🏀 Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA after an investigation found he broke the league’s gambling rules. (Betting Scandal)

🧾 Canada’s capital gains tax inclusion rate will rise from one-half to two-thirds on capital gains above $250,000 for individuals, starting on June 25. (Tax Hikes) 

👟 Adidas shares hit a two-year high this week thanks to a surge in sales in the most recent quarter for its Samba, Gazelle, and Campus sneakers. (Retro Era)

🍕 Afternoon and evening sales at Tim Hortons jumped 7% in 2023 after the launch of wraps and bowls. Now, the chain is getting into pizza. (Pizza Party)

🏒 The National Hockey League has made a record US$6.2 billion this season thanks to a growing fanbase and more lucrative sponsorship deals. (Playoff Time)

Switzerland is famous for keeping its nose out of the business of other countries, but some citizens are worried it’s starting to pick sides. 

What happened: Swiss parliament voted against joining an international task force to enforce sanctions against Russia. The decision comes as lawmakers and citizens grapple with what it means to be a neutral country in an increasingly tense Europe.

Catch-up: Besides chocolate and Alpine skiing, there’s nothing more Swiss than neutrality — the policy of not getting involved in other countries’ conflicts — a stance it’s held for over 500 years. But, two years into the war in Ukraine, the status of neutrality is up in the air.

• Switzerland has worked with the EU to levy economic sanctions against Russia since the invasion. While this is technically allowed, neutrality purists feel it’s a violation.

Big picture: Later this year, the Swiss will likely vote in a referendum on a “Neutrality Initiative” that aims to constitutionally enshrine neutrality and impose a stricter definition of it. 

• If voters vote yes on the referendum, Switzerland would be barred from joining any military bloc — unless it was in response to a direct attack — and would be forced to end its sanctions on Russia under new rules prohibiting coercive economic sanctions.

Why it matters: Furor in Switzerland over neutrality shows how war in Ukraine has upended the feeling of security in Europe. Since the start of the war, we’ve already seen Finland and Sweden disavow their long-standing neutrality policies for armed conflicts and join NATO. 

Bottom line: Neutrality is still immensely popular, with one survey finding that 91% of the Swiss population supports it. However, another survey also found that 55% favour re-export of Swiss arms to Ukraine, indicating that the definition of neutrality is flexible for many.—QH

🇮🇳 India’s elections are underway. The first phase of the Indian elections began yesterday. Voters in 21 states cast ballots as controversial PM Narendra Modi seeks a third term. With ~970 million voters, it’s the largest election ever and will take six weeks to complete. (AP News) 

🇮🇷 Iran and Israel calm down. Israel struck near an Iranian air base in response to Iran’s drone attack last week. Both sides downplayed the strike, and Iran said it had no plans to retaliate, implying they are heeding diplomats’ pleas to avoid starting a region-wide war. (Reuters)

🇺🇸 Protest rights at risk in three U.S. states. The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the contentious Mckesson vs. Doe case. This means that, for now, protest organizers in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi can be held liable for any illegal activity at events they organize. (Vox)

 🇰🇷 Ugly plates hurt South Korean luxury car sales. Sales have tumbled since January when a law requiring vehicles worth over US$58,000 to have neon green licence plates came into effect. The move is meant to discourage the recreational use of corporate cars. (Financial Times) 

🇵🇱 Poland charges man over assassination plot ties. The man was allegedly ready to pass on security information about the vital Rzeszów-Jasionka airport to Russian spies as part of a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (CNN)—QH  

The TikTok bill is moving along with a tried-and-true strategy in U.S. politics: group a contentious bill with a bunch of unrelated stuff that’s more likely to pass. 

What happened: Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take another run at a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app or face a ban. The House passed a similar bill last month, but the Senate has been reluctant to bring it for a vote.

• This version has been slipped into a package of other bills that authorize more aid for Ukraine and Israel. Since the Senate is eager to pass that, it could clear hurdles for the TikTok bill.

Catch-up: Lawmakers are fretting about TikTok’s potential national security risks. TikTok isn’t the only social app that collects tons of user data, but the worry is that China could force the company to turn over such data or use TikTok’s huge influence to sway public opinion.

Why it matters: If the bill passes, many feel a ban is all but inevitable, which would likely leave a big vacuum of cultural, societal, and political influence. That’s because ByteDance’s options for getting TikTok off its books are all pretty unlikely to happen. 

• No one that could afford TikTok wants a regulator fight, ByteDance doesn’t have enough time to spin TikTok off with an IPO, and any deal that does work out could be blocked by China.

Yes, but: Even if the bill passes, it is probably going to face various challenges from TikTok, its users, and even free speech advocates. So whatever U.S. lawmakers want to happen could still be a long way from playing out. —JK

Eat some special brownies. Happy 4/20 to all those who observe. If you want to partake in the fun but don’t like inhaling smoke, here’s a super simple recipe for special brownies. If you don’t like wacky tobaccy in any form, no problem; here’s a great regular brownie recipe.

Read Growth by Daniel Susskind. The bestselling economist takes a fresh look at the concept of ‘growth,’ which is so often seen as the be-all and end-all in economics. Through rigorous analysis, he looks at what growth entails and how it can happen sustainably. 

Watch Abigail, now in theatres. We were sold on this movie the moment we heard the premise: a group of criminals get trapped in a house with a bloodthirsty child vampire… who’s also a ballerina. We hope that it’s a hit and they end up making Abigail vs. M3GAN. 

Listen to Dark Matter by Pearl Jam. Look, we know this isn’t the biggest album out this weekend, but we thought we’d highlight the latest from the grunge icons because 1) it’s their best one in a long time and 2) we played “Even Flow” a million times on Guitar Hero 3.—QH

On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Dan Skilleter from Social Capital Partners to talk about why Canada isn't that much more equal than the U.S. 

What’s the difference between wealth inequality and income inequality?

“Wealth measures the accumulation of capital, money, and assets you have over not just your lifetime but the lifetime of your family over generations. Wealth inequality, if you look at the concentration at the very top, is a bigger problem than income inequality in Canada.”

Can you tell us what you found in your research on this? 

”Statistics Canada does not capture the wealth concentrated in the top 0.1% of families well. We know inequality isn’t that far off from the U.S., in terms of how much wealth they own as a percentage of all the wealth in Canada. In the U.S. it’s ~16%, and in Canada, it’s ~12%.”

So StatCan doesn’t think the top 0.1% owns 12% of the wealth?

“StatCan would give you a number just shy of 4%. It invites about 20,000 families across Canada to participate in an optional survey. Research shows that the richer you are, the less likely you are to agree to participate in these surveys, so it skews that data at the top end.” 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Listen to the full conversation here.