Toronto-specific news? On the day when we were all hoping to celebrate the end of the Harper government? Not likely. Especially when the Harper government decides to throw a few bones at the gay community to help its budget pass. What's that you say? You missed how the gays benefit from the budget? Let's start with all the new cultural funding. Which is mostly just extensions of old cultural funding. Oops. But, hey the Canadian Television fund gets an extension, so presumably Being Erica is safe for now. Festivals get an extra $50-million a year, so maybe now the Tories can reconsider their decision to cut off Montreal's Black and Blue festival.

But the big ticket item for gays has to be the budget's tax credits for people who do home renos, which should be a big bonus to the interior design industry. People who choose to sink up to $10,000 in their increasingly worthless homes get a 15% tax credit! Um...maybe this wasn't the greatest plan either.

Of course, if you're Egale, you're probably furious at my homophobic stereotyping of gays as interior designers. At least that's the impression I get from this Globe and Mail story about Egale complaining that the use of the word "pansification" on Hockey Night in Canada perpetuates some kind of gay stereotype. Is that the stereotype that all gays are pansies, or that all pansies are gay? Actually, now that I think about it, the automatic assumption that "pansy" refers to "gay" is pretty homophobic as well, isn't it?

Perhaps less subtly homophobic and mysogynistic -- Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams suggesting that the Harper is "putting the shaft on" his province with the budget. Aside from the very unsettling image this conjures of Stephen Harper's shaft, isn't it time we finally stopped associating bad things with being fucked? It's not like there aren't people out there who already though the budget was plenty mysogynistic enough.

 Ok, let's end on a positive note, if one wholly unrelated to Toronto: Iceland appoints its first lesbian Prime Minister.

I know, I know...everyone's thinking about the throne speech and the budget and whether or not we'll be thrown into another election. But I'll defer all federal-government-related blogging to my friend on the National page.

Besides, potentially more interesting news from Ottawa comes in the form of a start-up sex toy company, formed by a pair of laid-off Nortel employees. Further proof that we don't need to worry about the economy. After all, god never closes a company's doors without opening an orifice. Or two. Or three.

That the We-Vibe is apparently designed to be used by couples to enhance lovemaking should be good news to the Toronto District School Board which is seeking new ways to reverse falling enrolment. The TDSB is planning to launch a PR campaign, which will presumably be a bunch of billboards encouraging straight people to fuck more.

Meanwhile, in arts scene news, the Toronto International Film Festival Group is encouraging Toronto cinephiles to help them document the construction of their new headquarters, the Bell Lightbox at King and John with photos and videos on their Flickr group, with the best pics becoming part of the opening night celebrations scheduled for sometime next year. Happy snapping!  

Premier McGuinty announces that the province is still moving ahead with the Union-Pearson transit link. This is, what, the twentieth time McGuinty's announced that this project that nobody seems to want is going ahead. On the plus side, this could make it easier to respond to those Craigslist personals seeking fun at YYZ hotels.

Elton John and Billy Joel are bringing their co-headlining Face-2-Face tour to Toronto in May, and tickets for the diva-off go on sale Saturday at 10 am. My money's on... no, actually, my money's not going anywhere near this thing.

And the Gay Top Model franchise, fresh off its spectacular debut in Vancouver, is expanding to... Hamilton? Yes, our Hamilton. Perhaps Toronto and Montreal just have gay model overload. Anyway, they're looking for volunteers and sponsors. They're also looking for hot gay guys from Hamilton who haven't already moved to Toronto to participate in the Model Competition on Feb 15. I certainly wish them good luck. If you're afraid to take the GO Train out to the competition, you can always show support by joining the Facebook group.

Pollsters now report that 50% of Canadians support the idea of the Liberals and the NDP forming a coalition government with the support of the Bloc.

The Globe and Mail's J. Kelly Nestruck gives Hart House Theatre's production of Jerry Springer: The Opera a mostly positive review, and challenges the city's Equity stages to be daring enough to put on shows as edgy as this one. It's an interesting argument, but the posters in the comments section of The Globe web site seem more concerned with whether or not it's pretentious to have an initial for a first name.

A Toronto-based activist is helping queer Iranian refugees escape to Canada, the US and Australia.

And Moses Znaimer is once again flogging softcore on the masses with the launch of R-Rated radio show Midnight Blue on AM 740.

Please welcome Xtra.ca's new Toronto blogger, Rob Salerno. Rob is a writer, theatre artist and regular contributor to Xtra and Xtra West. He also started Xtra.ca's first blog back in 2007 - the Daily Roundup (now written by Scott Dagostino). We're glad to have him back, and he will be posting his first entry shortly.

You can still follow Johnny Wacker online at sissydude.blogspot.com, for your regular dose of hotarious, vintage hotness!

Brent Creelman,
Xtra.ca web editor