made public. After the ruling, CMMH said it would seek leave to appeal the decision, saying it still believes that the NordStar deal is "neither fair nor reasonable." As such, CMMH stated it expects to "immediately commence an appeal of today’s decision and will seek a stay of Justice Gilmore’s decision, preventing the closing of the plan, pending the determination of the appeal." On July 31, 2020, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rejected the appeal. The judgement by Justice Michael Penny included this comment: "Having carefully read the material filed and considered the submissions of the parties, I have concluded that the motion for a stay of the order ... must be dismissed." The deal closed on August 5. Operations In September 2018, Torstar announced a deal to acquire the existing political news website iPolitics, effective on 1 October 2018. The initial coverage of the deal did not clarify which of the following divisions of the company would be the formal owner of iPolitics. Torstar did announce that iPolitics would maintain its own bureau in Ottawa. After the sale was completed, Torstar laid off five of the publication's staff, and appointed Marco Vigliotti as the senior editor. Daily News Brands The Daily News Brands division primarily comprises the Toronto Star and its associated properties, including Torstar Syndication Services. The division also owns The Hamilton Spectator, the Waterloo Region Record, the St. Catharines Standard, the Niagara Falls Review, the Welland Tribune, and the Peterborough Examiner. Torstar also has a stake in the Canadian edition of the Chinese-language Sing Tao Daily since 1998. the Toronto Star purchased a majority stake in Sing Tao's Canadian newspaper Sing Tao Daily, which it jointly owns with Sing Tao News Corporation. Sing Tao Daily encountered controversy in April 2008, after media watchers discovered the paper had altered a translated Toronto Star article about the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games protests to adhere to Chinese government's official line. Sing Taos then-editor Wilson Chan was fired over this. The StarMetro chain of free daily newspapers serving Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto, and Vancouver was also part of this division until publication of those titles ceased in 2019. Community Brands The Community Brands division, Metroland Media Group, owns more than 70 weekly community papers as of late May 2020, the free magazine Canadian Immigrant, and other community-oriented properties. VerticalScope On July 29, 2015, Torstar announced its acquisition of a