Canadian Crossing

How did the Canadian Premier League complete a 2020 season and not the CFL?

Forge FC dominated the 2020 Canadian Premier League soccer championship with a solid 2-0 win over HFX Wanderers. The late goal was a fluke but did bring insurance. The Canadian Premier League championship game in Charlottetown was even on Fox Sports 2 in the United States, simulcasting the One network coverage. Recognised Andi Petrillo as part of the studio coverage.

Hamilton won't likely have a parade for the winning Forge FC team. Halifax isn't likely to have welcomed the Wanderers with thousands waiting for the plane to land.

Like the other sports, the Canadian Premier League set up a bubble, branded as The Island Games at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown over a 5-week stretch from mid-August to mid-September.

Rise Above#CanPL l @ForgeFCHamilton pic.twitter.com/Z5nuequsAa

— CanPL (@CPLsoccer) September 19, 2020

The NFL is off and playing, though the league blew off the preseason. College football has been hit and miss, mostly miss so far. The CFL is on the sidelines, choosing not to play.

A 5-week season isn't a whole lot. MLS has been piecemeal and the Canadian teams are wandering nomads in the U.S. desert. The NHL and NBA bubbles have been stellar. MLB had a lot of troubles early with COVID-19 cases but played a lot of doubleheaders.

Canadians wanting football are stuck watching the NFL on TV

CFL cancels 2020 season

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

MLS had to draw a schedule with pencil in the Orlando tournament as 2 teams didn't even play in Orlando. MLB had teams sitting out for a week in a 60-game season. If we make it to the next 5 years and look back on 2020, the details of how these leagues played in a pandemic will be forgotten. They played somewhat safely or completely safely. That is the lasting memory.

The CFL fumbled and stumbled. We offered up a bubble concept with teams playing in Moncton, Saint John, and Halifax. We didn't consider the University of Prince Edward Island campus. The CFL could have built up strong favour playing in a part of Canada where the league wants to grow the game.

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

2020 Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax: What would have been

We even offered up a 9-week season: every team plays each other once. The CFL attempt worked on a 6-game schedule and couldn't even pull that off.

Money was the reason we heard. The CFL might have had that money if they played a season first. Does the CPL have so much more money than the CFL?

Hamilton winning the CPL title can't compete with the Tiger-Cats winning the Grey Cup. The other 8 CFL teams won a Grey Cup in the 2010s: Hamilton lost to Winnipeg in the 2019 Grey Cup. That was the last CFL game until 2021, hopefully.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Football and soccer are different beasts in terms of turnaround and trying to get games played in a short window. Canada had the advantage of being in much better shape with COVID-19, especially Atlantic Canada.

The CPL has 8 teams vs. 9 for the CFL. The format was for all the teams to play each other in the beginning, just like my idea.

The NFL and CPL are not the CFL. They rolled up sleeves and made a 2020 season happen. The CFL will be in trouble even with playing a 2021 season. They will have to recover fan interest when fans may not be able to be in a stadium, even at half capacity. 750 fans watched the Montréal Impact in person. The NFL will conduct a grand experiment with fans at certain stadiums this fall. If there is a Michigan-Ohio State game this fall, how many fans will be in Columbus, Ohio?

The Stanley Cup, NBA Finals trophy, World Series trophy, and likely the Super Bowl championship will be awarded. The Grey Cup will collect dust. If the Canadian Premier League could figure out how to make a 2020 season work, the Canadian Football League should have tried harder to be more creative to get a 2020 season on the books.

photo credit: Canadian Premier League
Twitter capture: @CPLsoccer

More ways to watch Schitt's Creek in the United States

The history-making final season of Schitt’s Creek will (finally) hit Netflix in the US and Canada on October 7. pic.twitter.com/VV3cdDCi4H

— Netflix (@netflix) September 21, 2020

If you are excited about this Canadian TV show called Schitt's Creek, which won 9 Emmys in 2020, you have more options for catching up on the show in the United States.

• Netflix has the first 5 seasons of Schitt's Creek and will have Season 6 available on October 7.
• The Canadian TV comedy has a syndication deal starting Monday. Check your local listings.
• Comedy Central, corporate sibling to Pop TV, will run 5 Schitt's Creek episodes in a row on Fridays, starting October 2. The episodes start at 8 pm Eastern.
• Pop TV, which has episodes available via its app, will run Season 6 of Schitt's Creek on Sunday starting at Noon Eastern. The documentary runs at 7 pm Eastern.
• The CW Seed site also has Seasons 1-5 with Season 6 coming to the service on October 7.

Netflix has a distinct advantage besides not having commercials. The channel can air the CBC show without censoring any words. Pop TV censored certain words during its broadcast that CBC aired in Canada. U.S. television is so sensitive about the title that the Emmys had to show the logo whenever the title was mentioned on the telecast.

The syndication deal goes out on OTA stations. Comedy Central might let some words go through but not other swear words. The syndication deal is a bit of a surprise since 100 episodes is the traditional mark for a minimum for syndication. Schitt's Creek only has 80 episodes.

The deals do give a significant number of Americans access to Schitt's Creek, potentially drawing new fans in the States.

Trying to recall if any Canadian TV show has had a syndication deal in the United States. CBS ran Kids in the Hall episodes starting in 1993 very late at night on Fridays. That isn't the same. Some skits didn't make it into the CBS versions, even late at night. Edgemont ran on weekends. The Red Green Show ran on PBS but once a week. If we missed an example, make us feel bad by leaving a comment.

Schitt's Creek wins 9 Emmys in its final season

Schitt's Creek gets 15 Emmy nominations in its final season

Adieu to Schitt's Creek

Catherine O'Hara made a crack about having a microphone at Eugene Levy's house Sunday night during the 2020 Emmys. They were set up at Casa Loma in Toronto, a significant tourist attraction. You might recognise Casa Loma if you saw Scott Pilgrim Saves the World.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadians can watch Seasons 1-6 on CBC Gem without any censored words.

Twitter capture: @Netflix
photo credit: @SchittsCreek

2020 British Columbia election preview

Minority governments aren't meant to last but if any minority government was going to last the whole 4 years, the NDP-Greens combo in British Columbia was that government.

So why mess with that success and call an early election?

Blaine Higgs in New Brunswick had to call an election because his party was in danger of losing control. John Horgan in British Columbia was in good shape with his NDP working well with the Green Party. The BC election will be October 24.

"We can either delay that decision and create uncertainty and instability over the 12 months … or we can do what I believe is always the right thing and ask British Columbians what they think," said Premier John Horgan.

The British Columbia election would have happened in 2021. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is the "reason" why BC is moving up a year.

The NDP has 41 seats in the legislature, as do the opposition Liberal Party. The Green Party has 2 seats. There are 2 independent seats and a vacant seat. Andrew Weaver was the Green Party leader in 2017. Weaver cited a family health issue in stepping down as the party leader and personal matters for stepping away from the party and serving as an independent. Weaver is not running in 2020. Sonia Furstenau has been the new Green Party leader for only 9 days.

We noted in 2015 of the significant number of cabinet members in the Stephen Harper government not running for re-election. That was after 9 years in federal power. The NDP in British Columbia has 7 cabinet members who are not running for re-election: Carole James, Judy Darcy, Shane Simpson, Michelle Mungall, Doug Donaldson, Claire Trevena, and Scott Fraser. That is not a good sign in an election that didn't need to be called.

Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson is in his first election after becoming party leader in February 2018.

Provincial elections in Canada might not seem exciting to some readers. British Columbia knows how to bring excitement. Then BC Premier Christy Clark had more seats (43-41) in the last election but wasn't able to form government. In the previous BC election, Clark led the Liberals to a comeback victory but didn't win her own seat. Clark had to win a by-election to get back into the assembly in Victoria.

I met with @jjhorgan on Friday and told him he had a stable government. This election is completely unnecessary.

The NDP has chosen the pursuit of power over the health and safety of British Columbians. #bcpoli

— SoniaFurstenau (@SoniaFurstenau) September 21, 2020

The Green Party is powerful enough to make an impact but won't win power on its own. Sonia Furstenau has little chance of becoming the only current female provincial premier in Canada. British Columbia is the only province to technically re-elect a female premier in Christy Clark.

Premier Horgan is gambling on the province's strong response to COVID-19 in a drive to get a majority government. Horgan would be the first NDP leader ever re-elected in the province with a victory next month.

British Columbia transitions power from Liberals to NDP with Greens help

BC elects Liberal minority government for the moment

2017 British Columbia provincial election preview

British Columbia COVID-19 updates normally feature chief medical officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix. The updates won't feature Dix during the campaign. This is how non-political the updates are in Canada. During elections, there are separations since the politicians are in campaign mode so they can't be seen as participating in activities that mix incumbency with politics.

The New Brunswick election turned out well for the party in power, the Progressive Conservatives. Higgs took advantage of an inexperienced opposition leader. New Brunswick's COVID-19 response was even better than the one in British Columbia. The other parties in New Brunswick weren't going to support the government. The Greens in British Columbia were willing to support the provincial government.

Normally, an election at this time in the province could mean political ads during Vancouver Canucks games. The new NHL season won't be starting until well after the election.

Vancouver is a large city, a new experience in the pandemic elections. New Brunswick's largest cities — Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John — are all smaller than Halifax, which is way smaller than Vancouver.

For those who aren't familiar with British Columbia politics, the Conservative Party isn't a factor. As a BC friend told me once, the Liberals in BC are the conservatives.

Blaine Higgs wins a majority government for Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick

New Brunswick is calling a provincial election in a pandemic

Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic

CanadianCrossing.com British Columbia coverage

2020 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

Meanwhile Saskatchewan is watching all of this unfold for the province's scheduled election on October 26. Now that election will be the 3rd provincial election in 2020.

photo credit: CBC
Twitter capture: @SoniaFurstenau

2020 TIFF wrapup

Announcing the recipient of the #TIFF20 Amplify Voices Award for Best Canadian Feature Film presented by @CanadaGoose: Michelle Latimer’s INCONVENIENT INDIAN pic.twitter.com/VJoCMCsDiw

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 20, 2020

The 2020 Toronto International Film Festival had some drive-in film journeys, a few IRL screenings, and mostly a streaming experience.

Beans from Tracey Deer finished 2nd runner up for the People's Choice Award. Inconvenient Indian from Michelle Latimer won the Documentary Award and Best Canadian Feature Film. The last documentary to win Best Canadian Feature Film was When Jews Were Funny (2013).

The sad news is that there is no award given for Best Canadian First Feature Film, an award that had been handed out since 1997. There weren't enough films to have this be a category in 2020.

Latimer's new TV show got a sneak preview. Trickster airs on CBC and CBC Gem early next month.

Your #TIFF20 People’s Choice Award runners-up 👇

1st runner-up: @ReginaKing’s ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...
2nd runner-up: @TraceyDeer’s BEANS pic.twitter.com/fdLQEMcBS5

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 20, 2020

Tracey Deer was honoured with the TIFF Emerging Talent Award at the TIFF Tribute Awards that aired in Canada on CTV. Variety streamed the awards internationally.

Nomadland from Chloé Zhao won the People's Choice Award. One Night in Miami, the directorial debut from Regina King, was 1st runner up. Beans finished behind those film as 2nd runner up. All 3 directors are female.

Latimer said she would split the $10,000 cash prize for Best Canadian Feature Film/Amplify Voices award evenly between 5 emerging Indigenous artists.

Canadian actor Eli Goree portrays Cassius Clay in One Night in Miami.

2020 TIFF preview

2020 TIFF Canadian film preview

When TIFF concentrated on Canadian films for the opening night film

2020 TIFF Rising Stars

We should know soon which Canadian film will compete for the Best International Feature Film. The Oscars category should be a lot more intriguing this season with limited Hollywood film fare. As we noted earlier, that film choice almost certainly won't come from 2020 TIFF.

In a year of limited film choices, maybe the selection will come from a Canadian co-production.

Antigone was the Best Canadian Feature Film of 2019 and Canada's submission to the Academy Awards.

Canadian film notebook: TIFF offering a digital version of Bell Lightbox

Q with Tom Power does a great job at spotlighting TIFF coverage even in normal times. Power's interview with Tracey Deer is especially poignant.

Power talked with director Charles Officer and writer Motion on heir new film Akilla's Escape. Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt discussed their documentary No Ordinary Man, about trans jazz musician Billy Tipton.

Power also talks with Eli Glasner on his take of the 2020 version of TIFF. Glasner had high praise for Shiva Baby, a Canada co-production.

Q airs on CBC Radio One at 10 am local time and is available in podcast form.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Rising Stars Alumni and #TIFF20 Ambassador @tatianamaslany sent us this lovely message to reminisce about her first TIFF experience and to thank the audiences that keep coming back for more. pic.twitter.com/eGG3h2qz45

— TIFF Industry (@TIFF_Industry) September 11, 2020

Celebrity sightings. Streets filled with tourists. People waiting in line outside hoping to get into a sold-out screening. Those are some of what was missing from the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

The realisation that digital screenings were limited was intriguing. The limit is quite logical to give the festival prestige. This 2020 version of TIFF was about the films more than the outside factors. A 2019 highlight was Tom Hanks ending up in a random cafe in Toronto. That was definitely missing in Toronto in 2020.

2020 TIFF Rising Stars

TIFF Rising Stars

We profiled the 2020 class of TIFF Rising Stars here. Here is the list from all the years.

2011 Sarah Allen, Katie Boland, Sarah Gadon, Keon Mohajeri

2012 Tatiana Maslany, Connor Jessup, Charlotte Sullivan, Charlie Carrick

2013 Megan Park, Johnathan Sousa, Evelyne Brochu, Cara Gee

2014 Shannon Kook, Sophie Desmarais, Alexandre Landry, Julia Sarah Stone

2015 Deragh Campbell, Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider, Karelle Tremblay

2016 Jared Abrahamson, Grace Glowicki, Mylène Mackay, Sophie Nélisse

2017 Daniel Doheny, Mary Galloway, Théodore Pellerin, Ellen Wong

2018 Devery Jacobs, Lamar Johnson, Michaela Kurimsky, Jess Salgueiro

2019 Kacey Rohl, Mikhail Ahooja, Nahéma Ricci, Shamier Anderson

2020 Madeleine Sims-Fewer

Best Canadian Feature Film

I have added Kanehsatake: 270 Years Of Resistance and Cairo Time to the films I've seen from this list.

Best Canadian Feature Film
Year	Film	Director
2020	Inconvenient Indian	Michelle Latimer
2019	Antigone	Sophie Deraspe
2018	The Fireflies Are Gone	Sebastien Pilote
2017	Les Affamés	Robin Aubert
2016	Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves	Mathieu Denis, Simon Lavoie
2015	Closet Monster	Stephen Dunn
2014	Felix and Meira	Maxime Giroux
2013	When Jews Were Funny	Alan Zweig
2012	Laurence Anyways	Xavier Dolan
2011	Monsieur Lazhar	Philippe Falardeau
2010	Incendies	Denis Villeneuve
2009	Cairo Time	Ruba Nadda
2008	Lost Song	Rodrigue Jean
2007	My Winnipeg	Guy Maddin
2006	Manufactured Landscapes	Jennifer Baichwal
2005	C.R.A.Z.Y.	Jean-Marc Vallée
2004	It's All Gone Pete Tong	Michael Dowse
2003	Les Invasions Barbares	Denys Arcand
2002	Spider	David Cronenberg
2001	Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)	Zacharias Kunuk
2000	Waydowntown	Gary Burns
1999	The Five Senses	Jeremy Podeswa
1998	Nô	Robert Lepage
1997	The Sweet Hereafter	Atom Egoyan
	The Hanging Garden	Thom Fitzgerald
1996	Long's Day Journey Into The Night	David Wellington
1995	Live Bait	Bruce Sweeney
1994	Exotica	Atom Egoyan
1993	Kanehsatake: 270 Years Of Resistance	Alanis Obomsawin
1992	Requiem Pour Un Beau Sans-Coeur	Robert Morin
1991	The Adjuster	Atom Egoyan
1990	H	Darrell Wasyk
1989	Roadkill	Bruce McDonald
1988	The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick	Allan Goldstein
1987	Family Viewing	Atom Egoyan
1986	Le Déclin De L'empire Américain	Denys Arcand
1985	Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga Of Hal C. Banks	Donald Brittain
1984	La Femme De L'hôtel	Léa Pool
Best Canadian Feature Film (1991-present); Excellence in Canadian Production (1984-1990).

 

Best Canadian First Feature Film

I've added Luk' Luk'l and Bang Bang Baby. Would love to find Love, Sex and Eating The Bones. Films are much harder to find in this category. Sad that we don't have a 2020 entry but not enough films to qualify in this category.

Best Canadian First Feature Film
Year	Film	Director
2020	no award given	no award given
2019	The Twentieth Century	Matthew Rankin
2018	Roads in February	Katherine Jerkovic
2017	Luk' Luk'l	Wayne Wapeemukwa
2016	Old Stone	Johnny Ma
2015	Sleeping Giant	Andrew Cividino
2014	Bang Bang Baby	Jeffrey St. Jules
2013	Asphalt Watches	Shayne Ehman, Seth Scriver
2012	Antiviral	Brandon Cronenberg
	Blackbird	Jason Buxton
2011	Edwin Boyd	Nathan Morlando
2010	The High Cost of Living	Deborah Chow
2009	The Wild Hunt	Alexandre Franchi
2008	Before Tomorrow	Marie-Hélène Cousineau
		Madeline Piujuq Ivalu
2007	Un Film Sans Fusil Continental	Stéphane Lafleur
2006	Sur La Trace D'igor Rizzi	Nöel Mitrani
2005	The Life And Hard Times Of Guy Terrifico	Louise Archambault, Michael Mabbott
2004	La Peau Blanche	Daniel Roby
2003	Love, Sex and Eating The Bones	Sudz Sutherland
2002	Marion Bridge	Wiebke Von Carolsfeld
2001	Inertia	Sean Garrity
2000	La Moitié Gauche Du Frigo	Philippe Falardeau
1999	Just Watch Me:	Catherine Annau
	Trudeau and The 70's Generation
1998	Last Night	Don McKellar
1997	Cube Vincenzo	Natali
As determined by the Toronto International Film Festival.

 

You can check out all the award winners. The 46th Toronto International Film Festival will hopefully be relatively normal in September 2021.

Twitter captures: @TIFF_net (x2); @TIFF_Industry
photo credit: Inconvenient Indian filmm

Schitt's Creek wins 9 Emmys in its final season

With Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy winning their #Emmys tonight, that means our little Canadian show is the first comedy OR drama to ~ever~ sweep all four acting categories, and that is absolutely wild 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/fEUnaLoDBr

— Schitt's Creek (@SchittsCreek) September 21, 2020

Schitt’s Creek -- the small, quite Canadian TV series that played on an obscure U.S. cable TV channel finished its 6th and final season with 9 Emmys. The CBC and Pop TV show won 7 Emmys in the Sunday night ceremony; the program swept the major acting awards for Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Daniel Levy, and Annie Murphy as well as Best Comedy Series.

“I will forever be grateful to Eugene and Daniel Levy for the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age — my age — who gets to fully be her ridiculous self.” — Catherine O'Hara in her acceptance speech.

Dan Levy was a triple threat winning for acting, directing (with Andrew Cividino), and writing. The latter 2 awards were for the series finale episode Happy Ending and it certainly was. The only award Schitt's Creek "lost" on Sunday was David West Read, who was nominated in the writing category for the Presidential Suite episode.

Schitt's Creek won a pair of Emmys earlier in the week. Debra Hanson, costume designer, and Darci Cheyne, assistant costume designer, won for the Happy Ending episode. The show and people were also nominated in 2019 in this category. Lisa Parasyn, CSA and Jon Comerford, CSA won for Casting for a Comedy Series. We noted the amazing, extensive Canadian cast (and Chris Elliott) in a story earlier this year.

Schitt's Creek set a new record for most Emmys in a single season for a comedy series. The sweep of the major acting awards was only the second in Emmy history, besides Angels in America in 2004.

Besides the David West Read writing nomination, the show was nominated in these categories, all for the Happy Ending episode:

• Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) — Candice Ornstein, key makeup artist; Lucky Bromhead, personal makeup artist
• Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation — Bryan Day, production mixer; Martin Lee, re-recording mixer
• Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series — Trevor Ambrose, editor; Start Spreading The News: Paul Winestock, CCE, editor
• Contemporary Hairstyling — Annastasia Cucullo, key hairstylist; Ana Sorys, personal hairstylist

Schitt’s Creek received 4 Emmy nominations in 2019: the show, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, and contemporary costumes. Levy and O'Hara won Emmys for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program in 1982 and Levy in 1983 for SCTV. Tatiana Maslany was the last Canadian to win an Emmy for a Canadian show for Orphan Black in 2016. Maslany was also nominated in 2015 and 2018.

You might recognise Cividino's name and his directorial debut Sleeping Giant. The film won Best Canadian First Feature Film at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Cividino was a Best Director nominee at the Canadian Screen Awards.

Cividino co-directed the Christmas episode and the Season 5 finale Life is a Cabaret with Levy. He directed 6 episodes and co-directed the series finale in the final season. Levy mentioned that he met Cividino in film school.

Schitt's Creek gets 15 Emmy nominations in its final season

Luke Kirby wins an Emmy; Schitt's Creek gets shut out of 2019 Emmys

Schitt's Creek receives 4 Emmy nominations

Adieu to Schitt's Creek

Luke Kirby did not win back-to-back Emmys for Guest Actor In A Comedy Series as Lenny Bruce on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Kirby lost out to Eddie Murphy when he hosted Saturday Night Live.

Stephan James (Rayshawn) lost out to his co-star Laurence Fishburne (Lt. Steven Poincy) for Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series for #FreeRayshawn on Quibi.

Sandra Oh now has 12 Emmy nominations, 10 for acting, without a win; Oh was up for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series for Killing Eve and as co executive producer for the show.

Martin Short was nominated for his performance for Guest Actor in a Drama Series on The Morning Show.

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee was nominated for Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series and Variety Talk Series but lost out to Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. Beeing At Home With Samantha Bee was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series but lost out to Carpool Karaoke: The Series.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Emmy winner Tatiana Maslany and Will Arnett had some fun with celebrities and how they have passed time during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Maslany was part of the Emmys nomination announcement online.

Schitt’s Creek is available in Canada on CBC Gem and in the United States on the Pop TV app and on Netflix. Season 6 of the program will hit Netflix next month.

Twitter capture: @SchittsCreek
photo credit: TV Academy/ABC; @SchittsCreek (x2)

Canadian MLS teams start an extended U.S. road trip

Editor's note: MLS has announced the remaining schedules for Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver teams. The teams keep their U.S. home stadiums as noted in the article. The regular season finishes up on November 8.

Major League Soccer (MLS) has released 3 more games in piecemeal fashion. The Canadian teams are on an extended road trip into the United States.

Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver have 3 U.S. opponents, 2 road games and a designated home game. The Reds and Impact actually get a neutral field while the Whitecaps play a "home" game at the field of the opponent.

The Impact will play Philadelphia at the home of the Red Bulls in Harrison, NJ. The Reds get an actual neutral field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.

We have found that offensive when the Toronto Blue Jays were stuck with that scenario while the team got Sahlen Field in Buffalo ready. Very difficult to imagine MLS couldn't find a neutral field on the West Coast of the United States.

The Canadian teams have an imbalance on U.S. soil even with a neutral field. The Canadian teams are living in suitcases; going back to Canada means a 14-day quarantine.

The eastern Canadian teams also have a much better travel schedule in playing 3 games in 8 days (7 days for Montréal) compared to Vancouver's flying schedule.

TSN and TVA Sports will have their usual coverage. ESPN+ will have the games in the United States.

Date	Road	Home	Time
September 19	Toronto	D.C. United	7:30p
September 19	Vancouver	Real Salt Lake	9:30p
September 20	Philadelphia	Montréal*	7:30p
September 23	Toronto	New York City FC	7p
September 23	Montréal	New England	7:30p
September 23	Vancouver	LAFC	10:30p
September 27	Montréal	NY Red Bulls	7p
September 27	Columbus	Toronto+	7:30p
September 27	Portland	Vancouver#	10p

* Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ; + Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT;
# Providence Park, Portland

2020 MLS regular season returns with all-Canadian games

All 3 Canadian MLS teams advance to Round of 16 in Orlando

MLS 2020 Orlando tournament preview

What sports will look like on Canadian soil in 2020

Toronto FC had a tremendous unbeaten run of 18 games, a game short of the MLS record of 19 last done a decade ago. The Reds pulled off 3 straight shutouts on Canadian soil until the Impact posted a 1-0 victory.

Toronto was set to tie the game on a penalty kick when Alejandro Pozuelo was ready to kick, but passed the ball to Pablo Piatti. Piatti scored on Impact goalkeeper Clement Diop, but the goal didn't count. The play looked cool but apparently was too cute for the rules.

2020 MLS preview

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

Having 250 people in a 20,081 seat Stade Saputo won't make too much noise but a lot more noise than having 0 fans. The Montréal Impact took advantage of Quebec's guidelines since 250 is the maximum allowed.

The 750 tickets sold represent the only fans who have been able to see a major league sport on Canadian soil since the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shut everything down.

The Impact gave club members first access to tickets that started at $49.

British Columbia and Alberta getting the smoke from U.S. West Coast wildfires

Toronto FC will take on either Hamilton Forge FC or Halifax HFX Wanderers for the Canadian Championship. The Canadian Premier League entry will be determined tomorrow. Americans can watch that match on Fox Sports 2 at 1:30 pm Eastern from Charlottetown, PEI.

The Reds finished 4-2 against the other Canadian teams. Montréal (3-3) had a chance to advance with a second win over Vancouver (2-4) but lost 3-1 on Wednesday.

Toronto FC posted 3 straight shutout wins to start the round-robin, 2 against Vancouver and 1 against Montréal. The Impact posted a shutout win against both Vancouver and Toronto.

The 2020 Canadian Championship winner gets the Voyageurs Cup and qualifies for the next edition of the Concacaf Champions League.

We noted earlier this week about the impact of the smoke on the Montréal Impact series at BC Place against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The hydration breaks were definitely helpful.

photo credit: TSN/MLS

Canadian film review: Indian Horse

The real stories of Indigenous people who suffered wounds of all different kinds from residential schools can't always be captured well on film. Some stories have triumph within tragedy. Some stories are mostly tragedy.

Indian Horse falls in the latter category. You sense within minutes of this film that a lot of heartache is coming.

Saul lives deep in the wild with his parents and grandmother. His older brother takes ill at a residential school and later dies. His parents, who converted to Christianity, focus on their dead son and leave Saul behind with his grandmother.

After his grandmother dies, Saul is caught by the authorities and sent to a residential school.

The only saving grace for Saul is that he is really good at hockey. The team doesn't want him at first because Saul is Indigenous. Eventually, his talent takes over.

Saul finds some solace when he sent to play with a team comprised on Indigenous players in a small mining town.

Saul has good teammate support with his fellow Indigenous players. He gets to the Toronto Monarchs and his teammates don't really talk to him.

The story is about Saul's inner struggle with adaptation in his various worlds. There is a sad sense but we learn very little about what Saul is thinking.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The film is a bunch of chapters loosely bound together. A bunch of horrible things happen without much warmth or anything reasonably pleasant.

You get the desolate circumstances for Saul and other Indigenous children over multiple generations. If you know absolutely nothing on this topic, you will get a good sense of what really happened. Indian Horse is a pretty good film, just really difficult to watch. Some of that unpleasantness is the story and also how the story is told.

The film is an adaptation of Ojibwe author Richard Wagamese's 2012 novel of the same name. You might learn more about Saul in the book as opposed to the film.

Sladen Peltier, as the 6-year-old version of Saul, got a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Vance Banzo, a member of Tallboyz, does a good job as one of Saul's Indigenous teammates.

The film was released theatrically, playing at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Yet the film was originally supposed to be a TV movie for Super Channel. The film does have a feel like a TV movie.

Indian Horse was actually the highest-grossing English Canadian film of 2018. So others clearly disagree with this review.

Indian Horse is available on Netflix.

video credit: YouTube/YouTube Movies
photo credit: Indian Horse film

British Columbia and Alberta getting the smoke from U.S. West Coast wildfires

Americans aren't allowed to cross into Canada on the ground. The restrictions don't apply to American smoke coming from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, and California. While the smoke stretches far into Canada, British Columbia and Alberta are getting the brunt of the smoke. The map (above) covered affected areas as of Monday in British Columbia.

We've seen the horrible damage caused by the wildfires.

Western Canada has had its share of wildfires in recent years. Some of that smoke did creep over the border into Washington state. The 2020 wildfires have produced a lot more cross-border smoke damage.

Sports have been affected by the smoke. The MLB Seattle Mariners had to forego home games in Seattle to play the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, which had eerie red skies recently due to the impact of the wildfires.

We saw proof of the smoke from the U.S. wildfires during the Montréal Impact MLS game at BC Place against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The game got hydration breaks at the 30th and 76th minutes because of the poor air quality. The teams play again tonight at BC Place.

The air quality is also a concern with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic for those with breathing issues, especially among the immuno-compromised. The air quality statements from Environment Canada urged people to remain indoors.

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holy smokes! we are covered in smoke today🔥 hope everyone effected by these vicious wildfires is safe or has found a safe place to go. #canmore #banff #wildfires2020 @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/zyaGtkawx8

— Mariam Bocari (@MariamBocari) September 13, 2020

Climate change and the impact of wildfires would be a great topic for a Three Amigos summit with Canada, United States, and Mexico. The discussion format was alive in 2016 but hasn't been followed up since January 2017. The countries built up acrimony in negotiating what turned out to be NAFTA 2.0.

The latest chapter of U.S. tariffs against aluminum came to a temporary end after Canada was about to impose retaliatory tariffs. The U.S. got those tariffs for weeks before any response. Those retaliatory tariffs need to be instantaneous.

We would love the Schengen model in the European Union to be used elsewhere on the planet. Cooperation between countries on a continent where every country sees a benefit would be helpful in ways that don't stop at the border, such as smoke from wildfires.

The water quality of the Great Lakes is another good example. 4 of the 5 Great Lakes are bordered by Canada and the United States.

For Canadians interested in the process and for Americans living in Canada, the first presidential debate is 13 days away on September 29 in Cleveland with Chris Wallace as the moderator.

The other presidential debates will be October 15 in Miami with Steve Scully as moderator and October 22 in Nashville with Kristen Welker as moderator.

The lone vice presidential debate will be October 7 in Salt Lake City with Susan Page as moderator.

Don't hold your breath on Canada being mentioned in the debates.

Canadians can watch the debates on any over-the-air U.S. network and likely on CBC News Network and CTV News Channel.

We had hopes for the Party Lines podcast with its variation Party in the U.S.A. However, the content so far seems annoyingly centrist/neutral. Hoping Elamin Abdelmahmoud broadens the coverage to reflect the current reality.

photo credit: Environment Canada
Twitter capture: @MariamBocari

Blaine Higgs wins a majority government for Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick

Blaine Higgs and the Progressive Conservatives wanted stability for the government. The New Brunswick voters gave the party a majority government last night. After 2 years of the first minority government in about 100 years, Higgs called a snap election during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The PCs got 27 seats in the 49-seat assembly. The party won 22 seats in 2018, down to 20 before the 2020 election. The Liberals fell from 20 seats to 17 seats. The Green Party stayed at 3 seats while the right-wing People's Alliance fell from 3 seats to 2 seats.

Higgs is the first premier to win a second term since Bernard Lord (Progressive Conservatives) in 2003.

Canada is a safer place for abortion though access should be improved

Hospital cuts — threatened and then taken back by Higgs — will be a top concern. Access to abortion — a long-standing issue — is another concern. The government only reimburses for abortions at 3 hospitals in the province, two in Moncton and one in Bathurst. The PCs won't reimburse abortions at Clinic 554, a family practice in Fredericton.

The Liberals generally do well in the Francophone areas to the north. The PCs picked up some urban seats in the 3 major cities: Fredericton (the capital), Moncton, and Saint John.

The PCs elected a single francophone in Daniel Allain (Moncton East). Higgs hasn't proven to be empathic to the cultural circumstances in francophone ridings in the north of the province.

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You might know Kevin Vickers for his actions as sergeant-at-arms at the House of Commons when he shot a gunman who stormed Parliament Hill in 2014. Vickers then served as the Canadian ambassador to Ireland.

Vickers had never run in an election and his first election was as Liberal Party leader in this election.

Michelle Conroy (People's Alliance) was the incumbent in the Miramichi riding where Vickers ran. Conroy won again.

Vickers announced on CBC New Brunswick that he would step down as Liberal Party leader. He didn't give a speech, which was a bit of a surprise.

Despite all of Vickers heroics throughout his life, he might have been in over his head. The ground game politicians want to do was more difficult in a pandemic. Vickers has national name recognition but needed to build up local name recognition.

New Brunswick is calling a provincial election in a pandemic

Green Party leader David Coon won re-election as did his 2 other fellow Green Party MLAs.

People's Alliance leader Kris Austin and Michelle Conroy were re-elected. Rick DeSaulniers lost his re-election bid. Austin was the only one to give a speech that had no French.

Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic

The successful reaction to managing the COVID-19 pandemic was considered a significant factor in the PCs getting a majority government. There was a new COVID-19 case in New Brunswick yesterday. NB Public Health said the person who tested positive is travel-related and the individual is self-isolating. The person is in their 20s in Zone 1, the Moncton region.

The number of active cases is now 3. New Brunswick has had 194 cases, and 189 people have recovered and 2 deaths. Not in a day or a month but since the pandemic started.

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The U.S. has specific age requirements for federal offices: 25 for the House, 30 for the Senate, and 35 for president and vice president. Canada requires a person to be 18.

Rowan Miller, 24, ran for the Green Party in the 2019 federal election and ran for the Green Party in the Carleton-Victoria riding. Meriet Miller, 19, is Rowan's younger brother. NDP provincial leader Mackenzie Thomason went to university with Rowan. Thomason recruited Meriet to run against Rowan as a NDP candidate.

How did the brothers do? Which brother got more votes?

Andrew Harvey (Liberal) was the incumbent in the riding but finished in second to Margaret Johnson (Progressive Conservatives). Terry Leigh Sisson (People's Alliance) came in third.

Rowan got 5.1% of the vote, 372 votes. Meriet had 1.5%, or 113 votes. Rowan got more than 3x as many votes as his younger brother. Combined, they had fewer votes than Sisson.

The brothers are still rather young. They have many more elections to engage each other and the voters.

Today Monday, September 7 at 12:00pm there will be a special #LabourDay2020 address in front of St. Josephs Hospital 130 Bayard Dr, Saint John. Everyone is encouraged to attend. pic.twitter.com/gep92IcoHB

— New Brunswick NDP / NPD du Nouveau-Brunswick (@NBNDP_NPDNB) September 7, 2020

This tweet from the NDP was significant since this was the first tweet issued by the party in almost 2 years. The previous tweet ran on September 24, 2018. We know that the NDP was in turmoil, now running with interim leader Mackenzie Thomason. The election was called in mid August but the party didn't send out a tweet until a week before the election.

Can't blame this on a lack of technology connected with age since Thomason is 23. Better late than never but social media can fit within the budget of a struggling party with 0 seats in Fredericton.

The NDP won 0 seats in the 2020 election. Thomason came in 5th in the Fredericton North riding with 100 votes.

2020 Canadian politics preview

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CanadianCrossing.com New Brunswick coverage

The 2020 New Brunswick election turnout was 65.9%, down slightly from 67.1% in 2018. Not quite Prince Edward Island numbers; the U.S. would drool over that kind of a turnout.

More than 63,000 New Brunswick residents headed to the polls on the first of two days of advance voting, according to Elections New Brunswick. In 2018, just over 43,500 electors voted on the first day of advance polls.

The campaign was more about door hangers and not knocking on doors. Incumbent MLAs benefited from name recognition in their ridings where learning the opponents was a challenge. This isn't too much TV advertising in New Brunswick with the bilingual situation and very few TV stations.

The new assembly has 14 of 49 seats for women with 9 for the PCs, a new party record. New Brunswick has no current female party leaders, though the Liberals and the NDP have openings.

CBAT Channel 4, CBC in Fredericton carried the election coverage instead of the NHL Stanley Cup playoff game. The coverage ended at 11 pm Atlantic, 10 pm Eastern, about 2 hours after the game started. Fans could catch the overtime of the final game in that series. The hockey was also on Rogers Sportsnet plus Canadians could stream the election coverage and the game on CBCSports.ca. Yes, there is only CBC station in New Brunswick.

photo credits: CBC News New Brunswick

Canadians wanting football are stuck watching the NFL on TV

The Buffalo Bills have a significant number of Canadian season ticket holders. The Bills have announced that money will be refunded accordingly as long as the border is closed.

The Bills aren't allowing any fans at its first two home games at Bills Stadium in accordance with New York state guidelines.

Buffalo opened up its home season yesterday with the New York Jets. The next home game is September 27 against the Los Angeles Rams. Yesterday marked the first time Buffalo had major league baseball and football in the area at the same time.

We noted that those in Buffalo couldn't get the Toronto Blue Jays on television. The Buffalo Sabres had a limited deal with Bell Media to get their games in the immediate southern Ontario area from 2013-2016.

Toronto fans of the Buffalo Bills can easily watch the team. The sim sub usually ends up on CFTO-TV Channel 9, the CTV station in Toronto. Fans with an antenna can get the games via WIVB-TV 4, CBS in Buffalo, and WUTV, Fox 29 in Buffalo.

The Detroit Lions get a lot of Canadian fans to cross the border in season ticket holders and fans for individual games. The Windsor bus systems runs buses straight to Ford Field on game days. The Seattle Seahawks get a lot of Canadian fans even if the drive is longer than Windsor to Detroit.

Some NFL teams are allowed to have home fans if their state's rules are more lenient. The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to let in 13,000 people for its first home game.

NFL fans in Canada could travel to the U.S. to watch the games. The problems are that they have to fly to their destination and have to quarantine for 14 days when they get back.

Canadians can easily get their games on television with no border crossings.

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The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has changed the sports world. The CFL cancelled its season in great part because they couldn't let in significant crowds. Quebec has a 250 maximum; the MLS Montréal Impact allowed that number in for recent games against Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Long-time readers will remember that the Buffalo Bills used to play games in Toronto at Rogers Centre. That certainly couldn't have happened in 2020.

The Buffalo Bills got snowed out in 2014 and moved a game to Detroit. The thought of moving the game to Toronto was thwarted since not all the players had passports.

CanadianCrossing.com NFL coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Despite the attendance issues in the Bills Toronto series, the NFL is very popular in Canada. Without the CFL, the NFL will grow in stature, especially in Toronto and Vancouver.

U.S. NFL fans might think they get a decent amount of games on a Sunday. Canadians get way more games thanks to CTV stations across the country (with time shifting on cable or satellite) and TSN. Now that TSN doesn't have CFL games, Canadians may get even more NFL games.

@KennyAlbert has been in a safe bubble in #Edmonton for the @NHL playoffs. The @NFL made up a rule where anyone who has been outside the U.S. has to #quarantine for 14 days to call a game on site. #Canada is safer than any NFL city right now. https://t.co/ljs9aEMSTr

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 12, 2020

Kenny Albert has been in one of the safest places in North America in the NHL bubble in Edmonton for NBCSN. Albert was scheduled to leave the bubble to cover the NFL for Fox. The NFL has had this peculiar rule, even more odd since the NFL plays in London and Mexico City and used to play in Toronto. Albert flew from Edmonton through Toronto to Detroit when he found out en route that he wouldn't be able to call the NFL game.

Fox replaced Albert for the game in Detroit with Dick Stockton, who reportedly came in from Arizona. Edmonton, even outside the bubble, is safer than Arizona.

We profiled Kenny Albert's life in the bubble. The NHL gets full credit for how the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto have gone. The NFL could learn something from the NHL.

The NFL rule doesn't specifically say Canada, yet the national announcers are either in Canada (Albert) or the United States (everyone else). Sam Rosen, who is calling NHL playoff games on the radio, isn't on Fox's list of NFL announcers.

logo credit: Buffalo Bills/NFL
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing