Canadian Crossing

Wrapping up the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays season

The future looks so bright you would have to wear shades when the roof is closed at Rogers Centre. A lot of offence and little pitching is already the forecast for the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays.

We saw the debut of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, and Bo Bichette. We saw Lourdes Gurriel Jr. move to the outfield. Kevin Pillar, Kendrys Morales, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini, and Freddy Galvis were among the many veteran Blue Jays who found homes in U.S.-based ballparks.

The 2019 Blue Jays finished in 4th place at 67-95, 36 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East. The Blue Jays were 35-46 at home while 32-49 on the road. The 2018 version finished with a 73-89 record, 35 games out in 4th place in the AL East.

The Toronto Blue Jays have secured the 5th overall selection in the upcoming 2020 amateur draft.

Guerrero, Jr. attracted attention with his 91 home runs in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby in Cleveland. He was the fourth Canadian-born player to participate in the home run derby along with Larry Walker, Jason Bay, and Justin Morneau.

Guerrero Jr. has said he will try to lose 15-20 pounds in the offseason. That would be intriguing to see the impact if that works out well.

Roy Halladay officially inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

2019 Toronto Blue Jays All-Star Game preview

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. brings a lot of excitement to Toronto Blue Jays

Trade deadline was sad for the Blue Jays for who they didn't trade (Ken Giles, Justin Smoak, Freddy Galvis) as who they did trade (Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini). The Houston trade for Derek Fisher felt lopsided when the trade was announced ("Derek Fisher and who else?"). The fact that Sanchez and Biagini combined with 2 other pitchers on a no-hitter in their first appearance for Houston as well as Fisher getting hit in the face with a fly ball did not add to the appearance of the trade.

Sanchez did undergo season-ending shoulder surgery early in September. Sanchez finished his brief Houston 2019 tenure with a 2-0 record and a 4.82 ERA.

Speaking of no-hitters, Justin Verlander became the first pitcher ever to pitch a pair of no-hitters in the same visiting ballpark, Rogers Centre in Toronto. Verlander struck out 14 Blue Jays for the 2-0 no-hitter on September 1. He also threw a no-hitter at Rogers Centre in 2011 with Detroit. Canadian-born rookie Abraham Toro hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 9th inning off Ken Giles for the entire offense in Verlander's latest no-hitter.

Anthony Kay, the primary return in the Stroman deal, is being introduced to Canada since he hadn't been outside the United States before the trade.

2019 Toronto Blue Jays season preview

The Blue Jays traded Freddy Galvis to Cincinnati to open up some playing time for Bo Bichette, among others. Galvis got off to a good start for the Reds.

Bo Bichette got off to a tremendous start and gave the Jays something they truly haven't had in years: a quality lead-off hitter. Cavan Biggio hitting for the cycle. He didn't get the accolades of Guerrero, Jr. but had a very good rookie season.

The team will also have to address veteran leadership in the offseason. Justin Smoak is likely to be gone. Ken Giles could get dealt in the offseason. Billy McKinney might seem old to the rookies but he isn't.

CanadianCrossing.com MLB coverage

Though we are a couple of months away from the horrendous trade deadline activity by the Blue Jays, there is the haunting fear that Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro didn't want to get good talent back for players that they inherited.

Kevin Pillar hit over 20 home runs for the San Francisco Giants after Toronto traded the centre fielder for reliever Derek Law, utility man Alen Hanson, and pitching prospect Juan De Paula. There is still time for the deal to work out for the Blue Jays. Hanson played for a month in the big leagues, went to Buffalo in early May, and was released by the organisation on August 3.

Shapiro specifically mentions the Cliff Lee deal when he was in charge in Cleveland. He pointed to the outcry from fans about trading Lee. That deal with Philadelphia brought back 4 prospects (Lee, like Stroman had another year of control).

Let's look at how Shapiro got Cliff Lee in the first place. Shapiro traded starting pitcher Bartolo Colon and minor league pitcher Tim Drew to the Montréal Expos for first baseman Lee Stevens and a trio of prospects: Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, and Grady Sizemore.

Montréal was in a really bad situation but Shapiro took advantage and acquired tremendous talent in return. Not every deal will be that good. We know Shapiro is capable of making that type of a deal. Will Toronto fans see the benefit of a trade such as that one?

Celebrating Montreal Expos legacy in Washington, DC

Toronto Blue Jays help celebrate the 50-year anniversary of Montreal Expos

The 50-year anniversary of the introduction of the Montréal Expos got some love in Montréal and the U.S. capital in Washington with a nod from Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL.

2019 brought the 6th different opponent to play the Toronto Blue Jays in preseason games in Olympic Stadium. The current Washington Nationals put on the powder blue road uniforms for a home game at Nationals Park. The opponent was a 1969 expansion team, the Kansas City Royals.

The year also brought talk of splitting the Tampa Bay Rays season with game in Montréal. Moving the Rays to Montréal would make too much sense. Tropicana Field, the worst MLB facility, has a lease through 2027 season. That would give plenty of time for Montréal to build a new downtown stadium in Griffintown.

MLB forced the Expos to play 22 games in San Juan for the last 2 seasons in 2003 and 2004. The Expos had to go at one point from San Juan to Seattle on a road trip.

Montréal deserves a full-time team playing in a downtown stadium.

Mike Soroka (Calgary) finished with a 13-4 record for Atlanta with 142 strikeouts in 29 starts with a 2.68 ERA.

Soroka will get consideration for the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year. Ferguson Jenkins and Eric Gagne are the only Canadian hurlers to win the Cy Young Award for best pitcher.

photos credit: Topps; Rogers Sportsnet/Toronto Blue Jays; MASN/MLB

Canada election 2019: The impact of Tout le monde en parle

The NDP has limited funds and a relatively unknown federal leader in Jagmeet Singh. The NDP has to concentrate more of its resources in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. 

38 of the 44 seats won in the 2015 election were from Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. The NDP has no seats in the Atlantic provinces; 1 seat in Alberta, 3 seats in Saskatchewan, and 2 seats in Manitoba.

Singh is really introducing himself to Canadians in this election. Singh had not been to New Brunswick since becoming party leader.

With limited funds, television is a powerful tool for Singh and the NDP.

We've already seen earlier than Singh is willing to go to great lengths for seats in Quebec with the ad where he isn't wearing a turban. Singh went on Tout le monde en parle on Radio-Canada to say the NDP "will be an ally for Quebec." The NDP leader also said the party wouldn't join legal challenges against Bill 21.

There is a growing argument that the damage Bill 21 is doing to Sikhs, Muslims, and Jewish people in Quebec is more worrisome than any controversial photos of late.

Singh looked good in his responses after the Justin Trudeau photos surfaced. Singh got a private talk with Trudeau on his terms. We will see if that is a turning point for the NDP.

We usually bring up Tout le monde en parle during a federal election campaign. The program has been legendary in the Quebec audience for years. Anyone who wants to get the message out in Quebec goes on the show. Even if you don't know French, you can find episodes or segments on YouTube to get a flavour for the show.

In Wendy Mesley's piece spotlighting the Radio-Canada talk show, she noted that Stephen Harper never appeared on the show. Maxime Bernier has not appeared and isn't likely to appear. Andrew Scheer has been on the show before and even admitted to smoking weed. Tout le monde en parle roughly translates to "Everybody's talking."

Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet appeared on the same show as Singh. Justin Trudeau, who has been on the show 7 times, Scheer, and Elizabeth May are scheduled to appear on the show before the election.

Jagmeet Singh finally got to New Brunswick and even appeared on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which is taped in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mark Critch interviewed Singh and joked that New Brunswick was like if Quebec had a baby with a urban gas station. Green Party leader Elizabeth May also was on the episode this week.

Canada election 2019 debates preview

We ran an election debates preview this past week. There was an early debate, which we did preview. The Munk School of Global Affairs foreign policy debate was cancelled just before our preview ran on the blog. That debate would have been on Tuesday. The TVA debate will go on Wednesday, unfortunately without Elizabeth May. I do wonder if English Canadians tune out the French language debates. I encourage you to follow along even if that is with a translation (hopefully through CPAC). I will watch the opening of the NHL later if I can get a translation of the French language debate.

There is a wariness that Canadian politicians might say something else in French that they don't in English. You can find out for yourselves. Don't feel bad if you are frustrated. My French isn't great but I do try to follow what they are saying in French.

Watch our new ad ⬇️ #ChooseForward https://t.co/VfYub8tEWu pic.twitter.com/Kjq7p6V4PO

— Liberal Party (@liberal_party) August 26, 2019

As part of our running series, we are posting ads from the major parties. We did feature a NDP ad in an earlier notebook. Here is the standard bearer Liberal Party ad.

Canada election 2019: Make room for 6 at the commission debates

Several climate strike marches rang across Canada on Friday. Trudeay and May were in Montréal while Singh was in Victoria. Andrew Scheer didn't participate. No climate strike marches, no gay pride parades. Scheer's base wouldn't forgive him for doing either. Everyone else is watching his non-action.

Canada election 2019: MacLean's, Citytv big losers in the first debate

Marijuana hasn't come up in the campaign. The Liberals under Trudeau legalised marijuana. That is a major accomplishment.

Green Party leader Elizabeth May suggests Canada decriminalise all drugs. Andrew Scheer falsely claimed Liberals want to decriminalise all drugs. The Liberals were afraid to make edibles legal.

This isn't the first falsehood Scheer has pulled off in the campaign. He has been retweeting awful things that are flat out untrue, such as trying to tie the Liberals with a UK child killer coming to Canada. There was no truth to the story.

Desperation doesn't kick in so early in a campaign. A campaign can't be "don't vote for this person." You need reasons for someone to vote for you and not against someone else.

2019 Canada election preview

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is playing the hide part of hide-and-seek when Andrew Scheer comes to Ontario. Ford has been on the down low, not even having the Ontario legislature in session. The Liberals are trying to tie Scheer with Ford's unpopular policies, especially the massive budget cuts to services.

Ford has said he is too busy, even though the legislature is not in session and when an event is a few blocks from Ford's home.

Scheer has campaigned with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. 

This seems like an obvious slam against Ford. True. Some Conservatives in Ontario wanted Ford to campaign with Scheer to bring out Ford Nation to the polls. Ontario is highly crucial for the Conservatives.

Justin Trudeau mentioned Ford 15 times in his pharmacare announcement earlier in the week.

Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election

We've all seen bad Photoshopping (yes, that is a thing). The Green Party reportedly edited a photo where now Elizabeth May is drinking from a metal straw and reusable cup featuring the party logo. The original photo doesn't show a straw.

Photoshop or other methods to change the content of the photo is bad. Always bad. Fun with your friends but not in journalism or politics.

Placing the party logo is a bit over the top. Clearly, adding the metal straw is a way to showcase not using plastic straws. The best way to do that is to use a metal straw and then have a picture taken with said straw.

2019 Canadian politics preview

In the 2015 election, Stephen Harper and his family lived at 24 Sussex Drive, the residence of the prime minister. 24 Sussex Drive has a number of repair issues — asbestos and a dangerous electrical system — and needs to be overhauled. No leader wanted to touch the issue about what to do about the prime minister's official residence.

Justin Trudeau and his family have lived in a section of Rideau Hall, the home of the governor general just east of 24 Sussex Drive.

24 Sussex Drive is not even on the radar since no leader wants to deal with the mess that taxpayers would have to pay for the repairs. The potential costs have increased in the last 4 years.

Trudeau did live in the prime minister residence when his father was prime minister from 1968-1979 and 1980-1984.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

There is no Wyatt Scott on the Canadian political landscape in 2019 but we do have some unusual candidates.

Full disclosure: the info came from the Oppo podcast as part of the Canadaland realm. Canadaland is helpful to comment on the Canadian media landscape.

We don't want to pigeonhole Conservative candidates as being too conservative. Claire Rattée is running as a Conservative in the Skeena—Bulkley Valley riding in far northwestern British Columbia. Nathan Cullen (NDP) was the long-time incumbent but is not running in 2019.

Rattée made news when she gave her partner a real human skull for his birthday. She is also a tattoo artist. These elements might be a bit odd in a GTA riding but not in northwestern British Columbia. A nice reminder that you can't judge party affiliation based on superficial elements.

The Liberals had success in the Cumberland—Colchester (NS) riding in 2015 with a candidate from a different party. Bill Casey (Progressive Conservative) was the long-time MP. Casey flipped to the Liberal Party and won in 2015. He vowed to only serve one term but he is not running in 2019.

The Liberals picked Lenore Zann to run in the riding in 2019. Zann is a current MLA in the Nova Scotia legislature who was a part of the NDP before switching to run for the Liberals. She changed her party affiliation to Independent in the legislature. Zann is a former cabinet minister who once ran for NDP leadership.

When Zann was running for the Nova Scotia legislature in 2009, on the day of her announcement, an employee of the Liberal Party reportedly leaked a topless photo of her from her appearance in The L Word. To be with the Liberals means forgiveness and politics.

These last 2 independent candidates are more well-known (and not part of the Oppo information) but are definitely worth noting. Running as independents is rare in federal politics but name recognition does help.

Former Liberal cabinet members Jody Wilson-Raybould (Vancouver-Granville) in British Columbia and Jane Philpott (Markham—Stouffville) in Ontario are running for re-election to Parliament. They were involved in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Their independence status, should they win, might become more significant in a minority government, should that happen.

CBC News has a look at some star candidates in the 2019 campaign.

video credit: The Weekly with Wendy Mesley/CBC News
photo credit: Tout le monde en parle/Radio-Canada
Twitter capture: @Liberal_party

Doug Ford Government axes Ontario Film Authority

The Ontario Film Authority is in its last few days, thanks to a decision by the Ford Government to abolish the entity that determines film ratings in the province.

The province will follow ratings issued by the British Columbia film classification organisation in the interim period, starting Tuesday.

The provincial film authorities have had fewer films to rate since films that go to video or streaming services don't have ratings. The OFA approved about 1,000 fewer films in 2018-2019 compared to 2017-2018.

Then again, the other 9 provinces aren't closing down their film authority group. The Ford Government says the savings will be $1.5 million to $2 million a year.

Getting rid of the Ontario Film Authority is half of the problem. The Ford Government will be the ones to come up with a new system. In a province that is home to one of the best film festivals in the world (TIFF), there is fear that a replacement will either be too cheap, too insufficient, too privatised, or some combination. The potential for censorship is also a significant concern.

Not getting a major distributor doesn't mean your film is banned

2019 TIFF Canadian film wrapup

Doug Ford should learn that francophones are Ontarians and Canadians

Doug Ford will be the new premier of Ontario

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Ontario coverage

Canada doesn't have a national film classification system. Provinces are also responsible for banning films.

photo credit: Ontario Film Authority

2019 CFL Week 16 preview

The Saturday tripleheader is back. First, Friday Night Football has the teams with the longest Grey Cup droughts in Winnipeg.

That Saturday tripleheader starts in the late afternoon with games based in Ontario. Edmonton goes to the nation's capital in the late afternoon. Saskatchewan will bring its traveling fans and find plenty of room in Toronto. Montréal ensures a bit of late-night fun as the Alouettes are in Vancouver.

Once again, we have no intra-division games.

Calgary misses out of the fun but will use the rest well.

TSN

Friday
Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
Saturday
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 4p
Saskatchewan @ Toronto, 7p
Montréal @ BC, 10p

Bye week: Calgary

You know it’s going to be a good game when you got a champ cheering you on 🙌🥎❤️#ToujoursGame #Montréals

Ça ne peut être qu’un bon match quand une championne comme @Bandreescu_ est là pour t’encourager 🙌🥎❤️ pic.twitter.com/O3lZKhN4KC

— Alouettes de Montréal (@MTLAlouettes) September 21, 2019

U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu saw an incredible CFL comeback in Montréal.

There was one of those amazing CFL comebacks on July 27, 2017. Montréal had a solid lead in Winnipeg. Even Rod Black thought the Alouettes were going to win. Montréal was up by 12 points with less than 2 minutes remaining. Andrew Harris scored on literally the last play of the game as the Blue Bombers won 41-40.

I had that deja vu in the opposite direction on Saturday as the Alouettes had a furious comeback in similar fashion for the 38-37 win. The Als scored 2 touchdowns, including a 96-yard TD drive with 6 seconds left on the clock.

Montréal scored 21 points in the fourth quarter. Winnipeg only had a 3rd quarter field goal in the second half. Vernon Adams Jr. finished the game with 488 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.

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Vernon Adams Jr. will sit out the game in Vancouver over a play with Winnipeg's Adam Bighill. The frustration from Adams was unprofessional.

Matthew Shiltz gets the nod over Antonio Pipkin for the Alouettes at quarterback in Vancouver. James Franklin is back to being the starter in Toronto as Saskatchewan comes to town. Dominique Davis and Jonathon Jennings will share time for Ottawa as Edmonton is in the Canadian capital.

Chris Streveler will be the Winnipeg quarterback for the rest of the season. Matt Nichols is undergoing shoulder surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. The intriguing element of the report is that we don't know which shoulder is the injured one for Nichols.

Edmonton moved Trevor Harris to the 6-game injured list, so Logan Kilgore will be starting for awhile.

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Hamilton scored the first 24 points; Edmonton scored the next 24 points. The Tiger-Cats did win the battle of the field goals late in the game with the Lirim Hajrullahu winner off the upright and in for the win.

Logan Kilgore wore #15 on the night Ricky Ray (also #15) was admitted to the Wall of Honour at Commonwealth Stadium. The Esks comeback helped validate Kilgore's performance in place of Trevor Harris.

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Bo Levi Mitchell has never lost to Toronto. The Argos hadn't been home in awhile. The fans knew what was coming.

The Toronto Argonauts are not eager to share attendance figures. We did find out that the last home game drew 9,819 at Toronto. The Hamilton games in Guelph drew a lot more. The Toronto "home" game in Moncton in 2019 didn't draw much more. The "home" game in Fort McMurray, AB in 2015 only drew 4,900.

The Argos will do better in attendance on Saturday since Saskatchewan fans travel well.

The Argos aren't good. BMO Field is a nice setup for the Argos but the fans aren't coming.

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Mike Reilly actually gave way to Danny O'Brien to mop up in a rare BC Lions blowout win. The Lions owned the game in Ottawa as the RedBlacks continue to struggle. Ottawa finished up with Will Arndt at quarterback.

Ottawa did beat Calgary (road) and Saskatchewan (home) to start the season. The RedBlacks last win was August 2 against Montréal.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

This week's Edmonton-Ottawa game may not seem too exciting but is crucial for the crossover. Edmonton has lost 4 in a row but is still 3 games ahead of Ottawa for the crossover with 5 games remaining. The RedBlacks have lost 6 games in a row.

An Esks win puts Edmonton 4 games up with 4 to go, reducing the crossover magic number to 1. The crossover can't happen if the teams are tied.

Hamilton clinched a playoff spot and a home playoff game. Winnipeg and Calgary also clinched playoff spots.

When a controversy over racism erupts in Canada it happens in the most Canadian way possible. pic.twitter.com/zAnca5cGdN

— Jim Jefferies Show (@jefferiesshow) September 25, 2019

We have a long-standing policy of not invoking the full nickname of the Edmonton CFL team. The Jim Jeffries Show on Comedy Central in the United States looked into the issue of the Edmonton nickname.

Jim Jeffries, who is Australian, mentions the more sensitive U.S. nicknames such as the Washington NFL franchise. Jeffries travels to Edmonton as well as northern Canada for the report. There is a lot of well-researched information for a "comedy" show.

The fact that the team URL is edmontonesks.com is a sign that the team knows the nickname has concerns. We have suggested the Edmonton Elks as an alternative.

The Jim Jeffries Show airs in Canada on the CTV Comedy Channel.

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Keith Urban will be the halftime entertainment at the 107th Grey Cup on November 24 in Calgary. While we prefer Canadian entertainers at the Grey Cup halftime show, Urban is a legit country star in a Grey Cup held in southern Alberta. We figure Glen Suitor is very happy with this selection.

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If you watch an Ottawa RedBlacks game in person or on TV, you can't help but notice the large condo building at 1035 Bank Street. One of the condos, not like the others, is up for sale. RedBlacks co-owner Jeff Hunt is putting up his condo (#307) on the market for $2 million.

The condo has a very nice view of the Rideau Canal. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home has 1,141 square feet of living space and a 1,200-square-foot terrace. There is a hot tub with a privacy screen as well as an outdoor fireplace wall. The outdoor kitchen includes a barbecue, refrigerator, and granite counters as well as an outdoor TV.

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Chris Cuthbert and Duane Forde matched up together in Toronto and Ottawa. Since the week was East-focused and Cuthbert likes doing 2 games in a week, the teams were divided. Dustin Nielson got his 3rd regular season appearance on the CFL on TSN, this time with Glen Suitor in Edmonton. Nielson got to handle the interview with Ricky Ray in the booth.

Rod Black and Matt Dunigan both had fun in Montréal. Cuthbert is clearly an unselfish person, giving Black and Dunigan a great game in a great city. Cuthbert seems to like doing the latest game possible when traveling, sacrificing himself by calling the dog game in Ottawa.

Twitter captures: @MTLAlouettes; @jefferiesshow

What we missed during the 2019 NHL offseason

No Canadian team advanced beyond the first round in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. The rest of the spring was about the Toronto Raptors.

The offseason was about the long list of unsigned restricted free agents (RFAs). Mitch Marner (Toronto) and Brock Boeser (Vancouver) came off that list around the start of the preseason. Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary) signed yesterday with the Flames. Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor are prominent no-shows for Winnipeg.

Dustin Byfuglien did not report to training camp for Winnipeg. Winnipeg Jets fans were concerned about thoughts of a possible early retirement. The Jets suspended Byfuglien (not a bad thing) since a suspension relieves salary cap pressure.

Calgary and Edmonton pulled off the James Neal/Milan Lucic trade. Neal, who could score everywhere but Calgary, takes his horrible contract north to Edmonton. Lucic, who was tough and could score in Boston and Los Angeles but couldn't score in Edmonton, goes south with his horrible contract.

As slow as Lucic has been, I was shocked to find out he's only 31. Edmonton gets the advantage in the deal in our book because Neal has shown upside in other cities. Good luck to both players and teams.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators had a large trade. The Senators traded defencemen Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur, forward Aaron Luchuk, and Columbus' 3rd-round pick in 2020 NHL Draft to Toronto for defenceman Nikita Zaitsev and forwards Connor Brown and Michael Carcone.

Roberto Luongo retired. The story could be about his legacy as a Canadian goalie and time spent in Vancouver. We can reflect on that 3 years from now. Luongo could have gone on Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) but chose retirement.

Luongo — @Strombone1 on Twitter — walked away from the last 3 years of his contract with Florida. Choosing retirement saved Florida some money. The decision not to pick LTIR costs the Vancouver Canucks a $3.03 million salary cap hit each season for the next 3 seasons. Luongo hasn't played for Vancouver since 2013.

The Canucks did Luongo a favour by trading him to the witness protection that is Florida. Now the rebuilding Canucks will pay a huge penalty.

Bob Cole goes out in style after 50 years of Hockey Night in Canada

More than 200 women's hockey players won't play in NWHL or any other league next season

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Coaches and GMs

• Ottawa went with Toronto assistant D.J. Smith to be the new Senators head coach. Smith will be familiar with the Maple Leafs who went northeast in the offseason.
• Dave Tippett is the new coach in Edmonton. Tippett replaces Ken Hitchcock, who filled in for Todd McLellan. Tippett's new boss is former Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland.

I’d like to issue the following statement. pic.twitter.com/UXkEYflmvf

— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) August 28, 2019

Broadcasting

• Nick Kypreos is gone. Kypreos pretended to break news on the Saturday update as if he was a journalist. He would stir things up not to be useful but to be at odds. He was that awkward friend forced into the Saturday chairs. Rogers Sportsnet could find someone more annoying but at least it won't be Kypreos. Brian Burke and maybe Chris Johnston would be an improvement and in the running for the Saturday night chair.
• Doug MacLean, John Shannon, and Scott Morrison are also gone from Rogers Sportsnet. Doug MacLean and Shannon were fairly useless but not as annoying as Kypreos. Morrison is a real loss. I remember him well from when he was at CBC, where he was underutilized. Morrison could find a home at TSN. There was very slim hope that Rogers would replace Bob Cole. Rogers continues to claim money troubles.
• Denis Potvin retired from broadcasting. Though Potvin worked mostly in southern Florida, he did Ottawa Senators TV games with Dean Brown from 2010-2014.
• Jim Hughson will be honoured with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in the Hockey Hall of Fame in November.
• On the U.S. side, NBCSN is making permanent the switch of Brian Boucher for Pierre McGuire on the #1 team with Doc Emrick and Eddie Olczyk. The U.S. channel put Boucher on the top team during the regular season but not the playoffs last season. McGuire is not nearly as good as he used to be but on 3 hours of sleep and a scenario where McGuire forgets what city he is in, he is leaps and bounds ahead of Boucher. This is the same channel that put Mike Milbury in the booth with the Toronto-Boston series, making that series unwatchable with the sound.
  

Other notes

• Hockey Day in Canada will take place in Yellowknife, NWT on February 8.
• The Calgary Flames will eventually have a new arena but the Saddledome will still be around for awhile.

We have vigorously covered the NHL for years at CanadianCrossing.com. As a former sports journalist before I started this blog, I certainly like covering the Canadian connection to the major sports. I also enjoy covering the sports media beat.

Covering the NHL beat has become more about frustration than joy. The NHL favors the U.S. teams over the Canadian teams. The Canadian teams self-implode due to fanatical pressures. There are too many destinations where players want to go that have lower taxes and fewer pressures to play hockey in those markets.

The NHL has insisted on keeping teams in non-viable markets such as Carolina, Florida, and Arizona while letting a jewel such as Centre Videotron lay dormant in hockey-crazy Quebec City. The Quebec Nordiques would do the NHL proud.

The media pressures are mounting. The NHL Network treats its schedule with the level of secrecy devoted to nuclear codes. NBCSN has kicked up the number of telecasts but not the quality. Rogers complains that fans don't know which channel to find the games but the company creates that confusion. Rogers shafts the CBC on the number of in-game promos.

The idea was that any of the 7 Canadian-based NHL teams would snap the long-running streak of zero Stanley Cup champions in Canada since 1993. The Chicago Cubs World Series losing streak reached 108 years. The Canada NHL streak feels longer with 7 teams involved.

The officiating in the Stanley Cup playoffs disappears but selectively. The Don Cherry lovers can pick on this thread: watching playoff hockey is frustrating when the rules no longer exist and/or enforced only at specific times for specific teams.

We will be glad to cover specific events such as the Heritage Classic in Regina or Hockey Day in Canada (if it's on U.S. television) or the few times Hometown Hockey makes it on the U.S. screen. We will release monthly schedules for NBCSN, ESPN+, and the NHL Network. We can even cover CBC promos at the next monthly update.

Otherwise, we need to take valuable resources and cover the world of Canada in more fruitful ways on CanadianCrossing.com.

We know this news will upset some fans and make other fans happy. We will have details next week on the changes to our NHL coverage.

Twitter capture: @RealKyper
logo credit: NHL

Canada election 2019 debates preview

A debates preview is in order though the 2019 Canada election cycle has already had a debate. The MacLean's/Citytv debate barely fell within the election cycle. The rest of the debates should prove rather significant.

The newly created Leaders Debates Commission organized debates in English (October 7) and French (October 10). The newly formed Canadian Debate Production Partnership is producing the debates. The partnership consists of CBC News/Radio-Canada; Global News; CTV News; Toronto Star; HuffPost Canada; HuffPost Quebec; La Presse; Le Devoir; and L'Actualité.

The criteria for a party leader to be in the debates requires at least 2 of the following:

• At least one member elected under the party's banner;
• Candidates nominated in at least 90% of the ridings;
• At least 4% of the votes in the previous election or the commissioner determines a legitimate chance to win seats based on public opinion polls.

The Bloc Quebecois made the cut. The People's Party of Canada eventually qualified for the commission debates. The commission ruled that the PPC did meet criteria #3. The party doesn't meet criteria #1.

So now let's get @ElizabethMay into the @TVAreseau debate https://t.co/3guJVkQ6NN #cdnpoli

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 16, 2019

The English debate will be split into portions, each to be anchored by a different journalist. All of the journalists in the English debates are women: Rosemary Barton (CBC News); Susan Delacourt (Toronto Star); Dawna Friesen (Global News); Lisa LaFlamme (CTV News); and Althia Raj (HuffPost Canada).

Patrice Roy (Radio-Canada) will moderate the French debate with participation from Hélène Buzzetti (Le Devoir); Patricia Cloutier (Le Soleil); François Cardinal (La Presse); and Alec Castonguay (L'actualité).

Both debates will be at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.

Date	Debate	Topic	Participants	Time
October 2	TVA	General	L, C, NDP, BQ	8-10 pm
October 7	English	General	L, C, NDP, G, BQ, PPC	7-9 pm
October 10	French	General	L, C, NDP, G, BQ, PPC	8-10 pm

@munkdebate @rudyardg think #foreignpolicy is important to debate but willing to easily bail on their passion. We agree @JustinTrudeau should be there but debate should go on. https://t.co/I1QwiyDNRe #cdnpoli #elxn43

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 24, 2019

The Munk School of Global Affairs foreign policy debate without Justin Trudeau was scheduled to be on October 1 from 7-8:30 pm. The Munk School of Global Affairs cancelled the debate yesterday and blamed Trudeau.

"Regrettably, the prime minister's refusal to attend our debate has denied Canadians the only real opportunity they had this election to see his foreign policy record challenged in a substantive and sustained fashion," said Rudyard Griffiths, chair of the Munk Debates, in a statement.

The Munks didn't invite Elizabeth May for the 2015 debate.

We've gone on record as saying Trudeau should attend. We do think the Munk Debates blaming the cancellation on Trudeau is a bit ridiculous. A foreign policy debate is a worthwhile practice and should be built into the discussion.

Elizabeth May was invited to the Munk School of Global Affairs foreign policy debate but not the TVA October 2 debate.

We were hoping the debate organisers outside the commission wouldn't be so petty. Candidates choosing not to attend debates is not good but that is their choice. Debates should be inviting party leaders without pretense. The Green Party deserves to be at the TVA debate table. Bernier isn't going to be a part of the TVA debate, but the People's Party so far is only Bernier.

TVA's logic is to invite party leaders "whose parties are represented in Quebec and who have already won seats in the province,” according to a translation. This ignores incumbent MP Pierre Nantel, who switched from the NDP to the Green Party and is running for re-election. Given TVA's conservative roots, perhaps inviting the Green Party doesn't fit in well.

Canada election 2019: MacLean's, Citytv big losers in the first debate

There was the prospect of a leaders debate over climate change. That debate did not materialize. A foreign policy debate could incorporate climate change. The Maclean's/Citytv debate didn't take climate change seriously in its limited focus on energy and the environment.

2019 Canada election preview

Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The commission debates will be easy to find online and via television. CBC television and CBC News Network will carry both debates and will stream them online. C-SPAN has carried the official debates in previous elections.

The TVA debate will be on TVA. Hoping CPAC — Canadian Public Affairs Channel will pick up the TVA debate with a English translation.

Check our Twitter feed for updates. We will report on the debates on the following Sunday for the weekly election notebook.

photo credit: Canadian Debate Production Partnership
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing

Canadian film review: Across the Line

Across the Line tells a good and important story, but tells that story in an awkward fashion.

The film is based on the story of when black and white hockey players were fighting each other in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia in 1989.

Stephan James plays Mattie Slaughter, a potential NHL star on the horizon in Nova Scotia but with constant hurdles. Mattie’s brother Carter (James' real-life brother Shamier Anderson) is a pimp. There is a racist character Todd (Denis Theriault) at his school.

Slaughter tutors Jayme (Sarah Jeffery), a byproduct of a white mother and black father, and secretly pines for her. Jayme wants to run away to Toronto with her white boyfriend John (Steven Long).

Jim Codrington (The Border) does well in a smaller role as Jayme’s father.

2019 TIFF Rising Stars

Canadian film review: Black Cop

CanadianCrossing.com Nova Scotia coverage

Director X, known for directing hip-hop videos, gives us an uneven film. He builds to a crescendo where we think something horrible is going to happen. Something bad happens but doesn’t match the buildup.

We get a scene about 10 minutes from the end that was a rehash of an earlier scene. There is the sex scene that feels comical rather than intense because of the awkwardness of the staging. Bursting into laughter is not what a sex scene needs. The ending is more mystifying than bad.

Lori Downey (Cara Ricketts) is the catch-all as the only teacher we see. Downey is the tie back to 1989. There is an exchange in the classroom where Downey would say something, but by the time the student responds. writer Floyd Kane already has Downey out of the scene.

Theriault does his best with Todd but Kane draws him as so 1-dimensional he would do well in the world of Chien de Garde, Canada’s 2018 entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards. John, his best friend, asks Todd about his motivation. The audience and John get nothing.

Mattie explains to Jayme that most of his hockey world is white and he has to block that out to survive. The funny part is that other than an agent, there are no white people associated with hockey in the film. We never see a game or a practice.

Hockey fans will groan at the non-realistic portrayal of how youth hockey works in Canada.

The film does a good job (mostly) at developing the plot in the first 60 minutes of the film. The rest of the film struggles significantly.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

James, Jeffery, and Anderson are the reasons to watch this film. They do well even with the poor script and character motivation. James and Anderson have a true chemistry as brothers on- and off-screen. Anderson was just named a 2019 TIFF Rising Star.

Jeffrey’s character is trapped in the middle of a lot in this film and rises well above the material.

You still should see this film regardless of its significant flaws. The story is vital; the energy is good. Black Cop tells the black story in Nova Scotia better. This film is not nearly as bad as Allure or Chien de Garde. Across the Line isn’t as good of a film as the story deserves, but you will get enough from the experience.

Looking back at the impact of The Filmmakers on CBC

Across the Line from Director X was a film featured in The Filmmakers Season 1. The film is available on Netflix in the United States.

video credit: YouTube/The Little Film Company
photo credit: Across the Line film

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

Luke Kirby won an Emmy for his role as comedian Lenny Bruce on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Kirby won in the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for the episode All Alone.

Kirby beat out John Mulaney, Adam Sandler, Matt Damon, and Robert De Niro as Robert Mueller (Saturday Night Live); Peter MacNicol (Veep); and Rufus Sewell (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). This was Kirby's first Emmy award and nomination.

I've seen Kirby in a number of Canadian films including Take This Waltz, Mambo Italiano, and Empire of Dirt and Canadian TV such as Slings and Arrows, Flashpoint, and Republic of Doyle. Glad to see Kirby get some well-deserved recognition.

'Schitt's Creek' Stars Daniel Levy and Noah Reid on the Perks of Being on Set With Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy #RedCarpetLive https://t.co/mPictB1bLu pic.twitter.com/pHonpLcOjo

— People (@people) September 22, 2019

The Schitt's Creek gang seemed to have a good time. The CBC/Pop TV series had 4 nominations. Wins were not likely but truly an honour to be nominated.

Eugene Levy lost to Bill Hader (Barry) in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series category while Catherine O'Hara lost to Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The series lost out on Outstanding Comedy Series to Fleabag.

Debra Hanson (costume designer) and Darci Cheyne (assistant costume designer) lost out on Outstanding Contemporary Costumes to Russian Doll. Hanson and Cheyne were nominated for the episode The Dress.

Schitt's Creek receives 4 Emmy nominations

Schitt's Creek, Anne with an E win big at 7th Canadian Screen Awards

Schitt's Creek to bow out gracefully after Season 6 in 2020

A Little Bit Alexis the newest music phenomenon from Schitt's Creek

Schitt's Creek gets rare Canadian nomination for Critics Choice Awards

Sandra Oh was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Killing Eve and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Saturday Night Live. Oh lost out to her co-star Jodie Comer on Killing Eve and to Jane Lynch on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Sarah Goldberg (Barry) lost out to Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Goldberg got her first Emmy nomination for her role as Sally.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee had Emmy nominations for Outstanding Variety Talk Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series. The show lost in both categories to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

O'Hara was a presenter for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series while Luke Kirby was a presenter for Best Director, Comedy Series

Tatiana Maslany wins the Lead Actress Emmy for Orphan Black

Tatiana Maslany, Molly Parker get Emmy nods

Tatiana Maslany (finally) gets Emmy nod for 'Orphan Black'

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels won for Best Short Form Non-Fiction or Reality Series and Best Variety/Sketch Series. Elisabeth Williams, Martha Sparrow, and Robert Hepburn won for production design for The Handmaid's Tale. Paula Fairfield shared a win for sound editing on Game of Thrones.

Sharp Objects lost out to Chernobyl for Best Limited Series. Jean-Marc Vallee was a director and co-executive producer on the show.

i'm gonna need a minute pic.twitter.com/sNNZAMcPs1

— Schitt's Creek (@SchittsCreek) September 22, 2019

Schitt’s Creek begins its final season on Tuesday, January 7. There will be 14 episodes in the 6th and final season. The press release says Pop TV will air the episodes at the same day and time as CBC. The show can also be streamed via CBC Gem in Canada.

As for the future, Dan Levy just signed a multi-year deal with ABC Studios to develop and produce scripted projects. Here's to hoping Levy can bring along a few Canadian friends.

video credit: Q/CBC Radio
photo credit: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; 2019 Emmys/Fox
Twitter captures: @people; @schittscreek

Canada election 2019: Make room for 6 at the commission debates

This is the first year of the experiment where an independent commissioner examines whether a party has a chance to win seats based on early polls. Did David Johnston, former Governor General, make the right call on the People's Party of Canada?

The easy answer is no. Likely, the decision was made because of inclusion as opposed to exclusion, a noble trait.

If the People's Party of Canada elects a single member, even Maxime Bernier, who is essentially the party, and fields enough candidates in 2023, the party will be in the commission debates.

One of those ridings that came up was Etobicoke North (Ontario) where Renata Ford, widow of Rob Ford, is running for the People's Party. Renata Ford currently is involved in a lawsuit against Doug Ford (Conservative Premier of Ontario), Randy Ford, and their family businesses, claiming she and her children were deprived out of millions.

The NDP and Conservatives were furious about the decision for very different reasons. NDP because of hate speech from the PPC and Conservatives because a voice from the far right will be on stage. The odd part was that the Conservative talking point was that the Liberals worked out a deal with Johnston to make that happen.

Johnston, whom I was in the same room once, was appointed by Stephen Harper (Conservative) and had his reign as Governor General extended by an extra 2 years to go into Justin Trudeau's time as prime minister.

The one drawback in the system is that the private debates don't have the same criteria. TVA has refused to have Elizabeth May in its debate. We'll have more on this in our debates preview coming this week.

Canada election 2019: MacLean's, Citytv big losers in the first debate

Canada isn't usually about banning people from voting, unlike the United States. Stephen Harper implemented rules and changes that made it difficult or impossible for some Canadians to vote.

Harper got rid of vouching. He also tighten the enforcement of the rule on banning voting for expats who had been gone from Canada for more than 5 years. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in January that the expat law was unconstitutional. The Liberals had already passed legislation allowing expats to vote.

I have seen expat Canadians in my Facebook feed excited to be able to vote again. As for vouching, if you don't have a valid ID, another person has to be able to prove who you are and where you live. The ID requirements aren't as stringent as a number of U.S. states now require due to the gutting of the Voters Right Act.

In 2011, about 120,000 people used vouching, around 0.8% of all voters.

As for the expats, an estimated 1.4 million more Canadians may now cast a ballot.

I've been forcing myself to listen to the Party Lines podcast from CBC Radio. The concept is to have 2 mismatched people covering the election from different vantage points. Podcasts normally have chemistry: this one definitely doesn't have chemistry but that is part of the point. The hosts are Rosemary Barton (The National) and Elamin Abdelmahmoud (BuzzFeed News). They are kind to each other but they talk past each other.

The talk on immigration was helped by the fact that Abdelmahmoud knows the immigrant experience. Barton noted that if she can talk about women, Abdelmahmoud can talk about immigrants.

Daily Show explores why refugees are fleeing U.S. for Canada

Barton pointed out that approximately 45,000 have tried to come into Canada since 2017, the vast majority from illegal points. What is fascinating is that this was the first time we have had a statistic to go along with the hysteria from the far right about how outrageous the influx was into Canada.

The vast majority of those coming in from illegal points will be turned back into the United States. The Safe Third Country Agreement is the primary reason why they came to Canada and why they will go back. The NDP and Green Party both said if they win the election, Canada will suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement because they don't think the United States is a safe country for immigrants.

I expected the number to be significantly higher. Olympic Stadium in Montréal was holding some of the asylum seekers. The stadium holds slightly more than 66,000.

The Party Lines podcast comes out on Thursday during the election cycle.

2019 Canada election preview

Immigration came up even before the writ was dropped when a mysterious third party ran a billboard with the message "Say NO to mass immigration." The billboard ran in a few major cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Toronto, and Regina.

The billboard ad used the likeness of Maxime Bernier and logo of the People's Party of Canada. The People's Party of Canada said the ads were "authorized by a third party and the PPC has not been in contact with this third party." Most third party ads don't use logos and likeness from a specific party. The party could have sued but didn't.

True North Strong and Free Advertising Corporation was the group behind the billboard. The money behind the ad appears to have been from Bassett and Walker International, a Toronto-based firm involved in global food trade.

There was a lot of backlash against the insensitive negative message in the content.

The issue of "mass migration" is also a concern. The poll that everyone from Front Burner to Patriot Act quoted about 57% of Canadians wanting fewer immigrants is that Canadians don't have a sense of the number of immigrants actually coming into Canada. Wanting fewer is one thing but how many fewer.

Rosemary Barton on the Party Lines podcast noted that there are differences between immigrants and refugees.

Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election

The Conservatives love tax credits. They sound like you get reduced tax. However, tax credits only work if you have tax left over to pay.

Tax credits tend to favour households that make a lot of money. The idea of a tax credit (one they have had and want to bring back) is on public transit. The tax credit won't really help the TTC rider in Toronto but will do wonders for those taking the GO train from the deep suburbs.

Turns out the original tax credit did nothing to increase ridership but was used by people already on the suburban trains.

There is nothing wrong with Conservatives targeting middle- and higher-income families, as long as voters understand the distinction.

Just Ask is a way for Canadian content creators to talk to politicians

There are 338 ridings. You might think every riding is covered by every party. The NDP has had trouble recruiting people to run in some ridings. Parties lose candidates mostly due to elements in their social media feed that weren't properly vetted.

Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer came out this week and said candidates with racist and homophobic comments will stay on the ballot as long as they apologize.

The Conservatives have run into this as an issue because the Liberals keep posting videos of Conservative MP candidates espousing controversial views.

All parties run into candidates who have said things in very poor judgment. Parties are judged by what they do about such comments.

Hasan Minhaj gets a second round with Justin Trudeau on Patriot Act

Justin Trudeau in brownface. Pictures surfaced this week from 2001 and the 1990s. I understand the outrage and go along with the concerns over a white person wearing makeup to represent someone of a different colour. I condemn the behaviour without question.

2 factors to consider:

1) We did know this happened. The latest pictures are news; the fact that Trudeau did this is not news. There was the original picture that we knew about some time ago. This doesn't excuse what happened. We knew about this already and made conclusions about Trudeau in a whole context.

2) If we borrow from Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, if a candidate did something and sincerely apologized for what happened, that person can remain a candidate.

The lapse in judgment is why Trudeau thought this was okay in 2001 and even earlier. He had traveled around the world as the son of a prime minister. Trudeau should have known better. His behaviour otherwise wouldn't point to something such as this. For the most part, we already knew and drew conclusions. Leaders are judged based on any and every known element.

This revelation should open up a dialogue with a lot of listening from white people. That would serve all people well. 

2019 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The Canadian Nationalist Party has met the requirements by Elections Canada to qualify as a registered party during the federal election. The party is anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ in its views.

Party founder and leader Travis Patron is the only candidate. He will run in the Souris-Moose Mountain riding in southeast Saskatchewan in a seat currently held by the Conservatives.

Canadians will feel loss of satirists such as Rick Mercer in the 2019 Canadian election

Dear @AndrewScheer & good folks at @Cpc_hq - Your candidate in Burnaby North Seymour is distributing a Meme on social media with my face and the words "Vote Conservative" indicating it is a quote from me. Not true. All fake. Please Stop. #WhoAreThesePeople? #Cdnpoli #yuck

— Rick Mercer (@rickmercer) September 17, 2019

Rick Mercer showed up in Canada election 2019 but not the way we wanted. We've seen these memes where they take a celebrity and attach a message that they clearly did not say. I recall one meme involving David Letterman and a Quebec election.

The original message is important. Young people: get out and vote.

pic.twitter.com/QDxdCoAGgC

— Suburban Voyeur™️🇨🇦 (@subvoyeur) September 17, 2019

photo credit: Twitter @CBCAlerts; Party Lines/CBC Radio
video credit: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Twitter captures: @rickmercer; @subvoyeur

Antigone is Canada's entry to the Oscars for Best International Feature Film

Antigone, winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, is Canada's entry to the 92nd Academy Awards for the Best International Feature Film category. The category has been renamed to replace the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The film from writer-director Sophie Deraspe adapts Sophocles' classical Greek tragedy to the current treatment of immigrants in modern Montréal.

Antigone is the name of the young woman (Nahema Ricci), a Canadian refugee and immigrant who has a brother wrongfully gunned down during a drug arrest and another brother taken into custody. The film also stars Nour Belkhiria, Rawad El-Zein, Rachida Oussaada, Antoine Desrochers, Paul Doucet, and Nathalie Tanous.

2019 TIFF Canadian film wrapup

2019 TIFF preview

2019 TIFF Canadian film preview

Antigone is female written and directed with a look at refugees and immigrants. The film will be part of the conversation over the Oscars choices. Canada hasn't made the top 5 since Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle in 2013 and the top 9 since Juste la fin du monde from Xavier Dolan in 2016.

The argument isn't so much that Canada make the shortlist or the top 5 cut. Canada should have a film in contention that is part of the conversation. Canada has struggled with that lately, especially with the last 2 nominees.

Denys Arcand’s Les Invasions barbares is still the only Canadian film to win the Oscar in the category.

Sophie Deraspe's last film with the documentary The Amina Profile in 2015. I do recall seeing that film but didn't make a huge impression mostly because of the story.

Canadian film review: Far Side of the Moon

Seeing this film now extends my own personal streak to the last 16 Canadian entries for the Best Foreign Language Film to 2003 and The Barbarian Invasions. There are only 3 films missing since Cosmos (1997): August 32nd on Earth (1998); Emporte-Moi | Set Me Free (1999); and Un crabe dans la tête (2002). I have had the first 2 films on my list for some time.

I have seen 6 nominated films that were released before 1997: Mon oncle Antoine (1971); Les Ordres (1975); J.A. Martin photographe (1977); Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986); Jésus de Montréal (1989); Léolo (1992); and Le Sexe des étoiles (The Sex of the Stars) (1993).

Chien de Garde fails to make Oscars shortlist

Canadian film review: Family First

Chien de garde is Canada's Best Foreign Language Film entry

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Antigone will be released in Quebec on November 6. WaZabi Films is handling international sales.

The list of films will be cut to 9 films for the shortlist in mid-December. The final list of 5 nominations is out on January 13. The 92nd Academy Awards will be handed out on February 9.

video credit: YouTube/TIFF Trailers
photo credit: Antigone film