Toronto

A group of Canadian actors, writers and politicians is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to change the name of Victoria Day.The group — which includes author Margaret Atwood, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and actor Gordon Pinsent — has signed an online petition to rename this Monday’s public holiday “Victoria and First Peoples Day.”Peter Keleghan, an actor and spokesman for the group, says the name would provide a chance to honour both the Crown and the indigenous peoples of Canada.He says it would help create a better understanding of the various peoples who helped shape Canada.National Aboriginal Day is celebrated every year on June 21 but it’s not recognized as a national holiday.Victoria Day marks the birthday of Queen Victoria and is celebrated every year on the last Monday before May 25.Quebec celebrates National Patriots’ Day on the same day, to honour the rebellion against the British in 1837.More:Victoria Day road closuresWhat’s open and closed on Victoria Day

Sci-fi movie “Star Trek Into Darkness” journeyed to the top of weekend box office charts as the latest voyage of the Starship Enterprise pulled in $70.6 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters.

There’s no mechanism to remove a mayor who refuses to resign unless found in breach of municipal law or sentenced to more than three-months in prison for a crime

Batman trilogy director Christopher Nolan is reportedly in early talks to take charge of the next James Bond movie.

TORONTO — A public relations expert suggests Rob Ford’s decision not to host his weekly radio show today may indicate the Toronto mayor has yet to fully figure out how to respond to allegations he was recorded on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine. Queen’s University Professor Monica LaBarge says Ford should come out and directly say whether the video is authentic — something she says he could have used Sunday’s edition of his Toronto talk radio show to do. Ford has slammed a Toronto Star report on the video as a smear job and called it “ridiculous” while his lawyer has called the reports “false and defamatory.” RelatedRob Ford nixes weekend radio show as fundraiser to buy alleged crack video hits $60KFrom ‘high-end’ dealers to the Somali connection: A closer look at the alleged Rob Ford crack cocaine scandalBesieged Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies ‘ridiculous’ crack pipe reports as campaign to buy alleged video grows Ford’s brother Doug was quoted by a Vancouver radio station Saturday saying he had “never seen my brother around crack cocaine.” LaBarge says Rob Ford — and not his brother — should publicly state whether he has used the drug, and that not doing so only further fuels speculation about whether the video allegations are true. Toronto radio station Newstalk 1010 has said they expect Ford to be back hosting the show with his brother next week. Meanwhile, U.S.-based website Gawker.com, which reported the video allegations Thursday night, is trying to raise $200,000 from the public, which it says it needs in order to buy and post the alleged footage. By Sunday afternoon it had raised more than $65,000 toward its goal.

OTTAWA—The Harper government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising a program that does not yet exist.Prime-time ads began airing this week during NHL playoff games — currently the priciest advertising real estate on the dial — that tout a new federal Canada Jobs Grant for training workers.The trouble is, the freshly announced program is at present little more than a concept that has yet to be negotiated with provincial governments, and requires buy-in from employers as well.Peter Van Loan, the Conservative government House leader, described the Canada Jobs Grant last week as a “proposal that needs to be fleshed out and developed fully.”“What we’ve announced is a concept of how it could work,” Van Loan said in Toronto as the government began what it calls roundtable consultations on the proposal.The concept requires that Ottawa, the province and the employer kick in up to $5,000 each toward the training of a worker.Legislation to create the federal training grant is still months away from even being considered by Parliament — which is why the TV ads note in fine print that the program is “subject to parliamentary approval.”But the program will also require provincial agreement, and that of business.“The Canada Job Grant will be introduced as part of the renewal of the labour market agreements with the provinces and territories in 2014-15,” Human Resources and Skills Development said in an emailed response.“Its final design will be negotiated with provinces and territories over the next year, in consultation with stakeholder groups.”The department did not respond directly to questions about the ethics of spending public funds to advertise programs and services that do not exist.“It is important the government communicates about programs that benefit Canadians and their families,” said the email.The Conservative government has come under increasing scrutiny for its lavish spending on feel-good “economic action plan” ads that deliver little useable information but tell viewers that Canada’s economy is flourishing. Ottawa has spent at least $113 million on the ads since 2009.No budget was provided for the latest media blitz, but with ads on Hockey Night in Canada costing up to $95,000 per 30-second spot, the ad buy could easily be in the millions of dollars.An anti-Harper protest group with a naughty name, found at www.shd.ca , has been soliciting money to air its own TV ad mocking the government’s “economic action plan” blitz.The group said Friday that it had raised $66,000, two-thirds of the cost of a single airing during Hockey Night in Canada.Jonathon Rose, an expert in political advertising, called the Canada Jobs Grant advertisement “misleading.”Rose, a political science professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., sits on Ontario’s independent government advertising advisory board, which is legislated to ensure government ads are non-partisan, informative and fact-based.He said the currents ad’s “proviso — ‘subject to parliamentary approval’ — does not offset the verb ‘will partner’ or ‘will result,’ which makes it seem like a foregone conclusion.”“Government ads are not excluded from the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and I think this would fail tests of accuracy and clarity on a number of levels,” said Rose.Agnes Maltais, Quebec’s minister for employment and social solidarity, was equally blunt.French-language versions of the ad are running in Quebec, where the provincial government has already stated it is not interested in taking part.“The ads on the Canadian job grant are the blatant proof of the bad faith of the federal government,” Maltais said in an email.“On one side, the federal g

I thought I'd ask: which of these pitchers do you expect to see up with the Blue Jays first: Dustin McGowan: Dustin pitched yesterday for Buffalo, and did well. He's on a very limited pitch count, which is understandable. He's not eligible to come off the DL until the 27th,but the Jays might want him to do the full 30-day rehab assignment. Hitting 95 on the radar gun is a good sign. Josh Johnson makes his first rehab start tomorrow. All going well, I doubt the Jays would have him making more than 2 or 3 rehab starts, but when has all gone well for the Jays? J.A. Happ is to start throwing soon too. Though, last I heard, his knee is still sore. Then since it isn't his arm, he might not need rehab starts. Marcus Stroman makes his first appearance of the season, a start, for New Hampshire today. Since it was a suspension, not an injury, he'll hit the ground running, just like it was opening day. So let's have a poll. Poll Which of these four will we see up with the Blue Jays first? Dustin McGowan Josh Johnson J.A. Happ Marcus Stroman 45 votes | Results

Twenty-four councillors successfully petition to reverse Mayor Rob Ford’s decison to cancel meeting

Your browser does not support iframes. The Juice returns for season No. 6! It’s almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more. The Baltimore Orioles have been basically untouchable when leading after seven innings over the past couple of seasons, but that all came to a stunning and screeching halt on Saturday. With a 6-4 lead entering the ninth, closer Jim Johnson, whose consecutive save streak ended at 35 on Tuesday, allowed a home run to Kelly Johnson, two walks, a single, before wrapping up his outing on Matt Joyce’s go-ahead, two-run double. Sidearmer Darren O’Day took over from there and allowed both of Johnson’s inherited runners to score and then one of his own. All in all, it was a six-run rally for the Rays that turned Baltimore‘s lead into a 10-6 defeat , ending their remarkable 109-game winning streak in games they led after the seventh inning in the process. I suppose they knew it was coming eventually, but one has to believe there were a few shocked people in Baltimore’s clubhouse after it got away to that extend. Meanwhile, Evan Longoria and the Rays couldn’t have been more thrilled they were the team to finally end the late inning dominance. ”Their track record after seven innings has spoken for itself,” Longoria said. ”They’ve been really good late in the game. And Jim Johnson has been as good as they come. To be able to get to him and then tack a couple more on and be able to win a game like that, especially here in this hostile environment, is really big.” The Rays will hope to make it three really big wins on Sunday as they go for the series sweep. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season opening race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is the jewel in the Victoria Day Weekend Speedfest at Canada’s best known road course.