Latest news with #BrianWilliams
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Tom Llamas is taking over for Lester Holt. Will viewers keep watching?
For the past 10 years, 'NBC Nightly News' viewers have come to expect Lester Holt in the anchor seat at 6:30 every weeknight, providing a tight and polished overview of the day's biggest news stories. The newscast has only had three anchors in the past 40 years: Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, then Holt. On Monday, Tom Llamas will take over the job, while Holt will remain at the network to expand his role on 'Dateline.'
Toronto Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
'Crazy idea:' Ontario councillors push back as strong mayor powers reach small towns
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack is MPP for Elgin--Middlesex--London. Photo by Brian Williams / Postmedia TORONTO — A month after Ontario's government extended strong mayor powers to a swath of new municipalities, some leaders are promising never to use the measures — but a chorus of small-town councillors warn that local democracy is under threat. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account As of May 1, another 169 mayors in the province can now veto bylaws, pass new ones with just one-third of council in favour and hire or fire municipal department heads unilaterally. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said last month that the province decided to more than triple the number of mayors who can access the powers in an effort to build housing faster and streamline local governance. The measures were first introduced in 2022 and initially only applied to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario's two most populous cities. Several municipalities are taking active steps to reject the powers now that they have been granted more widely. Mark Hunter, one of 10 city councillors in Stratford, recently got unanimous support for his motion to reject the new powers. Hunter said it was symbolic and designed to show that municipal democracy shouldn't be 'subject to provincial whim.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'What it effectively does is get rid of majority rule in our council,' he said. 'It's the expectation of the residents in our community that their representatives are able to fully represent them and this change puts some level of diminishment on that.' Recommended video Hunter said his fellow councillors can have strong disagreements at council, but lively discussions result in better decisions for the community. Anything that diminishes that discussion is worse for residents, he said. Councillors aren't concerned about Stratford's current mayor abusing his power, said Hunter, but they are worried about what could happen in the future. 'It's another example of concentrating power in fewer hands. Unfortunately in human history, that doesn't always work out so well,' he said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. David O'Neil, a councillor in Quinte West, said he is also concerned about strong mayor powers, adding they represent 'a real misdirection' by the province. 'I think this decision is on par with the crazy idea of building a tunnel under the 401,' O'Neil said, referring to Premier Doug Ford's promise to add a tunnel under the major Ontario highway. He added he is skeptical that strong mayor powers would lead to new housing being built in his community, and thinks the province should waive development fees if it wants to see more housing built. Zack Card, another councillor for Quinte West, said he believes the expansion of the strong mayor powers will 'erode the democratic traditions of municipal councils in Ontario.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I believe effective councils work collaboratively and with an understanding that all voices carry equal weight. Tipping that balance could potentially hinder governance and make solving issues within our communities more difficult,' Card wrote in an email. Neither O'Neil nor Card would speak to the recent dismissal of the municipality's chief administration officer, which was described on the municipality's website as a 'mayoral decision' pursuant to the legislation, made on the first day the powers were available. Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said in an email to The Canadian Press that 'the decision was made in close collaboration and consensus with council, utilizing strong mayor powers to move forward.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Less than a week after the decision, he told a council meeting that he wasn't planning to make use of the strong mayor powers. O'Neil suggested his concern is more future-oriented: it's unclear what could a different sort of mayor do with these powers five, 10 or 20 years down the road. David Arbuckle, executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, said unilateral power threatens a local government's administrative authority and staffers' ability to give non-partisan, evidence-based advice. 'It's changed the dynamic where (a city staffer) now has to be mindful of the fact that they could be hired or fired by the mayor at any point in time,' Arbuckle said in a recent interview. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'The advice they're bringing forward may not be as neutral as possible because ultimately they are now responding to one individual.' Corey Engelsdorfer, a councillor from Prince Edward County, said he's worried the powers will exacerbate existing divisions on his council and, should they be used, could 'sideline' constituents even as the community experiences a boom in development. The traditional model of majority rule is already divisive, Engelsdorfer said — especially when it comes to housing decisions — so decisions being made with even less support could lead to even more public cynicism. 'The way we build homes is by working together as a council and not by one person or a third of council pushing through what they want to push through,' he said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I always hear Premier Ford say that these changes cut red tape, but democracy to me is not red tape. I don't think it's something that needs to be in place at all.' Mayor Steve Ferguson said in an interview that he was working to defer several of the strong mayor powers, including personnel decisions, back to council. The council also unanimously passed a resolution asking the province to rescind strong mayor legislation, Engelsdorfer said. Despite the concerns, Matti Siemiatycki, director of the University of Toronto's Infrastructure Institute and a professor of geography and planning, said the uptake of the powers has been 'fairly underwhelming.' Before last month, there were only 46 so-called strong mayors in Ontario. Only a few made use of their powers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. High-profile examples include Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath advancing affordable housing development on two municipal parking lots in April 2024, and Mississauga's former mayor Bonnie Crombie passing bylaws to build fourplexes in October 2023. But Siemiatycki said he fears there's greater risk for strong mayor powers to go unchecked in smaller municipalities, where there is less oversight and, often, less journalistic scrutiny. 'We've seen an erosion and a decline of the local presses across Canada, and it's no more visible than in small communities,' he said. Siemiatycki said while he sympathizes with the province's desire to tackle a housing and infrastructure crisis, he agrees with the councillors who have raised concerns. Sports Columnists Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Columnists
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Johnstone Burgh chairman hopes 57-year wait for Junior Cup glory could be ended
Brian Williams will watch his side take on Tranent in Sunday's showpiece at Broadwood Stadium. Brian Williams insists Johnstone Burgh's class of 2024-25 have the chance to be spoken about in 50 years. The West of Scotland League Premier Division side face Tranent of the Lowland League in the final of the Junior Cup on Sunday. Burgh last reached the final in 2000 when they lost to East of Scotland League outfit Whitburn Juniors on penalties and their last success in the competition was way back in 1968. However, Williams admits that — whatever the outcome for Murdo MacKinnon and his team — he knows it will be a day out everyone will enjoy. 'I'm looking forward to it and I'm quite excited about it,' the Keanie Park chairman told the Paisley Daily Express. 'It is 25 years since we were last at this stage and I was there. 'It was a fantastic day out but a disappointing result but it was a spectacle We hope Sunday is the same and shows how far the club has come over the years.' The competition is one which is of great importance to many Burgh supporters of a certain generation as it is associated with the club's most successful period in the 1950s and 60s. The club won Junior football's top prize — the Junior Cup — twice with Jimmy Blackburn and Peter Donald in charge of those historical moments. In the modern era, however, the club have endured tough times and dropped down the divisions with real fears for the future. But thanks to dedicated individuals — with Williams being one of them after his association with the club started in the wake of the 2000 final — the club continued to operate until new investors arrived in 2023. 'It's a tournament that has a lot of history in the club,' Williams says of the Junior Cup, 'especially with the team from the 50s and 60s during that successful period. 'And 25 years ago when I came here, I was fortunate a lot of the old guard were still here. From what we've done since the 60s, we've been a sleeping giant for 20 or 30 years. 'I'll admit that basically eight or nine years ago, we probably should have gone to the wall. But myself and a couple of others decided we'll keep going and we'll fight on. 'But I'd say at this club at the moment, everything's looking superb —we have, plans we have for the future, the amount of kids we have here — over 350 kids playing for every single age group — the difference from 10 years is completely night and day.' And if Burgh were to go and lift the cup on Sunday, Williams admits a few tears would be shed. He added: 'I'd probably start crying! 'If we do win it, just the fact that highlighting the club, being in that public eye, the crowds are growing and people now realise that there's a good club here. It's a good atmosphere, it's a family club. 'Hopefully the boys will do that this Sunday and, if they win, they'll be talked about in 50 years.'
Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
LIVE UPDATES: Goalie Carter Hart testifies at Hockey Canada trial
Trial of five players from Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team, charged with sexual assault, continues on Thursday Brian Williams • Local Journalism Initiative reporter Published May 29, 2025 • Last updated 27 minutes ago • < 1 minute read Carter Hart was photographed outside the London courthouse on May 20, 2025. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press) The trial of five players from Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team, charged with sexual assault over an alleged incident inside a London hotel, continues on Thursday with the Crown closing its case and goalie Carter Hart testifying. Follow along below for live coverage from LFP reporter Brian Williams This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Tennis Celebrity
Toronto Sun
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Sun
LIVE UPDATES: London, Ont. police detective testifies at Hockey Canada trial
Brian Williams • Local Journalism Initiative reporter Published May 28, 2025 • Last updated 3 hours ago • < 1 minute read Clockwise from top left: Hockey players Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote enter the London courthouse on April 22, 2025. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press) Now-retired London police Det. Stephen Newton will continue testifying on Wednesday at the trial of five players from Canada's 2018 world junior hockey team, who are charged with sexual assault. Newton decided against criminal charges in the initial investigation. Follow below for live coverage by LFP reporter Brian Williams This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Canada Music Editorial Cartoons Tennis Crime
