Canadian Crossing

Canadian film review: Beerocracy

Samantha Bee loved taking potshots at the Beer Store and LCBO in Ontario, and the whole concept of government-run outlets to buy alcohol on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Beerocracy puts us in the middle of the battle between craft beers and New Brunswick, a province that gets buried in terms of knowledge and news.

The documentary tells the stories of these craft brewers and how they want more opportunities to get the beer to people in New Brunswick. The story is told in a low-key fashion. It's not quite at the ASMR level but still a subtle presentation.

This is a hobby and yet they also want to make money off this hobby.

Writers/directors Alex Vietinghoff and Shauna Chase spend their time on those fighting to get more space in those stores for craft beers. The enemy is the the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation, aka Alcool NB Liquor.

The filmmakers note that New Brunswick has the highest adult illiteracy rates and obesity rates in Canada. Young people are moving out of the province to find work. The 750,000 or so population in the province: not all of them will go into craft beer.

Building jobs and businesses in New Brunswick isn't easy, so why not help out the people by allowing them to sell craft beer.

New Brunswick switches out one newspaper monopoly for another one

CanadianCrossing.com New Brunswick coverage

We learn a bit about New Brunswick in the 2017 film. The province gets very little news coverage, especially since the English language newspaper monopoly isn't friendly for sharing stories. This film gives a rare window into the province, especially for English language speakers.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Beerocracy is a good watch if you like beer, have an odd hobby, hate government bureaucracy, live in Maine and are curious about your neighbours to the east, or otherwise interested in Canada's only officially bilingual province.

Beerocracy is available in the United States via Amazon Prime Video.

Canadian Screen Awards shift to gender neutral performance awards

"Bilal Baig should have been nominated for an acting award. The awards are split by gender. Well, that door needs to be open sooner or later." — this blog, February 15, 2022

We are calling this the Bilal Baig (Sort Of) move, yet we know other actors will benefit from this Canadian Screen Awards decision by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

The film side will have awards for performance in a leading role and performance in a supporting role. The TV awards will have awards for lead and supporting performances in the drama and comedy categories as well as an award for best performance in a TV movie.

Best Guest Performance for drama and comedy in the Canadian Screen Awards has previously had 5 nominees, inclusive of everyone. The CSAs digital media performance categories have been gender-neutral since 2019.

2022 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

The Film Independent Spirit Awards announced a similar move last week. There will be a Best Lead Performance (10 nominees) and Best Supporting Performance (10 nominees). The Canadian Screen Awards will have 8 nominees instead of 5.

That means 2 fewer actors will get the honour of being a Canadian Screen Awards nominee.

If you think back to this spring when Hamza Haq and Laurence Leboeuf won for Transplant, only one of them would win in 2023. There is also a concern that male-identified actors might get more of the nominees than female-identified actors.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the national union for professionals in English-language recorded media, renamed its categories: one for people who are gender non-conforming or male, and one for people who are gender non-conforming or female.

Our CanadianCrossing.com style guide notes that the word "actor" is always used, unless a different word is used in the name of the award.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Included in this announcement is the transition to gender-neutral performance categories for lead and supporting performers in the film and television awards streams.

Learn more about this change here: https://t.co/uVfWGOlMzc

— The Canadian Academy (@TheCdnAcademy) August 25, 2022

We think this is a marvelous move, critiques included. The nominees can draw us to a project we otherwise might not have considered, which is why 10 is better than 8. Sort Of had a lot of significant nominations last season but the lead actor didn't have that chance to shine. The idea that Bilal Baig and other similar people having to choose a category that didn't fit them or, even worse, having someone randomly pick a column for that person: that is not where we should be.

We will have to wait to see the results until spring 2023.

photo credit: Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
Twitter capture: @TheCdnAcademy

2022 Quebec election preview

Bienvenue to our look at the Quebec provincial election set for October 3. There are 125 seats in the National Assembly of Quebec in Quebec City, the capital. A party needs 63 seats for a majority in the assembly.

Premier François Legault leads the Coalition Avenir Québec looking for a second straight majority government. The CAQ has 76 seats at the dissolution of the assembly, 74 seats from the 2018 election.

Dominique Anglade, former Quebec deputy premier, won a 1-person race to be the leader of the Liberal Party and the official opposition leader. The party had 27 seats, down from the 31 elected in 2018.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois with Manon Massé are co-spokespeople of the left-wing Québec solidaire with 10 seats, same as the total from the 2018 election.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is the new leader of the Parti Québécois. The party had 7 seats, down from the 10 seats won in 2018. The Conservative Party, no relation to the federal party, has Éric Duhaime as the leader. The party had 1 seat on a floor crossing.

There were 4 independents MNAs at dissolution.

Exploring the consequences of Bill 96 in Quebec

Looking at Bill 21 in Quebec during a pandemic

Manitoba offers respite for those suffering under Bill 21 in Quebec

Bill 96. Bill 21. A number of controversial (legit controversial) bills could certainly be on the ballot in 2022. Unfortunately, the momentum against the bills is more in Montréal and Quebec City than elsewhere in the province. The fact that Bill 21 still has not reached the Supreme Court of Canada and we are in the 2022 election speaks volumes to the molasses-like speed of Canadian justice.

The strategy of such bills may lead to an easy win on October 3. This is where political coverage ends. We believe in politics where people are lifted up, not beaten down because they don't fit a rigid definition of what they should be.

Legault's logic is that if you are against these bills, you are against the French language, francophones, and La Belle Province. We humbly disagree. If you have to use the notwithstanding clause to trample on the rights of citizens, you have poorly drawn legislation.

Quebec handled the height of the COVID-19 pandemic slightly better than their mes amis in Ontario. Like Doug Ford, the voters aren't likely to judge Legault for his actions against the pandemic.

Quebec turns to Coalition Avenir Québec to run province

2018 Quebec election preview

The “cette madame” gaffe, approximately 37 seconds into the Quebec election campaign. https://t.co/AB5P7I6epH

— Les Perreaux (@perreaux) August 28, 2022

A sign of how this campaign might go: In May, the English language leaders debate was called off after 2 party leaders refused to participate: Premier François Legault (CAQ) and Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

The French language debates are definitely more important in a Quebec election but the English language debates proved useful to those in the larger cities and elsewhere in Canada.

Legault said his party's 5 priorities are the environment, health, education, the economy, and defending Quebec identity.

Anglade said her party will focus on the economy and cost of living, mentioning high inflation, high housing prices, and the ongoing labour shortage.

Anglade objected to Legault's refusal to address her by her name in the "cette madame" mention.

2022 Canadian politics preview

CanadianCrossing.com Quebec coverage

BREAKING: Quebec's 43rd general election officially kicks off today https://t.co/xPg6WSFMqU

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) August 28, 2022

The 2022 election may be more a matter of which parties outside of the CAQ can gain strength and momentum in numbers in the National Assembly. Will the CAQ have a smaller majority or even a minority government?

The Liberals will attract non-francophone voters. Their strength is in Montréal and Laval yet needing to win more rural seats. Québec solidaire may be going after some of those same voters.

How relevant will the Parti Québécois be after the 2022 election? The Conservative Party of Quebec has had a lot of talk but hasn't elected a MNA from the party. How much of the party's voice is a reaction to pandemic restrictions and an outlet for racist rhetoric?

The last Quebec premier to win back-to-back elections was Jean Charest for the Liberal Party from 2003-2012. Charest is currently a candidate for the leadership of the federal Conservative Party.

photo credit: @qcgnjustice
Twitter captures: @perreaux; @CBCAlerts

Eternal Spring gets the nod from Canada for Best International Feature Film

Eternal Spring (長春) has been selected as Canada's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards!

The animated documentary is a tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms.@TheAcademy @JasonLoftus @loftyskydocs pic.twitter.com/vEDtpV5sjD

— Telefilm Canada (@Telefilm_Canada) August 24, 2022

We usually have to wait for the end of the Toronto International Film Festival to find out which film Telefilm Canada picked for the Academy Awards. Telefilm Canada made an early selection for the Oscars.

Eternal Spring is Canada's submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. The film is an animated documentary on speaking up for political and religious freedoms in China.

Jason Loftus is the writer/director of the film based around the animation of Chinese artist Daxiong. The focus of Eternal Spring is on "Falun Gong's 2002 hijacking of broadcast television stations in Changchun, and China's continued repression of ethnic and religious minority groups."

“This venture represents an exceptional opportunity for Eternal Spring to reach new audiences and offers a golden opportunity to showcase the high quality of Canadian filmmaking," said Christa Dickenson, Telefilm Canada executive director and CEO, in a press release.

The film was one of 16 contenders submitted to the pan-Canadian selection committee at Telefilm Canada.

Eternal Spring will run at several international festivals. The film will have a release across Canada on September 23 and October 14 in the United States. The film is not playing at the upcoming 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

Eternal Spring won the Hot Docs Audience Award (most popular festival film) and the Rogers Audience Award (most popular Canadian film) at the 2022 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Canadian film review: Les Oiseaux ivres | Drunken Birds

Les Oiseaux Ivres misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Eternal Spring is the 4th Canadian film nominated in this category where the primary language is not French: Une histoire inventée | An Imaginary Tale in a made up language (1990); Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner in Inuktitut (2001); and Water in Hindi (2006). The new submission is in Mandarin with some English.

The film is the first from Canada in this category to be a documentary as well as animated. The obvious comparison is Flee from Denmark in last year's Oscars race where the film was the first nominated in these 3 categories: Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature.

The last Canadian film to even make the shortlist was Juste la fin du monde | It's Only the End of the World from Xavier Dolan (2016).

We will know the Oscars shortlist of 15 films on December 21. The list of 5 official nominees comes out on January 24, 2023. The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 12, 2023.

Twitter capture: @Telefilm_Canada
video credit: YouTube/Elements of Madness
photo credit: Eternal Spring

2022 CFL Week 12 preview

The third and final meeting with Calgary and Winnipeg starts out the week on Thursday night. Winnipeg already has the tiebreaker in the season series. This game will be at the Manitoba capital.

This is the third time in 4 weeks that Hamilton will play Toronto, once again at BMO Field. Those with an Argonauts ticket can also get into the Canadian National Exhibition (unless the rules have changed). The final of 4 matchups will be on Labour Day in Hamilton. This game starts out the Friday night doubleheader.

Saskatchewan and BC play yet again, this time in Vancouver, in the late game on Friday. ESPN2 will have this game though you might get the end of the battle of southern Ontario before this game starts.

Ottawa and Edmonton finish up their home-and-home schedule for the year, this time in the Alberta capital on Saturday night. As we noted last week, these were 2 of the 3 teams to miss the playoffs in 2021.

The Elks home game losing streak stands at 12 games.

Montréal gets a well-deserved break to enjoy the late summer in La Belle Province.

ESPN2

Friday
Saskatchewan @ BC, 10:30p

TSN

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

Bye week: Montréal

Lisfranc, as in Lisfranc sprain, might be the words that end Nathan Rourke's amazing CFL season in 2022. The BC Lions quarterback will have surgery for that Lisfranc sprain in his right foot.

Michael O'Connor, fellow Canadian quarterback, takes command of the Lions on offence. We've see more of Antonio Pipkin even before the injury. Rick Campbell has a tough challenge ahead of him as the BC coach.

The Lions host Saskatchewan before a bye over the Labour Day weekend.

There is a shot of a return for Rourke. Unlike a possible return for Jeremiah Masoli with Ottawa, there should be a higher need for Rourke given the Lions success to date.

2022 CFL Week 11 preview

Craig Dickenson had been reluctant to give field time to Mason Fine, backup QB to Cody Fajardo, even in blowouts. Finally, he went with Fine in for Fajardo in the first half. Fine did lead Saskatchewan to its only touchdown against the BC Lions but the team didn't score in the second half.

The Roughriders have a better shot this week against the BC Lions. Saskatchewan needs to take advantage of those opportunities.

2022 CFL Week 10 preview

Montréal won a barn burner over Hamilton, pulling within ½ game of the Toronto Argonauts. David Cote made the last-second field goal to give the win over the Tiger-Cats.

The Alouettes have a 2-game winning streak. Bad time for a bye.

Both teams have a win against the other team; the tiebreaker game will be on September 23. Both teams also want to be in the CFL playoffs though Saskatchewan, as the standings are now, want to be that crossover team.

Calgary had a nice comeback to edge out Toronto. Jake Maier came in for Bo Levi Mitchell in running the Calgary offence. Maier gets the start in Winnipeg. Starting to look like 2019, the true year of the backup QB.

2022 CFL Week 9 preview

The Ottawa RedBlacks let the Edmonton Elks stay close in the first half. The Elks responded with 3 long touchdown drives in the second half in their first 3 possessions. 

The RedBlacks struggled to get the ball in the second half and when they get the ball on offence. The Elks still have the longest consecutive home game losing streak though the RedBlacks are 1-20 in their last 21 home games.

Nick Arbuckle, the ex-Elk, gets the start at quarterback for Ottawa. Arbuckle replaces Caleb Evans.

2022 CFL Week 6 preview: Touchdown Atlantic comes to Wolfville, NS

.@CFL should be careful as long as #GarrettMarino is still playing. @CFLonTSN panel had some good observations on not learning lessons on #cheaphits. CFL is better than this. @sskroughriders

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) August 20, 2022

The CFL on TSN panel put together 3 plays in the first half where Garrett Marino clearly has not learned anything from the 4 games of suspensions.

Opponents are supposed to be afraid of a defensive rush, not from cheap hits. The talk is the "longest suspension" for a CFL player but that is for on-field activities. Jacob Ruby was banned from the league for the rest of the 2021 season for faking results on whether he was vaccinated.

The CFL fined Marino an undisclosed amount for unnecessary roughness (cheap hit) against BC Lions offensive lineman Peter Godber. This was one of the plays cited by the panel. Marino was not penalized during the game.

The league should do something similar to Ruby to Marino or another offensive player playing the Roughriders will pay the price.

🏈 Football & 🎢 @PNE_Playland!

Buy a ticket to our game THIS FRIDAY vs Saskatchewan & get a FREE weekday admission to the PNE FAIR! 🙌🏾

PNE is open until Sept 5th! ➡️ https://t.co/l2bSLMu455

Already bought your 🎟? Check your email for your redemption code! pic.twitter.com/3dMOaYY6Qz

— BC LIONS (@BCLions) August 23, 2022

We'll have more on the impact of the CNE on Toronto next week. The difference in Vancouver is that the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) is not near BC Place. When BC Place was being remodeled, the temporary Empire Stadium was located on the PNE grounds east of BC Place. Still the association of football and the CNE or PNE is a rather awesome tradition.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Rod Smith and Duane Forde matched up with Claire Hanna in Ottawa on Friday and John Lu in Montréal on Saturday. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor stayed out west with Sara Orlesky in Regina late on Friday.

Marshall Ferguson and Matt Dunigan with Matthew Scianitti were near CNE fairgoers in Toronto on Saturday night.

Dave Naylor got comfortable in the studio for Dunigan.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing; @BCLions

2022 TIFF Rising Stars

The TIFF Rising Stars programme provides emerging actors with an exclusive opportunity to experience the Festival and access professional development sessions, red carpets, and industry events.

Meet the #TIFF22 Rising Stars: https://t.co/KlzTlpAFej pic.twitter.com/y9kcwEcqrX

— TIFF Press & Industry (@TIFF_Industry) August 23, 2022

The TIFF Rising Stars program gives a showcase to rising, young talent as seen on the screen at the Toronto International Film Festival. The beauty of making the list is potential.

They could do very well in their careers, such as Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (2018), Shamier Anderson (2019), and Sophie Nélisse (2016).

There are 9 Rising Stars overall on the 2022 list. Our tradition is to spotlight Canadian talent from the list in Canadian films. All bio information courtesy of TIFF.net.

Natalia Aranguren (So Much Tenderness) Natalia Aranguren (left) is a Colombian Canadian actor based in Toronto. At a young age, she trained in musical theatre, followed by graduating from a program for Acting for Film and TV. She won the award for Best Female Performance at TFS Festival and was nominated for Best Actress in a Lead role at UWPG Film Festival.

Aranguren has been selected for TIFF Rising Stars 2022 and TIFF Share Her Journey Fellowship for her performance in So Much Tenderness, her feature-film debut.

Isaiah Lehtinen (I Like Movies) Isaiah Lehtinen was born and raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia, before moving to Vancouver, where he fell in love with acting at a young age after responding to an open call on Craigslist.

He went on to book roles in projects including The Good Doctor and Story of a Girl before stealing scenes in the Russo Brothers' Deadly Class and the Quibi series When the Streetlights Go Out.

Lehtinen also starred in the short film River Boy Blues, which was met with critical acclaim at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema. He will next be seen as the lead of the feature film I Like Movies, which will premiere later this year.

Carmen Madonia (Something You Said Last Night) Carmen Madonia is an up-and-coming performer from Toronto. She stars in award-winning writer and director Luis De Filippis' debut feature film Something You Said Last Night. Madonia worked with De Filippis and acting coach Vivien Endicott-Douglas for a year and a half in preparation for the role. Something You Said Last Night marks Madonia’s on-screen debut.

Joshua Odjick (Bones of Crows) Indigenous actor, Joshua Odjick is of Algonquin-Anishinabe/Cree heritage and comes from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nations Reserve. Odjick won both the Canadian Screen Award and the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award (2022) for Best Supporting Actor in the multi-award winning feature Wildhood, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (2021).

This year at TIFF, Odjick appears in the feature film Bones of Crows. Most recently, he acted alongside Britt Lower in the feature The Incident Report, is a co-host in the APTN series Warrior Up!, and in August 2022 commences filming a lead in a yet to be announced feature. Slated for release in early 2023, Odjick stars in the international series The Swarm, an ecological thriller from Primetime Emmy Award winning producer, Frank Doelger (Game of Thrones). He landed his first series regular role in the series Unsettled and has since appeared in the award-winning feature Bootlegger and several shows, including Little Bird, Three Pines, Pour Toi Flora, Bones of Crows and portrays Tom Longboat in a Heritage Minute. Industry professionals have found that Odjick possesses a deep presence that is rare in an actor, going so far as to dub him the “Native Brando.”

Having grown up with survivors of residential/day schools, Odjick’s work reveals the authentic joy, love, vulnerability, and brokenness of his characters. He approaches everything from a place of Spirit and holds a powerful connection with his creator, his guardians and the land. Odjick is grateful for the platform of film and television to tell the stories, teachings, and traditions of his people.

Canadian film review: Wildhood

We have a step up on Odjick with his performance in Wildhood, which we reviewed.

We do have a footnote of sorts for Gabriel LaBelle, who is a dual citizen with Canada and the United States. LaBelle is starring in a non-Canadian film.

As for the 2021 list, we have now seen 3 of the 4 TIFF Rising Stars in their Canadian films. Phillip Lewitski starred in Wildhood while Emma Ferreira and Thomas Antony Olajide were the leads in Learn To Swim. Our review of the latter film will be out fairly soon.

We saw Madeleine Sims-Fewer (2020) in Violation. We've seen all 4 of the 2019 people (Kacey Rohl, Mikhail Ahooja, Nahéma Ricci, Shamier Anderson) and 3 of the 4 people from the 2018 list (Devery Jacobs, Michaela Kurimsky, Jess Salgueiro).

The list in recent years has been tied to films within that year's Toronto International Film Festival.

2022 TIFF Canadian film preview

2021 TIFF Rising Stars

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

TIFF Rising Stars

We profiled the 2022 class of TIFF Rising Stars. Here is the list from all the years.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2020 Madeleine Sims-Fewer

2021 Arooj Azeem, Emma Ferreira, Phillip Lewitski, Thomas Antony Olajide

2022 Natalia Aranguren, Isaiah Lehtinen, Carmen Madonia, Joshua Odjick

Twitter capture: @TIFF_Industry
photos credit: @TIFF_net

Canadian film review: Endorphine

Endorphine is about Simone de Koninck, who witnesses the murder of her mother. André Turpin shows us Simone in 3 different forms: Simone at 13 (Sophie Nélisse), 25 (Mylène Mackay), and 60 (Lise Roy).

The 13-year-old version is seeing a hypnotherapist (Anne-Marie Cadieux) who tries to get Simone to remember so she can process what happened. We also see Simone's parents in flashbacks (Monia Chokri and Stéphane Crête).

The film travels between the different versions of Simone and the impact of her mother's death. In the middle version, Simone is dealing with panic attacks. In the oldest version, Simone is a physicist giving a conference on the nature of time.

The majority of the film dwells on the youngest version. This version also interacts with her cousin Gregoire (Théodore Pellerin). Simone wants to faint but isn't sure how to do that. Gregoire helps her to faint by choking her. At another point, Simone wants Gregoire to French her so she will know how.

Robert Morin gives us a challenging script to follow. Trying to follow everything is a valiant effort. Our best advice is to do the best you can.

Nélisse has to do a lot and she is great to watch. See the film if for nothing else than her performance.

The 2015 film was Turpin's first full-length feature since Un crabe dans la tête | Soft Shell Man in 2001. He also directed the Jules & Fanny segment in Cosmos (1996). Long-time readers will know both of those films were submitted by Canada for the Academy Awards.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Difficult to follow and a complex plot with wonderful acting. If this combination suits your fancy, you will have a good time watchinfg Endorphine.

Endorphine is available in the United States on Tubi.

video credit: YouTube/New Trailer Buzz
photo credit: Endorphine

Michelle O'Bonsawin to become the first Indigenous person on the Supreme Court of Canada

Michelle O'Bonsawin will become the first Indigenous person to serve on Canada's highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his nomination for the Supreme Court.

O'Bonsawin is Abenaki from Odanak. She is Franco-Ontarian and fluently bilingual, according to the nomination news release. O'Bonsawin has served as a judge on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice since 2017.

While the court has been more progressive on having women on the court, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Mahmud Jamal — the first justice of colour — who started on Canada Day in 2021.

O'Bonsawin is the 11th female justice in the history of the Supreme Court of Canada compared to 6 in the United States Supreme Court.

Canada Day 2021: A time for reflection and some celebration

Mahmud Jamal would be Canada's first Supreme Court justice of colour

O'Bonsawin will replace Michael Moldaver, who will reach the retirement age of 75 on September 1. Moldaver, a Stephen Harper appointee, has been on the court since October 21, 2011.

This leaves 3 Harper appointees on the court, though Chief Justice Richard Wagner was a Harper appointee promoted to chief justice by Trudeau. The current prime minister will have 5 appointees on the 9-person court.

Harper's strategy was to pick younger justices who would be able to be on the court for a long time. The next opening of a Harper appointee won't be until October 3, 2030 when Andromache Karakatsanis would have to retire.

Russell Brown, easily the most conservative and controversial of the Harper appointees, could last on the court until September 15, 2040.

Justices can choose to retire before they reach 75. A judge could also be taken in by illness or death. The last justice to die while on the court was John Sopinka, who was a puisne (associate) justice from 1988-1997.

As we've noted, unlike the United States Supreme Court, justices aren't as aligned to the prime minister who picked them.

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

Our U.S. readers are used to pages of analysis, where the justices might fall within the current makeup of the U.S. Senate. Such infighting is not part of the Canadian landscape. Pick a responsibly good justice candidate and get them onto the court. Done.

Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau definitely have different thought processes for what should go into the process. 

Also, chief justices get promoted from within and not necessarily selected based on the party of the prime minister. Brian Mulroney picked Beverley McLachlin to be on the court in 1989 yet Jean Chrétien selected McLachlin as the first female chief justice on Canada's highest court in 2000. 

Trudeau appointed Richard Wagner, a Harper appointee in 2012, to be the chief justice in late 2017.

You might also recall that Wagner served in the role of the governor general before Mary Simon was picked as a permanent replacement.

photo credit: CBC News

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late August 2022

Late August is a good time to stay inside from the heat and watch Canadian films on CBC on Saturday nights.

The August 20 films are random in an odd way. The night starts out with an Indigenous drama about a woman looking for her missing sister. A Canadian film (technically) runs in the middle slot. Newfoundland native Gordon Pinsent gets some well-deserved love in a documentary. Those in Newfoundland will have to wait for 2 am local time to watch.

The August 27 films feature 2 titles we have enjoyed and a Canadian film in name only that is a pretty good film.

This shows off the variety you can find in Canadian films, even ones on the CBC on a Saturday night.

Some of these Canadian films may have been featured recently on CBC. The films should also be available on CBC Gem. All times are local, adding 30 minutes in Newfoundland.

Here is the schedule for late August 2022.

August 20

9p Through Black Spruce (2018)
11:30p American Woman (2018)
1:30a The River of My Dreams: A Portrait of Gordon Pinsent (2016)

August 27

9p Splinters (2018)
11p Trouble in the Garden (2018)
1a Jean of the Joneses (2016)

Through Black Spruce is an intriguing look at the world of missing Indigenous women and girls. The film plays off the contrast between the big city and the reserve. An added bonus: Don McKellar is one of our favourite Canadian directors.

American Woman is definitely a Canadian film in name only. The co-production with the United States and the United Kingdom features prominent American actors such as Sienna Miller, Sky Ferreira, Christina Hendricks, and Aaron Paul as well as token Canadian Will Sasso.

The River of My Dreams: A Portrait of Gordon Pinsent sounds like a lovely documentary on his storytelling talents.

Canadian film review: Through Black Spruce

Canadian film review: The Rowdyman

Canadian film review: Splinters

Canadian film review: Trouble in the Garden

Canadian film case study: Paper Year/Jean of the Joneses

Splinters, Thom Fitzgerald's next to last film, features Belle, a woman returning home after her father has passed away. Her mother reacted poorly when Belle came out as a lesbian. Now Belle is in a relationship with a man and doesn't want her mother to know.

Cara Gee is outstanding in Trouble in the Garden as an Indigenous protester taken in by her estranged brother. This movie was a lot better than I thought the film would be.

We've written enough about Jean of the Joneses, Stella Maghie's full-length debut film.

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for early August 2022

CBC Saturday night Canadian film schedule for late July 2022

A recap of CBC Saturday night Canadian films in late spring and early summer 2022

The Canadian films run through October 8, the Saturday before the start of the NHL season.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Enjoy the Canadian films!!

logo credit: CBC
photo credit: Through Black Spruce

2022 CFL Week 11 preview

The CFL starts out this week on a Friday, the only time before Labour Day where the week doesn't start on Thursday. After Labour Day, Friday is the start of the CFL week until the playoffs.

The CFL is focused in the East this weekend with Regina as the exception. The Elks travel to Ottawa to start a Friday Night Football doubleheader. These were 2 of the 3 teams to miss the playoffs in 2021.

The BC Lions travel to Regina for a true night game in the prairies with a local kickoff just after 8 pm.

Hamilton is in La Belle Province to face the Montréal Alouettes in a late Saturday afternoon contest. Each team is 3-6, a win behind Toronto.

The Toronto Argonauts will show that there something to do on a Saturday night in the country's largest city as the Calgary Stampeders. The CNE is back in business. The tradition has been that an Argonauts ticket also gets you into the CNE fair.

All the games are on TSN and ESPN+.

Winnipeg finally gets to enjoy a week off, hopefully with some Saskatoon berries. The Blue Bombers are nursing a rare 1-game losing streak.

TSN

Friday
Edmonton @ Ottawa, 7p
BC @ Saskatchewan, 10p
Saturday
Hamilton @ Montréal, 4p
Calgary @ Toronto, 7p

Bye week: Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers had won 12 straight home games at IG Field. You had to go back to September 27, 2019 with a 33-13 loss to Hamilton to find the last time the Blue Bombers lost at home. The streak had been longer than Edmonton's home losing streak.

The 9-0 streak to start the season came to an end. What a way to break a number of streaks.

Montréal kicker David Cote made his 43-yard field goal attempt in overtime. Winnipeg kicker Marc Liegghio’s 37-yard field goal try missed. Liegghio had missed a FG try late in regulation that would have ended the game in regulation.

This might be good news for Winnipeg in that they tasted defeat in an odd and close fashion and didn't get blown out. The team also needs to ask about bringing in a kicker for competition.

The West is now 16-4 against the East in 2022 in the CFL.

2022 CFL Week 10 preview

20-3. 30-17. The BC Lions were down to Calgary for much of the game. The Stampeders are usually very good at home. The Lions did not give up.

Nathan Rourke completed a 53-yard TD pass to Bryan Burnham. With the extra point, Calgary was up 33-31. Peyton Logan ran back a kickoff for 99 yards for a touchdown; the Stampeders went up 40-31. The Lions didn't give up.

Rourke went 39-for-52 for 488 passing yards compared to 209 passing yards for Bo Levi Mitchell. Rourke feels like a CFL quarterback from the high powered 1990s offences.

The point difference in the game came on a punt single aka rouge from BC punter Stefan Flintoft.

ESPN in the States did not have this game on its original schedule. A good pickup on their part.

2022 CFL Week 9 preview

Hamilton and Toronto shook their usual images last week. The Tiger-Cats were the comeback team while the Argonauts blew a lead.

Toronto running back Andrew Harris came out of the game in the first quarter with a injury. Harris was expected to be out 4-6 weeks with a torn pectoral muscle. The team announced yesterday that Harris will require surgery and will be out for the season.

That would be a huge loss for the Argos, 1½ games ahead of Hamilton and Montréal.

2022 CFL Week 8 preview

Saskatchewan and Edmonton dazzled at the end of the first half. The teams scored 20 points, 10 for each team, in the final 3 minutes of the first half. Edmonton's Taylor Cornelius added his second rushing touchdown. Saskatchewan's Mario Alford ran back a 97-yard TD return.

The Roughriders opened up the gap between them and the Elks.

2022 CFL Week 7 preview

Vancouver Canucks fans know the saga of Brian Burke trading to get to pick Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. There were twin football players in the 2022 CFL Draft. Jalen Philpot went at #5 for Calgary while Tyson Philpot went at #9 for Montréal.

Thanks to the bizarre unbalanced CFL schedule, the brothers met in Week 1 in Calgary but not in Montréal. Jalen Philpot finally got some significant action last week. Tyson Philpot had 5 punt returns and 2 kickoff returns in the season opener.

They are sons of former CFL running back Cory Philpot.

2022 CFL Week 6 preview: Touchdown Atlantic comes to Wolfville, NS

Garrett Marino has served his suspensions and is eligible to return for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. You might recall the 4 games of suspension for Marino around the cheap hit and racial taunting of Ottawa QB Jeremiah Masoli.

We could launch in for a tirade about why Marino is back relatively soon. This 3 Down Nation headline says more than we could: Riders' DL would 'love to' personally apologize to Redblacks' Jeremiah Masoli but still has not done so.

That would seem an obvious event to have before Marino dresses for the Roughriders.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

For our American readers enjoying the CFL on ESPN cable channels, this is the time of year that we point out the few remaining telecasts. There are no telecasts this upcoming weekend.

As of press time, there are 4 telecasts left on the cable TV schedule.

August 26 Saskatchewan @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2
September 23 Hamilton @ Montréal, 7:30p ESPN2
September 30 Ottawa @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2
October 10 Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p ESPN2

No Labour Day weekend or revenge weekend games. The U.S. audience does get the Canadian Thanksgiving game.

The schedules are subject to change. Games won't be added but substitutions could happen.

ESPN+ is your option to watch the other games. The price did go up recently. Hopefully, you have had a subscription for awhile.

I’m excited to share some big career news!
Very much looking forward to working with the Jets, but it will also be bittersweet to say goodbye to TSN and,of course, the CFL. Happy that I will still get to work the sidelines for a bit with my final game being the Banjo Bowl! https://t.co/2uoNIXd6d9

— Sara Orlesky (@saraorlesky) August 16, 2022

There was another prominent woman who left Bell Media this week. Unlike the Lisa LaFlamme "departure", Sara Orlesky is leaving on her own accord, taking a job as a senior host and producer with the Winnipeg Jets content team.

December 5, 2021 was that milestone day for Orlesky where she covered the sidelines for the CFL West Division final and then hosted the Jets telecast with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Orlesky has been bouncing around the CFL prairies this season with Ryan Rishaug in Edmonton not being used and a lone appearance by CTV's Brit Dort in Regina. 

Orlesky does explain in her tweet that she will work the sidelines for TSN through the Banjo Bowl.

The Jets will need a new play-by-play person to replace Dennis Beyak and a new host on TSN3. Orlesky will appear on the Jets telecasts with content, a modern buzzword.

As for the CFL, Orlesky's departure leaves holes in quantity and quality. TSN and the CFL will be lesser without Orlesky.

TSN split up its teams over the weekend. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor with Sara Orlesky watched the Blue Bombers get their first loss. Rod Smith and Matt Dunigan with Matthew Scianitti were in Hamilton on Friday night.

Nielson then worked with Duane Forde with Orlesky in Calgary on Saturday. Smith and Suitor were on the call in Edmonton in the late game. Smith did the player interviews from the booth.

Farhan Lalji was in for Kate Beirness on Thursday. Dave Naylor was in for Dunigan on Thursday and Friday.

TSN never replaced Claire Hanna, who moved from Regina to Ottawa. Now the network has to figure out who will work in the West Division outside Vancouver.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter capture: @saraorlesky