Ontario PC leadership debate lacks any reference to anal sex. Tanya Granic Allen avoided using explicit terms to complain about the sex-ed curriculum on this second round, but she ranted about it enough anyhow, with Doug Ford in her corner. Meanwhile, it was left to Caroline Mulroney to mock social conservative obsessions, while dodging a question afterward about why she sends her kids to private school. Well, at least she doesn't look totally ludicrous standing next to a rapper:

Nick Kouvalis cleared of breaking, entering and drinking at a Kelseys. The political strategist got off with minimal penalties after pleading guilty to trespassing at a roadhouse with failed Ontario PC nominee Sarah Warry-Poljanski. Kouvalis' longtime frenemy Warren Kinsella was left wondering if something more conspiratorial was afoot, related to previous work with the police union and mayor.

Hedley heading to the end of the road. The threat of further concert cancellations and ticket buyers begging for refunds (not to mention the fact that even crisis communication companies ended up distancing themselves from the band) prompted Hedley's frontman to respond to ongoing misconduct allegations. Hoggard denied ever engaging in non-consensual sexual behaviour, but admitted his treatment of women has been “reckless and dismissive." He announced "an indefinite hiatus" from music after Hedley's tour ends on March 23:

Paul Godfrey expects Postmedia to produce “poorer journalism.” The federal budget doesn't appear to contain any new money for big-city newspapers, and Godfrey is angry. In the Globe and Mail, he calls all the discussion about a potential bailout a waste of time, and balks at the idea of giving charitable status to journalism jobs. Torstar claims the lack of taxpayer funding will have little impact on vague new “products and initiatives.”

The state of Canadian content in the New York Times. Efforts by the Gray [sic] Lady to reach northern subscribers now include Toronto real estate clickbait, where the average price of a house is confusingly framed as “736,783 Canadian dollars (about $584,500).” And yet, Brooklyn-based writer Matthew Kassel, who lived in Montreal for a time, claims that thinking about temperature entirely in metric liberated him from worrying about weather:

Lee’s Palace cartoon legacy can now be barfed in. Alex Currie, the artist who draws under the name RUNT, found business booming after his third round of cartooning the exterior of the Bloor and Bathurst nightclub. His recent commissions include a TTC Ride Guide and cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now he’s one of three local artists designing a new look (and maybe uniforms) for the short-haul FlyGTA:

The Message is a medium that was put on hold for 15 years. Tarragon Theatre announced a November premiere of Jason Sherman’s play about the last months in the life of Marshall McLuhan, during which McLuhan couldn’t speak because of a stroke. The show was set to launch the 2003-04 season, until McLuhan’s widow Corinne (who died in 2008) objected to the portrayal. The family still doesn’t like the script, according to son Michael McLuhan—it just decided not to stop it now.