Maple Express | September 13, 2026 Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo dead at 89

1. Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo dead at 89

Source: CP24

Canadian boxing legend George Chuvalo has died at age 89. The heavyweight, famous for his "iron chin," was never knocked down in a career that made him an iconic figure in Canadian boxing.

Chuvalo finished with a professional record of 73 wins, 18 losses and 2 draws, with 64 knockouts, in a career that ran from 1956 to 1978. He fought Muhammad Ali twice — in 1966 at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens and in 1972 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver — and was celebrated for going the full 15 rounds with Ali.

Away from the ring, Chuvalo was known as a warm, funny man, but his life was marked by tragedy: he lost three sons and his first wife Lynne to drugs and suicide. "If you added up every punch I ever took and then multiplied the total by 10,000, it wouldn't begin to equal the pain of losing three sons and a wife to drugs and suicide," he wrote.

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2. Mississauga's mayoral race heats up with 14 candidates

Source: CityNews

Mississauga's mayoral race is heating up, with a total of 14 registered candidates vying for the city's top job in the 2026 municipal election. Voters will head to the polls on Oct. 26 to decide the fate of incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish, who was elected in a 2024 byelection.

The latest polling from Liaison Strategies, published Aug. 14, suggests the race is a head-to-head contest between Parrish and former Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie. Crombie held the post for a decade, from 2014 to 2024, before stepping down to lead the Ontario Liberal Party; she later resigned that role after failing to win a seat in the 2025 Ontario election.

The field also includes Ward 2 councillor Alvin Tedjo and Ward 7 councillor Dipika Damerla, both of whom placed near the top in the previous mayoral race.

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3. Alberta landowners face years-long waits for orphan well cleanup

Source: CP24

On more than 37 acres of countryside in Ponoka County, central Alberta, landowner Amanda Kamps has been waiting years to see the remnants of an orphan oil and gas site fully cleaned up. She bought the property seven years ago; three months later, the company responsible for the site went under.

When an oil and gas site has no financially viable company responsible for it, the Alberta Energy Regulator can designate it an orphan, and the Orphan Well Association becomes responsible for decommissioning and reclaiming it. Kamps said her site was designated an orphan about three or four years ago, but she has received few updates on when the work will be finished.

A group of Alberta landowners is now taking the regulator to court, filing for judicial review in Alberta Court of King's Bench over how the system is funded. The Orphan Well Association has more than 7,300 wells in its inventory, and its 2025-26 annual report estimates the cost of addressing the entire orphan inventory at about $1.66 billion.

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4. Toronto artist trades original art with local restaurants for a meal

Source: CP24

Reissa Lee, a 25-year-old Toronto artist, walks into restaurants and asks to make a trade: her original framed artwork in exchange for a single meal. She has documented four of these attempts so far on social media, under the series title "come get rejected with me?"

Her latest attempt, posted Sept. 3, took her to Lambo's Deli near Trinity Bellwoods Park with an illustration called "Deli Beli World," featuring blue humanoid sandwiches. The video has amassed more than 135,000 views and over 7,000 comments. Co-owner Justin Leon said the exchange was an "immediate yes," and Lee walked away with two Italian Trio sandwiches.

Lee says the idea grew out of a string of rejections last year, when she simply asked restaurants if she could hang her art inside. She plans to approach a new business once a week, sticking so far to restaurants along Dundas Street West.

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5. Mississauga man charged in fake auto insurance scheme

Source: CP24

A 25-year-old Mississauga man, Muhammad Raahim, has been arrested after police allege he sold fraudulent auto insurance policies to victims across the Greater Toronto Area between April 2024 and August 2026, providing falsified proof-of-insurance documents that appeared legitimate.

Police say they identified 15 incidents in which victims lost a combined total of more than $10,000. The suspect was previously licensed to sell insurance and had been employed by several insurance brokerages.

Raahim was arrested Aug. 26 and charged with one count of fraud against the public. He was released with conditions and is awaiting a future court appearance. Investigators believe there may be additional victims.

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6. Blue Jays beat Orioles 7-3 at home

Source: CP24

Brett Bateman and Alejandro Kirk homered to power the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday at Rogers Centre. Bateman led off the third inning with a solo shot, and Kirk followed later in the frame with a two-run blast.

The win moved Toronto to within 1 1/2 games of Cleveland in the race for the final American League wild-card spot. The Blue Jays have won 10 of their last 16 games.

A sellout crowd of 41,949 was on hand for the game. The rubber match of the three-game series was set for Sunday, with Toronto ace Dylan Cease scheduled to start.

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7. Canadian pride swells at TIFF amid U.S. trade feud

Source: CP24

Against the backdrop of the U.S. trade war and a growing cultural rift, some Canadian movie-goers and stars are more vocal about prioritizing and defending Canadian content at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, turning the "Buy Canadian" movement into a "Watch Canadian" campaign.

Montreal's Jay Baruchel, promoting his new film The Stunt Driver, said: "This is what happens when we grow up in a country where a foreign culture is given priority of real estate on our TV screens." The film tells the story of Canadian daredevil Ken Carter, who attempted to jump the St. Lawrence River in a rocket-powered car.

This year's lineup also includes biopics of legendary Canadian athletes Rick Hansen and Terry Fox, as well as Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend, about Quebec Formula One great Gilles Villeneuve. Film critic Richard Crouse said Canadians' patriotism is now spilling over into support for domestic films.

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8. Halifax's 1700s mystery walls fascinate locals

Source: CP24

Halifax is drawing increased visitors to its "mystery walls," massive stone structures of stacked rocks located near a wooded area in the Bayer's Lake Business Park. Nova Scotia historian David Jones calls them a must-see destination for history buffs.

Saint Mary's University archeology professor Jonathan Fowler has studied the site for more than 10 years. He says the walls lack the normal features of a house, such as a hearth, and don't fit the military architecture of the period, so he leans toward an "animal husbandry hypothesis" — a vernacular structure built by a farmer or shepherd.

Jones and Fowler estimate the walls likely date back to the late 1700s. The area is now a registered archeological site, meaning the walls can't be removed and no construction will take place there.

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9. Céline Dion's emotional Paris comeback moves 30,000 fans

Source: CP24

Céline Dion teared up as she took the stage for her comeback concert in Paris, and so did most of the 30,000 fans in the audience. The Quebec superstar opened with "On Ne Change Pas," and performed songs including "The Power of Love" and "My Heart Will Go On."

Between songs, Dion told the crowd she had made a promise to return to the stage and was fulfilling that vow. "I am everything I am because you loved me," she said. Fans described her performance as "operatic" and "majestic."

The concert began more than 45 minutes late as tens of thousands of fans streamed into Paris' Plenitude Arena. There are 15 more concerts planned, all sold out.

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10. Stars hit the red carpet on TIFF Day 3

Source: CP24

Opportunities for celeb-spotting at the Toronto International Film Festival peaked Saturday, as the red carpet rolled out for some of the year's most high-profile films. Chris Rock's "Misty Green" — which he wrote, directed and stars in — is about a down-on-her-luck actress trying to make a Hollywood comeback.

Seth Rogen walked the carpet outside Roy Thomson Hall for "Babies," a relationship comedy written and directed by his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, following a couple played by Rogen and Anna Kendrick as they decide whether to have kids. Issa Rae, Dan Stevens and Ed Helms are also in the film.

Other premieres include "Closing Night," starring Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts and Dianne Wiest, and "I Play Rocky," about the making of the classic sports film. King Street's "Festival Street" has been bustling with film fans.

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