What do most Canadians really want when they check into a hotel?

A more comfortable bed for less money, of course, although at least one familiar chain has calculated that even guests seeking an economic room actually crave a few superficial frills.

The newly named Holiday Inn on Carlton St. in Toronto has completed a $20 million renovation of its 514 rooms, according to The Globe and Mail, which reported on the quiet makeover of what was previously a dowdy downtown Days Inn near Maple Leaf Gardens.

Now, a custom fragrance wafts through the halls, as suitcases are wheeled along the marble lobby floors. Holiday Inn also now presents each guest with a pillow menu.

A similar evolution took place in Winnipeg, where a hotel room boom is in full flight, primarily in response to the growth of oil, gas and manufacturing sectors.

The annual Manitoba Hotel Association convention this week reflected this optimism, as architectural experts presented a run-down of current trends, like open spaces

• The Public Service Commission is the latest group to caution bureaucrats on the use of social media, after the release of a report that discussed the "real and perceived tensions" regarding partisan comments by government employees on websites. (Postmedia News)

• A telephone poll has found that the majority of the population would rather see the forthcoming Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg cover all genocides equally, rather than give preferential space to the Holocaust. (The Globe and Mail)

• Yellow Pages Group has given Toronto residents one month to opt-out from receiving a 2011 print directory, which has followed similar offers in other cities; the company maintains that half of all Canadians consult a phone book each month. (Marketwire)

The grey area between the terms "escort" and "hooker" became the subject of controversy this week after Maclean's humour columnist Scott Feschuk posted an online item comparing the two terms.

The column was in response to how the fiancée of controversial federal lobbyist Bruce Carson's previous professional activities were being delicately described in the media.

Reaction to the suggestion that women in the sex trade are deserving of ridicule, though, particularly ones often forced to solicit customers in public, led Feschuk to remove the item, along with an apology on Twitter.

But it turned out Carson, who worked as an aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper before he allegedly arranged for Michelle McPherson to get 20 per cent of a lucrative contract to provide water filters to First Nations communities, has been good at blurring a few lines. Not to mention being absolved along the way.

Carson's career path has gone from being disbarred as a lawyer, and serving a jail sentence for two

Canadian actor William Shatner turns 80 today and what better way to celebrate than by speaking like him using awkward pauses in sentences.

Tips for talking like Shatner:

- Add a bit of Canadian flavour such as drawing out the 'A' sound and flattening it
- Pronounce the 'U' sound like you are about to gag
- Pause at inappropriate times during the sentence. The stranger the better.
- Sharp inhale and leave your listener hanging
- Be the most important person in the room and talk down to everyone else

This year, for the third-annual "Talk Like William Shatner Day", TrekMovie partnered with WilliamShatner.com and ThinkGeek looking for the best Shatner impersonator.

They launched a contest asking people to perform their impersonations for a chance to win a Command Gold Star Trek Robe, a signed DVD or an Enterprise poster.

Yesterday, other stars including Jason Alexander and Canadian actor Will Sasso got into the action posting a video of their best impressions.

Political journalists had a hard enough time parting with their mobile devices to be allowed entry into the federal budget lock-up today.

The apparent decision not to provide them with free coffee, as a cost-saving measure, might have contributed to the stress.

"Good-bye sweet world," tweeted CBC reporter Rosemary Barton, as she stepped into the Government Conference Centre for the entirety of the seven-hour session, which is scheduled to conclude when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tables the 2011 document in the House of Commons.

The ritual, which has allowed for comprehensive stories and commentary to appear concurrent with the 4 p.m. delivery, has long been derided as a form of spin control.

Documents presented for scrutiny during the lock-up were prepared by the sitting government, which has been found to result in positive stories outweighing the negative, regardless of how much cynicism is in the air.

Still, the department of finance made clear there would be no potential for

Welcome to Morning Brew, our daily roundup of early-bird news:

• Canadians don't think it's a good time to proceed with the $16 billion purchase of the F-35 fighter aircraft, according to a Nanos poll, which has also shown a majority of voters opposed to the Conservatives' desire to reduce national debt now. (The Globe and Mail)

• Halifax promoter Harold MacKay has argued that, while the city is about $360,000 in the hole after the mayor backed low-attended concerts by Alan Jackson and the Black Eyed Peas, the shows generated $13 million in economic spin-off. (The Chronicle-Herald)

• Canadian legend William Shatner's 80th birthday has been commemorated with a video declaring it the "unofficial" Talk Like William Shatner Day: Jason Alexander led the chorus of celebrities offering their histrionic imitations of Captain Kirk. (Boing Boing)

Reports that beer prices will spike across the board next year because of a poor malt barley crop caused by lousy weather may turn out to be greatly exaggerated.

A statement from the Alberta Barley Commission attempted to offset impending national panic by pointing out how little their harvests have contributed to the price at the taps.

While the predicted high of $7.34 per bushel this year would be an increase of more than $3 from the 2010 price, the commission pointed out it's $2 over the 2009 price. Beer prices don't go down when the price of barley goes down.

Farmers make less than a penny for each bottle of beer sold, the commission clarified, while up to 51 per cent of the cost is taxes. The cost of ingredients make up just 15 per cent.

So, any implication a one-third rise in barley costs will contribute to a one-third increase in the price of beer is technically wrong.

The price of gas and oil is likely affecting the price of beer more than the crop, not to mention any

HTN_Accidents_mapIf dying in an accident is a thought that keeps you up at night, a new study suggests you shouldn't move to northern Canada any time soon.

In a study released by The Conference Board of Canada, it was found residents in northern cities were more likely to die in an accident than those living the south.

'Accidents' were classified as incidents such as motor vehicle collisions, falls, drowning, burns and poisoning, defined as such by Statistics Canada. The risks of these incidents are much higher in rural areas than urban or suburban areas, which partially explains why northern Canadian regions rank so high on the list.

The top five census divisions with the highest rates of accidental death per 100,000 population are as follows:

• Burntwood/Churchill, northern Manitoba: 84
• Nunavik, northern Quebec: 78
• Athabasca/Keewatin/Mamawetan, northern Saskatchewan: 72
• Northeast Health Region, northern British Columbia: 69
• Nunavut: 62

These numbers can be compared to the divisions with the lowest