News
In local news, the final report of the County’s Cultural Heritage Master Plan is now available for public review on the municipality’s Have Your Say website. The plan is intended to protect the County’s heritage buildings and structures and its heritage landscapes. The deadline to submit comments is Monday, January 26th. Staff and the project consultants will present the Plan for approval at Council’s Planning and Development Committee meeting on Wednesday, February 18.
In politics, Ontario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner issued a letter to the Toronto Police Service late last month, calling out what he described as a lack of enforcement for hate, intimidation, and harassment-motivated offences at protests in the city. However, James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, is worried about Kerzner’s motivations. He says the solicitor general is attempting to pressure Toronto police to change how they handle protests for political reasons. Turk says that protests and peaceful assemblies aren’t illegal; they’re a protected right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While causing frustration and anxiety, disruptive but peaceful protests are necessary in a democracy. Police can and do act on illegal activities that occur at these demonstrations.
In international travel news, Canadian tourists are voicing concerns over Caribbean travel after the U.S. strike on Venezuela. And some are cancelling trips, according to travel agents.
Global Affairs Canada has issued a travel advisory warning Canadians to avoid all travel to Venezuela due to the significant level of violent crime, the unstable political and economic situations, the risk of arbitrary detention, the decline in basic living conditions, including shortages of medication, gasoline, and water, and the possibility that the current situation in Venezuela could deteriorate quickly. Global Affairs didn’t extend its warning to Caribbean islands. But Air Canada has issued its own travel advisory for Venezuela and surrounding regions.
In other international news, European governments, including those in France, Poland, and Germany, are working on how to respond should the U.S. act on its threat to take over Greenland, as Europe seeks to address Donald Trump’s ambitions in the region. Leaders from major European powers and Canada have rallied behind Greenland this week, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people. The Trump administration’s aggressive statements have caused confusion and consternation, as a 1951 agreement between the U.S. and Denmark gives Washington the right to move around freely and construct military bases in Greenland as long as Denmark and Greenland are notified.
And finally, in economic news, the gap between the average worker and Canada’s top-paid Chief Executive Officers widened to a record in 2024, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Average compensation for the 100 best-paid CEOs was over $16 million in 2024, surpassing the previous record in 2022. The average pay for those 100 CEOs was almost 250 times more than the average worker in Canada. Those top CEOs made over $7,800 an hour in 2024, allowing them to make the $65,000 annual pay of the average worker by 9:23 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Sports
The Wellington Dukes are supposed to host the Milton Menace from the West Conference this afternoon, depending on the weather. The Dukes are in seventh place in the East Conference, three points behind St. Mike’s with four games in hand.
Last night in the PWHL, the Toronto Sceptres lost their third in a row, 2 – 0 at home to the New York Sirens, leaving the Sceptres in fourth place, and moving the Sirens into second. Tonight, the Seattle Torrent visit the Boston Fleet, the first-place team in the league.
Four Canadian teams were in action last night in the NHL. The Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4 – 1, to leave them tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division. The Vancouver Canucks lost 5 – 3 to the Sabres in Buffalo. The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Nashville Predators 6 – 2. And the Winnipeg Jets remain in the league basement, and winless in ten games, following their 4 – 3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens host the Calgary Flames and the Ottawa Senators are in Utah.
In the NBA tonight, the Toronto Raptors visit the Charlotte Hornets in an Eastern Conference match.
Finally, Canadian Denis Shapovalov opened his 2026 tennis season yesterday. The 23rd-ranked Shapovalov lost in straight sets in the first round of the Brisbane International, where he was the sixth seed. On the women’s side, Leylah Fernandez was seeded 13th in Brisbane, and also dropped her first match of 2026 yesterday.
