Almost as precious as “Our” team in promos is the concept of the Blue Jays as a national team. It seems like only yesterday they were deposing the previous national team, the Montreal Expos. The ‘Spos had aided Toronto in getting a franchise in 1977. When Toronto sputtered in the early days the Expos gave them oxygen. But as we wrote in July of 2023, the newcomer turned on their National League cousins.

The Oilers city has been there before. The trade that always gets top defection billing is the 1988 Gretzky deal to the L.A. Kings, the seismic re-organization of hockey in the late 20th century. Less talked about— but more impactful on the ice— was a trade made this week in 1992 that sent Mark Messier to the New York Rangers. Messier led the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 1994

Nothing compares to the story the 2025 Tigers are authoring. Manager A.J. Hinch has one great pitcher, Tarek Skull, and a whole lot of five-inning pitchers and hittable bullpen arms. His young core of hitters are gagging (12 LOB Sunday), and the Cleveland Guardinos are on an insane wining streak.  Even though they control their destiny it all feels doomed. And the dream of a Blue Jays/ Tigers AL Final may never be.

His impact on the business was monumental. . CBA negotiations have never been the same. Player salaries have never been the same. Media covering hockey has never been the same. His predecessor Alan Eagleson was criminally convicted in the U.S. and Canada and disbarred for the self dealing revealed by Conway and CBC Toronto. That’s an impressive legacy.

For the generation that watched him develop he was likely the quintessential modern Canadian. Son of a charitable community figure in west-end Toronto. Educated in the Ivy League. Obtained his law degree. Served as a federal cabinet minister. Author of several definitive hockey books (The Game is perhaps the best sports non-fiction in the English language). Executive of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And more.

Marner left his hometown in free agency, signing longterm in tax-free Nevada. The team received nothing in return for an elite player. The locals needed a scapegoat for their repeated Cup frustration. So when Marner cited the unrelenting pressure of playing in contemporary Toronto, the dam broke among critics who called him a whiner, a no-show for his $8 million salary, a traitor to Toronto.

A Bill Davis Ontario would never tell another province to cripple its economy to suit climate obsessions in his own province. A Bill Davis Ontario would support nation-building projects like trans-Canada pipelines not forcing Alberta to sell their oil at a discount to the U.S. A Bill Davis Ontario would never support gun seizures from law-abiding owners. But those days are done.

The classic teaching model once was the erudite John Houseman as the Harvard law legend in the Paper Chase movie in the 1980s. “You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush; you leave thinking like a lawyer.” Houseman’s rigourous professor inspired dread in his students,. At the same time he earned a measure of hero worship for forcing them to think.

It was mostly American social media that outed odious Canadian comments online, forcing employers to take action against loons they’ve harboured up till now. The reaction to this culling was predictable in the mainstream media. “TorontoStar After Charlie Kirk’s death, workers learn the limits of free speech in and out of their jobs”  The hysteria over Jimmy Kimmel’s banishment dwarfed even that.

No doubt Charlie Kirk’s death will be mobilized by both sides in their appeals for the loyalty of the military should a civil war break out in the U.S. Perhaps it will again be dodged. But wiggle room is fast disappearing. Get your generals in a row. MSNBC’s Jen Psaki has declared Trump’s tribute to Kirk “an escalation" Says legal expert Jonathan Turley, “We are already at political assassinations, so I am not sure how much more room for escalation there may be for Psaki or MSNBC.”

The West’s privileged elites— particularly in Canada— refuse to acknowledge reality, preferring the dewey dawn of the Clinton or Obama presidencies. They toss around terms like tyrant to distract from the cliff they’ve built.  They pose. They primp. As security expert Mike Benz notes, “The vast majority of stock leftists are not true believers, they have strong beliefs, loosely held.” How loosely we are about to find out.

Perhaps the best example of bureaucratic waste is tucked into the line “Applications are encouraged from members of groups that are historically disadvantaged and underrepresented.” (*Translation: DEI) And “as a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), you are expected to promote an inclusive leadership style that values equity, diversity, inclusion, and ensures psychological and physical safety.” IOW you are urged to promote inclusion while the vast majority of taxpaying white male citizens are excluded from consideration.

Skilled satire, adroit wit and whimsy combine with engaging

prose and intriguing characters to make Canadian author

Christy Climenhage’s debut novel, The Midnight Project, an

often-exceptional read.

Four dynamic poetic voices— each with distinct perspectives on spiritual enlightenment, trauma, pastoral beauty and the joys of the physical body— were highlighted at McClelland & Stewart’s 2025 spring poetry night held earlier this month.

Stephanie Cesca is a strong and capable storyteller. Her passion for detail and vivid imagination creates an authentic fictional world. Readers can see her characters in their mind’s eye. They can relate to their pain.

Throughout the book’s 384 pages, readers are kept guessing as to the killer’s motives. Could such rampaging violence be  a professional hit or a random act of madness? Or was the victim bludgeoned out of existence due to his shady business dealings and abusive, violent past?

Clewes is a sensory, effusive poet. Her lyrical words reflect a deep musical sense. In the third section, Calle Obispo, the poem of the same title, references Nobel Prize-winning poet and Polish-Lithuanian  author Czeslaw Milosz. The first stanza turns a plane trip into a spiritual experience.

Green’s complex, colloquial whimsy is grounded in a strong academic backbone and a broad knowledge base that references Wordsworth, Shakespeare and Sylvia Plath. And how she loves wordplay and puns,