Good morning. An Ottawa man is lined up to get a nice chunk of change after the Ontario Superior Court upheld a ruling that Air Canada owes him $15,000 due to flight cancellations. "It was just clearcut: There were too many planes, not enough employees, and it was their fault,” the man told CBC News.
For anyone out there who has ever been denied an airfare refund, let this tale inspire you.
Today’s reading time is 5 minutes.
MARKETS
| ▲ | TSX |
32,916.47 |
+0.14% |
|
| ▼ | S&P 500 |
6,926.6 |
-0.53% |
|
| ▼ | DOW JONES |
49,149.63 |
-0.09% |
|
| ▼ | NASDAQ |
23,471.75 |
-1.00% |
|
| ▲ | GOLD |
4,629.2 |
+0.65% |
|
| ▼ | OIL |
60.29 |
-1.41% |
|
| ▲ | CAD/USD |
0.72 |
+0.03% |
|
| ▲ | BTC/USD |
97,669.28 |
+3.61% |
Markets: Canada’s main stock index finished yesterday in the green as tensions in Iran caused a spike in oil prices, benefiting energy shares. However, oil prices started to slip later in the day. Meanwhile, dips in the tech and financial sectors drove down top Wall Street indexes.
GOVERNMENT
Au revoir, François Legault
Source: @francoislegault / X.
Quebec’s premier is bidding adieu to the Hôtel du Parlement.
What happened: After over seven years in office, Quebec Premier François Legault announced that he is stepping down from the role and as leader of his Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party. He plans to remain in office until the CAQ chooses a new leader.
Catch-up: Despite securing two successive majority governments, Legault’s power began to unravel during a horrible, no-good, very bad 2025. His image, and the CAQ’s standing in the polls, steadily tanked as Legault and the province dealt with several scandals, including:
A record $13.6 billion deficit, which called into question his fiscal responsibility and led to the province's credit rating being downgraded for the first time in 30 years.
A damning report about SAAQclic, the province’s online auto insurance platform launched in 2023, detailing cost overruns that Legault claimed he was unaware of.
A row over new legislation that changed the compensation structure for physicians, leading to several cabinet resignations and doctors threatening to leave the province.
Why it matters: Quebec elections are in October, and unless the CAQ can pull off a federal Liberal-style comeback after dumping their leader, the province will have a new ruling party for the first time since 2018. And right now, it looks like that will be the Parti Québécois (PQ).
The PQ is leading polling at 34%, per Pallas Data. Meanwhile, the second-place Quebec Liberals are in crisis as they look to replace ex-leader Pablo Rodriguez.
Big picture: The PQ taking power would mark a major shift in the province’s governance; one that could have national-level ripple effects, such as complicating CUSMA negotiations and a full-throated resurgence of the Quebecois sovereignty movement—QH
BIG PICTURE
Source: Chie Inoue / Shutterstock.
Saks Global is bankrupt. The luxury department store, which was spun out from the Hudson Bay Co just over a year ago, has filed for bankruptcy protection with at least US$3.4 billion owed to creditors and vendors, including Gucci-owner Kering, Chanel and LVMH. The CEO of Neiman Marcus will now take control of the parent company and spearhead the restructuring as the group looks to avoid a similar fate as its Canadian counterpart. (Bloomberg News)
The U.S. won’t budge on taking over Greenland. After a White House meeting between Danish and U.S. officials yesterday, Denmark’s foreign minister said the U.S. won’t budge on its position that it has to assume control of Greenland. Both Denmark and Greenland have since increased their military presence on the island, while Germany has agreed to send military support as well. (Reuters)
Netflix is rolling out its first original podcasts. The streamer announced two new video podcasts — a casual interview-style pod hosted by comedian Pete Davidson and a sports show hosted by former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin. Netflix recently closed a deal to exclusively stream the video versions of popular podcasts like Pardon My Take and The Bill Simmons Podcast. (The Verge)
Carney landed in Beijing yesterday, marking the first time in eight years a Canadian prime minister has made the trip to China. Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet on Friday. (CTV News)
The FBI has raided a Washington Post reporter's home. Hannah Natanson, a journalist who covers the White House, had her home and devices raided by the FBI in a major escalation of Trump’s war on government leaks. (Axios)—LA
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TECH
A-listers take on AI deepfakes
Source: Shutterstock.
Matthew McConaughey has had enough, enough, enough with the AI deepfakes.
Driving the news: In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind move, actor and unofficial Texas Longhorns mascot Mathew McConaughey has successfully trademarked his own likeness to help stop AI-generated posts that use his image and voice.
McConaughey was granted trademarks for videos of him smiling, audio of his voice, and even his signature line from Dazed and Confused, “Alright, alright, alright.”
Catch-up: A-listers from Taylor Swift to Keanu Reeves have increasingly had to contend with their image and voice being used in AI deepfakes to sell products, create illicit images, or, in Reeves’ case, peddle misinformation about him getting married.
Actor Bryan Cranston recently called out OpenAI after AI-generated clips of him appeared on the Sora platform, even though the model was supposed to require individuals to opt in for the use of their voice and likeness.
Why it matters: The water is very murky around AI and trademarks, particularly when it comes to social media posts. McConaughey’s trademark move may be a way for public-facing people to combat deepfakes.
Yes, but: The volume of AI-generated posts has created a whack-a-mole situation. Even if McConaughey’s team of lawyers successfully sues one nefarious deepfake poster, many more will likely have popped up before they leave the courtroom.
Zoom out: It’s not just celebs. Denmark is looking to adopt a similar strategy by providing all of its citizens with legal ownership over their own image, a move that would give everyone the right to demand AI platforms remove content that borrows their likeness.—LA
SPONSORED BY ALAN
Many Canadian organizations are investing more in employee health, and much of this work is being led by people whose efforts often stay inside their own teams.
The Peak and Alan are gathering nominations for Canada’s Workplace Health Leaders list. The list will recognize HR and people leaders who have strengthened workplace health in practical and lasting ways.
You can nominate someone whose work has made a clear difference in how their organization supports employee health. Self-nominations are welcome.
ONE BIG NUMBER
🏢 ~2 million square feet. Office space in Toronto that was leased last quarter, the highest mark in five years. After the pandemic sparked a commercial real estate crisis in the downtown core, Toronto’s office market has seen a major resurgence thanks to return-to-office mandates.
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Cineplex is giving away free popcorn to moviegoers this weekend.
How Olympic athletes deal with success and failure.
The best times to book campsites across Canada for 2026.
The new Netflix show from the creator of Squid Game will be “casino crime drama.”
Watch: Tips for picking out good wine at the store.
A Canadian-made vehicle won the Detroit Auto Show’s Car of the Year award.
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GAMES
Get the brain juices flowing with the mini-crossword and the daily sudoku!
And if you want a little more, feel free to test out our bonus mini — make sure to report any bugs or errors if you come across them!