New Zealand - Ian Brackenbury Channell, the official city wizard of Christchurch, NZ for more than 20 years, has been canned, says the Association of Mature American Citizens. City Council official Lynn McClelland explained that the position of wizard was a way to attract attention to the city and promote tourism. 

She said that the town has a new strategy that doesn’t require the services of a spokesman/wizard. But the word is that more likely that sexist remarks he made during a local TV interview in which he said women “use cunning to get men who are thick … I love women, I forgive them all the time, I’ve never struck one yet.  Never strike a woman because they bruise too easily is the first thing, and they’ll tell the neighbours and their friends and then you’re in big trouble.”