Created to salute the first visit by a reigning British monarch to Canada in 1939, Crown Royal whisky - famed for its smooth taste, crown-shaped  bottle and a purple drawstring bag that once rounded out its packaging - is suddenly at the centre of a nasty backlash. There's talk of a consumer boycott, and an angry Ontario Premier Doug Ford - like a scene out of Prohibition - even poured a bottle of the iconic Canadian booze onto the ground in a display of his displeasure. It's all the fallout of global spirits giant Diageo closing its Crown Royal bottling plant near Windsor, throwing 160 out of work and moving operations elsewhere, including to the U.S. The same British-headquartered booze giant, on a cost-cutting drive, has paused a planned $245-million distillery near Sarnia. I'm Greg Van Moorsel, curator of your weekly digest from Postmedia newsrooms across Ontario.

He's circled the Earth and walked in space more often than any Canadian, and even recorded a version of David Bowie's Space Oddity from orbit. That's the Chris Hadfield you know. What you might not know is how Canada's most famous astronaut stays grounded. Catch up in our How Canada Wins series. 

“I definitely feel like we’re losing something great.”

-- Cyclist and bicycle shop owner Matt Newman, on the demise of one of only two velodromes in Ontario. After a 20-year run, the indoor cycling track in London faces a financial hurdle it can't overcome. Its closing will leave the province with one velodrome, a larger and newer complex in Milton. 

For as long as Ontario has had schools, even the one-room variety, elected officials have overseen local education systems. But lately, with the province tightening its grip on education, Premier Doug Ford and his education minister have mused aloud about scrapping trustees. Bruce Deachman of the Ottawa Citizen argues trustees are essential in education and should be left alone. 

For as long as there has been a 1.6-kilometre tunnel under the Detroit River linking the two cities, and that goes back to 1930, a regular bus service has connected Windsor and Detroit on the border. No longer. Find out why.

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