“Brown girls to the front” gets complicated. Lido Pimienta's intersectional sensibility, introduced to many during her piqued speech at the Polaris Music Prize, was displayed again during an incident at the Halifax Pop Explosion, which led to the festival apologizing for the “overt racism” of a photographer who didn’t acquiesce when Pimienta ordered all the "brown girls" to the lip of the stage. Now we've got coverage of the history of Pimienta's political sentiments on Twitter—including thoughts on ZIonism. In an interview, she derided the clickbait, explaining that her views on audience organization were inspired by a previous confrontation with a “yoga pants-wearing white woman.”

“I never apologized for the allegations.” Ximena Morris issued an apology to David Peterson and his wife after the dismissal of her $3-million sexual harassment claim against the former premier. Morris says she withdrew the lawsuit in order to get on with her life. “No matter the outcome,” explained Morris, “I won. The moment I went public and broke the shackles of silence they had confined me to, I won.”

“Furious George” Smitherman’s reputation preceded him when he tried to return to Queen’s Park. Steve Paikin got the scoop on some recent drama in Toronto Centre. When Glen Murray stepped down as MPP, his predecessor, George Smitherman, decided to look into a provincial comeback. But new Liberal rules say the party will reject anyone who might bring on “controversy or disrepute,” which probably is the case for someone with e-Health and Green Energy Act scandals behind them. (Also, there are rumours that the party would rather recruit Kristyn Wong-Tam.) Smitherman blasted the Grits for abandoning their grassroots—and has rebooted his city council aspirations for 2018 instead.

Feds to spend $36.4 million to tell you to not smoke legal weed. Pot czar Bill Blair hopes honest conversations with youth can be bought for years to come—although what to call the stuff may be up for debate after a Halifax councillor determined that the word “marijuana” is racially charged. Meanwhile, former top cop Julian Fantino is defending his medpot job, saying he’s open to anything legal.

Public relations firm admonishes brands for not being genuine enough. Cohn & Wolfe produces a global “Authentic 100” list, based on researched reactions to familiar trademarks. This year, they concluded that many brands are failing to feel real to Canadians. Despite growing frustration from franchisees, Tim Hortons ranked highest of them all:

Sault Ste. Marie is investigating whether The Raccoons just want to be free. The Art Gallery of Algoma says it lacks the resources and space to continue keeping 600 boxes of animation cels, which has led to pressure from the Soo city council to sell them off, considering the fact that their value was appraised eight years ago at $11 million. Because the hand-painted Raccoons and other drawings are certified by the Canadian Cultural Property Review Board, the gallery is restricted in what it can do with them. For now, it has at least managed to reduce monthly storage costs by $100.

Smells like the twilight of hipster doofus programming. Despite being praised as the greatest Canadian TV of our times, Nirvanna the Band the Show wasn’t renewed by Viceland in the U.S., implying a limited appetite for Toronto surreality. Now, the Globe and Mail wonders why it's largely unwatched, even though the network defends it as “the best premiere we’ve had to date for a Canadian original series on Viceland.”