Research in Motion may have found a quick way to shake off a dismal third quarter (and that whole rowdy drunken execs fiasco): oust Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. The Toronto Star reports that the BlackBerry manufacturer’s stock climbed yesterday amid speculation that RIM’s board of directors would force the pair to give up their shared role as company chair. Given the public shellacking RIM has endured in recent months, any talk of a shake-up is bound to inspire new confidence. Although, according to the paper, the two men would “likely remain in their executive roles, meaning that major strategic changes at RIM might be hard to envision.” Meanwhile, all three models of the BlackBerry PlayBook are now available for the same low (low, low) price on the BlackBerry U.S. website. Note to RIM: we know you’re desperate, but you’re coming on a little strong. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »
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Why three prominent Chinese-Canadian writers launched a $10-million plagiarism suit against Ling Zhang
A tale of death threats, tarnished reputations and literary jealousy
(Image: Daniel Ehrenworth)
The streets near Scarborough’s Confederation Park curve and loop in a vertiginous web. The neighbourhood was built in the 1970s—several blocks of low-lying split-levels and bungalows divided by neatly trimmed hedges and 20-foot pines. The 401 is just a few blocks away, but these houses are quiet and isolated, even prim. Ling Zhang lives here in a large mock Tudor. She answers the door on the first ring, a diminutive woman with full moon cheeks and a bashful smile. At 54, she wears her hair in a wispy, youthful updo and is dressed in a peacock-blue sundress, a simple cardigan and slippers. The house is immaculate. We pass through a large front hall with a formal dining and living room off either side. Matching white leather sofas sprawl across polished cherry floors. Everywhere I look, there are vases filled with flowers in pastel pink and white. They’re all fake, but the effect is cheerful.
In the kitchen, Zhang makes me a cup of tea. Her husband, Ken He, a slight man in a short-sleeved plaid shirt, pops in to say hello—but not much else. Zhang explains his English isn’t great. “Moving to Toronto was a big sacrifice for him,” she says. The couple met in Vancouver, at the church where Zhang, a born-again Christian, was baptized as an adult. They came to Toronto so Zhang could take a job at Scarborough General Hospital as an audiologist. Her husband, who was an ophthalmologist in China, now sells real estate to the GTA’s Chinese immigrant community.
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Nicholas Hune-Brown: How to die on Facebook
When you’re dead, your Facebook page becomes a permanent digital gravestone, and your family and friends (and quite possibly some strangers) will indulge in a free-for-all of trivializing hagiography. The perils of online legacies
It was 11 in the morning on a warm Friday in September when a 16-year-old boy named Akash Wadhwa plunged from the Mavis Road overpass onto the busy 401. Shortly afterward, Peel police found the slain body of his classmate Kiranjit Nijjar in a nearby ravine.
At Mississauga Secondary School, what had begun as a series of horrific rumours solidified, piece by piece, into a single, devastating murder-suicide story. According to reports, Wadhwa, a depressed and troubled Grade 12 student, had strangled his 17-year-old friend Nijjar and then jumped onto the highway. Before he leapt, Wadhwa had left a last message on Facebook: “SUICIDE/MURDER NOTE: Three things I learned in life. What goes around comes around. KARMA is the biggest bitch. You should NEVER CHANGE on people who love and care for you… My one main reason I did this is that life let me down way too much.”
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Although arguing for more condo towers in and around downtown Toronto isn’t a popular activity of late, the Toronto Standard found a good spot to squeeze in one more—the Distillery District. Apparently, there’s a plan to build a 34-storey structure (early rumours say it’s a Gansevoort) with 88 hotel suites and 246 condo units at 60 Mill St. While the Standard argues that the increased density the tower would bring is good for the neighbourhood, getting the city on board might be another matter. Read the entire story [Toronto Standard] »
Ex–Black Hoofer Colin Tooke opens Grand Electric in Parkdale
Shortly after Jeremy Day shuttered his Parkdale wine and cheese bar Café Taste in October, rumours began to fly that someone associated with the Black Hoof would be taking over the space. The building’s owner, however, wouldn’t spill the beans. Thanks to some enthusiastic tweeting last night from Hoof owner Jen Agg and others, the cat’s now out of the bag: the new spot, called Grand Electric, opened last night with ex–Hoof chef de cuisine Colin Tooke at the helm. A bare-bones website and Twitter account have been set up, from which we learn the bar will have “Mexican food, craft beer, brown liquor and loud music.” Agg, for one seems pretty excited: she appended the hashtag “#proudmama” to her congratulatory tweet.
Mario Batali predicts a Toronto location of Eataly within the next 10 years
In a recent interview with The Daily Meal, Mario Batali reignited simmering hopes that Eataly, the chain of grocery mega-emporia whose New York launch last year was rapturously received, would eventually make its way to Toronto. When asked about expansion plans, he told Ali Rosen:
Well there’ll probably be five in the next 10 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Mexico City opened pretty much in any order of those four.
Let’s hope Toronto is at the top of that order.
The cat’s out of the bag: Daniel Boulud to open restaurant at the new Four Seasons
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Back in April, we reported that Daniel Boulud was another in the growing group of Michelin-starred chefs to snub Toronto in favour of Vancouver or Montreal. Not so, apparently: the National Post’s Shinan Govani confirmed yesterday the rumours that the lauded New York chef of Daniel fame will be opening a restaurant in the new Four Seasons hotel and condo complex on Bay Street (there’s an official announcement scheduled for next Thursday). This is the second Canadian hotel partnership in the works for the chef, who is opening Maison Boulud in Montreal in early 2012 to coincide with a $150-million renovation to the Montreal Ritz-Carlton. Previously, Boulud opened and subsequently closed two restaurants in Vancouver, DB Bistro Moderne and Lumière, after only two years in business.
Will Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos pull the trigger on a deal at baseball’s trade deadline?
The Jays may or may not be in the market for Heath Bell (Image: SD Dirk)
With baseball’s trade deadline just around the corner, rumours are flying as to what kind of magic Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos may have up his sleeve. On Thursday, reports emerged that the Bluebirds may be taking a close look at acquiring the San Diego Padres’ coveted closer Heath Bell. Bell is arguably the hottest commodity on the trade market (read: the Yanks, Red Sox and Phillies are all after him), and even if bringing in the 33-year-old doesn’t exactly fit in with the Blue Jays’ current youth movement, there are a number of reasons Anthopoulos might pull the trigger on the deal.
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Could this be the location for a new upscale grocery store by Lynn Crawford?
The former home of Ring Audio at Queen and Grant (Image: Signe Langford)
Rumours have been swirling among Riverside dwellers and foodies alike that Lynn Crawford is preparing to jump into the boutique grocery business. The hoarding is up over the glass at the former home of Ring Audio, just a few doors down from her Riverside restaurant, Ruby Watchco. But when we called her, the chef and host of Pitching In was keeping mum on the details—at least, she says, “until I have my ducks all lined up in a row.”
It’s official: Duggan’s Brewery has served its last pint
(Image: Danielle Scott)
Not long ago, it seemed as though brew and gastropubs were on the rise in Toronto, but a couple of recent closures are giving us pause. While My Place’s failure might be attributed to its west end location and size, many are shocked to hear that downtown brew pub Duggan’s Brewery has also shut its doors.
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Gwyneth Paltrow and Ruth Reichl rumoured to be heading up new food mag and Web site (respectively)
Gwyneth Paltrow at this year’s Oscars (Image: WEBN-TV)
Foodies woke up yesterday to the prospect of a pair of big new culinary publications headed by two very familiar names: Gwyneth Paltrow and Ruth Reichl. Paltrow, of course, has her hands in a plethora of pots—from music to blogging to the occasional acting gig—but rumour has it that she may be preparing to delve into the food magazine business, backed by the Hearst Corporation.
Oakwood Collegiate proposed as T.O.’s first Africentric high school—but nobody asked the students first
Oakwood Collegiate (Image: TDSB)
Toronto’s Oakwood Collegiate Institute on St. Clair Avenue West may become the first Africentric high school in the city. Just one problem: the Toronto District School Board has so far failed to consult students, teachers and the surrounding committee in its proposal. According to the Toronto Star, students were outraged when they awoke on Saturday to discover their school could house Toronto’s first Africentric high school come September. Parents learned about the proposal in the media and, later, via a letter on the school’s Web site that announced a Tuesday-night public meeting to address the matter, organized after much community and school council dissension.
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An outbreak of coyness grips Ottawa as Conservatives woo NDP over budget
Jack watch: the political class is watching Layton today (Image: Matt Jiggins)
All poli-nerds will be watching Ottawa today at 4 p.m. as the federal government unveils its 2011 budget—and stakes its political future on the hopes that just one of the opposition parties will build up enough nerve to vote with the government. Votes to approve the budget will come later this week, but what’s becoming clear today is that despite Stephen Harper’s massive lead in the polls, he seems willing to give the NDP something they’ve been demanding: restarting the EcoEnergy program that lets homeowners upgrade their windows and insulation with government help. He has also vaguely hinted that there might be a bit of money for seniors (isn’t there always?). It’s almost as if the Conservatives’ oft-stated belief that they don’t want another election was sincere.
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Six things we learned from the Star’s interview with Momofuku chef David Chang
Momofuku chef David Chang (Image: David Shankbone)
Last week saw a flurry of excitement over the rumours and then confirmation that David Chang, chef and owner of New York’s Momofuku empire, would be setting up shop here in Toronto. But the e-mail Chang’s PR chief sent out was pretty short on specifics about the two new restaurants. Yesterday, the Toronto Star ran a piece by food editor Jennifer Bain with some additional details, straight from the horse’s mouth. After the jump, six things we learned:
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Sarah Thomson makes her MPP candidacy, riding and party official
Sarah Thomson picks Big Red (Image: Tsar Kasim)
End the rumours, here are the facts: Sarah Thomson, one-time candidate for mayor and then champion for anyone-but-Ford, is running for the Liberals in the October provincial election in the Trinity-Spadina riding. In a move that certainly won’t invite comparisons to Sarah Palin, Thomson announced her plan on her Facebook page (log-in required). Thomson will be going up against longtime NDP MPP Rosario Marchese. The man will not be an easy one to defeat. Thomson’s name recognition from last year’s election may help her, but it’s still going to be a long, tough campaign. The Informer asked Thomson why she decided to run in another election so soon after the municipal one. Her answer, and Marchese’s retort, after the jump.
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