Canadian Crossing

U.S. NHL coverage has a large hole with Doc Emrick retirement

After 3,750+ Professional and Olympic hockey games, 100 different verbs used to describe a pass or shot, and 22 Stanley Cup Finals, the legendary Mike "Doc" Emrick has announced his retirement from broadcasting.

From hockey fans around the world, we say #ThankYouDoc! pic.twitter.com/Pt27Dp63TW

— #ThankYouDoc (@NHLonNBCSports) October 19, 2020

The U.S. coverage of the NHL will change significantly with the retirement of Mike "Doc" Emrick. Known to a generation for his work on NBC and NBCSN, Emrick's career took him to CBS, ABC, and Fox among other outlets.

Emrick liked Canada, something a certain NBCSN announcer (John Forslund) can't say himself. He had an appreciation for old-time hockey. Emrick cut back his workload in the last couple of years.

When the NHL All-Star Game was in Ottawa in 2012, Emrick noted the 126-mile length of the Ottawa Canal and pointed out that the canal was open for skating until the thaw. Emrick's style was about the small things but making them seem big. That will be missed.

Chris Cuthbert would have been on a list of possible replacements. Cuthbert specifically noted wanting to call the Stanley Cup for a Canadian broadcaster.

Chris Cuthbert picks Stanley Cup final over TSN, jumps to Rogers Sportsnet

The battle for the #1 voice is generally between John Forslund and Kenny Albert. Forslund could not work out a deal to continue broadcasting for the Carolina Hurricanes (all on the Hurricanes, not on Forslund). Albert would be the logical pick except for his many sports duties, including New York Rangers radio and MLB and NFL on Fox Sports. Both announcers will get more NHL games when the league is back.

Gary Thorne has been put into exile at MASN for Baltimore Orioles telecasts in 2020. Thorne would only be a short-term substitute given his age, assuming he is interested.

Brendan Burke and Alex Faust are rising stars at NBCSN but not likely to jump into the #1 seat. Mike Tirico is an option but has a very busy schedule for NBC Sports, including the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, if that happens.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Dave Randorf is a free agent with big game experience but might find a home at TSN for NHL and CFL. Rick Ball might be available depending on the status of Rogers and the Calgary Flames. Paul Romanuk and Mark Lee have plenty of time. NBCSN still needs to account for the lost games Cuthbert covered since 2014. Gord Miller remains an option for NBCSN but has a busy day job at TSN.

Rick Peckham is also retiring from Tampa Bay; Peckham helped out on some NBCSN telecasts. Dave Strader would be the favorite if he were still alive. Perhaps NBCSN would look into Steve Levy or John Buccigross from ESPN as a possible #1 pick.

The 2020-2021 season is the final season for the current NBC contract with the NHL.

Emrick called the 2014 Winter Classic involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and the 2016 Winter Classic involving the Montréal Canadiens. NBCSN didn't use him in any of the Heritage Classics or the Centennial Classic in Toronto. Here is the shootout call in Ann Arbor on January 1, 2014. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.

Twitter capture: @NHLonNBCSports
video and photo credit: YouTube/NHL

Saturday Night Live pokes fun at Montreal, Drake with Bonjour Hi

The last time the CBC logo was on Saturday Night Live, host Sandra Oh was wearing a CBC T-shirt while hosting the show about 18 months ago. Saturday Night Live came up with a skit over the weekend about a morning news show called Bonjour Hi from Montréal. Bowen Yang and Kate MacKinnon were Jean-Lawrence (John-Larry) and Anne-Marie, the bubbly hosts.

Jean-Lawrence asked Anne-Marie about her weekend. She suffered an injury after having sex with a Cirque de Soleil performer. She pointed out her surgery was free. Her traffic report mentioned Jacque Cartier as many times as was feasible.

SNL host Issa Rae hosted a Drake Watch segment where she spoke of near sightings of the Toronto rapper. She thought she saw Drake in a wheelchair but realised that Drake was only in a wheelchair on Degrassi. Rae was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Insecure, but lost out to Catherine O'Hara for Schitt's Creek.

There was an American journalist in the sketch (Mikey Day) who was from De-troi (Detroit). His prize for staying through the sketch was a basket of Montréal bagels.

Bonjour Hi plays on the unofficial greeting in Montréal, showcasing the bilingual status of the city. Some want to see the Hi part of Bonjour Hi phased out.

Rachel McAdams even got some love in the sketch.

The theme of the sketch felt more French than French-Canadian. Jean-Lawrence noted that Montréal was the best parts of Canada and the worst parts of France.

CBC or Radio-Canada would never have a show like this. The sketch had a CBC joke that Schitt's Creek would have been followed by the reboot Schartt's Cavern. An okay joke but funny that Saturday Night Live made a Schitt's Creek joke.

The episode also featured Justin Bieber as a musical guest. The show has been using Canadian Jim Carrey as Joe Biden since the season started on October 3. Carrey does a very good job as the former vice president, though his characterization is greatly exaggerated.

Made Nous and other ways to promote Canadian content

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Saturday Night Live creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels is Canadian. Michaels hasn't used Canada as a background too often in sketches. As SNL sketches go, this was pretty funny. A bit silly and a bit too much French. There was definitely knowledge of Montréal in the sketch. Thought we heard Yang say "tabarnac."

The sketch might have also been a nod to missing Montréal since normally there is an unofficial pipeline between Montréal and New York City for tourism. J'adore Montréal bagels.

Saturday Night Live airs on NBC in the United States and Global in Canada.

video and photo credit: Saturday Night Live/NBC

Canada celebrates 2 years of legal marijuana

We did joke back in March that the worldwide pandemic would be tough, but at least Canada had legal marijuana.

Today is the second anniversary of Canada making marijuana legal.

While U.S. states made edibles legal when they made marijuana legal, Canadians had to wait to get legal edibles in the marketplace in mid-December 2019. As late as that was, the timing was good before the pandemic started.

Edibles were crucial for renters since they can't generally smoke in their apartments. Going outside and smoking wasn't a handy option in the pandemic, plus smoking makes mask wearing difficult.

Edibles are more convenient but Canadians had to be aware of consuming them in public, which is illegal. Being encouraged to stay at home may have increased sales.

Retail marijuana sales had good numbers this summer in Canada.

Opening Day (finally) for marijuana edibles in Canada

Marijuana in Canada on 4/20/20

Opening Day for legal recreational marijuana in Canada

The avalanche of horrible stories that many feared about legalizing marijuana in a country as large as Canada never materialized. This isn't to say everything went perfect. This is a reminder that the absence of bad news is actually good news that most journalists don't report.

The potential for horrible stories as a result of legal marijuana was certainly thrown out there. The speculation that the U.S. would recoil that its next-door neighbour could get high any time (being of legal age). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, like Helen Lovejoy on The Simpsons, wanted us to think of the children in terms of marketing marijuana products to young people.

There are plenty of issues and concerns with the legalisation of marijuana. A still thriving black market. Quebec having such a huge contrast between the drinking age (18) and marijuana age (21). Are Quebecers in Gatineau crossing over into Ottawa for marijuana access? Ontario relying on private sales as opposed to province-run shoppes. The business community focuses on federal and provincial mistakes.

There are fewer Canadians in jail on drug charges. Canada gets tax money from legal sales. The police aren't making marijuana arrests simply for possession. Defund the Police is a real thing in Canada as we've seen stories about the need to reallocate police funding.

Prime Minister Trudeau can be criticised for moving too slow and cautious on marijuana in Canada but gets points for not running into major issues or concerns.

Canadian film review: Canadian Strain

The U.S. gets credit for more and better stoner films than Canada. We do need to point out that Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong is Canadian and they met in Canada.

Canadian Strain isn't really about stoners but a look at what happens when a illegal product suddenly becomes legal. Jess Salgueiro is really good as the lead in the film. The Canadian film is insightful and entertaining.

CanadianCrossing.com marijuana coverage

We went through the archives to categorise our extensive marijuana coverage at Canadian Crossing. We have a few "are we there yet" stories telling the history leading up to legalization in Canada. We also talk marijuana tourism, something that would have really kicked in for 2020 had there not been a pandemic.

photo credit: CBC News

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late October 2020

About a year ago, we were excited about the Heritage Classic with the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. Saturday nights in the autumn are now for Canadian films on CBC instead of Hockey Night in Canada.

As we noted earlier, CBC will run Canadian film doubleheaders at 9 pm and 11 pm local time (add 30 minutes in most of Newfoundland) until the NHL season starts up again.

October 17

9p American Woman (2019)
11p Mean Dreams (2016)

October 24

9p Red Snow (2019)
11p Unclaimed (2016)

October 31

9p Incendies (2010)
Midnight Rebelle (2012)

The inability to copyright movie titles can lead to some confusion. CBC is likely showing the 2019 film American Woman, the directorial debut from Semi Chellas, who also wrote the screenplay. The film takes on a fictionalised version of what happened to Patty Hearst. Sarah Gadon plays the role of someone who resembles Hearst. The CBC schedule lists a 2018 film that is definitely not Canadian.

Mean Dreams is a boy-meets-girl who run away from her father. The primary cast is a split of Americans Josh Wiggins and Bill Paxton and Canadians Sophie Nélisse and Colm Feore. Paxton is the mean part of this story, a truly scary character. This was one of Paxton's final roles before his untimely death. Nélisse is also very good. Wiggins was also the lead in Giant Little Ones.

Canadian film notebook: Making Canada look like Afghanistan

Canadian film review: The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open

We wrote about Red Snow since the film made us think we weren't in Canada but we were. The story is compelling: an indigenous Canadian solider gets captured in Afghanistan. The idea of indigenous in Canada vs. Afghanistan is key to the plot of the film.

Unclaimed aka On the Farm is a TV film about women in Vancouver's infamous Downtown Eastside area. The film focuses on events leading up to the arrest of Canadian serial killer Robert "Willie" Pickton. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers stars in this film. You might recall that The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open also takes place in that neighbourhood. Tantoo Cardinal is in both Red Snow and Unclaimed.

Drive-ins are making a comeback: Here are some Canadian films to show

Canadian film review: Ginger Snaps

Canadian film review: Cannibal Girls

As we noted some time back, CBC had scheduled Incendies (2010) and Rebelle (2012) for August 1 before the NHL postseason schedule was announced. These films were bookends on the 3-year run where Canadian films made the Top 5 cut for what then was the Best Foreign Language Film category. They were Canadian films that took place mostly outside Canada; Rebelle was completely outside Canada. Incendies provides a chance to see Denis Villeneuve's work before he went south to the United States.

We aren't normally critical of CBC schedules for Canadian film but having October 31 on a Saturday should have been horror films. Ginger Snaps might not be available but our official best Canadian horror film of all time. Canada has a lot of great horror films for possible selections.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early October 2020

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in spring and summer 2020

When CBC showed Canadian films in previous summers, the potential numbers might have been low since people were enjoying the limited summer weather. This might have been true even in the summer of 2020.

Now that Canadian films will be part of the autumn schedule, we will see if that changes Canadians and their TV/film habits.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Canadian films are available in Canada on CBC Gem.

photo credit: Mean Dreams film

How COVID-19 is affecting Canadian snowbirds

Canadian snowbirds: retirees who spend the summer in Canada but go south to the United States to have a warmer winter than if they spent the same time in Canada. Not to be confused with Snowbird, written by Gene MacLellan and famously sung by Anne Murray.

The snowbirds were able to return to Canada at the start of the pandemic. Given where we are in the pandemic, some snowbirds will be stuck in Canada during the upcoming winter.

Canadians can fly to the United States, even with the border being closed. Driving is not an option either way and Americans can't fly into Canada. So Canadian snowbirds can fly south. While some states have potential quarantines, the states where snowbirds reside won't have that as an issue. The NFL had an issue with Kenny Albert being in Canada but snowbirds should be fine.

The problem is that snowbirds generally travel by car or their home to their southern destination. A trailer or RV needs to cross a land border.

Some Canadians are flying and having friends take them around or grocery shop for them as needed. Some Canadians are planning to stay because of the transportation issues.

Snowbirds also have to factor in health insurance, since some insurance companies aren't offering coverage because of the nonessential travel advisory.

Canadian snowbirds deciding whether to fly south or hibernate for winter (The Current CBC Radio)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle living in Canada will be easier by staying fewer than 6 months

Do the snowbirds own or rent in the United States? Can they afford to rent in Canada for the winter? So many questions.

In The Current segment on the topic on CBC Radio One, some of the respondents said they would wait until well after the November election since they feared riots based on the decision.

We have mentioned the economic impact of Canadians shopping in the United States, places such as Bellingham, WA, that have disappeared during the pandemic. Those small towns in Florida, Arizona, and other snowbird places rely heavily on Canadians economically in the winter.

Some of the snowbirds time their departure from the United States after MLB spring training ends. A 2021 MLB season isn't likely to have spring training in Florida and Arizona this coming March. The snowbirds who do make the trip are likely to leave sooner as soon as the weather gets reasonable in Canada.

The snowbirds also have to wrestle leaving relatively good COVID-19 numbers back home for the COVID-19 numbers in the United States, especially in Florida and Arizona. Winter might look bad to the snowbirds but the numbers to the south makes snow and ice more tempting than usual.

Canadians going to the U.S. south for the winter will have to quarantine back home for 2 weeks when they return in the spring of 2021. Those rules could change by then but likely not. Nostradamus would have no clue.

CanadianCrossing.com border crossings coverage

CanadianCrossing.com trade coverage

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

Some snowbirds are headed west instead of south, staying in Canada but in Victoria and other sites on Vancouver Island. Not as warm but a lot less snow and ice.

Even if snowbirds make the trip, the season won't be quite the same. The activities may be limited, though maybe not in Florida. Canadians wearing masks might stand out in Florida and Arizona, where mask wearing isn't required. The age of traditional snowbirds is sadly a major factor in terms of recovery if they contract COVID-19.

photo credit: Snowbirds film (2017)

Canadian film review: Parsley Days

Everyone thinks you are part of the perfect couple in your group. You decide you aren't in love with your partner anymore. Oh, and you just found out you are pregnant.

Parsley Days features Kate (Megan Dunlop) who has dated Ollie (Michael Leblanc) for 5 years. Everyone loves Ollie: her best friend Lila (Marla McLean), her friend Chloe (Marcia Connolly) and Chloe's partner Pauline (Shannon Cunningham), her sister Jane (Tara Doyle) and her children.

Kate doesn't want to tell Ollie that she is pregnant. Getting an abortion in Nova Scotia wasn't that easy in 2000. Chloe suggests Kate consume a lot of parsley to bring on menses.

The group lives in Halifax and gets around on bikes. Ollie points out that he doesn't even have a bike, getting around on the back of Kate's bike. Kate teaches a bike repair class.

We see a young man riding around town in slow motion. Is Kate interested in him. Joleen (Vanessa Maximillian) is in Kate's class but gets upset when Kate doesn't cover the chapters in order. Joleen spends a lot of time with Ollie, the king of contraception. Is she interested in Ollie? If Ollie is the king of contraception, then how did Kate get pregnant?

Parsley Days is one of those quirky independent films where everyone is relatively nice. The film does feel like eating warm soup while wrapped in a blanket.

The film also feels real with real, honest, believable characters where you aren't sure you are watching a fictional film. Could have watched these characters for twice as long as the 84 minutes in the film.

Ollie seems so perfect but that is make Kate's fate so much more nuanced. We've seen enough films when the woman dumps a man for minor and major faults.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

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Andrea Dorfman wrote and directed the 2000 film. Rare for your humble narrator to have a Canadian film where I don't recognise a single actor. Maybe the casting lend more realism to the story since you didn't have any preconceptions.

Parsley Days might seem like one of those "boring" Canadian films that some film people think about Canada and films. Like Schitt's Creek, escaping into a world where people are nice is sometimes an essential trip.

The film made Canada's Top Ten by the Toronto International Film Festival Group.

Parsley Days is available on Encore + on YouTube.

video credit: YouTube/Andrea Dorfman
photo credit: Parsley Days film

Tucker Carlson shows ignorance of Canada by mispronouncing Ottawa

Canadian television and film actor Kaniehtiio Horn taught us earlier this year how to pronounce her name. Horn pointed out the respect to know how to pronounce a name properly.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson hasn't much for respect for Canada. Carlson went out of his way to mispronounce the capital of Canada, putting the emphasis on the second syllable instead of the first syllable.

Carlson was going after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), the Democratic Party vice presidential nominee, for spending part of her childhood in Montréal. Carlson said that Harris "didn't grow up in this country" meaning the United States. As much as Canada would like to claim Harris, being born in the United States and living there until age 12 is growing up in the United States.

Right-wing pundits also went after Barack Obama for spending a few years in Indonesia as a child. Both Obama and Harris were being raised alone by their mothers. Children generally don't get a say in where families live. Harris' mother was doing cancer research in Montréal and teaching at McGill University.

Carlson said Harris "could probably tell you the capital of Canada." The difference is that Harris could tell you the proper pronunciation of the capital of Canada, a mere 200 km from Montréal.

We tease on the hockey side that NBCSN announcer John Forslund would rarely say Ottawa, but would often say "Canada's capital" instead of saying Ottawa. Even Forslund, who doesn't seem to like Canada, knows how to say "Ottawa."

Articles such as this that point out that Carlson may have stumbled upon the Anishinaabemowin pronunciation of the word where Ottawa is derived is one of the most Canadian things we have seen.

Some right-wing pundits "struggle" to mispronounce the first name of Sen. Harris, another sign of disrespect.

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

Kamala Harris, Jackie Robinson, and their association with Montreal

Looking back at when Joe Biden was in Canada

We view Harris' experience in Montréal as a positive similar to Obama's time in Indonesia. Being the U.S. president and having an understanding of the world should not be mutually exclusive. In case you might think this is partisan, we said the same thing about Mitt Romney's time in Canada and France.

The New York Times took some time to look into the Kamala Harris era in Montréal.

"Ms. Kagan [Wanda Kagan, Ms. Harris’s best friend from high school] said Ms. Harris was largely sheltered from Quebec’s political upheaval when she was at Westmount High from 1978-1981. But she said she believed her friend’s progressive politics were influenced by having come of age in a humanistic country with universal health care and less racial strife than the United States."

We certainly think Americans should ask questions about time spent outside the United States as a child for presidential and vice presidential candidates. Carlson's actions were limited to criticising Harris for moving to Canada when she was 12, a decision she had no power in making. Examine the good and bad objectively.

The U.S. Constitution requires presidential and vice presidential candidates to being a resident of the United States for 14 years when running for higher office. Harris and Obama definitely qualified. The U.S. Constitution factors in that presidential and vice presidential candidates might live in a different country as young people but come back to live in the United States.

If Canada had that rule, Michael Ignatieff wouldn't have been able to run as the Liberal Party leader in the 2011 election. We should also point out the recent death of Prime Minister John Turner, the only modern prime minister to be born outside Canada. Turner was born in London, England but grew up in Canada. Canada does not have a natural born citizen requirement to be prime minister.

Barack Obama takes in Montreal

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

Given the Canada-U.S. relationship, a national leader who understands the other country is a positive trait. In the 2019 federal election, Elizabeth May and Andrew Scheer were party leaders and American citizens. May's status was an open secret; Scheer's status was a shock.

We saw the pictures of Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau in the back table at Liverpool House in Montréal when Obama made a post-presidential speech in 2017. If we see a future picture of Kamala Harris and Justin Trudeau at that same table, chances are the Canada-U.S. relationship will be in better shape than it is right now.

photo credits: Fox News; @ObamaFoundation

Canadian Thanksgiving 2020: Trying to remain thankful

There had been a gathering of expats for Canadian Thanksgiving where I live. We started small but grew to about 100 people. The spot we found was really ideal: they already served a turkey dinner on Sunday nights. That restaurant closed in the spring of 2018. The story is familiar: the landlord raised the rent. The spot is still empty today.

You might notice in the picture above that the food is not a turkey dinner. They had the best fried chicken. What was I to do?

We couldn't find an alternative place in 2018 and 2019. Finding a spot in 2020 was fruitless since we wouldn't be able to do Thanksgiving anyway.

I miss the food at that place but the gathering of people was more special. I am thankful for those memories but wish I could make more memories.

Canadian travel bubbles could boost tourism within Canada

No CFL. The Toronto Blue Jays, Raptors, and Maple Leafs are not playing. No U Sports. Families advised to not get together for Thanksgiving but maybe Christmas.

The ability to celebrate Thanksgiving may depend on where you are in Canada. Ontario and Quebec have been reporting hundreds of COVID-19 cases per day.

On October 1, Atlantic Canada (including Newfoundland and Labrador) accounted for 13 of the 14,490 active COVID-19 cases in Canada. Those cases are are all travel-related.

The Atlantic travel bubble remains in effect. If you are from one of the 4 provinces, you can freely travel between the Atlantic provinces. If not, travelers have to isolate for 2 weeks.

Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil said the bubble won't open up "any time soon."

The push for Indigenous travel is timely in an odd fashion. Canadians are encouraged to travel within their own country thanks to the pandemic. The territories are discouraging outsiders from coming in but there are options closer to home as well.

Being more aware of the stories and land of these people would be a travel adventure most Canadians might not consider. Hopefully, the pandemic makes us appreciate more of our neighbours.

Destination Indigenous has a few ideas on where to go. Going somewhere new when travel options are limited can be fun and exciting. Your kids, if you have them, can learn about Indigenous culture.

We recommend a trip to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Your stay may not be that short since there is so much to take in during a visit.

Reflections on Canadian Thanksgiving 2018

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving 2017

We didn't do a Thanksgiving notebook in 2019. We were so busy with so many stories (Canada election, NHL, CFL, MLS, films) in 2019. Not so much this year. Sigh.

If you need a dose of recent Thanksgivings, we posted our 2017 and 2018 notebooks. Enjoy with turkey or reasonable substitute.

Yes, Americans. Canadians eat similar foods for their Thanksgiving. They often have butter tarts, something missing from American Thanksgiving plates.

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Chicago International Film Festival, which starts next week, has not been kind to Canadian film in recent years. Not many titles and some very odd choices. Notable exceptions include Black Cop and The Twentieth Century, neither of which played at Windsor.

There are fewer films available for any film festival. The number of Canadian films in the 2020 Chicago International Film Festival: 0. Can't complain about the films brought in if there are no films to see. There could be a last-minute film addition. I still recall how they sneaked Felix and Meira into the festival with as little publicity as possible.

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

Schitt's Creek wins 9 Emmys in its final season

We don't have to write about Schitt's Creek but can't help mentioning that the real-life Rosebud Motel in the Hockley Valley region in Ontario is up for sale.

The building is rather famous for fans of the show so a potential owner should take that under consideration. As for the rooms, we don't know anything about the actual motel rooms since the interior shots were from a soundstage in Toronto. 

The motel has been used for other projects such as the film A History of Violence from David Cronenberg. We found out that Jamal Murray of the NBA Denver Nuggets lived there for 2 years while playing for Orangeville Prep. The CBC documentary series Orangeville Prep was scheduled to debut this fall but has been delayed.

The motel's neighbours — Cafe Tropical, Bob's Garage, Rose Apothecary — are in nearby Goodwood, Ontario.

Who is Tim Stützle? #NHLDraft #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/KfYKyEcqMj

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 6, 2020

The Ottawa Senators, the only NHL team in Canada that hasn't played since March, was going to have a good evening on Monday for the NHL draft. The Sens had 3 1st-round picks. The team had a surprise for how the first of those picks would be announced.

Canadian treasure Alex Trebek, a University of Ottawa graduate, agreed to do a video to announce the first pick in the style of a Jeopardy question. Forward Tim Stuetzle will forever be the answer/question to that trivia note. Defenceman Jake Sanderson went at #5 and centre Ridly Greig at #28.

Twitter went wild with Trebek's announcement. We are thankful Trebek is still around to do such a cool presentation. Trebek, 80, is currently battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The next NHL season will tentatively start on January 1, 2021.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

For those Canadian fans who love the CFL, TSN2 is showing more than 24 hours of previous CFL Thanksgiving Classic games.

photo credit: me
video credit: YouTube/Canada Explore | Explorez
Twitter capture: @Senators

Canadian film review: Tammy’s Always Dying

Tammy's Always Dying has an intriguing premise. A mother-daughter scenario where the antics of the mother dominate the daughter to the point where she feels like her mother is ruining her life. The antics include threatening to jump from a bridge on a regular basis, lots of drinking especially at the end of the month, and a lot of dependence.

Felicity Huffman plays Tammy (the mother) and Anastasia Phillips plays Catherine (the daughter).

Doug (Clark Johnson) is this unbelievable family friend who watches over Tammy and Catherine in a seemingly innocent fashion. Doug's character reminds us of gay characters in years past whose sole purpose was to take care of everyone else without having a life. The mother and daughter struggle but would be so much worse off without Doug.

Doug and Catherine go away to the big city (Toronto) from where they live (Hamilton) on Sunday nights. They go to this swanky hotel bar and pretend to be extravagant characters in escape mode served by the bartender (Kristian Bruun). The bartender went to the same prince school as Doug.

Catherine is having a relationship with a married man (Aaron Ashmore), whose wife (Jessica Greco) confronts Catherine.

Tammy's suicide attempts get confronted with a cancer diagnosis.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

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There is a subplot where Catherine is obsessed with this daytime talk show as a solution to her problems. Gordon Baker (Ali Hassan) is the host and Ilana Wiseman (Lauren Holly) is the primary producer. Hassan regularly substitutes for Tom Power on Q so he does have some talk show experience.

Huffman's over-the-top performance can be enough to watch this film, maybe. Joanne Sarazen's screenplay is a true poutine. The first half of the film sets up the relationships without much growth to the film. The talk show element had some potential but they speed through that part. Tammy is doing better before the talk show part and much worse afterward.

There is a strong feminist element — Amy Jo Johnson directed the film — but the mother-daughter story comes with princes among men who never do anything bad.

The Hamilton-Toronto contrast is the most interesting element in the film and that will be missed by most Americans seeing the film.

Chien de Garde fails to make Oscars shortlist

Canadian film review: Family First

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

Tammy's Always Dying is a way better film than Chien de Garde but has similar elements. Each has an over-the-top performance of someone who is messed up. The films are about people who are not desirable to put on screen.

There are countless good films about people who are struggling at life. Having uncomfortable characters can boost the interest in a film. The talk show segment needed to be incorporated into the rest of the film instead of a hot-air balloon that lands and quickly takes off again.

The ending of the film is infuriating and ambiguous. The performances are good even if most of the characters are unbelievable. The wife whose husband is cheating with Catherine is one of the most realistic characters on the screen and she isn't there for long. The actors deserved to be in a better film.

Tammy's Always Dying ran at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

video credit: YouTube/Movieclips Indie
photo credit: Tammy's Always Dying film

Annamie Paul is the new Green Party leader in Canada

Toronto lawyer Annamie Paul has been elected as the new federal Green Party leader in Canada in the first election in 14 years. While Paul replaces Jo-Ann Roberts, who served as interim leader for 11 months, she essentially replaces Elizabeth May as the party leader. May will continue to serve as parliamentary leader.

The race had 8 candidates but came down to Paul, considered to be relatively moderate, and Dimitri Lascaris, who was in more of the "eco-socialist" category. Paul won in the 8th round with 12,090 votes versus 10,081 votes for Lascaris. Green Party officials said there were 23,877 votes cast, a 69 percent turnout.

Paul, who is Black and Jewish, is the first Black permanent leader of a major federal party. She is only the second Jewish person in that role; former NDP leader David Lewis also had that role.

When we started this campaign, we set out to make the @CanadianGreens the most diverse, democratic and daring force in Canadian politics. We also set out to make history.

Because of you, we succeeded on all counts.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! #cdnpoli

— Annamie Paul (@AnnamiePaul) October 4, 2020

"The other parties are simply out of ideas. They are intellectually exhausted. This is a moment that demands daring, courageous leadership and this is something that we simply didn't see in the last speech from the throne," she said. "I only heard empty words."

Her acceptance speech was truly bilingual. She has a level of French where Conservative anglophone politicians would be envious.

Paul previously worked as an advisor at the International Criminal Court and founded 2 social non-profit companies.

The other Green Party candidates were Lascaris (Quebec); David Merner (British Columbia); Amita Kuttner (British Columbia); Glen Murray (Manitoba); Meryam Haddad (Quebec); Andrew West (Ontario); and Dr. Courtney Howard (Northwest Territories). None of the 8 candidates have a seat in Ottawa.

Paul, Merner, Kuttner, and Haddad ran for the Greens in the 2019 federal election. Murray served as a former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister and mayor of Winnipeg.

Paul is running for the Greens in the October 26 Toronto Centre by-election. That riding came open with former Finance Minister Bill Morneau left politics. Paul ran in that riding for the 2019 federal elction.

"I was born in Toronto Centre, my mother taught in the schools in Toronto Centre, my grandmother worked as a frontline service worker in the hospitals of Toronto Centre and broke her back doing it in the process. I will not abandon the residents of Toronto Centre to a Liberal party that has neglected that constituency, that riding for the last 27 years," Paul said.

Normally, candidates running for a party leadership race need to get permission to also run in a federal election. The party didn't provide any financial or logistical support for her by-election race until the leadership race was done.

2020 British Columbia election preview

British Columbia transitions power from Liberals to NDP with Greens help

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

2020 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The Green Party stayed at their 3 seats in the recent New Brunswick election. The party held the balance of power in the British Columbia government until the recent call for the October 24 election. Federally, the party has 3 seats in Parliament in Ottawa.

Jagmeet Singh was the NDP leader without being a MP from October 2017 until March 2019 when Singh won a by-election in Burnaby South. While Paul expressed a preference for Toronto Centre, she might have to run in a different riding to become a MP.

Anyone replacing Elizabeth May, especially with May remaining as parliamentary leader, will have a tough act to follow and will have to make a distinct mark as the new federal Green Party leader. Despite the drumbeat from the Canadian press on having a federal election soon, Paul will have some time to establish the direction for the party in the future before an election.

photo credit: CBC News
Twitter capture: @AnnamiePaul