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Quebec comes out with convincing win in 2019 Canada Winter Games, Alberta takes the Centennial Cup

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Medal standings
Contingent Gold Silver Bronze Total
 Quebec 65 41 40 146
 Ontario 18 43 44 105
 Alberta 36 33 31 100
 British Columbia 30 28 29 87
 Manitoba 9 7 9 25
 Saskatchewan 3 3 11 17
 Nova Scotia 1 6 4 11
 New Brunswick 1 3 5 9
 Newfoundland and Labrador 1 0 1 2
 Prince Edward Island 0 1 1 2
 Northwest Territories 0 0 1 1
 Yukon 0 0 1 1
 Nunavut 0 0 0 0

THE CENTENNIAL CUP

The awarding of the Centennial Cup exemplifies the pan-Canadian sport development objective of the Canada Games. It is presented to the provincial or territorial team that shows the greatest improvement from one Winter Games to the next. The Centennial Cup has been won by 10 different provinces and territories since added to the Games in 1971.

The Centennial Cup was designed by Mr. Robert S. Kent of Kingston and is modeled after the Katimavik Pavilion at Expo 67. It was crafted in part from 37 precious metals and wood laminations representing 10 provinces and three territories. It was donated to the Canada Games by the City of Kingston, Ontario in 1970.

The point differences for each province/territory in each sport are combined to give an overall measure of change, and the province/territory with the greatest positive change is awarded the Centennial Cup. If a province/territory did not compete in the sport during the preceding Games, that sport is not counted for the province/territory in the current Games. If a sport is new to the Games’ program, it does not count in the current Games. If a sport has been dropped from the Games’ program, it does not count in the current Games.

If there is an overall tie in centennial cup points between two or more teams once the sum of all centennial points has been calculated across all sports, the tie will be broken using the flag point table. Between the tied teams, the team with the most flag points will be awarded the higher finishing position for the Centennial Cup.

The table below is a running calculation of Centennial Cup points!

Only those sports that are finished, meaning that all events have been completed and scored in that sport, will be calculated in the table below as flag points. Once 2019 flag points are awarded by sport for each province/territory for the 2019 Games, the 2015 flag points for that sport will appear in the 2015 flag points column. The difference between the 2015 and 2019 flag points is a measure of the team’s improvement from the 2015 Canada Winter Games to the 2019 Canada Winter Games, and will appear as Centennial Cup Points.

Contingent Flag Points 2015 Flag Points Centennial Cup
 Alberta 242.5 274.0 24.5
 Manitoba 167.0 170.5 7.5
 Saskatchewan 159.0 164.5 3.0
 Newfoundland and Labrador 55.0 64.5 2.0
 Nunavut 13.0 15.0 2.0
 British Columbia 256.0 265.0 1.0
 Yukon 57.0 61.5 0.0
 Northwest Territories 30.0 42.5 -0.5
 Quebec 280.5 289.5 -1.0
 Nova Scotia 141.7 131.5 -9.7
 New Brunswick 115.2 110.5 -10.7
 Prince Edward Island 79.2 71.0 -12.2
 Ontario 288.0 281.0 -16.0

After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Pedro Pascal launches attack on J.K. Rowling over biological sex views

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Quick Hit:

Pedro Pascal, star of HBO’s The Last of Us, ignited backlash this week after publicly hurling an expletive-laced insult at author J.K. Rowling in response to her support for a landmark UK ruling that upheld the legal definition of sex as biological. Rowling celebrated the decision, which affirms the rights of women to single-sex spaces—a view shared by many who advocate for the safety and integrity of women’s rights. Pascal, a vocal progressive and LGBTQ+ activist, labeled Rowling a “heinous loser,” aligning himself with calls to boycott HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot.

Key Details:

  • Pedro Pascal responded on Instagram to Rowling’s post celebrating a UK court ruling that legally defined “sex” as biological.

  • Pascal echoed an activist’s call for a fan-led boycott of the Harry Potter reboot, saying Rowling’s stance was “heinous LOSER behavior.”

  • HBO has downplayed concerns of a boycott, citing the blockbuster success of Hogwarts Legacy despite similar activist campaigns.

Diving Deeper:

The latest clash in the culture war surrounding Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and the trans activist movement reached a new level of hostility this week when actor Pedro Pascal, a key face of HBO’s entertainment slate, stooped to name-calling on social media. His remarks came in response to Rowling’s defense of the United Kingdom’s recent court decision, which reaffirmed that sex, under British law, means biological sex—a ruling many women’s rights advocates hailed as a long-overdue step toward protecting vulnerable female spaces such as shelters, hospital wards, and sports.

Rowling, whose views on the importance of distinguishing biological sex from gender identity have made her a target of trans activists for years, posted a pointed but unapologetic reaction: “I love it when a plan comes together.” She added, “I get the same royalties whether you read [my books] or burn them. Enjoy your marshmallows!”

In the comments of a post by activist Tariq Ra’ouf—who had attacked Rowling and promoted a boycott of HBO’s Harry Potter reboot—Pascal added his own vulgar commentary: “Awful disgusting SHIT is exactly right. Heinous LOSER behavior.” While Pascal did not explicitly mention Harry Potter, the post he endorsed included calls to tank all future franchise content, including theme parks and merchandise.

Pascal’s involvement with HBO places the network in a difficult position. As the Emmy-nominated co-lead of The Last of Us, one of HBO’s crown jewels, Pascal’s comments are being widely interpreted as an implicit endorsement of the boycott. While HBO has attempted to downplay the activist push, the tension is palpable. Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief content officer, previously noted that the 2023 video game Hogwarts Legacy, which also faced calls for boycotts due to Rowling’s views, still became the year’s top-selling game.

Pascal’s activism is personal as well as political. His sister, Lux Pascal, publicly transitioned in 2021, and he has frequently signaled support for trans activism. At the UK premiere of Marvel’s Thunderbolts, Pascal wore a shirt that read “Protect the Dolls,” a slogan popularized in trans activist circles.

Rather than “heinous,” Rowling’s remarks represent a reasoned defense of biological reality and a pushback against an increasingly aggressive ideology that demands conformity and punishes dissent. Her critics, like Pascal, resort to vulgarity and character attacks instead of engaging with the substance of her argument. But Rowling has stood firm in supporting women’s rights and advocating for clarity in laws that impact everything from sports to safety in single-sex spaces—positions grounded in truth, not hate.

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California planning to double film tax credits amid industry decline

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From The Center Square

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California legislators have unveiled a bill to follow through with the governor’s plan of more than doubling the state’s film and TV production tax credits to $750 million.

The state’s own analysis warns it’s likely the refundable production credits generate only 20 to 50 cents of state revenue for every dollar the state spends, and the increase could stoke a “race to the bottom” among the 38 states that now have such programs.

Industry insiders say the state’s high production costs are to blame for much of the exodus, and experts say the cost of housing is responsible for a significant share of the higher costs.

The bill creates a special carve-out for shooting in Los Angeles, where productions would be able to claim refundable credits for 35% of the cost of production.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his proposal last year and highlighted his goal of expanding the program at an industry event last week.

“California is the entertainment capital of the world – and we’re committed to ensuring we stay that way,” said Newsom. “Fashion and film go hand in hand, helping to express characters, capture eras in time and reflect cultural movements.”

With most states now offering production credits, economic analysis suggests these programs now produce state revenue well below the cost of the credits themselves.

“A recent study from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation found that each $1 of Program 2.0 credit results in $1.07 in new state and local government revenue. This finding, however, is significantly overstated due to the study’s use of implausible assumptions,” wrote the state’s analysts in a 2023 report. “Most importantly, the study assumes that no productions receiving tax credits would have filmed here in the absence of the credit.”

“This is out of line with economic research discussed above which suggests tax credits influence location decisions of only a portion of recipients,” continued the state analysis. “Two studies that better reflect this research finding suggest that each $1 of film credit results in $0.20 to $0.50 of state revenues.”

“Parks and Recreation” stars Rob Lowe and Adam Scott recently shared on Lowe’s podcast how costs are so high their show likely would have been shot in Europe instead.

“It’s cheaper to bring 100 American people to Ireland than to walk across the lot at Fox past the sound stages and do it and do it there,” said Lowe.

“Do you think if we shot ‘Parks’ right now, we would be in Budapest?” asked Scott, who now stars in “Severance.”

“100%,” replied Lowe. “All those other places are offering 40% — forty percent — and then on top of that there’s other stuff that they do, and then that’s not even talking about the union stuff. That’s just tax economics of it all.”

“It’s criminal what California and LA have let happen. It’s criminal,” continued Lowe. “Everybody should be fired.”

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, housing is the single largest expense for California households.

“Across the income spectrum, 35–44% of household expenditures go to covering rent, mortgages, utilities and home maintenance,” wrote PPIC.

The cost of housing due to supply constraints now makes it nearly impossible for creatives to get their start in LA, said M. Nolan Gray, legislative director at housing regulatory reform organization California YIMBY.

“Hollywood depends on Los Angeles being the place where anybody can show up, take a big risk, and pursue their dreams, and that only works if you have a lot of affordable apartments,” said Gray to The Center Square. “We’ve built a Los Angeles where you have to be fabulously wealthy to have stable and decent housing, and as a result a lot of folks either are not coming, or those who are coming need to paid quite a bit higher to make it worth it, and it’s destroying one of California’s most important industries.”

“Anybody who arrived in Hollywood before the 2010s, their story is always, ‘Yeah, I showed up in LA, and I lived in a really, really  dirt-cheap apartment with like $10 in my pocket.’ That just doesn’t exist anymore,” continued Gray. “Does the Walt Disney of 2025 not take the train from Kansas City to LA? Almost certainly not. If he goes anywhere, he goes to Atlanta.”

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