On Day 2 of Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, the talk surrounded many men – Ben Harper, Jose Conde, Keys and Krates and The Roots(!), to name a few – while the festival played out, but only one after it was all said and done. Twenty-three-year-old electro-house and dubstep sensation Skrillex absolutely destroyed the crowd as the closing act on the headlining stage this night. The chatter in and around the capital since has been something like, ‘when’s Skrillex coming back to town? That dude was is sick, dope, wicked etc… An all-round good day and second night on festival grounds.

The introduction of Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest’s most impressive lineup to date, on a beautiful summer afternoon in Canada’s capital city, was met with unadulterated satisfaction. Whether looking for a local blues act to follow or an international powerhouse of a metal band to rock out with, or a folk duet to nod the head and bob the foot to, Bluesfest packed a little something for everyone on this, the festival’s 18th opening day.

Before The Flaming Lips even took to the stage with some retro swag, up-and-comers Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros lit up the headlining MBNA stage with an electic, electrifying and esoteric set that roused even those camped up three hours early to catch prime spots for the night’s main course. Lindsay Ferguson and Ras Lee, local folk hero and reggae legend, respectively, set the day off with animated performances that no doubt turned the head of one or two of those unknowning of their names, but impressed by the sound coming from the stages.

Though massive crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of Canadian rockers Tegan and Sara and, on a nearby stage, Parliament-Funkadelic alumn Bootsy Collins, there was no questioning who most on the grounds were out to see. After a near 15-year break-up, Soundgarden took to the MBNA stage and did not miss a beat. On this perfect opening night, neither did the festival.

Activists will tomorrow voice their displeasure with the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, at a march being held in several locales across the country. Participants of the “People’s March Against Jason Kenney” will be demanding an end to deportations, a halt to the exploitation of temporary migrant workers and an immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan, among other things. Organized by Vancouver rights collective No One Is Illegal, the main march will take place at noon in Burnaby’s Central Park. Rallies are also planned for Montreal, Halifax, Toronto and Winnipeg.

American Brent Delahoussaye led the Canadian Open with an 8-under par after setting a course-record at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke, Ont., on the  first day of the tournament. The 28-year-old South Carolonian’s score, a 62, matched the lowest round played in the past 100 years by any participant at the Canadian Open. In addition to the tournament leader, nine of the 10 players on the leaderboard at the Open are from the U.S.

The RCMP said it has found nothing to warrant criminal charges against MP Helena Guergis, who was forced to resign from cabinet and axed from the Conservative caucus in April under a cloud of controversy. Allegations hurled at Guergis included reports she used her position to further the business interests of her husband, businessman and former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer. “To me, that speaks a tremendous amount,” said lawyer Howard Rubel of his client’s vindication. “They [the RCMP] didn’t feel there was anything that they needed to speak to her about or ask about.” This afternoon, the National Post reported that Guergis is now looking to meet with PM Harper face-to-face, to find out why he personally threw the woman that once sat behind him during Question Period to the wolves over unproven “serious allegations.”

The country’s chief statistician quit yesterday over the Harper government’s decision to replace the mandatory long form census with a voluntary survey. Munir Sheikh, the head of Statistics Canada, tendered his resignation publicly, leveling that voluntary statistics would not be enough to make accurate comparisons to earlier census data. “This relates to the question of whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census. It cannot,” wrote Sheikh in a statement posted on StatsCan’s website. Despite admitting experts at StatsCan don’t agree with the government’s move, Industry Minister Tony Clement stood by his decision to scrap the compulsory census. “What we’re trying to do is make sure data is still available to those who want it,” said Clement, speaking with CTV this afternoon. “But we also take time to consider there are some people in the country who feel that this is an unwarranted intrusion into their private lives.”