Celebrities asked about Toronto nowadays often mention the traffic. None of that for Swift: She got a gigantic police motorcade at taxpayer expense
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Remember when Taylor Swift hadn’t booked any Canadian tour dates, and politicians began a contest to make us cringe the hardest? “It’s me, hi. I know places in Canada would love to have you. So, don’t make it another cruel summer. We hope to see you soon,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. I could almost hear his kids groaning.
“MPs join chorus of snubbed Swifties,” was the Toronto Star headline when Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux tabled an “official grievance” on the matter in the House of Commons.
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In Toronto, a city councillor moved a motion to rename a street “Taylor Swift Way” for the duration of her six-night stand. The motion also directed city staff “to provide a briefing note to councillors on local Swiftonomics.” Only one councillor voted against it. (The city isn’t paying for the signage, at least.)
And since Swift finally added six dates at Rogers Centre, née SkyDome, the cringing hasn’t stopped amidst the jubilant anticipation.
The Star offered us an “inside look at how Toronto was finally added to (the) megastar’s tour.” Apparently Tim Leiweke, formerly president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, “helped broker the deal between (Rogers Centre) and Swift’s management team.” That’s plausible enough.
But surely the reason this “brokering” process succeeded is because Toronto is the fourth-largest city in North America, and Swift’s........