As the NHL playoffs head to the third round, the blood sport of politics dominated headlines. Managing editor, George Browne, takes a look back at the big news stories that shaped this week.
State of the Ford Nation
German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote “Journalists are like dogs, whenever anything moves they begin to bark.” Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was less complimentary calling the news media a “Bunch of maggots,” on his weekly radio show he co-hosts with his brother Doug Ford, who gave his own warning Sunday; “the gloves are off.”
“The point is, they’re coming after us, I’m coming after them. This is new politics folks,” Doug Ford said.
Mayor Ford later apologized to the hordes of news hounds camped out in front of his office; “I sincerely apologize to each and every one of you, I understand you have a job to do.”
While maintaining it was business as usual at City Hall, questions about an alleged video showing someone matching his appearance smoking what could be crack cocaine continued to dog the mayor.
Ford has said no such video exists and called allegations from the Toronto Star and American website Gawker “ridiculous.” Global News has not seen the video and cannot verify its authenticity.
And speaking of the alleged video – the U.S. based website Gawker reached its goal of $200,000 Monday afternoon with less than 11 hours before the campaign closed.
The news coming out of the mayor’s office continued with a string of resignations. Faced with an apparent exodus from his inside circle, Ford maintained “Nothing is wrong.” Early in the week, Press Secretary George Christopoulos and Deputy Press Secretary Isaac Ransom quit. This followed the firing of Ford’s chief of staff Mark Towhey. By Thursday – two more were gone. Policy advisor Brian Johnston and executive assistant Kia Nejatian handed in their resignations.
Senate scandal
And while the Ottawa Senators weren’t successful getting to the next round of the playoffs, the so-called scandal involving Senators’ expenses went into overtime.
The Prime Minister was back in town after a week in South America, and faced pointed questions from the opposition Tuesday in his first question period since Wright, his former chief of staff, resigned amid the ongoing scandal.
When did he learn about Nigel Wright’s deal with Mike Duffy? What directives did he give Wright? And has he seen the $90,000 cheque?
The Canadian Press’s Jennifer Ditchburn wrote about “Where was Mike Duffy when he was spending taxpayer money?”
The issue now is not just whether Duffy lived most of the time in Prince Edward Island or Ottawa, but that he was allegedly misrepresenting his whereabouts to line his own pockets with taxpayers’ money.
Ashley Smith Inquiry
In a Global News exclusive, Laura Stone revealed that Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion saw nothing wrong with injecting drugs into teenage inmate Ashley Smith against her will.
Global News obtained Dion’s 2010 report about Smith, the 19-year-old inmate who choked herself to death in a prison cell in 2007, as guards, on orders not to enter, stood by and watched.
The Don River Parkway
One of the busiest roads in Canada was underwater Wednesday after Toronto received more rain in one hour than in a typical month.
Oklahoma was under severe tornado watch again this week after last week’s deadly storms.
Science and weather specialist Nicole Mortillaro asks “how bad has this tornado season been?” You may be surprised by the answer.
With summer just around the corner, so too are heat waves. Carmen Chai explains how extreme heat can affect the body.
In health news…
Experts warn of the serious rise in Lyme disease across Canada.
The culprit – an expanding population of ticks is adding to the increasing number of Lyme disease cases. In 2011, for example, there were 258 human cases – a significant climb from previous years.
Warmer weather may also be a contributing factor.
In the news you can chew department – Health reporter Carmen Chai revealed “What Canadians want to know about what’s in fast food meals.”
Tech reporter Nicole Bogart talks to an ER doctor at St. Catharines General Hospital about how gadgets like the iPad are helping doctors become more efficient and helping patients feel more involved in their diagnosis.
Too close for comfort?
The asteroid known as the QE2 passed by earth Friday afternoon – and thankfully from a safe distance.
The asteroid (not the crusie ship) is about 2.7 km long and even has its own moon.
And in animal news….
The Ikea Monkey was back in the news this week as the trial got underway. Darwin’s former owner took the stand and told the court she misunderstood a custody form.
And a fisherman in Belarus was killed by a beaver.
Barenaked Performance
The Barenaked Ladies, set to release their latest recording, performed live on The Morning Show this week.
Globalnews.ca’s Adam Frisk captured the event with his still camera.
Un-crowning moment
A typo in last weekend’s Miss Universe Canada pageant meant officials crowned the wrong winner.
Denise Garrido of Bradford, Ont. was announced as the winner at Saturday’s pageant at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto.
But the following day, producers found a mistake in the scoring results. Calgary’s Riza Santos was supposed to have won the title.
Passionate speech
We end on how actor Patrick Stewart proved that you don’t need to be the captain of the Enterprise to be seen as a hero.
During a Q&A at 2013 Comicpalooza in Texas last weekend, Stewart received a standing ovation after giving a passionate response about violence against women and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A video of the event has gone viral. Global News’ Irene Ogrodnik spoke with the woman featured in the video with Stewart.
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