Canada

When Frank Sinatra sang about “a city that never sleeps”, he probably wasn’t thinking about the economic boost that busy nightlife can provide to a metropolis.

Yet a growing number of cities around the world are increasingly homing in on ways to strengthen their night-time economy.

Around 100 cities now have some form of “night mayor” or “night tsar” in place, to spur this work.

But most of those cities, including London, Sydney, and Sinatra’s beloved New York, are not up all night. In other words, they don’t allow bars and nightclubs to remain open, and serve alcohol, 24 hours a day.

The striking story of the ‘African Rifles,’ active during the 1860s, presents a different view of Canadian history than that preferred by Ottawa these days

Among the innumerable true stories that defy the dreary and depressing version of Canada’s history that Ottawa prefers nowadays — the version that requires interminable apologies, “decolonization” and acts of contrition, restitution and reparations — just one striking story involves the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps, otherwise known as the African Rifles.

An anti-incumbency fatigue of the kind exhibited by voters in the British parliamentary election and then in France is unmistakably present in Canada. People are angry and poised for change.

If the byelection results in Toronto-St. Paul’s and a string of pollster predictions are a good guide, a change of guard looks all but certain for Ottawa in October 2025.

The Jasper fires are a disaster: Tens of thousands of acres of woods burned, lives disrupted (although thankfully no lives lost), and buildings destroyed.

But as one seasoned observer was quoted, fires are a necessary part of the ecology. And true enough, within days, new green growth was spotted amongst the ashes.