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CTV News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘Victoria Park, Home County, inseparable': Home County Festival returns after hiatus
Music fans packed into the centre of Victoria Park Saturday as hometown singer Leanne Mayer kicked off the return of the Home County Music and Art Festival (HCMAF). 'Victoria Park, Home County, they're inseparable,' said Bev Camp, known as the 'Dancing Cowboy' and a fixture at local festivals. 'This is the life of the city, even for a day. Look at the people here from all over. Same as Sunfest, it's the best.' The 49th annual HCMAF returned to Victoria Park two years after organizers with the Home County Folk League (HCFL) paused due to financial constraints. Home County Music and Art Festival 2025 Bev Camp, known as the 'Dancing Cowboy' is a fixture at London, Ont. music festivals (Brent Lale/CTV News London) A year ago, they held a small festival at London Brewing Coop. This year they came back downtown with just one stage instead of five. 'It's a testament to Londoners love of Home County,' said Artistic Director Darin Addison about the large afternoon crowd. 'We normally have five stages, going on all at the same time so there's something for everybody. If they don't like what's on one side, they go to another stage. So we had to be very meticulous about who we put on the stage. We want something that's going to appeal to a broader audience. I think we've done a great job with the lineup.' That lineup included Mayer, a contemporary singer-songwriter, as the opening act. Home County Music and Art Festival 2025 Leanne Mayer of London, Ont. opens the 49th annual Home County Music and Art Festival at Victoria Park on Saturday, July 26, 2025. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) 'It's an honour to be included in the lineup, especially in a shortened group,' said Mayer, who last played the festival in 2019. 'I've been lucky to get a lot of support from London. Home County is London's gem. Everybody loves Home County, all the Indie musicians, so it means the world to me to be included.' This year, the HCFL was taking donations at the park and asking patrons to also spend money in their beer garden or with the vendors. Organizers will assess this year's festival and then regroup as they look toward planning next year's event. Home County Music and Art Festival 2025 Hundreds of people packed the lawn at Victoria Park for the 49th annual Home County Music and Art Festival on Saturday, July 26, 2025. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) 'If we get the donations and the turnout, then that's certainly going to be inspiration to bring it back to a three-day festival and next year will be the 50th. The HCFL's new fiscal year begins in September, so they'll start talking about a return to a three-day event. 'We've got 11 months to put it together,' said Addison.
CBC
7 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Hockey Canada sexual assault trial 'reinvigorated' talk on complex issue of consent, sports culture
WARNING: This article gives graphic details of alleged sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone impacted by it. Regardless of the outcome of the sexual assault trial for five former world junior hockey players, the issues it's raised — about hockey culture, consent and how the legal system handles such complaints — will be debated long after the judge hands down her decisions Thursday in London, Ont., suggest legal experts and advocates. It's expected Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia will give lengthy reasons for her rulings after the eight-week trial that wrapped in mid-June. Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote and Michael McLeod have all pleaded not guilty. The case centres on a woman, known in court as E.M. due to a standard publication ban, who testified she was sexually assaulted over several hours in a London hotel in June 2018. The decisions will be "just one part of a much bigger story and saga around both the lives that are implicated in this particular case, but also how we deal with sexual assault in the criminal justice system, and how we deal with sexual assault in sport and in society in general," said Melanie Randall, a law professor at London's Western University. "The case is really important and significant because it throws into stark relief so many bigger issues." Carroccia will explain the legal reasoning for her verdict, something that wouldn't happen if jurors were deciding the outcome because jury deliberations are private in Canada, Randall said. "I'm really glad it's a judge because we will hear her articulate a rationale for why she found what she did, and that's really, really important." Each of the five accused men, who all went on to NHL careers at one point, has been charged with one count of sexual assault. McLeod is the only one facing another charge, of being a party to the offence, for allegedly inviting his teammates to his hotel room for sex acts with E.M. without her knowledge or permission. Brandon Trask, a University of Manitoba associate law professor, describes the case as "an onion" with many layers, from the criminal to the societal. "Even if the result is that nobody is found guilty, I don't think any of the accused should be proud of their actions," Trask said. "This should be quite eye-opening for everybody about the culture in relation to hockey. Collectively we need to say as a society, 'We're not going to accept this.' It doesn't hinge on whether this is ultimately criminal behaviours or not. It is not acceptable. "Determining whether something is good or bad is not the same as determining whether something is criminal or not criminal. You can have horrible behaviour that isn't proven to be criminal beyond a reasonable doubt, but it's still horrible behaviour." During the trial, which began in early April, five defence teams grilled E.M. in an effort to raise questions about her credibility and reliability as she testified over nine days. There was also a mistrial and two juries were dismissed. "It shows how incredibly challenging it is to prosecute sexual assault cases," Randall said. Trials are an "uphill battle for sexual assault complainants," who are faced with a system that "vigorously protects the rights of the accused," she said. "It's challenging with an adversarial system. It is really polarizing and it's all or nothing, and it does create resistance to any kind of admission of responsibility." Some have suggested creating a process in which the accused starts by acknowledging wrongdoing, a "radical shift" from the current justice system, Randall added. Concerns about 'consent videos' In opening statements, Crown prosecutor Meaghan Cunningham emphasized that the case hinges on what is and isn't consent. Among the agreed facts is that E.M. initially had consensual sex with McLeod after a night of drinking at Jack's bar. E.M., however, testified McLeod's teammates ended up showing up in his hotel room while she was naked, and she wasn't alerted about that. She said she went along with what the men wanted after they put a bed sheet on the ground and asked her to touch herself sexually because she was afraid, and that her mind separated from her body. WATCH | CBC's Katie Nicholson breaks down what happened during the world juniors trial: Hockey Canada sexual assault trial recap 1 month ago The sexual assault trial of five former world junior hockey players stretched across three months in London, Ont., before finally coming to a close with the last witness. CBC's Katie Nicholson breaks down some of the key moments and testimony. E.M., who was 20 in June 2018, also testified she did not consent to the various sexual encounters, including oral sex, vaginal sex, buttocks slapping and the splits that Foote allegedly did over her face while he was naked. According to the defence, E.M. aggressively egged the men on, asking them to have sex with her and chirping them when they did not do so quickly enough. McLeod recorded two videos after the sexual encounters in which E.M. is seen saying she consented. However, E.M. testified she didn't remember the videos, and legally, they are "almost useless," Trask said, "because consent needs to be contemporaneous with the actions that took place." Conversations about consent and toxic masculinity started long ago, but were "reinvigorated" and "escalated" by the widely followed case, Randall said. "It really does show some of the gender dynamics that are still alive and well in these kinds of situations, and also the complex psychology of how people respond when they're feeling threatened and afraid." Call for more education Pretty much daily during the trial's proceedings, supporters of E.M. made their presence known outside the London courthouse. But the case also drew some people supporting the accused men. Still, the trial showcased that some young men don't understand power dynamics and consent, said Katreena Scott, academic director of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at London's Western University. "It was a group of young men and one young woman. We have a situation where we have a group of young men who used a young woman essentially as a sex object," Scott said. "What do we need to do to create healthier sexual norms and relationships between young men and women? This trial for me is also about, 'What does a respectful sexual relationship look like?'" Hockey Canada came under scrutiny after the world junior hockey allegations first surfaced, as first reported by TSN's Rick Westhead in 2022. The hockey organization had a fund set up, using registration fees across the country, to pay for sexual assault settlements, including one to E.M. after police closed the initial criminal investigation. "This is a group of young men who know each other, who have a shared bond, who have important relationships among each other," Scott said. "They have influence over each other and also the ability for any one of them to say, 'Wait. Stop. I don't know if this is OK.' What kind of education are they getting and what kind of norms are happening that entitle young men to feel that when they're part of a sports organization and they have this status, they have certain expectations."
CBC
04-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Should Quebec require landlords to keep apartments cool during summer?
Montreal has been faced with record-breaking heat already this summer, and heat waves have been known to kill dozens of people in the city as people swelter in their residences without air conditioning. In Quebec, there are rules about minimum temperatures inside apartment units during the colder months, but there aren't any about maximum temperatures in the summer. Elsewhere in Canada, some cities are moving to tackle extreme heat with legislation or initiatives aimed at keeping apartments cool. In September 2024, a council committee in London, Ont., voted to direct staff to develop a bylaw that would mandate that temperatures in rental units be kept below 26 C. In Hamilton, Ont., the city helps low-income households get air conditioners. A greater number of Hamilton tenants will be receiving financial help to buy an air conditioner this year compared to last — ahead of what's expected to be another hot and humid summer. The city will expand a grant program to provide $350 subsidies for low-income renters who have severe medical conditions likely to worsen in the heat. Ontario Works, a social assistance program, already provides grants for AC units to about 50 Hamilton residents, says a staff report. The city's new contribution of $52,500 will expand the program to support a total of 200 people. WATCH | No rules about maximum heat — yet: Should there be a maximum indoor temperature in rental housing? 5 minutes ago Duration 1:56 Renters left to shoulder costs In 2023, 445 tenants across Canada were surveyed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income people. ACORN's summary report identified the most common barriers to having air conditioning: high costs, threats of eviction and lease agreements that prohibit installing AC units. This year, ACORN released a report saying 44 per cent of 700 tenants surveyed said they had no access to air conditioning, and 67 per cent are paying out of pocket for utilities, often in poorly insulated buildings where every degree of comfort comes at a steep cost. ACORN says "low- and moderate-income renters are being left to shoulder the cost of the climate crisis without the protections they deserve." The association is calling for mandatory cooling requirements in all federally funded retrofits and building performance standards. Older Montreal buildings hard to retrofit In Montreal, Margaret van Nooten, with Project Genesis, says people come to her organization in the summer asking if there is a limit on how hot apartments can get. "Montreal is a city where a lot of the buildings are older. And so they don't have a central heating system," she explained. Without the duct work, there's no easy way to connect a central cooling system. Martin Messier, president of the Quebec Landlords Association, agrees retrofitting older buildings is no easy task, and it's not just a question of adding duct work. "They don't have the electrical power to sustain the demand like this," he said. At the same time, he added, it's something that will need addressing in the future when it comes to regulations surrounding new construction. Tudor Matei, a Montreal Public Health toxicologist, said in the context of climate change and the region's rising temperatures, "it's more and more of a problem." Matei said when it is hot outside, it's important to go check on friends and family. During the summer heat wave in 2018, 66 people died in Montreal. Around two-thirds of those deaths were seniors with underlying health conditions. A 2024 study from Quebec's Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) suggests that heat is responsible for 470 deaths per year in the province, and that the number will increase if nothing changes. Along with deaths, there are over 200 hospitalizations and thousands of emergency room visits. CBC News didn't receive a response from the City of Montreal in time for publication, but the Quebec government says it is looking into the issue. According to a spokesperson for Quebec's housing minister, France-Élaine Duranceau, adapting housing to heat waves is one of the concerns related to housing quality. "We are focusing on better construction and renovation practices to ensure improved thermal comfort, both in summer and winter," said Justine Vézina. "Energy efficiency is an important consideration when it comes to housing." She said the ministry will be monitoring initiatives undertaken elsewhere in the country.
