Canadian Crossing

The story of Tilbury, ON getting its newspaper back

We've written a lot about small Canadian towns losing their newspaper due to Postmedia and TorStar (mostly) not being able to make enough money with those papers.

The Tilbury Times (Ontario) had been around from 1884: 136 years until the newspaper was shut down in 2020. The Tilbury Times was one of many newspapers that Postmedia shut down in Ontario and Manitoba in 2020. Tilbury is in southwestern Ontario, 57 km (36 miles) east of Windsor, about 4,800 people. Traveling east on Highway 401 toward London, Tilbury is just east of where the highway crosses Highway 42.

CBC Radio had a special podcast called Circulation, spending time in Canadian cities that had lost their local newspaper.

Haydn Watters spent time in Tilbury to get a sense of the community. Part of the story he told about Tilbury was about how its citizens found out what was happening in their town. The threat of losing the only nursing home in the city. Going to a car show if they only knew the show was happening. The hockey exploits that don't get celebrated.

Circulation (CBC Radio Special)

Mohsin Abbas is not from Tilbury. Abbas, who knows something about independent journalism publications, heard the Circulation special about Tilbury and wanted to help. A short time later, Abbas is now the publisher.

The CBC News article about Abbas noted his credentials: "He's started up his own independent publications before, and worked in newsrooms big and small — in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Currently, he's a freelance contributor for BBC News reporting in Urdu and Punjabi, and runs another small news outlet called the Milton Reporter."

There are a lot of Canadian towns that could use someone such as Mohsin Abbas. More success stories could inspire others to make an impact on reviving local news in these Canadian towns.

Tilbury Times

Watters talked to several people who tried to use Facebook as an alternative to a local newspaper. Facebook has some advantages and a host of limitations.

We can imagine that the worst of times in the 136-year history of the Tilbury Times was under the Postmedia management. Local ownership means more consideration to what is important in Tilbury. The paper may have existed in name only even before the paper was shut down.

Gaining local control of a newspaper would be much easier before some distant (likely) Toronto-based organization shuts the paper down. In the case of Postmedia, that Toronto-based organization is controlled (financially) by U.S. hedge funds that don't care about Tilbury or any other small Canadian town.

Canadian journalism notebook: TorStar to shut down StarMetro newspapers

TorStar/Postmedia newspaper 'trade' details

Postmedia newspaper cuts mean even fewer Canada journalism voices

Just because a large company shuts down your local newspaper, that shouldn't mean you should go without local news. Local businesses still need to get the word out. Citizens could volunteer their efforts. A daily might turn into a weekly or even a monthly. The newspaper might be purely online.

There are creative solutions to helping small towns get journalism to tell their stories. If Abbas is getting any financial help, that would be pennies, which no longer exist in Canada, compared to what Postmedia and TorStar get to close local newspapers such as the Tilbury Times.

Canadian journalism notebook: Huge loss with closure of HuffPost Canada and HuffPost Quebec

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

Your humble narrator has had a really nice journalism career. If I were on Canadian soil, I would try what Abbas is doing. Writing about these efforts is the best I can do.

Canada shouldn't let the fate of hundreds of small newspapers and those Canadian towns rest in the greedy and large hands of newspaper companies not interested in Canadian journalism in those small towns.

photo credit: Tilbury Times

Canadian film review: First Round Down

A junior hockey star is about as high as you can get in Canada. A junior hockey star who suffers a bad injury and his life spirals can make for an interesting story in First Round Down.

Tim Tucker (Dylan Bruce) was that junior hockey star. Tucker injures his knee in the Sterling Cup final, ending any prospect of a NHL future.

Tucker becomes a hit man. He finds himself back in town (Hamilton) just in time for the team's 10-year championship reunion.

At a crossroads, Tucker starts caring for his much younger brother Matthew (Percy Hynes White). He delivers pizzas, including to his former girlfriend Kelly (Rachel Wilson) who has a new beau Winston (Kristian Bruun).

Kelly's dad Coach Quinn (Peter MacNeill) is heavily in debt and is the target of Tim's old boss Sonny (John Kapelos).

The offbeat film comes from writers/directors the Butler Brothers: Brett M. Butler and Jason G. Butler. You may know their work as they co-produced, edited, and were on screen for Love in the Sixth, the debut feature film from Jude Klassen.

While First Round Down starts out a little slow, the bend (not quite a twist) rewards the filmgoer with a smarter film than you might think after the first half-hour.

The brothers have a sensibility where they are comfortable with the characters and remain loyal to where they go in the film.

Love in the Sixth highlights Canadian films in 2016 CIMM festival

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Bobby (Rob Ramsay) is the stereotypical best friend on many levels but is consistent with hockey worship, even with Tim and Bobby being on the same team. Ramsay, like the other actors, has a lot of fun with his role.

Joel Thomas Hynes, real life father of Percy Hynes White, plays a bad guy who works for Sonny.

First Round Down is a well-crafted that goes well beyond its plot to be a reasonably enjoyable film.

video credit: YouTube/Brett Butler
photo credit: First Round Down film

One year after Fox acquires Diggstown rights, unknown when episodes will air

Your humble narrator got an unexpected birthday present last year: Fox acquired the rights to Diggstown, the CBC drama starring Vinessa Antoine.

Since then, your humble narrator has been doing Internet searches on when Fox was going to run at least the first 2 seasons. Season 3 finally aired on CBC this fall. So far, no news is no news.

The CBC drama has been available in the States on BET+. An airing on Fox would reach a wider audience.

Antoine is known in the States for her work on General Hospital. Diggstown has some actors whose faces may be familiar: Natasha Henstridge, Stacey Farber, Brandon Oakes, and Tim Rozon. The show also features fine acting talent in C. David Johnson, Shailene Garnett, Dwain Murphy, Mpho Koaho, and Kim Roberts.

There are 12 episodes over the first 2 seasons. Season 3 has 8 episodes.

New actors for Season 3 include Antoinette Robertson, Crystle Lightning, and Nicole Muñoz.

Canadian TV notebook: Sort Of makes its CBC television debut

CBC will have a lot of holes to fill in the 2021-2022 television schedule

Diggstown is a very liberal program in a sea of U.S. drama shows dominated by violent and conservative crime drama shows from CBS.  The connection with the show and the Black population in Nova Scotia will likely go over the head of most Americans.

U.S. produced network TV shows have few Indigenous actors so Brandon Oakes will stand out.

Yet Fox acquired the rights. When will the network air the show?

The Black Academy will have an awards show on CBC in 2022

2021 CBC television fall preview

Your humble narrator has seen 3 episodes from Season 1, 50% of that season. The 3 episodes were solid drama with a group of actors who seem genuinely happy to be in this space.

One fun tidbit was that Peter Keleghan played the father for Farber's character. Those on both sides of the border might remember that Keleghan played Farber's father-in-law on 18 to Life. You might not remember.

5 Reasons We Love Diggstown (Chatelaine)

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

We've seen the easy transition of Transplant, Coroner, Trickster, and Nurses from Canadian TV to U.S. over-the-air television. Diggstown could make that transition. The fact that Fox hasn't moved on Diggstown is not a good sign. The U.S audience would enjoy the show. If Fox doesn't want that audience, give the show to an outlet that will appreciate the show. 

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadians can watch all 3 seasons of Diggstown on CBC Gem. Those on the U.S. side can watch on BET+ and maybe, someday on Fox.

photo credit: Diggstown/CBC

Canadian film review: Black Conflux

A teenager trying to find her way. An incel young man back in a time where the incel term wasn't being used. Do their stories have parallels? Nicole Dorsey looks at these 2 stories in her debut film Black Conflux set in Newfoundland in 1987.

Jackie (Ella Ballentine) seems like a good kid. Does her homework, tries out for the choir. Amber (Olivia Scriven), Jackie's best friend, tempts Jackie with opportunities to party. The more we learn about Jackie, the more we realize she doesn't need too much temptation to party.

Dennis (Ryan McDonald) has a lot of trouble relating to women. His imagination produces eager and willing women who aren't real. Dennis lives with his sister, who denies his issues.

We learn that Jackie's mother is in prison. She lives with her aunt, who offers little more than housing and food.

The film takes us down separate paths, learning more about Jackie and Dennis. They ultimately met, but no spoilers as to what happened.

The choice of 1987 is an intriguing choice for Dorsey. We see Dennis getting change from the convenience store in bills. The loonie was introduced in 1987 while dollar bills were phased out in 1989. Hitchhiking was a lot more common in Newfoundland back then. Cellphones would make things easier for Jackie in communicating with her aunt. Mostly, the time period in Newfoundland speaks to the seeming difficulty in escaping the Rock. Codco didn't start until 1988.

Unlike in Café de Flore from the late Jean-Marc Vallée, don't get caught up in the symbolism in the parallel stories. Black Conflux is a finely crafted character study. You might see parallels or none at all.

The film creates compelling, very flawed characters and guides you to want to know more. 

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

TIFF selects Top 10 Canadian films of 2019

Nicole Dorsey interview with Q (CBC Radio One)

Black Conflux made the TIFF Top 10 Canadian films of 2019. Your humble narrator has now seen all 10 films from the 2019 list. Given the pandemic, we won't see a full complete list such as the one from 2019 for awhile.

Black Conflux is available on demand in the United States.

video credit: YouTube/TIFF Trailers
photo credit: Black Conflux film

Cooking Channel picks up Back in Time for Dinner

The Back in Time for Dinner phenomenon started in the United Kingdom. The CBC ran its own version in 2018. The Canadian version featured a Canadian family with how Canadians ate in each decade from the 1940s through the 1990s.

Host Carlo Rota guided the Campus family: mother Tristan, a registered nurse, father Aaron, a multimedia designer, 18-year-old daughter Valerie, 17-year-old daughter Jessica, and 15-year-old son Robert.

The Canadian version seemed an obvious choice to work its way to the United States, even if that took until late 2021 and early 2022 to arrive on the Cooking Channel.

Canadians had to deal with more abrupt changes, compared to Americans, in their diet during World War II due to war rations. The war also started in 1939 for Canada and most of the countries fighting the war. The United States didn't join the war until after the Pearl Harbor attack in late 1941.

They have to work with kidneys in the early part of the 1940s episode. By they, we mean (sadly) the women. Tristan does the vast majority of the work with occasional help from daughters Valerie and Jessica. Though Aaron does a lot of the cooking in the modern version, he and Robert are banned from helping in the kitchen for the initial episodes.

Meat arrives in the 1950s along with some odd food trends of the day. Reading about how housewives put a salad in a gelatin mold is interesting; watching someone do this offers a broader perspective.

Tristan and Val made yoghurt with a yoghurt maker. They had to do this with conversion in the 1970s episode. This was the time in Canada where the country transitioned from imperial (the U.S. system) to metric.

They figure out converting litres to cups (a litre is slightly more than 4 cups) but had trouble with the temperature of heating the milk. They had difficulty converting 45°C to Fahrenheit. Tristan is a nurse in real life, where you would know that 37°C (98.6°F) is the body temperature. Rota adds a voiceover to say 45°C was 113°F not the figure they got.

The U.S. audience would learn, if they didn't already know, that some Canadians get their milk in a bag.

The ladies also have to work without the modern technology of a dishwasher, as an example.

The Back in Time for Dinner episodes have improvements within the episode so the end of the 1950s episode is closer to 1959 than 1951.

CanadianCrossing.com food and drink coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Food is a key portion of the program mixed in with history and social impact. Tristan has a surprisingly good attitude toward having to be the dominant cook of the times. Valerie and Jessica are much less enthused to being there. In the 1950s episode, Valerie disappears for most of the episode. Then when she finally returns, Jessica isn't in that scene.

The men have more of a role in the kitchen as the episodes progress. Everyone involved has trouble adjusting to the technology of the past.

The program does present heightened trends as being "everywhere." A lot of people weren't eating quiche in the 1980s.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

U.S. fans can catch up on previous episodes from the Cooking Channel. The U.S. channel airs the 1990s episode on Thursday at 10 pm Eastern. Canadians can watch the episodes via CBC Gem.

photos credit: Back in Time for Dinner/CBC

Canadian film review: The Husband

Maxwell McCabe-Lokos is not a loser in real life. He can pass for a loser on screen and so he co-wrote a movie about a loser who is having trouble dealing with a lot of horrible things.

Henry (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) is a single dad to a toddler. He hates his job. He is a single dad because his wife Alyssa (Sarah Allen) is in jail for having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Alyssa was the boy's teacher.

Henry is very angry. He is upset at work, ignores his best friend Rusty (August Diehl), and stalks the 14-year-old Colin (Dylan Authors).

McCabe-Lokos uses a lot of non-verbal mannerisms to show that Henry is a loser. The deflection of his frustration to the child, as opposed to his wife, is as creepy as you would think it would be.

There are a lot of moments with no dialogue where we see how angry Henry is. The only positive trait is that he is a good father to his toddler.

Watching "portrait of a loser" might be a niche in filmmaking. The question is whether the film is genius in taking us into the world of someone who should be angry and how he handles that anger. Or is the film boring because you are watching an angry person who is almost always angry.

McCabe-Lokos co-wrote the film with Kelly Harms. Bruce McDonald directed this 2013 film. McDonald is a legend in Canadian filmmaking. The contrast for McDonald when directing a film he wrote is significantly distinct than directing a film written by others. Writing and directing your own films is more of a guarantee than just being the director.

You almost feel like McCabe-Lokos is running things from his spot as a co-writer and lead actor.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The small parts in the film have some great actors in the mix. You have fun watching Stephen McHattie as his father-in-law and Jean Yoon as the nanny.

The Husband delivers on what the film promises. The angry man stays angry. The creepiness level, especially when trying to get revenge, is burning hot.

This film is a comedy on some level and a drama on most levels.

The Husband feels true in its anger. Best to watch when you are angry or so not angry.

video credit: YouTube/TIFF Originals
photo credit: The Husband film

Carol Off to leave As It Happens on CBC Radio

The last time As It Happens was looking for a co-host feels like a long time ago. Chris Howden took over for Jeff Douglas to host with Carol Off a couple of months before the COVID-19 pandemic. Douglas was the co-host for 8 years before leaving to host Mainstreet, the weekday afternoon CBC Nova Scotia show.

Now As It Happens is looking for a host to replace Carol Off, who is leaving the show after nearly 16 years. Her last edition will be February 25. Off will work on a new summer series for CBC.

With all due respect to Howden, Off is the primary host of the show in terms of conducting interviews. She had a long background in reporting around the world for CBC News before landing in As It Happens.

"I was a wild animal and I was never going to be a house cat," Off said.

Off replaced Mary Lou Finlay as the co-host in 2006 and worked with Barbara Budd. The almost 16 years Off worked on the show was the third-longest tenure on the show behind Alan Maitland (1974-1993) and Budd (1993-2010). Barbara Frum, mother of David Frum, was a host (1971-1981). As It Happens has been around since 1968.

New changes to CBC Radio in 2020

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CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

"It's the hardest job I've ever had, for sure," Off said. "It's the emotional range of it. I've laughed. I've cried. I've become angry. I have learned something. I've had my head turned around. And that's in a single day."

Replacing Off will also be a hard job. Howden had been with the show since 2003 and head writer for the show for the previous decade. That may not be the path for Off's replacement.

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

There will be guest hosts filling in for Off after February 25 so there will be quite a bit of time before we know the permanent replacement.

For a lot of listeners to the program, Carol Off is As It Happens. They will be very tough shoes to fill.

As It Happens airs for 90 minutes on CBC Radio One following the World at Six. The program airs in the United States through Public Radio Exchange on some NPR stations. The show is also available through the CBC Listen app and the podcast version is also an option.

photo credit: @cbcasithappens

Canadian film review: Hollywood North

The Canadian film industry, well, the English part of the Canadian film industry in 1979 was filled with tax write-offs and odd American leads. Hollywood North (2003) dives into this bizarre, yet sadly real, existence.

The film is an exaggerated version of this world. The film cleverly casts Matthew Modine (American) as the lead in this film given how the film his character is making has to have an American lead. Canadians do dominate the cast, including Saul Rubinek, Joe Cobden, Deborah Kara Unger, Alan Thicke, Lindy Booth, Fab Filippo, Clare Coulter, and Jennifer Tilly.

Bobby Myers (Modine) wants to adapt Lantern Moon, a low-key story about a Canadian schoolteacher who goes to teach children in Cuba. To get the American lead they need, Michael Baytes (English actor Alan Bates) wants script approval that blends in with his patriotism and paranoia. They also recruit a famous director Henry Neville (English/Canadian actor John Neville) who hasn't directed a film in 15 years. The Lantern Moon script suddenly becomes Flight to Bogota.

Part of what makes the film within a film Canadian is the source material, which has been completely ignored.

The fun part of the film is filmmaker Sandy Ryan (Unger) who films a behind the scenes approach to this film but intertwines her own serious film Human Voices. The indie film is more of a true Canadian film without the big budget.

As the overall film goes on, the film within the film loses control with pressure from the investors, of which Alan Thicke's character is in charge.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The making of the film(s) is the plot of the film. The writers (Barry Healey, John Hunter, Tony Johnston) and director Peter O'Brian take us through the slightly exaggerated twists and turns of the film; we imagine similar situations happen quite often.

Hollywood North might be more informative than entertaining. The film could be considered a bit inside ball where some of the jokes are highly subtle. People who appreciate the filmmaking process — trust us, we see this at film festivals — will enjoy this film.

Even if you are not a film geek, there is a rather good story here. Ambition, ego, lots of suffering to try and get some reward: good enough for this Canadian film about Canadian films.

photo credit: Hollywood North film

Former Montreal Expos play by play announcer Dave Van Horne retires

Dave Van Horne recently announced his retirement from doing MLB play-by-play. While Van Horne spent the last 21 years in southern Florida, he will be best remembered as the English voice of the Montréal Expos from the inaugural season of 1969 through 2000.

Van Horne might have stayed to the end of the Expos run but broadcasting the games on the Internet in 2000 was a sign of things to come. Jeffrey Loria didn't get an English radio or TV outlet in Montréal for 2000.

Van Horne called the Expos games on radio on CKGM 980 (1969), CFCF 600 (1970-1988, 1991-1999), and CJAD 800 (1989-1990).

The Expos games were broadcast during Van Horne's time on CBC (1969-1989), TSN (1985-1999), a TV Labatt syndicated package (1987-1989), and CTV (1990-1993).

Van Horne worked with a number of amazing broadcasters. His most prevalent partners were Don Drysdale (1970–1971), Duke Snider (1973–1986), and Tommy Hutton (1982–1986). Drysdale, Snider, and Jackie Robinson (1972), who also worked on Expos games, were all members of the Montréal Royals minor league team as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers organization.

Celebrating Montreal Expos legacy in Washington, DC

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

Montreal shows off its worth again as an ideal baseball city

Tim Wallach, Dave Van Horne make Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

The Montréal Expos were the first MLB team for Van Horne. He spent 1966-1968 calling games for the Richmond AAA team, a farm team of Atlanta (MLB).

Van Horne received Jack Graney Award in 1996 by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. Van Horne was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

CanadianCrossing.com MLB coverage

Van Horne was always busy during the times the Toronto Blue Jays played exhibition games at Olympic Stadium from 2014-2019 before the pandemic. Hopefully, the exhibition games will come back and Van Horne can be coaxed into the booth back in Montréal.

photo credit: CBC Sports

Stanley Tucci has plenty of love for Toronto

Full Release with Samantha Bee, the podcast not the TV show, doesn't mention Canada too often. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee loves its sarcastic Canadian references, mostly because the TV show is about comedy and current events.

Stanley Tucci, who has shown his love for Italy thanks to his CNN series Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy, was on the podcast with Samantha Bee some time ago (a little slow catching up for your humble narrator).

About 10 minutes into the podcast episode, Bee talked about growing up in Toronto around Italian families though not Italian herself. She loved the liveliness of the dinner table in those homes.

"Toronto's really interesting. I love Toronto. Actually, if I were to move back to North America, that's where I would live. ... It's an amazing city."

Tucci said he thinks Toronto has the highest concentration of Italians outside Italy (4th behind São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and New York City). There are Italian pockets in Toronto: College Street West is the most prominent but certainly one of several areas, including Pelmo Park-Humberlea and Maple Leaf as well as Corso Italia on St. Clair Avenue West.

Stanley Tucci — Full Release with Samantha Bee (Earwolf)

Tucci mentioned Brothers, a tiny place near where he was staying to make a film about 4 years ago. Brothers Food & Wine did close in 2020 but that team is behind a new place called Restaurant 20 Victoria. Amusingly, the new space is even tinier than the old establishment.

Bee wraps up the talk about Toronto by asking Tucci about whether he loves Kensington Market. Tucci agrees with how great the neighbourhood and the city is for him.

Samantha Bee might be channeling Anna Maria Tremonti in her new podcast

Where to visit Canada in 2022

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

Vancouver gets a lot of love for the weather and outdoor activities. Montréal gets a lot of love for its amazing food and cultural aspects. Toronto doesn't get as much love. Tucci lives in London so maybe he is biased toward Toronto or has done movies in Toronto. Toronto is a great gateway city, especially if you are an American who has never been to Canada.

Despite the food havens that are Vancouver and Montréal, Toronto deserves some travel love for its food and culture options. Toronto is a very cosmopolitan city. Kensington Market is very cool. Travel wherever you want in Canada. Don't dismiss Toronto without a bit of research.

Full Release with Samantha Bee comes out on Tuesdays. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee returns Thursday on TBS and CTV Comedy Channel at 10 pm Eastern.

photo credit: Full Release with Samantha Bee