Canadian Crossing

2023 CFL preview

The Nathan Rourke era is done in the CFL. What a wild ride that was. The 41-40 BC Lions win over Calgary at McMahon Stadium on August 13, 2022 was a game for the ages.

Rourke's NFL contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars will get him money but a lot less professional satisfaction. Imagine what he would have done in a full CFL season.

Nathan Rourke, thank you for your CFL service. You were fun to watch.

pic.twitter.com/XseUpBKZgB

— Nathan Rourke (@nathan_rourke) January 15, 2023

This isn't the 2022 CFL preview. This is the 2023 CFL preview so let's see where we are now.

Bo Levi Mitchell switched out red and white for black and gold. The CFL schedule is still imbalanced so Hamilton isn't going to Calgary in 2023 (how the f does that happen?). The Calgary Stampeders will be in Hamilton on September 30 at 7 pm Eastern.

McLeod Bethel-Thompson left the Toronto Argonauts and the CFL to play for the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL. Family had a bit to do with that situation. Bethel-Thompson did win a Grey Cup in the comeback win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Vernon Adams Jr., Dane Evans, and Dominique Davis are the primary signal callers for the BC Lions.

Jeremiah Masoli is not new to Ottawa: a healthy mostly full season will make a difference for the RedBlacks. Masoli will miss at least the first 2 games.

Trevor Harris moved from Montréal to Saskatchewan via free agency. Cody Fajardo moved from Saskatchewan to Montréal via free agency. Fajardo will be reunited with his offensive coordinator Jason Maas, now the new head coach for the Alouettes.

Give Alouettes GM Danny Maciocia credit. Maciocia promised he would hire a coach after taking over on an interim basis. Maas did have success as the was Edmonton head coach from 2016-2019. He did seemed burnt out in that role before moving to the Roughriders to be their offensive coordinator. Maas was fired after the 2022 Saskatchewan collapse.

The Ottawa RedBlacks took the interim tag from Bob Dyce and made him the new head coach with Khari Jones as the offensive coordinator.

Canadian running back Andrew Harris, winner of the last 3 Grey Cups and 4 overall, is finishing up his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts. The Vancouver Island Raiders signed Harris to a 5-year contract as their head of football operations, with plans for him to take over as head coach in 2024.

Edmonton released kicker Sergio Castillo and he quickly signed with Winnipeg. Not seemingly a big deal but Blue Bombers fans are happy to have Castillo back in the fold. The Elks haven't done well enough to need a really good kicker. Winnipeg did need better kicking.

The BC Lions got a nice surprise in signing veteran running back Kienan LaFrance yesterday. The Saskatchewan Roughriders, where LaFrance spent the past three seasons, cut him earlier in the week.

Ottawa signed wide receiver Bralon Addison after Hamilton released the long-time Tiger-Cat. Addison won't be playing right away, given the injuries Addison is still recovering from in 2022. When healthy, Addison is a catching force. 

Check out the 3 Down Nation podcast (in video form) for more on CFL free agency changes.

Wide receiver Bryan Burnham retired after 8 seasons with the BC Lions. Toronto released wide receiver Brandon Banks. He did get a Grey Cup championship with the Argonauts. Banks played in 4 Grey Cup games with Hamilton, all losses.

Jon Ryan retired as a punter for the CFL and NFL. Ryan finished his CFL career last season with the Edmonton Elks. He played 19 years in professional football overall. 

“I mean, you’ve got to hang them up eventually,” Ryan said to 630 CHED Edmonton (via 3DownNation). “I tried to drag this out forever but Father Time finally got me after 19 years.”

The Calgary Stampeders announced slight tweaks to its management structure. Head coach Dave Dickenson is not also the general manager. John Hufnagel steps down as general manager and continues to serve as team president.

Pierre Karl Péladeau is the new owner of the Montréal Alouettes. Péladeau is the president and CEO of Quebecor Inc, a significant media owner in Quebec. Quebecor owns TVA and TVA Sports, the latter being the rival to RDS, which has the French-language rights to the CFL. He also served as opposition leader in the Quebec National Assembly as the Parti Québécois leader from 2015-2016.

Péladeau has been seen as the likely owner of the Quebec Nordiques should they come back to play in the NHL. Quebecor manages the Vidéotron Centre, the new arena that would be la maison de Nordiques.

If you wondered what happened to Jim Popp, he is now the USFL director of player administration.

One notable off-season tragedy: Edmonton Elks running back Christian Saulsberry was shot and killed in the Mississippi suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee in December. Saulsberry, 25, only played in 2022 in the CFL.

Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers player and coach Bud Grant passed away in March at the age of 95. Grant was best known in the States as the coach of the NFL Minnesota Vikings. He actually started his pro career with the NBA Minneapolis Lakers, playing 2 seasons and winning a championship in 1950. The NFL Philadelphia Eagles drafted Grant and played for them in 1951. He played defensive end in 1951 and wide receiver in 1952.

Grant jumped to the CFL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for more money. He played for the Blue Bombers from 1953-1956 as an offensive end, leading the Western Conference in pass receptions for the 1953, 1954, and 1956 seasons and receiving yards for the 1953 and 1956 seasons. Grant also had 5 interceptions in a playoff game in 1953.

Grant then was the head coach of the Blue Bombers from 1957-1966. In those 10 seasons, Grant led Winnipeg to 6 Grey Cup appearances, winning the championship 4 times: 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962.

I have personally seen the Bud Grant statue at IG Field. If you go to a Blue Bombers game, go early and take a look at the statue.

Joe Kapp also knew both football leagues rather well as the only quarterback to play in the Rose Bowl, Grey Cup and Super Bowl. Kapp passed away last month at the age of 85.

Kapp played 8 CFL seasons with Calgary (1959-60) and B.C. (1961-1966) as well as 4 NFL seasons with Minnesota (1967-69) and the Boston Patriots (1970). Grant was Kapp's coach in Minnesota.

Simon Fraser University in Greater Vancouver shut down its football program in April. The Red Leafs football team had been around since 1965. The Red Leafs had a rivalry with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, the only other British Columbia university football team.

Rules tweaks are in effect for 2023. "The requirement for the ball to be touched prior to ruling a rouge on a kickoff has been removed. This change aligns the rouge rule on kickoffs with all other types of kick plays." In the process of learning about the rouge, I would look to the scoreboard to tell me if that was a rouge (single point). This seems like a good clarification.

Most bizarre nuance that is new for 2023: A CFL team can have a 0 or a 00 but not both. Also, eligible receivers will wear numbers 0 or 00-49 and 70-99 while ineligible receivers will wear numbers 50-69.

The Ottawa RedBlacks and Edmonton Elks are looking for better seasons in 2023, especially at home. The Edmonton Elks have had 17 straight home losses. The last home win at Commonwealth Stadium came before the pandemic in 2019.

The RedBlacks have lost 23 of the last 24 at TD Place. The RedBlacks last home win was on September 28, 2021 with a 34-24 win over Edmonton. The previous home win was June 20, 2019 with a 44-41 win over Saskatchewan.

Providing free access to more games than ever before. 💻

Introducing CFL+ and CFL Preseason Live!

LEARN MORE » https://t.co/zEJBgsGqqk#CFL pic.twitter.com/TF5hwx0VRn

— CFL (@CFL) May 19, 2023

The Canadian side has TSN and RDS with no changes of note in how games are carried. The American side: big changes.

CFL+ replaces ESPN+. Good news: games streamed live and free. Bad news: watch it live or never. Imagine if you missed that exciting 41-40 BC Lions win over Calgary at McMahon Stadium we mentioned earlier. A game for the ages and no way to watch it again.

The CBS Sports Network will carry 34 CFL games for the U.S. cable audience, a significant jump from the ESPN deals. Hopefully, the U.S. audience won't get stuck with games having to start on a different channel that sometimes happened on ESPN.

The new deal puts an emphasis on special games, such as the season opener tomorrow night in Calgary, the Canada Day game in Montréal, Labour Day weekend games in Regina, Hamilton, and Calgary, as well as the Thanksgiving game in Montréal.

34 is a large jump from the 20 ESPN2 and ESPNews games in 2022. The ESPN deal had 11 games out of 63 games in 2021 and 15 of 81 games in 2019.

We hope that CBS Sports Network has a better relationship with the CFL than the miserable efforts from the NFL Network (2010-2011) and NBC Sports Network (2012-2013), which were filled with inconsistencies. ESPN mostly had respect for the product.

The U.S. TV schedule leaves out a lot of games in the fall as has every other U.S. TV schedule.

The CFL has had 8-minute wrapup videos for games you may have missed. If the league still carries those videos, those videos will help fans keep up to date.

Likely to watch the Grey Cup live but that first round of playoff games, given your humble narrator's schedule, will be reduced to highlights.

The CFL app was never great. The app has been missing for some time. Would make that easier to pull up on the phone or tablet.

TSN keeps the same broadcast crews: Rod Smith and Dustin Nielson with Marshall Ferguson on play by play. Duane Forde and Glen Suitor with Matt Dunigan provide colour analysis. Farhan Lalji will call a few games, likely in Vancouver.

The CFL sideline reporters had a game of late-season musical chairs. This is the 2023 lineup:

Matthew Scianitti (Toronto, Hamilton); Claire Hanna (Ottawa); Kenzie Lalonde (Montréal); John Lu (Winnipeg); Brit Dort (Regina); Ryan Rishaug (Edmonton, Calgary); and Farhan Lalji (Vancouver). Blake Price fills in for Lalji when the latter is on play by play.

The CFL on TSN panel is led by host Kate Beirness with Matt Dunigan and Milt Stegall, sports betting lead analyst Davis Sanchez, and former CFL head coaches Jim Barker and Paul LaPolice. Dave Naylor and Lalji will report CFL news.

The Grey Cup and the 150th anniversary logo the Argos will feature this season as they celebrate all season long as the oldest pro sports team with the same name … pic.twitter.com/VomVwfkjoN

— mark zwolinski (@markzwol) May 26, 2023

The modern CFL has only existed since 1954. Team histories go well back further than the modern CFL. The Toronto Argonauts are celebrating its 150 years as a team. Almost as old as Canada itself (1867).

2023 CFL preseason schedule

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

The 2023 Grey Cup will take place in Hamilton as part of the deal after the 2020 season was cancelled. Hamilton hosted the 2021 Grey Cup, but hadn't previously hosted the Grey Cup since 1996.

The 2024 Grey Cup will be at BC Place in Vancouver while Winnipeg will host the 2025 Grey Cup.

Montréal has gone the longest without hosting the Grey Cup. The last Grey Cup in La Belle Province was in 2008 at Olympic Stadium. The structure hosted the Grey Cup 6 times in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 2001, and 2008.

The only other Montréal structures to host the Grey Cup were the Autostade (1969) and the Alouettes current stadium, Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (1931).

photo credits: CFL (x3)
Twitter capture: @nathan_rourke; @CFL; @markzwol
video credit: 3 Down Nation

The Golden Screen Award celebrates the Canadian film that made the most money

We haven't written too much about the Golden Screen Award because money is not usually the reason to talk about a Canadian film. The Golden Screen Award is included in the Canadian Screen Awards each year since 2013 and the Genie Awards (1980-2012). The award goes to the Canadian film that makes the most money.

Most years, this means the film would come out of Quebec. A mainstream film is easier to pull off in Quebec and more Quebec theatres actually carry Canadian films.

Passchendaele (2008) is an exception. Films that cross over to the States: Crash (1995) [the David Cronenberg film], The Care Bears Movie (1985), and Air Bud (1996). Films from the tax shelter era: 1979-1983 (Meatballs; The Changeling; Heavy Metal; Porky's; Strange Brew). For a long time, Porky's was the largest grossing Canadian film. Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) may have surpassed that total.

Both of Denys Arcand's breakthrough films are on the list: The Decline of the American Empire | Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986) and Jesus of Montréal (1989).

We noted Lies My Father Told Me (1976) as a Canadian film nominated for an original screenplay Oscar.

Sequels rarely come up in English Canadian films but they do find their way in Quebec. Les Boys (1998), Les Boys II (1999), and Les Boys III (2002) all received a Golden Screen Award. I've only been fortunate to see the first film of the trilogy.

Here are the winners (years of the film):

1976 — Lies My Father Told Me
1977 — Why Shoot the Teacher?
1978 — Who Has Seen the Wind
1979 — Meatballs
1980 — The Changeling
1981 — Heavy Metal
1982 — Porky's
1983 — Strange Brew
1984 — The Dog Who Stopped the War | La Guerre des tuques
1985 — The Care Bears Movie
1986 — The Decline of the American Empire | Le Déclin de l'empire américain
1987 — The Gate
1988 — The Tadpole and the Whale | La Grenouille et la baleine
1989 — Jesus of Montreal
1990 — Ding et Dong, le film
1991 — Black Robe
1992 — La Florida
1993 — Louis 19, King of the Airwaves | Louis 19, le roi des ondes
1994 — Johnny Mnemonic
1995 — Crash
1996 — Air Bud
1997 — not awarded this year
1998 — Les Boys
1999 — Les Boys II
2000 — The Art of War
2001 — Wedding Night | Nuit de noces
2002 — Les Boys III
2003 — Séraphin: Heart of Stone | Séraphin: Un homme et son péché
2004 — Resident Evil: Apocalypse
2005 — C.R.A.Z.Y.
2006 — Bon Cop, Bad Cop
2007 — The 3 L'il Pigs | Les 3 p'tits cochons
2008 — Passchendaele
2009 — Father and Guns | De père en flic
2010 — Resident Evil: Afterlife
2011 — Starbuck
2012 — Resident Evil: Retribution
2013 — The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
2014 — Pompeii
2015 — Snowtime! | La Guerre des tuques 3D
2016 — The 3 L'il Pigs 2 | Les 3 p'tits cochons 2
2017 — Father and Guns 2 | De père en flic 2
2018 — 1991
2019 — Compulsive Liar | Menteur
2020 — not awarded this year
2021 — PAW Patrol: The Movie
2022 — Two Days Before Christmas | 23 décembre

2023 Canadian Screen Awards wrapup

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The Golden Screen Award winners cover the brilliance of Jean-Marc Vallée in C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) to the broad comedy of Ken Scott in Starbuck (2011). Unlike a lot of Canadian film lists, I don't have OCD over seeing the Canadian films on this list. Lies My Father Told Me is a rare exception.

Compulsive Liar | Menteur is a good recent example. A bit silly along the lines of a Quebec farce. A broad, Quebecois comedy. English Canada rarely makes a film along this line.

photo credit: C.R.A.Z.Y.

2023 CBC television upfront preview

We have the new and returning CBC shows for the 2023-2024 season. Let's see what we have in store.

Murdoch Mysteries (Season 17), This Hour Has 22 Minutes (Season 31), The Fifth Estate (Season 49), and Marketplace (Season 51) run in the fall and winter.

Fall

Both new dramas in the autumn stem from Canadian films. Blackberry is an extended 3-part series from the feature film.

The series stars Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis, American actor Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, and Matt Johnson (also director and co-writer of the film) as Mike's friend and business partner Doug.

Bones of Crows is a 5-part series from the Marie Clements film about a family rocked by being removed from their family home and forced into Canada’s residential school system. This was scheduled to be released along with the film.

Sort Of (Season 3) and The New Wave of Standup (Seasons 2 and 3) will be returning comedies this fall. Heartland (Season 16) and SkyMed (Season 2) are also back in autumn. The latter show moves up from the summer schedule. SkyMed got a Best Drama Series nomination at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards. The show airs in the U.S. on Paramount+.

Dragons' Den (Season 18), The Great Canadian Baking Show (Season 7), Still Standing (Season 9), The Passionate Eye (Season 9), and Best In Miniature (Season 3) are back in the fall.

Winter

Standup comedian D.J. Demers fronts a workplace comedy called One More Time. Demers plays a variation of himself as the hearing-impaired manager of a second-hand sporting goods store.

The CBC winter schedule has 2 new dramas. Allegiance features a rookie cop named Sabrina Singh who finds herself caught between loyalties after her father, the Minister of Public Safety, is arrested on terror charges. Wild Cards is a "crime-solving procedural with a comedic twist that follows the unlikely duo of a gruff, sardonic cop and a bubbly, clever con woman" set in Vancouver.

Run the Burbs (Season 3) and Son of a Critch (Season 3) return this winter to CBC.

The Nature of Things (Season 63) along with Season 2 of Bollywed, Push, Canada's Ultimate Challenge, and Stuff The British Stole also return this winter.

The new "factual" show is The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down, based off of the UK show The Great Pottery Throw Down.

Summer

Moonshine (Season 3) moves to summer. Race Against The Tide (Season 3) debuts on July 16 at 8:30 pm followed by Moonshine at 9 pm.

Shows that are done

Strays is done after 2 seasons. Diggstown reached its conclusion with Season 4. We have also noted the departure of Workin' Moms (7 seasons) and Pretty Hard Cases (3 seasons). We aren't sure if there was supposed to be a Season 2 of Plan B with Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse.

2023 Canadian Screen Awards wrapup

2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

We normally list the CBC fall schedule. That was not included in the CBC release that came out today.

2023 CBC television winter preview

2022 CBC television fall preview

2022 CBC television upfront preview

We don't normally note non-Canadian programs on the CBC schedule. The press release mentions 2 shows coming to the fall lineup that have aired on Fox in the United States. Both shows involve Joel McHale, who is not Canadian: Animal Control and Crime Scene Kitchen. Animal Control is on CBC Gem, which feels like an odd choice. Canadians can easily access U.S. programs through major U.S. networks.

CBC time should be devoted to Canadian shows. Any filler should be shows not easily available in Canada.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

We will cover Canadian TV upfronts from the private networks (CTV, Global, Citytv) in a later article.

photo credit: Bones of Crows/CBC

Canadian film review: Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children

Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children was a film we had to skip at the 2022 Windsor International Film Festival. We also thought the documentary would be highly depressing. Glad we got a different way to watch. The film is depressing yet informative.

The journalist in me is always intrigued in documentaries between objective and subjective. Barri Cohen has a connection with this subject matter. Then again, no one might have done this film without a connection.

Cohen's 2 half-brothers were at Ontario's Huronia Regional Centre facility for developmentally disabled children. Both died in the facility. Alfred, the older brother, died at 23. Louis died when he was 4.

The facility was considered to be the worst in the region in terms of abuse.

Cohen chases down where Louis is buried. There is a lot of doubt as to where exactly he is buried. There feels like a parallel to the bodies buried at residential schools. They were given numbers, not names.

One of the signs near the end of the film said: "I have a name, not a number; Remember every name." That is the message from this film.

Cohen talks to survivors. We get rather remarkable footage of the children in the facility. These children are definitely forgotten in the system.

Focusing on Alfred and Louis helps the viewer get a sense of individuality where little of that existed in the facility. Cohen gives care to the others in the system.

Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children is enlightening and depressing. The film reminds us to treat people with dignity, regardless of their circumstances. While this feels like a long ago story, there are parallels to current and future societies.

2022 Windsor International Film Festival preview

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The film was the third-place winner of the Rogers Audience Award at the 2022 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where the film made its premiere. It was a nominee for the DGC Allan King Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2022 Directors Guild of Canada awards.

Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children is available in Canada via the Documentary Channel and CBC Gem.

video credit: YouTube/Lunenburg Doc Fest
photo credit: Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children

Danielle Smith gets a smaller majority government for the UCP in Alberta

Alberta voters did a lot in the 2023 provincial election. They finally elected Danielle Smith as a premier, something she couldn't pull off in 2012. They gave Rachel Notley and the New Democratic Party the strongest opposition in the history of Alberta.

Maybe those Alberta voters gave the Calgary Flames a new arena. Voters might have been more scared of the "boogieman" Justin Trudeau in Ottawa than a conflict of interest charge against its own premier.

Smith talked in her victory speech about wanting the best in education and health care in Alberta, which isn't likely given its track record in both areas. Smith's attacks on Trudeau got more time than what she would do for Albertans.

The strategy for the winning United Conservative Party was "forward," which felt like code for "ignore what I have done."

We refuse on principle to make political predictions but feel confident that the UCP government will last longer than Danielle Smith, based on the pattern of the many conservative premiers in the last decade.

The unofficial count was 51 seats for the UCP and 36 seats for the NDP. There were no serious contenders from other parties in the province.

The NDP improved its lot with about +11 gain in the Alberta legislature. The NDP needed a lot of gains in Calgary as well as more rural areas. The party dominates in the capital city of Edmonton.

The UCP likely won because conservatives were reluctant to abandon the party, even if they disagree with the leader. Perceptions of the economy also played their part.

Usually on election night, there is rising support for the loser to resign. Alberta is not that place. The province now has its 3rd elected female premier and the only province with a female as premier and opposition leader. No other Canadian province has had 3 female premiers much less 3 elected ones.

The NDP went negative on Danielle Smith's leadership, which is like shooting fish in a barrel in a province not afraid of long guns. The NDP had bad luck in terms of the province financially when Notley and the party was in charge between 2015-2019. Albertans care about the perceptions of the economy more than in other Canadian provinces.

Alberta turned to the NDP in 2015 because things were bad enough to look for an alternative. Things to outsiders looked sufficiently bad in Alberta but the mirrors in Alberta don't work the way others think they should.

2023 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta wildfires starting early

The Alberta wildfires, which spread to other western provinces, were thought to be a concern for advance polling for the election. Elections Alberta reported 758,550 advance votes, up from 700,476 in 2019. The office also noted that 21.9% of those who voted early did so outside of their electoral division.

This isn't to say that some Albertans were severely affected by the wildfires in the voting process.

The unofficial turnout was 61.7% in 2023, down from about 64% in 2019. The unofficial vote total was 1,610,947.

Unofficially, the NDP gained 10 seats for women while the UCP lost 3 seats for women, a gain of +7 in the Alberta legislature.

2023 Alberta election preview

We hope the UCP will keep its promise to increase tax credits for films, making filmmaking — Canadian or otherwise — more viable in Alberta.

The NDP supplied tax credits for video games while in power. The UCP took those away when elected in 2019. The NDP promised to bring those back if elected in 2023.

CanadianCrossing.com Alberta coverage

The Washington Post editorial board weighed in on the Calgary downtown revitalization plan as being one of the best. Nice when Canada gets such good praise. A little suspicious given that Calgary was the bullseye of the 2023 Alberta election.

A potential new replacement for the Saddledome is needed on multiple levels. A new football stadium, which likely wouldn't be downtown, is also needed. The 2026 Winter Olympics, which could have easily been in Calgary, would have given that economic boost the city needed. 

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The results came in a lot slower than normal from Elections Alberta.

photos credit: CBC News

Canadian film review: Dr. Cabbie

The saga of well-qualified doctors from other countries having trouble being a doctor in Canada is well-known. Dr. Cabbie puts a spin asking what happens when a doctor becomes a cab driver who then works as a doctor from his cab.

The newly licensed doctor Dr. Deepak Veer Chopra (Vinay Virmani) becomes a doctor in India and is excited about practicing in Canada. His mother Nellie Chopra (Indian actor Lillete Dubey) is also coming to Canada, sponsored by his uncle Vijay Sharma (Rizwan Manji).

The good doctor struggles in working in his uncle's restaurant. He then meets a cabbie named Tony (English actor Kunal Nayyar) who introduces him to a whole new world as a cab driver.

The rom-com motive kicks in when Natalie, the woman he met earlier (American actor Adrianne Palicki), ends up in the cab, very pregnant, and about to give birth.

The baby's father Colin (Chris Diamantopoulos) is a jerk only interested in the baby as a political stunt while running to be mayor (presumably of Toronto). Colin will prove to be a thorn in people's sides but the twists and turns in this film don't require any Dramamine.

Dubey does very well as Deepak's mother Nellie. Manji (Schitt's Creek) has a lot of fun as Deepak's uncle Vijay. American actor Mircea Monroe gives life to what could have been a thankless role as Rani, Vijay's much younger wife and former stripper. Stephen McHattie has little to do but plays up his grumpy character with flair.

The best part of this film is the Bollywood type scenes and flair. Natalie is surprised how large Deepak's "small" birthday party happens to be. He says small in Indian terms.

Vinay Virmani, the lead actor, actually came up with the story idea. The screenplay comes from Manu Chopra and Ron Kennell with direction from Jean-François Pouliot. The script is geared toward the rom-com with small holes here and there if you are paying strict attention.

The film is a Canada-India-U.S. co-production. Toronto is on full display with lovely small details such as Tony and Deepak living above Hey, Meatball. The actual restaurant existed on College Street while shooting the 2014 film.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The presentation is pleasant. Virmani is a lovable lead. Nayyar is having a lot of fun in this film. The female characters have substance. Enough laughter and love in an above-average rom-com film.

Dr. Cabbie is available on CBC Gem in Canada and Amazon Prime Video in the United States.

video credit: YouTube/eOne Films Canada
photo credit: Dr. Cabbie

Mourning the loss of The Main in Montreal

Ouch. Surprised at how much this hurts. An end to decades of The. Best. Smoked. Meat. In. Montreal. https://t.co/BQsZWjSNEt

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 9, 2023

I remember eating at The Main in Montréal in my travels. Excellent smoked meat. The best? I don't want to disagree with the prime minister of Canada. I liked the smoked meat at The Main and Schwartz's, across from each other on St. Laurent Boulevard in Montréal.

The fun in Montréal is the competition. The Main and Schwartz's for smoked meat. St-Viateur and Fairmount for bagels. While I don't have a smoked meat preference, I do have a bagel preference: St-Viateur.

Our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, took a look at the closure of The Main as part of a bigger restaurant when you lose one of your favourite restaurants.

Mourning the loss of your favorite restaurant (BalanceofFood.com)

The smoked meat battle was also about style. Schwartz's had more flash and style while The Main quietly went about its business. If the line at Schwartz's was too long, you could go across the street.

End of an era with closure of The Main, an iconic Montréal deli (The Current CBC Radio)

CanadianCrossing.com BalanceofFood.com coverage

CanadianCrossing.com food and drink coverage

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

I hope to get back to Montréal this summer. A city I adore and have not been there in too long. I have a list of favourites in Montréal and plan to try some places where I have never eaten.

Twitter capture: @JustinTrudeau
photo credit: CFCF Montréal/CTV News
video credit: YouTube/[email protected]

2023 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta wildfires starting early

Welcome to Victoria Day 2023, the unofficial start of summer in Canada. We gathered a few recent items of note and reflect on where Canada is at the moment. You don't have to be at the cabin or cottage to enjoy this notebook. Having a Caesar (or a virgin Caesar) and perhaps a bag of all-dressed or ketchup chips wouldn't hurt.

2023 Alberta election preview

CanadianCrossing.com Alberta coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

This should be a serious concern in upcoming #AbElection2023. Will be curious to see what voters think. #abpoli https://t.co/ytS52WQRpW

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) May 19, 2023

The Alberta election is a week today. Glad we got the decision that Alberta premier Danielle Smith breached the conflict of interest act. Smith's thought process sadly reminded us of the old Steve Martin joke about how he forgot armed robbery was against the law.

The primary story in the province this month is still the devastating wildfires, even with the election. The conditions are unfortunately ripe for wildfires. We've seen them spread beyond the province in Western Canada.

Can't wait for summer, except when wildfires are involved. Difficult to think about voting for Rachel Notley or Danielle Smith (not directly) when you might have to leave your home or already have evacuated.

We will have more on the Alberta election after we find out the results.

2022 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta in the spotlight

2021 Victoria Day notebook

Victoria Day 2020 notebook: Summer of uncertainty in Canada

Canadian notebook: Celebrating Victoria Day 2019

You likely have read about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas receiving luxury gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow. Sadly, this will likely not results in charges or removal from the bench.

Canada Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown has been on leave since February 1 over allegations in Arizona that involve a physical altercation and allegations of unwanted touching of women.

Action was swift in that the incident happened on January 28-29.

We haven't seen updates of late as to how long the leave will last or whether action can be taken against Brown.

The incidents are different in nature but you do get the sense that the Canada Supreme Court cares about appearances on the court while the same is not true in the United States.

Russell Brown and Clarence Thomas do have one intriguing element in common: both were highly conservative judges at a really young age with little judicial experience. Thomas had not been a judge while Brown was only a judge for 2½ years in Alberta.

Brown is 57. If he stays on the court, he can be there until September 15, 2040, his 75th birthday.

Canadian TV notebook: A much longer wait for Season 3 of Transplant on NBC

There are a lot of Canadian TV shows coming this summer and fall to the CW. One of those "old" shows is Transplant, where Season 3 will be further delayed, as in 2024. Some of that is the writers strike in the United States. That strike may open the flood gates for more Canadian TV.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

There is a new Canadian film with a following in the United States. Blackberry is about the Canadian phenomena with a phone with a keyboard.

Matt Johnson directed the film from a screenplay from Johnson and Matthew Miller about the rise and fall of Canadian tech company Research in Motion. American actor Glenn Howerton plays Jim Balsillie while Canadian icon Jay Baruchel plays Mike Lazaridis.

Canadians have great stories that should be told by Canadians. Let's hope for more opportunities like Blackberry and fewer like Argo.

Your humble narrator has not seen the film. Just odd that a lot of Americans can easily see this film in theatres.

The End of Sex played in U.S. theatres for a week. The film played in a couple of Chicago suburbs but not in the actual city, where more likely filmgoers would see this film.

Monia Chokri's new film The Nature of Love | Simple comme Sylvain is the lone Canadian film in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. This film follows a wealthy woman who has an affair with a working class man.

The film is in the Un Certain Regard section, the same place as A Brother's Love in 2019. You might recall that Chokri directed and starred in Babysitter (2022). Chokri wrote and directed the 2019 and 2023 films.

CBC News has a nice wrapup of the overall Canadian presence at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

2023 CFL preseason schedule

The CFL preseason starts today at 4 pm Eastern/2 pm Mountain with the Battle of Alberta as the Elks of Edmonton travel to Calgary to play the Stampeders.

The new CFL Preseason Live means all the preseason games are available online in the U.S. (online for 6, TV for 3 in Canada) though there is no on-demand option.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Gary Bettman's pet project has been a colossal failure in the greater Phoenix area. The latest is a sound rejection of a new arena in Tempe last week.

The argument in Glendale was that fans couldn't get to the arena. The local TV ratings are anemic, barely ahead of what a test pattern (ask your grandparents) would get.

The Arizona Coyotes need a new home and not in the desert. Salt Lake City, Houston, and Kansas City have been mentioned as possible relocation destinations.

The obvious choice is Quebec City and the Quebec Nordiques 2.0. Beautiful new arena, hockey history, fans who like and will support hockey. TSN's Pierre LeBrun, among many others, mentions that Quebec City doesn't have enough corporate money. The idea that the arena would be filled, lots more merchandise would be sold, and a great rivalry in La Belle Province isn't as valuable as corporate money in Salt Lake City is highly frustrating.

The potential ownership has been vetted when Quebec City put up a bid for an expansion team, a setup that was rigged for another desert city and away from an actual hockey city. Time to right a wrong and bring back the Quebec Nordiques.

Canada has a bit of copycat with corporate names for stadiums and arenas. Rogers has the MLB stadium in Toronto and hockey arenas in Edmonton and Vancouver. Scotiabank has the NBA and NHL arena in Toronto and the NHL arena in Calgary.

There is a satisfaction of referring to the large stadium in Toronto as SkyDome, the original name for the stadium. Exhibition Stadium was the home of the Blue Jays (MLB) and Argonauts (CFL). Its replacement has a corporate name (BMO Field).

Taylor Field in Regina, the long-time home of the CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders, was named for Neil J. "Piffles" Taylor, a World War I fighter pilot who served as president of the Regina Roughriders, the Canadian Rugby Union, and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.

Ivor Wynne, as in Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, was athletic director and dean of students at McMaster University.

Mosaic Stadium was also the last name given to Taylor Field. The new Mosaic Stadium is likely to be called that since that field only had that name.

The CFL has corporate names in Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton (field only), Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa.

Vancouver has BC Place and the old Empire Stadium, though one of the Rogers arenas is in Vancouver.

You can find out more about that shirt.

photo credits: Baroness Von Sketch/CBC; uni-watch.com
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
video credit: YouTube/IFC Films

2023 CFL preseason schedule

 

Date	Game	Time
May 22	Edmonton @ Calgary	4p
May 26	Montréal @ Ottawa*	7:30p
May 27	Winnipeg @ Edmonton	4p
May 27	Toronto @ Hamilton	4p
May 27	BC @ Saskatchewan	7p
June 1	Ottawa @ Toronto	7:30p
June 1	Calgary @ BC	10:30p
June 2	Hamilton @ Montréal	7:30p
June 2	Saskatchewan @ Winnipeg*	8:30p
All times Eastern Daylight. * TSN broadcasts.

 

The 2023 CFL preseason is relatively normal, though you could be confused as to what normal is. A preseason that starts on time, one where they play most of the games in their home stadium (not the Toronto Argonauts).

The 2022 CFL preseason had a brief strike, the first for the league since 1974. A preseason game was pushed into the following week. The 2021 season started late without a preseason. The play on the field suffered as a result. There was no 2020 season. 

A normal preseason has been 4 TSN preseason games. The network announced 4 preseason TV games: the 2 marked on the list above and the May 27 games in Hamilton and Regina. Those games are missing on the revised schedule. The chance to show Bo Levi Mitchell in black and gold feels like a waste by TSN.

The new CFL+, which was announced yesterday, is a bit confusing. Let's confine this just to the preseason schedule. 2 games air on TSN and 1 game (June 2 in Montréal) airs on RDS. Those run in Canada on those channels. The other 6 CFL preseason games in Canada (and all 9 in the United States) will air on CFL Preseason Live via CFL+. "The CFL will work together with the host club of each game to broadcast the in-stadium video feed, while play-by-play and analysis will be provided by local crews."

The good news is the service is free. You do have to register. The bad news is you are out of luck if you can't watch the games live.

There are simultaneous games on May 27 and June 2 so you literally can't watch all of the CFL preseason games.

The 3 Down Nation podcast noted there should be streaming options if TSN won't show those preseason games. Now we have them.

2022 CFL preseason schedule

2019 CFL preseason schedule

Each team plays 2 preseason games: home and road. Games reside within the division so no crossovers.

The Toronto Argonauts are back in Guelph, Ontario for training camp and will play its "home" preseason game at Alumni Stadium. You might recall that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats played its home games in Guelph in 2013 during the construction of Tim Hortons Field.

The Argos had played recent home preseason games at Varsity Stadium at the University of Toronto in the daytime at 11 am. Varsity Stadium has hosted more Grey Cup games than any other structure in Canada.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

The regular season starts June 8. Our league preview will run on June 7. Let's hope for a relatively uneventful CFL season where the excitement is only on the field.

logo credit: TSN/CFL; CFL

Canadian TV notebook: A much longer wait for Season 3 of Transplant on NBC

We sort of know a bit about Season 3 of Transplant for our exhausted American readers wanting to know when (if) Season 3 will air on NBC. The headline says "Transplant Is Coming Back to NBC: Everything to Know." Well, not everything.

The NBC story says "episodes will air some time during NBC's midseason/summer 2024." What the actual [bleep]. Why are U.S. viewers waiting 12-18 months for Season 3? The text does say Season 3 and Season 4 are coming. That may be some consolation.

For those asking about Peacock, the story says Transplant episodes will air on NBC followed by airings on Peacock. Plenty of U.S. viewers wouldn't mind Peacock airings now.

There is a slight possibility that this decision is reflective of the U.S. writers strike, meaning NBC wants to make sure there is content in the winter of 2024. The longer the strike goes, the more likely those episodes will air sooner rather than later.

This is not the result anybody on the U.S. side wanted. We do have information and a hope that someday, American viewers can watch Season 3 of Transplant.

Canadians can catch up on Season 3 now via CTV online at CTV.ca.

Canadian TV notebook: Workin' Moms final season is on Netflix

Son Of A Critch, Run the Burbs, and Moonshine will make their way to the CW summer lineup. We will write more about this when we have their premiere dates for the U.S. network.

The equivalent of the traditional CW upfront has CBC shows Son of a Critch and Run the Burbs and the CTV show Children Ruin Everything airing on Tuesday nights in the fall.

Wednesday nights this fall on the CW will feature a couple of new CTV dramas. We mentioned Sullivan's Crossing earlier. The Spencer Sisters will also be on the CW with American actor Lea Thompson and Canadian actor Stacey Farber as a mother-daughter duo investigating crimes.

Speaking of CW shows, Season 2 of Family Law debuts Monday on Global (also available on StackTV). The cast features Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Zach Smadu, Genelle Williams, and Lauren Holly. I confess to being pleasantly surprised as to how good the show was in Season 1. The shots of Vancouver are stunning enough that I consider them to be a co-star.

Season 2 of Family Law will air possibly this summer or later on the CW. Details available when we know them.

I wondered if Departure was done but Season 3 of Departure will air later this summer on Global on August 7. Eric McCormack joins the cast, possibly replacing the late Christopher Plummer. Each season is a new transportation related disaster. We had a plane (Season 1) and a train (Season 2). Season 3 involves the sinking of a sea ferry from Boston destined for Newfoundland. Like the Toronto-Chicago train of Season 2, we wish this was a real thing.

Departure airs on Peacock in the United States. No word on the dates for Season 3 on Peacock, though Season 3 of Departure will likely air on Peacock before Season 3 of Transplant.

Getting ready to watch a new episode on @CraveCanada and @hulu this weekend. pic.twitter.com/JTs4s6Xsm2

— Letterkenny Problems (@LetterkennyProb) May 17, 2023

The extra episode from Season 11 of Letterkenny drops today on Crave and Hulu. Episode 7 from Season 11 is entitled May 2-4 as the hicks celebrate the long weekend.

The 2-4 is that Victoria Day is technically May 24 yet celebrated on whatever Monday is closest and that 2-4 is Ontario (maybe Canadian) slang for a case of beer.

I have a friend who has Crave via cable or satellite. I had to explain to him that he will get the episode eventually, the episode is available on the streaming version of Crave.

Canadian presence on 2022 U.S. TV upfronts

Canadian presence on 2021 U.S. TV upfronts

We have been keeping track of Canadians in the U.S. TV upfronts for the last few years. The task has become more difficult because:

1) TV releases have been more vague in terms of adding shows and not listing the casts.

2) The pandemic changed the approaches of broadcast TV in a lot of ways.

3) Canadians also end up on streaming shows and they don't have a set time of year to make debuts.

The other major reason we won't do a 2023 version is to show solidarity for the writers strike. Regular readers will not be shocked we are on the writers side. The fact that more Canadian TV might end up on U.S. TV as a result of the strike is icing on top of icing. Getting a good deal for the writers is way more important.

We only reported Canadian shows from the U.S. TV upfronts and will report more when we hear of any news.

We are very excited about the prospect of the new Canadian drama television series Little Bird, debuting on Friday on Crave and APTN lumi.

The 6-episode series centres on an Indigenous woman reconnecting with her birth family and heritage after being adopted into a Jewish family during the Sixties Scoop.

Jennifer Podemski and Hannah Moscovitch created the show. Jeremy Podeswa is serving as an executive producer.

Darla Contois stars as Esther Rosenblum/Bezhig Little Bird; the cast also features Ellyn Jade, Osawa Muskwa, Joshua Odjick, Imajyn Cardinal, Mathew Strongeagle, Eric Schweig, and Michelle Thrush. Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Zoe Hopkins are directing episodes.

When we talk about Canadian stories being told, this is a great example. Seeing Birth of a Family (2017) really brought home the Sixties Scoop in ways I did not understand. The fact that Jennifer Podemski is behind this project is even more of a reason to watch.

2023 CBC television winter preview

We are waiting for the CBC upfront. Unlike the U.S. upfronts, we will gladly report on upfronts from CBC, CTV, Global, Citytv, and relevant cable offerings since they are not affected by the U.S. writers strike.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We expect more news of Canadian TV shows becoming more tempting to U.S. networks based on the writers strike. Would be fun to see ABC run Shelved (from CTV) this fall if there aren't new episodes of Abbott Elementary.

photo credits: NBC; Crave/APTN
Twitter capture: @LetterkennyProb