What to expect from this year's Apple Blossom Festival
Crystal Garrett speaks with one of the organizers of the Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival to get details on this year's event.
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CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Trump biopic The Apprentice takes home top film award at Canadian Screen Awards
Social Sharing The divisive, little-seen yet still-controversial Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice managed to grab the brass ring on Sunday, taking home the top award of best motion picture at the final night of the Canadian Screen Awards. It beat out stiff competition in that top category from filmmaker Matthew Rankin's Universal Language, which made the Academy Awards shortlist for best international feature late last year. And while The Apprentice was still the big winner of the night with two, Rankin's surreal comedy was no slouch either. Its five prior wins over the weekend and one Sunday, for directing, meant it still had the most wins of all films nominated. "I'm from Winnipeg, I'm not accustomed to winning anything," Rankin joked, before referencing his film's commentary on alienation, xenophobia and culture shock. "We all know what political moment we're living in; every day there are new Berlin walls shooting up all around us and pitting us against each other into very cruel binaries," he said. "If our film stands for anything, it stands for the fact that kindness can be a radical gesture." It wasn't the only surprise of the night: CTV's Children Ruin Everything increased its trophy count to three, as it stepped in to snatch best comedy series from Crave's Late Bloomer, which had snapped up four trophies this weekend. And while it was up for a total of 20 awards — the most of any nominated title — Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent only managed to increase its trophy count by one, to pull in a paltry total of three this year. The win was a big one, though, as the Canadian version of the expansive Law & Order franchise won best drama series. Triumphant as they were, some of the awards' biggest winners were honoured outside the big night: TV movie Wynonna Earp: Vengeance and documentary series The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal both earned seven honours earlier over the weekend. Pointed messages But Sunday's winners did at least occasionally broach big topics. Upon receiving the best feature length documentary trophy, Molly Wickham alluded to the subject of their film Yintah, which follows Witsuwit'en Nation fighting for its sovereignty in the face of planned pipeline projects. "We still face colonial occupation, and we are still fighting to live in peace as on our land," Wickham said. "The fight continues and we will never give up. Our sovereignty is tied to our collective freedom." Canada's Drag Race won best reality competition — having now done so for every year but one of its five-year broadcast — and increased its total count to eight, the most of any awarded productions this year. Drag queen and Drag Race host Brooke Lynn Hytes spoke about what she'd most like to ask U.S. President Donald Trump backstage in the press room. "What foundation do you use? Because it is the wrong shade," she said, before addressing his policies targeting transgender people. "Why are you targeting the most marginalized, smallest group of people in the country and making an example out of them when they are not doing anything to hurt anybody; they're just trying to exist?" And as The Apprentice 's producer Daniel Bekerman took to the stage, he also spoke of Trump — the subject of their film, who threatened a lawsuit to remove it from circulation. "Our movie shows how the young Donald Trump amassed wealth and power by finding a dilapidated building and slapping his name on it," he said. "Now he wants to slap his name on this country." "The most powerful person in the world tried to squish us, and they failed. They failed." But all in all, the twelve awards and jokes on offer were more or less safe, smooth sailing for a show that hasn't found itself far from disapproval or drama over the past few years. After a pre-packaged, pre-recorded change of format in 2023 that led to complaints from none other than Eugene Levy, the CSAs returned to a live format in 2024, though one that largely focused on the dire and potentially dismal future of Canadian film and television. There was a new round of complaints this year, centred around the awards show's plan to air exclusively online, eschewing the traditional TV broadcast. But after a last-minute reversal of that decision, things went ahead much the same as any prior, nondescript year. That engineered smoothness resulted in an almost pointed exclusion of reference to the many dark clouds hanging over the Canadian film industry. From proposed Hollywood tariffs, to ongoing feuds between the CRTC and streaming platforms fighting against Canadian content obligations, or the bleak performance of Canadian English-language films in comparison to their American counterparts at the box office, few of the industry's existential issues made their way into a broadcast more concerned with gentle preening. Dimmed starlight Instead, there were cautiously celebratory allusions to Canada's artistic importance, such as Manny Jacinto's Radius award for international impact, and an in-memoriam segment for Donald Sutherland presented by his son, actor Kiefer Sutherland, along with hit-and-miss jokes so typical of such ceremonies. The general tone was set by host Lisa Gilroy in her opening skit. In it, she jokingly compared herself to "comedy legend" Martin Short, versus her own status as "Instagram account-holder, Lisay Gilroy," who was like "a Canadian Nikki Glaser, only less successful." But the intermittent bits were just enough to keep the night moving along, if not write home about. And unsurprisingly, the star power for Canada's biggest night was dimmed. The two A-list winners — Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice and Cate Blanchett, who won best performance in a drama for Rumours — did not even offer video or written acceptance speeches, let alone attend. When presenting the night's last award, Hytes even managed to sneak in a self-aware joke that worked for finally breathing a bit of honesty into the proceedings. "The eyes of the world are focused on this stage," she said to doubting laughs. "And by the world, I do mean Canada." The stars who did attend did seem genuinely affected by the honour. As Allegiance 's Supinder Wratch accepted her trophy for best lead performer in a drama series, her voice quivered while remarking on her father's recent passing. And when Run the Burbs ' Andrew Phung won best lead performer in a comedy series, he could barely keep from crying during his acceptance speech. Despite it being his sixth career acting CSA, he struggled through the emotion the award brought out as he barrelled through thank-yous. "Today is our twentieth anniversary," he said as his voice broke and the camera pointed to his wife, Tamara Sharpe. "When I felt like I couldn't do anything, you made me believe that I could do everything. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much."
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Meet the 11 candidates vying to succeed George Darouze in Osgoode
Social Sharing Better roads. More police. Giving rural wards like Osgoode a stronger voice at city council. These are some of the goals of the 11 people vying to be Ottawa's next Ward 20 councillor. The seat became vacant after George Darouze was elected as Carleton's MPP. Residents will vote on his replacement on June 16 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, or in advance on June 6. To help electors understand who the candidates are and what they stand for, we asked all 11 to complete a questionnaire, and most of them responded. You can learn more about the candidates and what they had to say by reading their questionnaire responses below. You can also skip directly to the candidate you want to hear from by following these links: The election comes over a year before the city's next general election on Oct. 26, 2026. For more information about where and how to vote, visit the city's election page. Candidates CBC Ottawa sent a detailed questionnaire to Osgoode candidates and all but one responded. Candidates were also asked to submit photos of themselves. Where candidates have websites or campaign pages on social media, those links can be accessed by clicking on the candidate's name. Road maintenance, plus policing and emergency presence are among Boone's top priorities for the ward. here. Gulati cites the creation a local business association as one of his top priorities, and also wants to make the Tewin development a "win-win situation" for residents and developers. Read his questionnaire answers in full here. Dalton Holloway Holloway says it's important that Osgoode has the right infrastructure. He also wants to make sure the rural voice is "amplified." here. Colette Lacroix-Velthuis Ensuring the city executes on the area's core services, community safety, and emergency services "that we deserve" are among Lacroix-Velthuis's priorities. here. Dan O'Brien O'Brien says he wants improved road conditions in the ward — and more police to discourage speeding and other illegal activity. here. Isabelle Skalski Priorities for Skalski start with roads: better maintenance, addressing a lack of paved shoulders and expanding key routes. here. Doug Thompson Thompson also counts a lack of sufficient policing as a concern, and he's also advocating for road upgrades. here. Gregory Vail Vail is intent on joining forces with Ottawa's four other rural councillors to strength their collective voice, and working closely with community groups. here. Jennifer van Koughnett "My platform is what I like to call the Ts; traffic: trails, and transparency," van Koughnett writes. Arnold Vaughan Peter Westaway Westaway is intensely focused on rethinking Ottawa's Greenbelt, and believes the ward should concern itself more with what is going on in the city as a whole.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Strong mayor powers used to block majority on fractious eastern Ontario council
The mayor of a small, conflict-wracked eastern Ontario council has exercised strong mayor powers, just a month after the controversial measures were extended to new municipalities. Last week Arie Hoogenboom, the mayor of Rideau Lakes, vetoed a council decision to seek quotes for a plan to renovate the municipal offices of the township located about 100 kilometres southwest of downtown Ottawa. Whether to upgrade existing offices or build new ones is the source of a long-running and acrimonious dispute that has divided the council. Opposing factions have levelled more than a dozen integrity commissioner complaints against each other. The existing offices are located in the hamlet of Chantry and require upgrading. Hoogenboom is in favour of relocating the facilities to a more populated area, and believes this measure could facilitate the development of a subdivision. But a majority of council members oppose the idea as too expensive, preferring to renovate existing offices. In March, Hoogenboom said the atmosphere had grown so toxic that he was temporarily stepping away from some of his duties. But that didn't stop him last Monday from vetoing a decision by his opponents to send a retrofit and addition plan for the existing municipal offices out to tender. 'So much bigger than the issues in Rideau Lakes' To invoke the new powers, mayors are required to give a rationale for how the move aligns with provincial priorities. Hoogenboom justified his veto by referring to provincial priorities to build new homes and maintain infrastructure, and said he retained the backing of the local community. "In the last election I received a significant mandate from the public to build a municipal office," he said in an interview. "I'm totally convinced that if there was any public consultation on this, the public would clearly indicate that they were in favour of my option." But Paula Banks, one of five councillors opposed to Hoogenboom, said using the strong mayor powers was undemocratic. "It's a five-three vote and he was allowed to stop us," she said. "This story is so much bigger than the issues in Rideau Lakes." On May 1, mayors in 169 Ontario municipalities were given the power to veto bylaws, pass others with just a third of council in favour and fire and hire municipal department heads. The measures were first introduced in 2022 for the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, as a way to advance provincial policy priorities. Powers 'undemocratic' But the measures have proven controversial. Banks said she is reaching out to the other municipalities recently awarded strong mayor powers and said most she has heard from are against them. "The majority of municipalities oppose this," she said. "Our mayors are saying it's a bad idea, our councillors are saying it's undemocratic and the Ford government is just ignoring it." Banks said she hopes to build a coalition to lobby Premier Doug Ford to rescind the provisions. In Rideau Lakes, Banks and her four allies passed a resolution at council opposing strong mayor powers and asking to opt out. Hoogenboom was absent from the vote. After Hoogenboom used his new powers, those five councillors sought to defeat their use but lacked the two-thirds majority needed to do so. That has left the divided council unable to proceed on a course of action, Hoogenboom said. "We're still a bit hamstrung," he said, acknowledging that his "mandate is severely compromised." In the meantime, a decision on what to do about the township's municipal offices will likely have to wait until after elections next year, according to Hoogenboom. "When there's a good chance that there would be more people who would be willing to row in the same direction," he said.
