Happy "Friday Jr." — Andrew from Narcity here! ☕
Off The Top: Instagram has permanently banned the account of adult entertainment site PornHub for repeatedly violating the platform's terms of services — no doubt a crippling blow to a genre of content that is notoriously difficult to locate online.
In Case You Missed It
1. None Of Canada's 10 Best Fine Dining Spots Are In Toronto, Apparently
After analyzing the self-reported experiences of actual diners, travel review aggregator Tripadvisor has named its annual Travelers' Choice awards, including a new list of Canada's top 10 fine dining establishments. Surprisingly, not one of the restaurants is located in Toronto, Megan Johnson reports. Four of the restaurants are in Quebec, three are in B.C. and the final awardee is in Saskatchewan. Read more about the winning restaurants here.
- Go Deeper: Not only was Toronto snubbed outright but Ontario only claimed two spots. AG Inspired Cuisine in Niagara Falls and Tiara Restaurant in Niagara-On-The-Lake were the only representatives of Canada's largest and most populated provinces.
- My Take: The obvious methodology issue here (to me, anyway) is this: if you're the type of person who can afford to drop $680 at, say, Sushi Masaki Saito — Canada's first and only two-Michelin Star restaurant — you're probably not spending a ton of time as an amateur food blogger on the side.
2. The Vancouver Canucks' Owner Is Facing Abuse Claims By His Adult Children
As part of an ongoing court case related to child support, Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini is facing accusations of physical and psychological abuse from his four adult children, the youngest of whom is 20 years old. One of Aquilini's children submitted an affidavit stating their father punched them in the stomach. Another statement alleged the businessman "threw a five-year-old across a bedroom." Our Western Canada boss Morgan Leet takes us deeper into the disturbing allegations.
- In His Words: The long-time hockey franchise owner has expressed "outrage" at the claims, adding that "allegations without merit are (being) brought forward for a collateral purpose."
3. Canada Just Banned Commercial Dog Importation From 100-Plus Countries
Starting yesterday, Canada will no longer allow dogs designated as "commercial" to be brought into the country from more than 100 origin nations, Charlotte Hoareau reports. The goal here is to limit the potential exposure risk to rabies; though Canada did not have any active cases of the viral disease as of June 28 this year, rabies kills 59,000 people across the globe annually, per a government release. Here's what the ban encompasses.
- Important: No, a "commercial dog" doesn't refer to a beer company's Hawaiian-shirt-wearing bull terrier from 1980s TV ads. What it actually means is any dog meant for "resale, adoption, fostering, breeding, show or exhibition." Makes sense.
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What Else You Need To Know Today
🧹 WITCH WATCH
There are three things you need to know about the beloved '90s Halloween film Hocus Pocus. 1) It's not very good. 2) Point No. 1 notwithstanding, a very lovely Sarah Jessica Parker presents a compelling case for being turned into a newt. 3) There are a bunch of experiences coming to Canada over the next month tied to the release of Hocus Pocus 2. Katherine Caspersz breaks them down.
🤠 TEXAS NORTH
After one survey recently pegged Alberta as Canada's second-least-favourite province, our Charlie Hart took umbrage — umbrage! — with that assessment. After living in the province for over a year, she feels her bold decision to relocate there from the U.K. has been more than vindicated.
🎃 GOURD VIBRATIONS
It's time to ignore every fairytale you've ever heard; according to Madeline Forsyth, Toronto is getting a magical pumpkin village hidden inside a "candy forest" — which is obviously a trap set by a witch in order to lure naive TikTokers into her cauldron. Yum!
🔑 MAJOR KEYS
After Atlantic Canada was battered by Hurricane Fiona last week, Hurricane Ian is now running roughshod over southern Florida. Fernanda Leon takes us through some of the scary clips and images coming out of the Florida Keys over the last 24 hours.
🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Singer Halsey turns 28 years old today. Spindly jump-shooting superstar Kevin Durant is 34. Shazam! actor Zachary Levi turns 42. Canadian funnyman Russell Peters is 52. The late, wonderfully hilarious Madeline Kahn would have been 80 today. Regardless of any Mandela Effect, the late "Berenstain Bears" co-creator Stan Berenstain was born on this day in 1923.
Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the newsletter often delayed due to unscheduled viewings of Young Frankenstein outtakes on YouTube.
What other account do you wish Instagram would permanently ban? 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!
MGK wearing a Hockey Fights Cancer jersey.