Tag: Canada

Entertainment Lighter News

Surprise! That’s Justin Bieber Busking At The Avon Theatre

by

Theatre-goers in Stratford, Ont. are used to seeing buskers.

(In this case, a busker is someone who performs music on a street corner for money that people throw into their hat or guitar case.)

But they were surprised and thrilled when they came out of the theatre last Saturday and saw that the busker on the steps was pop superstar Justin Bieber.

Bieber grew up in Stratford, and some members of his family still live there. However, he’s usually out of the country on tour or recording.

He was in town for the Much Music Video Awards.

Busking on the steps of the Avon Theatre is nothing new to Bieber. In the early days, before he became an international pop icon, he often used to busk there.

However, this time it was a bit different. For one thing, although he had his guitar case open in front of him he wasn’t collecting any money for his performance. (According to an estimate by Forbes magazine, Bieber earned $55-million last year.)

Continue Reading →
News

Nik Wallenda Crosses Niagara Falls On A Tightrope Wire

by

On Friday night Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk over Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

More than 100,000 people gathered to watch the feat, which has taken more than two years and help from many people, including NASA engineers, to accomplish.

Nik Wallenda is a descendant of the famous “Flying Wallendas” family of acrobats.

The stunt was incredible, not just because no one has ever done it before but because it took a lifetime of training and a lot of physical and mental strength to perform.

Niagara Falls creates a lot of mist, which drenched Wallenda most of the time he was on the tightrope. Swirling winds threatened to knock him from his perch, 200 feet in the air above the thundering falls.

Continue Reading →
Breaking News News Politics

Giant Slumber Party In The House Of Commons

by

The government of Canada had a sleepover, and all of the MPs were invited.

In fact, attendance was mandatory.

What’s really happened is that the Members of Parliament stayed up all night working.

They were voting on a bill, but the way they did it was very unusual—and very interesting.

It all started when Stephen Harper’s Conservative government introduced Bill C-38.

Bill C-38 is an enormous 425-page bill covering all kinds of things including budget items.

The opposition party (the NDP) wanted to protest the fact that the government bundled all of those extra items into the bill.

They say that when too many items are bundled that way, none of the items can be looked over and properly discussed.

Continue Reading →
Animals News Sports

Canadian-Owned “I’ll Have Another” Retires

by

Canadian-owned I’ll Have Another was a favourite to win the Belmont Stakes horse race this year.

The race was held last Saturday.

If he’d won, he would also have won all three of the major horse races and become the U.S. Triple Crown winner, every horse-owner’s dream.

However, it wasn’t to be.

Just before the big race, his trainer announced that the horse had tendonitis in his left front leg and would not be able to race. The owner decided to retire the colt from racing.

The good news is that I’ll Have Another will recover from his injury and will be fine. It’s likely that the horse will become a stud, which means that he will father other colts which may go on to become excellent race horses themselves. In that way, I’ll Have Another’s legacy will live on.

Continue Reading →
News Politics

Toronto Bans Plastic Shopping Bags

by

Toronto is banning plastic shopping bags in stores.

Starting in January 2013, you’ll have to bring your own reusable bag to the store to cart your goods away.

More than 250 million bags end up in landfill every year, never breaking down into compost, according to a report by CBC News.

Plastic bags can also clog drainage systems and, when they are washed out to sea, can hurt fish and other marine animals.

Continue Reading →
Lighter News Politics

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Spurned

by

The Canadian penny will soon be a thing of the past—like the Canadian one-dollar and two-dollar bills. The loonie and the toonie replaced those bills in 1987.

In its last budget, the government said the Royal Canadian Mint will stop making pennies starting this Fall, and that stores will stop using them.

Everyone is asked to return their pennies to a bank; they will be melted down and recycled.

Pennies will always be worth one cent. However, there will be fewer and fewer of them out there as the years go on.

Any prices that don’t end in a zero or a five (in other words, purchase we can use nickles, dimes or quarters for) will be rounded up or down to the nearest zero or five.

Continue Reading →
Health Kids News

Mike Holmes To Help Rebuild High Park Children’s Castle

by

The people who are rebuilding the High Park castle are getting some high-profile help.

Mike Holmes is a celebrity contractor. A contractor is someone who is skilled at the kinds of jobs needed to build or renovate homes. Contractors hire and oversee all of the work—for instance, electrical, plumbing, carpentry and design work.

Holmes became famous for his motto, “make it right.” On his TV show, he rescues homeowners from renovations that have gone wrong and he brings in workers who fix the house properly and “make it right.”

Holmes also does a lot of charity work. On one of his TV shows, he helps people in New Orleans whose houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Now he’s lending a hand to help rebuild the children’s play castle in the High Park neighbourhood of Toronto, Ont. Much of the wooden structure was destroyed by a fire last March.

Continue Reading →
Animals News Science

Millions Of Butterflies In Ontario And Eastern Canada

by

If you were sitting outside on April 16 in Eastern North America, you may have seen a wondrous site. That day, millions of Red Admiral butterflies flew in – or perhaps “blew in” – from the southern United States.

Drew Monkman is a local natualist (“nature watcher”) and writer, living in Peterborough, Ont. He tracks the habits of animals including butterflies.

He told TKN that the April 16 migration was “completely unprecedented. (The Red Admiral has) never been seen in these kinds of numbers.”

He said on that day there were probably several million butterflies, most of them Red Admiral, but there were other species as well.

Drew Monkman is a naturalist and butterfly expert living in Peterborough, Ont.
Why did this happen? This year in the southern United States like Texas, where the butterflies began their journey, the winter was “amazingly mild,” said Monkman. This allowed more butterflies to survive the winter and reproduce.

Continue Reading →
News

Updates On Two Of Our Breaking Stories: Montreal And Royals

by

University students continue to protest in Montreal.

The students had started out protesting a tuition hike.

However, the protests have grown and broadened to be about more than tuition.

The Royal Visit — Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are touring Canada.

They are taking a four-day tour of the country to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Continue Reading →
News Sports

Canadian-Owned Horse Has A Chance To Win U.S. Triple Crown

by

“I’ll Have Another” did indeed have another, just last Saturday.

Canadian-owned horse, “I’ll Have Another” (yes, that’s its name) won the 137th Preakness Stakes.

Blazing down the stretch, “I’ll Have Another” pushed hard with each powerful stride to cross the finish line first — winning by only the length of its neck.

It was a very close and exciting finish. The horse was jockeyed by Mario Gutierrez.

The jockey is the person who rides and directs the horse in the race.

Continue Reading →
1 … 26 27 28 29 30 … 40