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2025 Canadian Screen Awards cap an uneasy edition by honouring Trump biopic The Apprentice

2025 Canadian Screen Awards cap an uneasy edition by honouring Trump biopic The Apprentice

Globe and Mail02-06-2025
Kicking off with an obligatory Drake joke and ending with the Canadian entertainment industry sending a message straight to the White House by awarding the dark Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice the Best Motion Picture trophy, the 13th annual Canadian Screen Awards offered enough talking points during its live gala Sunday to fill a 51st state.
Before the CBC decides to invent a random hockey game next year to air instead of the 2026 CSAs, The Globe and Mail presents the best, worst, and weirdest moments from Canada's equivalent of the Oscars, Emmys and a couple other award shows squeezed into a single two-hour evening.
Comedian Lisa Gilroy possessed the necessary energy and commitment as the evening's host, if not quite the material. While she led with an enjoyably self-deprecating energy ('From the first Canadian Screen Awards hosted by comedy legend Martin short to me, Instagram holder Lisa Gilroy...'), a wan pre-taped sketch featuring actor Will Sasso failed to deliver the humour needed to get the audience immediately on her side. And as the evening stretched on, her gags oscillated between wobbly and desperate.
I'll award bonus points for Gilroy's joke about Rumours star Cate Blanchett being in the house (with the camera instead cutting to a mannequin creepy enough to headline its own Guy Maddin movie). But the CSAs, especially in this 'Canada-is-not-for-sale' edition, needed bite. We got baby teeth.
While the CSAs arrived in an era of acute geopolitical anxiety – even if no one onstage dared to utter the word 'tariff' – the Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television voters sure did feel generous toward our U.S. neighbours when it came to doling out the statuettes. American Sebastian Stan took home the Best Performance in a Leading Role (Drama) CSA for his sly performance as Trump in The Apprentice (a Canada/Ireland/Denmark coproduction that was shot in Toronto), while Stan's costar and fellow Yank Jeremy Strong nabbed the Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Drama) in a separate CSAs ceremony Saturday. (Surprise: neither actors were in Toronto to accept.)
Meanwhile, Citytv's Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent – a thoroughly Canadian production, albeit one that only exists because of its American mothership – won three CSAs, including Best Drama Series. And though Cate Blanchett is Australian – and excellent – it cannot help but feel strange to see the Rumours star triumph in the Best Performance in a Leading Role (Comedy) category over seven unambiguously Canadian actors.
Accepting the award for Achievement in Directing, Universal Language's Matthew Rankin gave the best acceptance speech of the night. First addressing the audience in a succession of English, French, and Farsi, Rankin shared his appreciation for his dual Quebec and Manitoba backgrounds ('Keep Winnipeg weird') before moving on to underline his film's themes. 'Every day, there are new Berlin Walls shooting up all around us. And if our film stands for anything, it stands for how kindness can in fact be a radical gesture,' Rankin said. 'Art can do something that politics can't do. And so I want to salute everyone in this room for the work that you do. To work in culture is to choose community over solitude, and that's very precious.'
Although The Apprentice producer Daniel Bekerman gets the unofficial best speech runner-up award, opening his remarks by addressing his (absent) director Ali Abbasi: 'Ali, I told you – you have to come to Canada if you want to find some guts in this industry.'
The 2024 CSAs were coming off a horrendous edition that was entirely pre-taped (much of it in New York City), so I was willing to cut the CBC some slack last year when it came to its sparse and rather cheap-looking stage inside the network's Studio 40 in Toronto. But it appears as if the entire set-up was simply recycled for Sunday's show, including the back-breaking fold-up chairs that attendees were forced to sit on. It is no secret that things are tight over at the CBC, but perhaps producers can shake down some of the Dragons' Den benefactors next year to spruce things up.
Despite the Blanchett fake-out, there were some genuinely big names in the house Sunday. Hey there to Kiefer Sutherland (appearing unannounced onstage after producers rolled a tribute to his father Donald), Jason Priestley, and a gracious Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Star Wars: The Acolyte), who was presented with the Radius Award (given to a Canadian film or TV professional who is 'currently making an impact internationally').
Although how fun would it have been if Mike Myers, the most vocal homegrown entertainer out there fighting for Canada's good name, would have popped in, too? Perhaps he was busy filming another Mark Carney ad.
While the Canadian academy says that it constantly reevaluates its nomination and voting process every year, this edition's winners – as well as the titles that walked away with little or no hardware – suggests a top-to-bottom overhaul is needed for 2026. How, for instance, did David Cronenberg's The Shrouds – easily the best Canadian film of the year – only leave the CSAs with two awards (for best sound mixing and sound editing)?
Meanwhile, Rankin's wonderful comedy Universal Language, the favourite for Best Picture going into Sunday night, was usurped by the Trump drama The Apprentice, which is as big an upset as far as the CSAs typically go. (Although as noted above, Rankin won the best director CSA, one of the six awards that the film scored over the course of a weekend's worth of events.)
And then Atom Egoyan's psychological drama Seven Veils, the Canadian filmmaker's strongest work in years, only snagged one award, for best original score. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose, but Cronenberg, Egoyan, and Rankin's latest works are beloved by critics and audiences alike, here and abroad. Giving the three of them something of a cold shoulder feels dispiriting and confounding.
Hopefully the members of the now-empty writers rooms that staffed CTV's Children Ruin Everything and CBC's Run the Burbs can find the humour in the fact that their series won top awards despite their shows no longer existing. Run the Burbs star Andrew Phung won Best Lead Performer (Comedy), even though the sitcom aired its last episode more than a year ago, in April, 2024, after getting cancelled in its third season. And while Children Ruin Everything ended after four seasons due to what Bell Media described as creative and not financial reasons, it still felt awkward to see the show win four CSAs (including Best Comedy Series) three months after it aired its series finale.
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Ottawa warned early in new year of wheels wobbling on $100 billion EV strategy
Ottawa warned early in new year of wheels wobbling on $100 billion EV strategy

National Observer

timean hour ago

  • National Observer

Ottawa warned early in new year of wheels wobbling on $100 billion EV strategy

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LeBlanc ‘encouraged' after latest U.S. talks as Trump tariff deadline looms
LeBlanc ‘encouraged' after latest U.S. talks as Trump tariff deadline looms

Global News

time12 hours ago

  • Global News

LeBlanc ‘encouraged' after latest U.S. talks as Trump tariff deadline looms

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday he's feeling 'encouraged' after meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and American lawmakers in Washington ahead of next week's tariff deadline. But LeBlanc also suggested that a new economic and security arrangement with the United States may not materialize in time for U.S. President Donald Trump's latest deadline of Aug. 1. 'Canadians expect us to take the time necessary to get the best deal we can in the interest of Canadian workers,' LeBlanc said outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. 'So we are only going to be in a position to accept a deal when the prime minister decides that it is the best deal we can get in the interest of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy.' Trump has sent letters to multiple nations, including Canada, saying that if no deal is made by Aug. 1, he will impose high tariffs on imports to the United States. Story continues below advertisement While Trump's letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened Canada with 35 per cent tariffs, the White House has said the levies will not be applied to imports that comply with the Canada-U.S-Mexico Agreement on trade. Canada is also being hit with Trump's tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles, and will be affected by copper duties that are also expected to kick in on Aug. 1. 5:23 WA state senator says Trump doesn't understand effects of trade war The Trump administration has announced only a handful of trade deal frameworks with other nations since the president first threatened his so-called 'Liberation Day' tariffs in April. Trump this week said his administration made deals with Japan and the Philippines, adding to previous agreements with Indonesia, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy While many details of the frameworks remain vague, all of them include some level of tariff – and it's not clear whether they would shield countries from Trump's plan to impose further sectoral duties on things like semiconductors and lumber. Story continues below advertisement LeBlanc said 'complex negotiations' are continuing between Canada and the United States and he will be returning to Washington next week. He described his meeting with Lutnick as productive and cordial. LeBlanc, who was joined in the meetings by Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman, also had face time with Republican senators Kevin Cramer, Roger Marshall, Shelley Moore Capito, Todd Young and Tim Scott. LeBlanc said they discussed border security and defence issues and the American lawmakers shared a 'desire to see more stability and predictability in the relationship with the United States.' 'My conversations have focused on how we share so many priorities of President Trump's administration that we should be able to figure out together a deal that's in the best interest of Canadian workers, and obviously they are going to do their side of the table in terms of the American economy and American workers,' he said. 1:55 'Only the best deal for Canada': Carney on negotiating tariffs, trade with Trump Federal officials have remained tight-lipped about what Trump's team has said it wants from Canada. Story continues below advertisement After this week's trade deal frameworks were announced, Trump boasted on social media that he would only consider lowering tariff rates if countries open their markets to the United States. The president also said Japan would invest $550 billion in the U.S. at his 'direction.' Trump said Thursday that Japan 'bought it down basically,' referring to the lower tariff rate. 'I would let other countries buy it down,' he said. 2:05 'Largest trade deal in history': Trump finalizes US trade pact with Japan, cuts tariffs to 15% When Trump first threatened Canada with tariffs, he claimed it was due to the cross-border flow of deadly fentanyl. Ottawa responded with a boosted border plan and named a 'fentanyl czar.' Ottawa walked back its digital services tax last month after Trump threatened to halt all trade talks. Carney last week announced measures to stop China from dumping steel in Canada. Story continues below advertisement Hillman said those efforts help Canada in its ongoing negotiations. 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