News
Two days after the Toronto Star revealed the Doug Ford Conservatives had bought a used Bombardier Challenger jet for the premier’s use, a chastened Ford said the aircraft would be sold. Ford — who will be in Ottawa today for a business summit with the premiers of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories — had been criticized from across the political spectrum for the purchase and the $28.9m jet will be sold ‘as quickly as possible.’ Ford is known to have a fear of flying, and has chartered private jets for official travel over the past several years, including a trade mission to Texas three weeks ago. Those trips likely cost taxpayers in the neighbourhood of $10,000 per hour.
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States yesterday, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump had said he was sending envoys to Pakistan for talks and would strike Iran unless it accepted his terms. Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends. Trump also threatened the Iranians with an attack against their infrastructure if they didn’t agree to a deal. It’s likely that the Strait of Hormuz will continue to be blockaded by both Iran and the US and we can expect continued high oil prices.
Canadians could see some relief at the pumps starting today as the Federal Government is suspending the fuel excise tax through Labour Day. This means we could see a drop of 10 cents per litre on gas and four cents a litre on diesel, but let’s see what our local gas stations do.
The Royal Hotel in Picton co-hosted an art show this weekend and our Brenda Little has more.
And finally, this year’s Lyrid meteor shower is getting a boost thanks to a dim crescent moon. According to NASA, skywatchers could see 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour soar across the spring sky, when the fiery display peaks Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Hopefully our weather cooperates.
Sports
Juraj Slafkovsky scored his third power-play goal 1:22 into overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in Game 1 of their first-round NHL playoff series on Sunday night. Slafkovsky fired a slap shot from the left circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to the far side for the hat trick. Game 2 goes Tuesday.
In PWHL action yesterday, the Toronto Sceptres blanked the Minnesota Frost 2-nothing as they get ready for the playoffs. Just two games left this season in the 8-team league before the playoffs begin.
The Toronto Blue Jays’ offence broke out in a big way Sunday afternoon, scoring a franchise-record eight runs in the first inning on their way to an easy win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Toronto chased starter Ryne Nelson after he recorded just one out and surrendered eight hits and a walk en route to eight earned runs. The Jays would go on to win the game 10-4, snapping a four-game losing streak.
In the English Premier League, top of the table Arsenal travelled to second place Manchester City, where a 2-1 loss to the Citizens has left the Gunners in a precarious situation. City sits 3 points behind Arsenal with a game in hand and only a few games left in the season.
