is a modern zombie tale quite unlike any other. Loosely based on a dense, complicated novel by Tony Burgess and inspired by Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it tells the story of Grant Mazzy, a grumbling yet likable radio host (played by veteran character actor Stephen McHattie) whose penchant for philosophical ramblings gets him booted from Toronto to the sleepy winter pastures of Pontypool, Ontario. One bleak morning, as the outspoken Mazzy chafes against no-nonsense producer Sydney Briar (played by McHattie's wife Lisa Houle!), disturbing news begins rolling in of a series of bizarre and violent incidents sweeping the town. Trapped in their church basement broadcasting booth, Mazzy, Briar, and intern Laurel-Ann Drummond struggle to understand the odd nature of the crisis and warn the wider world before it's too late. But this is no ordinary virus, and they find their efforts may be causing far more harm than good. You can watch the film on YouTube or Kanopy, but if you're pressed for time you can also experience it in its more logical form: as a one-hour BBC radio drama [Archive.org audio version] voiced by the original cast (albeit with a different ending). And after the credits, make sure not to miss the film's playful non-sequitur coda [analysis] -- which was spun off into the buckwild 2020 "sequel" Dreamland starring McHattie, Houle, Juliette Lewis, and Henry Rollins. [more inside]
History will talk about you: An army of volunteers inocculated Ontario
It required both a lottery winner’s luck and a project manager’s organizational skills to figure out where and when you could get a shot. The province’s befuddling, temperamental online booking system often resembled a choose-your-own-adventure game where every choice seemed to be a dead end. The excitement and hope generated by the arrival of the vaccines gave way to anger around their deployment. Into this, stepped Andrew Young, creating VaccineHuntersCanada, the network of volunteers responsible for getting 1.2 million Canadians -- more than 3% of all Canadians -- vaccinated. [more inside]
Why Are You Closed?
Am Ontario Politician Takes a Vacation During COVID
How To Cook Steak
Letterkenny style (ie: includes swearing). Because it's Labour Day. Note the spelling. Letterkenny is a place in Canada, consisting of hicks, skids, hockey players and Christians. They all have problems. Though to be fair ...
Back At It Again...This Time in Canada
Someone in Oxford County, ON has made off with $187,000 worth of cheese, after they used forged documents to steal the shipment. [more inside]
Meanwhile, in Ontario
Premier Doug Ford has been getting his revenge on anyone who ever told him to drink less, pay attention in class, slow down, stop dealing drugs, pollute less, and watch the kids.
Less moon, more scapes
The Sudbury Effect: Lessons from a regreened city (CBC Ideas) discusses ongoing attempts to undo the damage from over a century of mining and smelting activity in and around Sudbury, Ontario. A combination of extensive scientific study, government regulation, citizen activism, and some eventual, begrudging industry cooperation would result in long-term remediation efforts that have transformed Sudbury's once-notorious "moonscape" and recognized as a success story around the world. Watch 32 years of Sudbury re-greening from space with Google Timelapse. [more inside]
A Internet Argument Ender about local tax rates
Syrïan Refügees are my Exodus cover band
The Most Metal Thing I've Ever Done Tyler Berglund, owner of a Metal Bar & Taco Joint in Hamilton Ontario, along with his friends and family, have formed a Group of 5 and sponsored the Hamo family to start a new life in Canada.
The state of the roads, throughout the US and Canada
If you're traveling around the US and you'd like to know if there's construction, or a crash, congestion or bad weather, each state Department of Transportation (DOT) has the map for you! You can call 5-1-1 for transportation and traffic information in many states (Wikipedia), and all state DOTs maintain online traveler information maps, if you want to find individual maps. But what if you want to travel between states? Highway Conditions (dot com) provides links to Canadian provinces and territories, and the United States plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, but there's a bit of link-chasing, and only some state maps link to their neighbors, but not all, so here's a list of all 50 states, from Alabama to Wyoming, Maine to California, sea to shining sea. [more inside]
Of Course The Sports Channel Would Be "The Slapshot"
On Twitter, one inventive Canadian amused and mortified his girlfriend whenever they passed a gas station - by using the gas price as a launching point to create an ad hoc promo for a fictional radio station. (SLTwitter)
The Mamas and the Papas: How two Ottawa couples became co-parents
Article and CBC radio piece on how two Canadian queer couples had a child together (and have another on the way.)
Ontario’s All Families Are Equal law allows for up to four parents to be listed on a birth certificate.
"I find systemic racism exists in TBPS at an institutional level."
Ontario's independent police watchdog says systemic racism exists throughout the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS). Its report, Broken Trust: Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service (pdf), concludes that the investigations into the deaths of Jethro Anderson, 15, Curran Strang, 18, “C.D.,” 18, Marie Lynette Spence, 30, Christina Gliddy, 28, Reggie Bushie, 15, Kyle Morrisseau, 17, Jordan Wabasse, 15, and “I.J,” 57, were grossly inadequate and should be reopened. Thunder Bay, with a population of just over 100,000 people, accounted for one-third of the total reported anti-Indigenous hate crimes in Canada in 2015. [more inside]
“This report is definitely not news to the black community,”
A Black person is 20 times more likely than a white person to be fatally shot by Toronto police [Vice News] “A Black person in Toronto was nearly 20 times more likely than a white person to be shot and killed by the Toronto Police Service between 2013 and 2017. The numbers were uncovered as part of an interim report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission released on Monday into racial profiling and discrimination of Black people, who comprise only 8.8 percent of Toronto’s population, by one of Canada’s largest police forces. The data confirms long-standing concerns of members of the Black communities in the city that they are over-represented in incidents of serious injury and deadly use of force involving Toronto police officers. It also raises broader concerns about transparency, accountability, and officer misconduct with the police service.” [more inside]
"It is designed to do what it is doing"
The Warrior Society Rises
Embattled Ontario Premier Doug Ford makes history, notwithstanding
Most of MetaFilter has had little political news from Toronto since its, er, colourful mayor Rob Ford (previously) declined to run for re-election due to ill health before passing away at age 46.
But wait, there is a sequel: Rob's brother, one-term Toronto city councillor Doug Ford, became premier of Ontario early this summer and is three months into a tempestuous term that is drawing comparisons with that of Donald Trump.
Here is an update on what you need to know: [more inside]
How an Indigenous Chef Is Decolonizing Canadian Cuisine
Ontari-ari-ari-o
Voters in Canada's largest province go to the polls on Thursday. Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne followed her sorry-not sorry campaign with the surprising-not surprising admission that she won't win. PC leader Doug Ford has been light on official policy statements, but it hasn't been difficult to figure out where he stands. Andrea Horwath's left-wing NDP rose dramatically in the polls during the first part of May, but the better spread of votes across ridings for the PCs means that the NDP has only a slim chance of winning. Voters are asking how best to vote strategically. Ontari-ari-ari-o. [more inside]
They Sound Like Angry 12 Year Olds
Farmers' Market
Where does the food at your farmers' market come from? In Peterborough, Ontario, much of it is from agribusiness resellers. This made some local farmers upset, and they spoke up to ask for clear labelling of who was and wasn't a local grower. The market was not happy about the attention and kicked out the "dissident" members.
Brownout
With a provincial election scheduled for June 7 and the incumbent Liberal party reeling from voter fatigue and scandals after fourteen years in power, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader (and previous favourite to be the next Premier) Patrick Brown has resigned the party leadership after allegations from two women that he sexually harassed and assaulted them when both girls were only 18. Brown issued a trembling, teary statement earlier today then fled reporters at the scene. Within minutes of the statement five key members of the Brown campaign had resigned (although at least one appeared to be throwing stones from a glass house). [more inside]
Some days you are the moose, some days you are the wolf
Northern Ontario Moose vs Wolf. It begins with a serene autumn scene of a Moose standing alone in a still Northern Lake.
"It's nice here in Canada with all us robots together."
How Do You Do was an absolutely bananas TVOntario series for ESL students with Billy Van (previously) playing a robot learning English. Pt.2, Pt.3, Pt.4. (Yes, the Billy Van of House of Frightenstein fame). As brought to you by the good folks at Retrontario (previously).
Muskoka mystery
Nearly 20 years ago, four seniors vanished in Ontario's cottage country. Now, a joint investigation by CBC's The Fifth Estate and The Walrus magazine into recently unsealed documents offers new insight into
one of Canada's most notorious cold cases. [Disturbing content]
A stagnant tide swamps poor boats, but floats the rich ones
Losing Ground: Even as debates over the planned increased to the minimum wage increase in Ontario continue, a new report shows how earnings for poorer families fell between 2000 and 2015, while increasing for the richer 50%. (The first link goes to a webpage, from which the PDF can be downloaded).
Off the hook
The old goose was coming loose...
People who have driven the Trans-Canada Highway through Northwestern Ontario are more than likely acquainted with the Wawa Goose, a roadside attraction located in the town of Wawa. But recently, it became apparent that the steel goose - which replaced a plaster version in 1963 - was deteriorating. After a successful fundraising campaign to help pay for the fabrication of a replacement, the town unveiled its new goose on Canada Day. [more inside]
The following is an actual legal dispute. Like, for real.
"It is not known whether Hawaiian pizza will be served at the wake."
The Canoe
"He just died, that's all"
Wiarton Willie is one of Ontario's Groundhog Day mascots. When he died two days before Groundhog Day in 1999, organizers couldn't find a replacement and displayed him in a coffin dressed in a tuxedo with coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. [more inside]
Modern artsists informed by their Native American heritage
Jason Garcia, who also goes by Okuu Pin (Tewa for Turtle Mountain, the name for Sandia Mountain) is a traditional clay artist from Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico, except his art isn't strictly traditional. His work is his effort to document the ever-changing cultural landscape of Santa Clara (8 minute interview and overview of his art), as seen in his 'Tewa Tales,' clay tiles painted as silver-age covers, depicting the Pueblo Revolt and the colonization of New Mexico. For more, see Jason Garcia's short bio video for North American Native Museum (Nordamerika Native Museum) in Zurich, Switzerland, for a past exhibition titled "Native Art Now." Vimeo user Dylan McLaughlin/Invisible Laboratory has 10 more short bio videos from other artists in the exhibit. [more inside]
"There were Americans everywhere." U.S. partiers wash up in Canada.
An estimated 1,500 Americans illegally and unexpectedly washed up in Canada late Sunday after strong winds blew them across the St. Clair River near Sarnia, Ont.
‘Myths of rape should be dispelled’: Ontario Court Justice Zuker
“The myths of rape should be dispelled once and for all,” he announced near the long-awaited end of his verdict. “It doesn’t matter if the victim was drinking, out at night alone, sexually exploited, on a date with the perpetrator, or how the victim was dressed. No one asks to be raped.”
He underlined that last line, literally.
“We need help in Attawapiskat,”
Attawapiskat Declares State of Emergency Over Spate of Suicide Attempts [CBC.ca] The chief and council for the Attawapiskat First Nation on remote James Bay have declared a state of emergency, saying they're overwhelmed by the number of attempted suicides in the community. On Saturday night alone, 11 people attempted to take their own lives, Chief Bruce Shisheesh said. Including Saturday's spate of suicide attempts, a total of 101 people of all ages have tried to kill themselves since September, Shisheesh said, with one person dying. The youngest was 11, the oldest 71. The Cree community — home to about 2,000 residents — saw 28 attempts in March alone. Last September, a group of five girls overdosed and had to be medevaced out of the community, Shisheesh said. [more inside]
boreal mysteries
In the boreal forests of northern Ontario, aerial photography revealed groups of 'rings' of stunted tree growth. The Ontario Geological Society[PDF] conducted research and found the rings are from 'reduced chimneys' forming enormous electrochemical cells.
Internet quizzes are to Metafilter as...
North America: timelapse in 4K
An 8:44 long timelapse in 4K resolution on Vimeo and YouTube. Includes Yosemite, Yellowstone, Olympic, Banff, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Acadia, Rocky Mountains, Mesa Verde, Arches, Mount Rainier, Mount Revelstoke and Zion. Also Seattle, Los Angeles, Vancouver, St. Louis, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Plus Mount Rushmore, New Orleans, Toronto, Boston, Calgary, Springdale, Three Rivers, Pagosa Springs, Swift Current, New York, Niagara Falls, Lake Palourde, Keene Lake, Horseshoe Bend, White Mountains, Hobson and the Mississippi River. [more inside]
A Ribfest in Every Town
Ontario has hit peak ribfest. This is a distinctly heartland phenomenon: More than two-million people will visit one of the province’s 65 ribfests this summer. (There are only three dedicated ribfests in British Columbia; Alberta has two.)The surprising politics of Ontario's growing ribfest industry.
That time when Toronto had Johnny Cash machines
Retrontario remembers Johnny Cash advertising for Canada Trust, along with several other advertisements from the 80s.
"My business is built on everlasting trust.”
It's Never OK
Today, the Ontario Government released a video called #WhoWillYouHelp (TW; potentially triggering scenes in video relating to sexual assault) as part of the $41-million It's Never OK action plan to end sexual assault and harassment within the province. [more inside]