Morning Brief: Free Tuition For Healthcare Workers, Toronto Remembers Meghan Markle & More

Good morning — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off The Top: John Legend and Chrissy Teigen were ecstatic to introduce their newborn baby girl to the world earlier this month — though their baby girl's name drew some snickers from French-speaking Canadians. "She's here! Esti Maxine Stephens," Teigen wrote on Instagram. The problem? In Quebec, the word "esti"/"ostie" is an all-purpose swear word, comparable to dropping the F-bomb.

In Case You Missed It

Who Controls The Window Shade On An Airplane?

TikToker Eric Goldie in his video on an airplane.

ericgoldie | TikTok

It's the debate of our lifetime — well, the debate of our lifetime that doesn't involve anything that actually impacts our day-to-day lives: who has the right to raise and lower the window shades on an airplane? A TikToker recently recorded himself literally swatting away the hand of the person sitting behind him as they attempted to raise a shade that was directly adjacent to the TikToker's (fully reclined) seat.

After speaking with an etiquette expert, the answer here is pretty simple, Asymina Kantorowicz notes: if the window is more than 50% on your side of the row, it's your call (though seat mates in your row can ask to raise or lower the shades too).

• My Take: The creator of the video says the person behind him only tried to raise the window shade once... so are we to believe that TikToker was just waiting the entire flight with his finger over the record button just in case his neighbour happened to reach over? Smells fishy to me.
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Who's Eligible For Ontario's Healthcare Worker Tuition Coverage?

Premier Doug Ford at a press conference.

Premier of Ontario | YouTube

Late last week, Premier Doug Ford announced the Ontario government will help cover the tuition of 2,500 future healthcare workers. It's an expansion of the province's "Learn and Stay" grant, which will now encompass "nurses, paramedics and med-techs in more underserved and growing communities." Mira Nabulsi explains how the program works.

• Eligibility: Prospective applicants must enrol in an eligible program in a "priority community," be an Ontario resident and either a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or protected person, and commit to working in the region where they studied.
• In Their Words: "We know the status quo isn't working, so we need to move forward with bold initiatives to add more health care professionals in Ontario and especially in rural and remote communities," said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones.
  
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

What Was Meghan Markle Like Before She Married Harry?

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Right: CN Tower.

Robyn Charnley | Dreamstime, Ronniechua | Dreamstime

Before she married the world's biggest over-sharer, Meghan Markle was a working actress, most notably known for her supporting role on over 100 episodes of Suits. The legal dramedy was predominantly filmed in Toronto during the 2010s and as it turns out, more than a handful of Torontonians recall the future Duchess' time on set and around Toronto quite favourably, Madeline Forsyth writes.

• In Their Words: Colleagues on Suits called Meghan "real friendly, down to earth" and "nothing but kind and professional." A Starbucks barista said she was "one of the nicest regulars" they ever had.
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

What Else You Need To Know Today

⚠️ QUEBEC CALLING
Quebec is beginning a one-year pilot of a new emergency alert system called Alerte SILVER that will notify residents of missing people with major neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's. MTL Blog's Thomas MacDonald notes that the pilot, which will work like the current Amber Alert system, will be rolled out in Drummond, Joliette and Vallée-de-l'Or to start. Here's what to know.

🍝 TORONTO EATS
Forget Yelp; Narcity's newly promoted multimedia reporter Brooke Houghton recently took to the streets of Toronto to ask locals to name their favourite restaurants in the city. Some of the hits: Kensington Market taco joint Birria Catrina, Avenue Road Italian stalwart Sotto Sotto and Jamaican comfort food stop Chubby's. Check out the full list of recommendations here.

📸 FREAKY PHOTO
Speaking of Brooke, she pulls double duty today with an honest review of an... interesting Toronto service. The self-proclaimed "open-minded skeptic" spent an afternoon having her aura read and chakras analyzed at Rose Aura. I'm not even sure how to explain so I think it's best we let Brooke explain the unique cosmic experience in her own words.

🤢 TOTAL RECALL
Ladies and gents, it's once again time to head to your fridges and pantries to see if you have any of the food items recently recalled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. According to Sarah Rohoman, be on the lookout for a particular salad dressing with undeclared allergens, listeria-tainted cheese products, plastic-proliferated hummus and more.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
The late rapper XXXTentacion would have turned 25 today. Retired Dutch soccer great Arjen Robben is 39. Hockey Hall of Famer and current Leafs president Brendan Shanahan is 54. Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay turns 59. Cheap Trick frontman Robin Zander is 70. Famous plane-lander Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is 72. Walter Frederick Morrison, the late inventor of the Frisbee, was born on this day in 1920. Please, no autographs; famed signature-haver John Hancock was born on this day in 1737.

HEY YOU! You should sign up for the email version of this newsletter right here. It's better than this version. Trust me.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the newsletter that's packed with plastic and boasts a hazy aura.

Have a question or comment about today's edition? Let me know at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.

Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow!