Jack Layton's son is following his father by entering politics and running for city council. Michael, the current deputy outreach director for Environmental Defence Canada, rode his bike to a press scrum at Trinity Bellwoods park before heading to city hall to file his papers. Initial reports made it sound as though his first encounter with the press went a little awkwardly, but today's summaries make little mention his refusal to answer questions in French (this is Toronto, after all) and his generality-laden announcement. I went to high school with Mike, so even if this first outing was a bit rough, I know he's a charismatic guy who'll soon be nailing his dealings with the press.

The Conservative government won't be changing the lyrics of our national anthem after all. As the Conservatives quickly found out (though most people already knew), the demographic most opposed to changing the anthem is the one that provides the base of Tory support.

I always feel a little silly criticizing the sources I link to here because they provide the news that fuels the column. Not only that, I generally like the Star's weekly installment of the Fixer. Today's, however, is a bit of an enigma. Looking into a reader complaint about a portable toilet that's been sitting by a community garden near Jane and St. Clair over the entire winter and its potential cost to the City, the writer finds that the rental company has merely forgotten to pick it up. I think at that point I would have scrapped the (non)story. But, hey, I'm linking to it -- so what does that say? (Hint: slow news day...).

The case involving Michael Bryant has been put over again, but this time for a short period. Insofar as the Crown has indicated that "disclosure is now in essence complete" the criminal case against the former Ontario attorney-general will commence April 14, 2010. That won't be a slow news day...

And because I'm yet to be convinced that the My City, Your City project won't be a touchy-feely mess, I'll instead highlight this article by Michael Valpy, which serves to remind us that Adam Giambrone has not, in fact, fallen off the face of the Earth.

Photo: "toronto skyline bokeh" by -stacey-, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.