Today is the 155th anniversary of the establishment of the Dominion of Canada with Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The Dominion of Canada would keep the Union Jack for almost 100 years after the creation of Canada. Older people remember when July 1 was called Dominion Day.
We focus in on a few stories of note in our Canada Day notebook. Celebrate safe, perhaps with a Caesar and a Nanaimo bar.
Canada to finally lift pre-arrival COVID-19 tests for air and land border crossings
CanadianCrossing.com border crossings coverage
American travelers to Canada still need to use the ArriveCan app. This is true for land border crossings, something of great concern for border town mayors on the Canadian side. Ugh.
We have noted the significant difference in naming Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (U.S.) versus KD or Kraft Dinner (Canada). The U.S. version will soon change to Kraft Mac and Cheese.
As far as we know, there is no inherent difference between the products, though the Canadian version is likely made with better made Canadian cheese.
There is a grand difference in Canadian accouterments with KD such as hot dogs and ketchup.
You can see the Canadian version (left) or the new U.S. version (below). Which looks better to eat?
Barenaked Ladies mentioned Kraft dinner in the song If I Had a Million Dollars from the Gordon album from 1992.
We wouldn't have to eat Kraft dinner / But we would eat Kraft dinner / Of course we would we'd just eat more / And buy really expensive ketchups with it / That's right all the fanciest Dijon ketchups mmm mmm
If I were eating Kraft Dinner in Canada, I might use Canadian-made French's ketchup.
Remember the whole French-Heinz ketchup battle? Funny part is that Kraft and Heinz are now corporately married
Feeling more nostalgic than hungry, here is the (temporarily) reunited Barenaked Ladies performing that song at the 2018 Junos after being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Canadian cities are legalizing alcohol in parks (Cross Country Checkup from CBC Radio One)
There are 2 primary images of public drinking. People leisurely drinking wine with a picnic in a park. People drinking out of bottles in paper bags. People want the former but not the latter.
The pandemic set limits on drinking because of the viability of crowded bars being open.
Your humble narrator has seen people in Amsterdam and Rome drinking outside and having that be not a big deal.
Being able to selective drink in public would bring Canada closer to its European cousins and away from the puritanical United States.
We are big fans of @brittlestar, and we are honoured that he sent us a video tribute as Canuckle wraps up! CHECK IT OUT ⬇️🇨🇦👍 #ThankYouEh pic.twitter.com/MNpgxAsPN0
— Canuckle (@CanuckleGame) June 27, 2022
We meant to write about Canuckle, the Canadian version of Wordle. Same concept: 5 letter word, 6 guesses. The Canuckle word would have some tie to Canada. Some days, the word was fun. Other days, words such as "brier" threw me off.
Turns out today is the last Canuckle, at least for now. As you may know from our Twitter feed, we love playing Canuckle. Have been glad to give it some love and hopefully encourage others to learn a bit about Canada through guessing the words. The correct letters showed up in red, which was also cool.
Today's game is Game 142 on Canada Day. You can play the previous games through its archives.
If we get news of a comeback, we would be thrilled to pass that information along to our readers.
Also fans of Brittlestar, if you aren't following him. Really good Canadian sensibility.
2022 CFL Week 4 preview
The CFL is playing on and around Canada Day for the first time since 2019. The BC Lions were in Ottawa, the nation's capital, last night. The Edmonton Elks are in Hamilton tonight to take on the Tiger-Cats. The league is even playing on the night of the U.S. holiday yet the game is not on U.S. TV. Tonight's game is on ESPN+. All the games are on TSN in Canada.
The Toronto Blue Jays are at home for Canada Day, unlike Victoria Day. The team plays Game 2 of a 5-game series against Tampa Bay. Today's game has a 3:07 pm EDT start. Rogers Sportsnet has the game in Canada. The MLB Network has this as the backup game in the United States, meaning Boston and Chicago. The U.S. channel has been reluctant to use the Rogers Sportsnet feed, opting to use YES (Yankees) and NESN (Red Sox), even in Toronto.
Former Toronto Raptors star guard Kyle Lowry will have a street named after him in Toronto. The street will be at Don Mills Crossing, a new development in the northeast section of Toronto. We just celebrated 3 years since the Raptors won the 2019 NBA title.
The Athletic reported earlier this week that Rogers Sportsnet is ending Hometown Hockey after 8 seasons. The pandemic didn't help the situation. The move to Monday night was a noble idea but that didn't help as well. If yyzsportsmedia.com is correct, this is the first of many Rogers Sportsnet changes to NHL coverage in October.
The Grand Seduction matches up well with Quebecois version
You might have seen The Grand Seduction (2013), the story of a small fishing village that has to draw in a doctor and convince that doctor to stay.
You might have seen La Grande Séduction | Seducing Dr. Lewis, the original Ken Scott film (2003) that is the same story though set in Quebec rather than Newfoundland. Scott co-wrote the English language version of the film.
If you are in Charlottetown this summer, you can catch the new musical Tell Tale Harbour, based on the Quebecois film La Grande Séduction.
Alan Doyle of the band Great Big Sea is in the production. You may remember his acting skills on display in Republic of Doyle (no relation). You can listen to Doyle with fellow Newfoundlander Tom Power recently on Q on CBC Radio One.
The films were pretty similar. Music from that part of the world is amazing. 2 musicals from Newfoundland: Tell Tale Harbour on top of Come From Away.
Thanks so much! What a time we’re having. https://t.co/38HBeuAJIo
— Alan Doyle (@alanthomasdoyle) June 24, 2022
Improving train travel options between the United States and Canada
2022 Canadian TV upfronts highlights
Season 2 of the Canadian TV show Departure involves a high-speed train from Toronto to Chicago. The concept of a high-speed ground option between those cities is pure fiction. Traveling from Toronto to Windsor would involve a infrequent train not much faster than a bus. Getting from Windsor to Detroit is complicated. Then there is the slow magic of Amtrak from Detroit to Chicago.
In the opening episode, the high-speed train flows smoothly out of Union Station in Toronto, flows through southern Ontario, and crosses some mythical structure over the Detroit River. The train stops to check passports, something that is often done in Canada before boarding a plane to the United States.
Traveling from Rome to Florence and back on high speed trains was an absolute joy. Getting from Brussels, Belgium to London, England in 121 minutes, like clockwork, was wonderful. That same joy should be found on trains from Toronto to Detroit and Chicago.
The Maple Leaf Train from Toronto-New York City, not nearly as fast, is back in business. The ViaRail service from Windsor to Toronto have recently returned to normal capacity, now 5 trains a day. Megabus is increasing U.S. bus service from Toronto as well as to other Canadian destinations such as Ottawa, Kingston, and Montréal. Megabus should look into a Windsor-London-Toronto route.
I discovered Cross Country Checkup many years ago on CBC Radio. This was in a time where I would be in Detroit, listening to CBC Radio One on AM 1550 (now on FM 97.5). Rex Murphy was the host back then.
The show had been in more capable hands with Duncan McCue and lately with Ian Hanomansing. Turns out Hanomansing is now the permanent host of Cross Country Checkup. He hosts the show from Vancouver where he anchors The National on Friday and Sunday.
The program airs Sundays live coast to coast to coast at 4 pm Eastern, 1 pm Pacific, and 5:30 pm Newfoundland time.
You can listen to the program on the CBC Listen app or download the podcast version.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
NBC is dragging out Transplant to the middle of summer. There is the end in sight. The season finale airs July 16 at 8 pm EDT. Hopefully, Season 3 is a smoother presentation.
Season 2 started 2 months after the CTV premiere in January. NBC gave the show a terrible timeslot and lifted the show for the May sweeps period.
The CW will run the final season of Coroner when the fall starts, but keep in mind that the CW starts fall when the weather is very warm.
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Summarizing Kenneth Welsh's acting career would fall embarrassing short. Welsh, who passed away on May 5, had a storied career on both sides of the border. His portrayal of Windom Earle in the U.S. TV show Twin Peaks made a significant impact.
Welsh was enjoyable in recent Canadian films such as Wet Bum (2014) and And the Birds Rained Down | Il pleuvait des oiseaux (2019).
Welsh did 2 episodes of Twitch City and 3 episodes of Due South. He played himself in an episode of Slings & Arrows. Welsh even appears in the final episode of the new season of Kids in the Hall.
photo credits: CBC News; Kraft Heinz Canada; Kraft Heinz; CBC Radio
Twitter captures: @CanuckleGame; @alanthomasdoyle
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