Ontario

Postal News + One Event This Weekend

Most of you have probably received warning of about the possibility of a postal strike from your utilities, banks and credit card companies, so I thought I’d post some information on it.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers have called a strike on May 22nd, 2025 as they negotiate with Canada Post, who have paused the negotiations on May 13th, 2025 according to a blog entry on the Union’s official site.

Unfortunately, Canada Post is posting hundreds of millions in losses every quarter and are considering closing some post offices, reducing door to door service and implementing more community mailboxes. And the Union would rather introduce banking services through the postal offices, which would help the smaller rural communities that have lost their banks.

I agree that they should automatically start providing low fee banking and ATM services to these communities and possibly extend their mandate to provide Wi-Fi services to the community surrounding these post offices, from satellite.

I will be contacting my local Member of Parliament as soon as possible and encourage you to do the same. Thank you.

This weekend’s lone event, the Napanee Comicon, will be held at the Strathcona Paper Centre on Saturday, May 17th, 2025 from 10am to 3pm.

Although there is no public transit in this community, an Ourbus stop is a 12 minute walk away from the venue whilst the Napanee Via Rail station is a 4 minute taxi drive away from the venue. And note that the Megabus and Maplebus do also have stops in this community, across the 401 from the venue and also a 4 minute taxi drive away.

Please note that cash may be preferred at this event and there is a CIBC and Scotiabank at a nearby mall.

Enjoy.

Four Events in Ontario

There will be two record conventions and two comicon in the province of Ontario this weekend.

The Fort Erie Record Show will be hosted by Sessions on the River on Saturday, the 10th of May, 2025, from 10am to 3pm.

Admission will be a $3 donation to COPE and unfortunately this venue is not serviced by public transit.

The Branford Comicon will also be held this Saturday, May 10th, 2025 but from 10am to 4pm at the Branlyn Community Center.

Ticket information can be found by clicking here and the value has two bus stops, 422 and 513, which is serviced by multiple routes on Branford Transit.

The Orangeville Comicon will be held on Saturday, May 10th as well, from 10am to 3pm at the Orangeville Curling Club.

Admission will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under. And the venue is serviced by the Green route on Orangeville Transit, with a stop at Walmart, which is next to the venue.

And the Windsor Record Show will be held on Sunday, the 11th of May, 2025 at The Dominion House from 10am to 3pm.

Admission will be a donation to the Humane Society and the venue is serviced by Route 1C on Transit Windsor from Bus Stop Numbers 1074 and 1075.

Please note that Cash may be preferred at these events so you might want to find out where the nearest ATMs are to the above mentioned venues.

Two Events in Barrie & More

Barrie will have two events this weekend, a comicon on Saturday, the 3rd of May 2025, and a record convention the following day, on the 4th. And events will also be occurring in Prince George, Dorchester and Saskatoon, as soon as on Friday, the 2nd of May.

The Barrie Comicon will be hosted by the Barrie Curling Club on Saturday, May 3rd, 2025 from 10am to 3pm.

Admission will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under. And the venue is serviced by Routes 8A and 8B on Barrie Transit from bus stop numbers 289 and 873.

The Barrie Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be held from 10am to 3pm on Sunday, May 4th, 2025 from 10am to 3pm at the Allandale Recreation Centre and admission will be $5.

This venue’s bus stops numbers are 94 and 95, which are serviced by Routes 12A and 12B on Barrie Transit.

The Northern Fancon will be a weekend long event in Prince George CN Centre and nearby Kin 1 Arena from Friday the 2nd to Sunday the 4th of May.

Admission information can be found by clicking here and both venues are serviced by Routes 5 and 55 on Prince George Transit via multiple bus stops, primarily 105160 and 105334.

Another multiple day event will be Saskatoon’s Pop Con YXE, which will be at Prairieland Park on Saturday the 3rd of May (from 10am to 6pm) and Sunday the 4th of May (from 10am to 6pm).

Click here for admission prices. And Saskatoon Transit‘s Route 1 stops at Bus Stop 3630, which is a few feet north of the venue.

The last event of the weekend will be the Dorchester Record & CD Sale on Sunday, the 4th of May, 2025 from 10am to 3pm at Dorchester Legion.

Admission will be a donation to the legion and unfortunately the venue is not serviced by public transit.

Please note that cash may be preferred at these events so I suggest that you map out the nearest ATMs to the above venues. And note that 7500 Bonus PC Optimum Points Offer on $50 Google Play Gift Cards sold at participating Atlantic Superstore and Real Canadian Superstore locations ends tonight.

By the way, Amazon Prime Day will be in July at Amazon Canada.

Lots of Major Record Conventions

There will be several major record conventions this weekend in Montreal, Toronto, Bowmanville, Brantford and Calgary, as well as comic book conventions in Calgary, Sudbury, Chatham and Cornwall.

The first record convention, the Montreal Plateau Record Show, will be held on Saturday, the 26th of April, 2025, from 10am to 4pm at the Église Saint Denis.

Admission is $5 or $15 for early entry at 9pm. And the entrance of the venue is at 5075 Rivard Street, near the north entrance of the Laurier Metro Station (on the Orange Line).

The next four record conventions will be held on Sunday, April 27th, 2025, the first being the Toronto Downtown Record Show at The Tranzac from noon to 4pm.

Admission will be $7 or $12 for early entry at 10am. And the venue is a six minute walk away from either the Bathurst or Spadina Metro Stations. It’s in-between the two TTC stations.

The next record convention this Sunday will be the Bowmanville CD and Record Show, which will be hosted by the Memorial Park Clubhouse from 10am to 4pm.

This is a free event and the venue is a nine minute walk from the nearest bus stop, #1499, which is serviced by Route 902 on Durham Regional Transit.

The Brantford Record Show will also be held on Sunday, this time at the Dunsdon Legion, from 10am to 3pm. And admission will be a $2 donation to the legion.

The nearest bus stops to the venue are 450 and 483, which is serviced by Routes 4A and 4C on Brantford Transit.

And last but not least, the Calgary Record Collectors Show will be held on Sunday at the Acadia Recreation Complex from 11am to 4pm.

Admission to this event is $5 or $10 for early entry at 9:30am. And the nearest bus stops to the venue, 6414 and 6447, are serviced by Route 99 on Calgary Transit.

The Calgary Expo will also be held this weekend, from the 24th to the 27th at Stampede Park.

Admission information can be found by clicking here. And the venue is serviced by Victoria Park / Stampede Station on Calgary Transit.

The Sudbury Comicon will be held for one day, on Saturday the 26th of April, 2025, at the George Armstrong Community Centre and Arena from 10am to 3pm, and admission will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under.

This venue is serviced by Route 102 on GOVA and the nearest bus stops to the venue are unfortunately not numbered ; The southbound stop is the closest to the venue, followed by the northbound stop.

Chatham Kent Expo will be a two day event at John D. Bradley Convention Centre on the 26th and 27th of April, 2025.

Admission information can be found by clicking here. And the casino next door has its own bus stop, 5231, which is serviced by Route 5 on Ride CK.

And finally, the Cornwall Pop Event (a.k.a CAPE) will be held at the Benson Center, also on north the 26th and 27th of April.

Click here for ticket information. And although the venue is serviced by Route 3 via its own bus stop on Saturdays, you might need to contact Cornwall Transit for information on access on Sunday. Their offices are next to the venue.

Please note that cash may be preferred at these events so you might want to look for the nearest ATMs to the venue. And FYI, the Real Canadian Superstore offer on $50 Apple Gift Card purchases will end tonight so hurry to get your 5000 Optimum Point Bonus.

Busy Saturday In Ottawa & More

Not only is Record Store Day on this Saturday, the 12th of April, 2025, but The Ottawa Record Fair will be on from 11am to 4pm at the Carleton-Dominion Chalmers Centre.

Admission to the fair is $5 or $10 for early entry at 10am. And the nearest bus stops, #1902 and #2487, are regularly serviced by several major routes on OC Transpo.

Also occurring in Ontario that day are three comicons, the first being in nearby Kingston for one day, at the Royal Canadian Legion from 10am to 3pm.

Admission at the Kingston Comicon will be $5 or free for kids 12 and under. And this venue is serviced by Route 1 on Kingston Transit via its own bus stop and another bus stop across the street. Non-perishable food items will also be collected at this event.

The next event of that Day in Ontario will be the Halton Hills Fanfest in Georgetown, from 10am to 4pm at the Halton Hill Public Library.

I believe the event may be free but you might want to contact the library for details. And the nearest bus stops, 102803 and 102804, are serviced Routes 31 and 33 on Go Transit.

The last event in Ontario that day will also occur on both the 12th and 13th in Timmins at the McIntyre Community Centre.

Admission to Timminscon is $15 for adults, $10 for kids and free form kids under 2. And the venue is serviced by multiple routes on Timmins Transit, which differs depending on the day you will attend the event, although Route 16 appears to operate on both days.

The Atlantic Entertainment Expo will also be occurring this weekend, on the 12th and 13th of April 2025 in Fredericton, New Brunswick at the Fredericton Convention Center.

Click here for this event’s admission information. The venue has its own bus stop, which is serviced by multiple routes on Fredericton Transit.

The Toronto/Mississuaga Vinyl Record & Collectibles Show will be held from 10am to 3pm at the Etobicoke Olympium on Sunday, the 13th of April, 2025.

Admission is $5 and the venue is serviced by Route 48 via bus stop numbers 1477 and 1493 on the TTC.

And finally, the Edmonton Record Fair will be hosted by the Northgate Lion Recreation Center from 11am to 3:30pm on Sunday, April 13th, 2025.

Admission will be $5 or $10 for early admission at 9:30am. And the nearest bus stops to the venue are 77342 and 77350, which is serviced by Route 54 on Edmonton Transit.

Please note that cash may be preferred at these events. And that a free three month offer from Amazon Music Unlimited is available and includes Audible audio books, one of which will be free to listen to every month.

This Weekend’s Events

I have waited to post this entry to make sure none of the events in Eastern Canada were canceled due weather and it appears that none have been canceled:

The Vancouver Comic and Toy Show will be held at the PNE Forum on the 5th and 6th of April, 2025.

Tickets to this event can be purchased by clicking here and the venue is serviced by multiple routes on Translink, via bus stops 50951 and 52718.

The Salon National des Collectionneurs will also occur on the 5th and 6th, but at Espace St-Hyacinthe.

The nearest bus stop the to venue is #506, which is serviced by Routes 50 and 70 on the St.Hyacinthe city transit system. And note that this event is predominantly in French.

Back Issues Comicon will be held at the Christ Church Parish Hall on Saturday, the 5th of April, 2025, from 9am to 3pm and admission will be $3.

The nearest bus stop to the venue is 7389 which is serviced by Routes 54, 55 and 62 on Halifax Transit.

The Stratford ComiCon appears to still be on for April 5th, 2025 at the Best Western Plus The Arden Park Hotel from 10am to 3pm.

Admission is $5 or free for kids 12 and under. And Stratford Transit offers on demand services to the venue and the Stratford Via Rail station is only a 3 to 4 minute taxi ride away from this hotel.

The Woodstock Pop Show will be held on Sunday, April 6th, 2025 from 9:30am to 2:30pm at the Woodstock Fairgrounds Auditorium.

Admission will be $5 or free for accompanied kids 12 and under. And the venue is unfortunately not serviced by transit on Sundays but it is a four or five minute taxi ride away from the Via Rail station.

And finally, the Guelph Record Show will occur on Sunday, the 6th of April, 2025 from 10:30am to 4pm at the Royal Canadian Legion.

Admission is $5 or $20 for early entry at 9am. And unfortunately there is no transit service to this venue on Sundays. But the venue is an eight minute taxi ride from the Guelph Go Train and Via Rail station.

Please note that cash may be preferred at these events so keep an eye out for the ATMs near or in the venues. And although the Spring sale is over at Amazon.ca, you should probably check out their deals on music, DVDs/blu-rays, electronics and musical instruments.