Arctic education

Markets: Shopify took a beating yesterday, with shares falling 7% after it missed analyst expectations for quarterly earnings. This dragged down the TSX during what was otherwise a decent day, with Canada’s main stock index finishing the session just barely in the red.

Canada’s Far North is getting a long overdue higher learning institution.

What happened: The Nunavut community of Arviat has been chosen as the main campus site for Inuit Nunangat University (INU), Canada’s first Inuit-led university in the Inuit people’s Arctic homeland. INU plans to open in 2030, welcoming about 100 students and 80 staff.

Big picture: With an estimated cost of $200 million, opening by 2030 will be challenging, but funding is going well. Yesterday, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. pledged $50 million to aid campus construction, $50 million for student housing, and $35 million for programming.

Why it matters: Inuit students who want to pursue higher education don’t have the choice to do so in their homeland, a barrier to entry that’s created an education gap. According to a 2020 report, just 14% of Inuit aged 15 to 64, have a college diploma or university degree compared to 42% of non-Indigenous Canadians. Education options at home will help close the gap. 

Zoom out: On a national level, establishing the first Arctic university will be another way to bolster Canada’s sovereignty and jurisdiction over that increasingly fraught region.—QH

Police identify shooter and victims in deadly B.C. mass shooting. The RCMP revised the official death toll to nine people and confirmed that the suspected shooter, who died from a self-inflicted wound, was 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. The police had previously seized firearms from the shooter’s family home and had a history of responding to mental health calls at the residence. Among those killed in the attack were the shooter's mother and stepbrother, a 39-year-old teacher, and five students between 12 and 13-years-old. (CTV News)

The U.S. Congress voted to overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada, but fell short of a veto-proof majority. The House voted in favour of a resolution to overturn the Trump administration's Canadian tariffs, with six Republicans joining Democrats. That wasn’t nearly enough to get the two-thirds majority required to override the president’s veto, making it mostly a symbolic gesture. (CBC News)

Ukrainians will likely head to the polls this month. A presidential election and referendum on a Russia peace deal are reportedly being planned, with the U.S. threatening to pull its security guarantees unless both votes are held by May 15. Zelenskyy, who has strongly opposed holding an election during the war, will reportedly hold the vote on Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. (Financial Times)

Activist investors are pushing Warner Bros. toward Paramount. Ancora Holdings has quietly built a $200 million stake in Warner Bros. and has begun an activist campaign within the company to steer board members away from its current merger with Netflix. (Reuters)—LA

📡 What else is on our radar: 

In the first randomized study of its kind, Oxford Internet Institute researchers tested the ability of commercially available AI chatbots like ChatGPT to answer medical queries. Over 1,200 participants input various symptoms and received wildly varied responses, leading the team to conclude that none of the models were “ready for deployment in direct patient care.”  

Why it matters: Getting quick medical advice is one of the top reasons people use AI chatbots, especially as easy healthcare access eludes so many. In fact, a survey released just this week by the Canadian Medical Association found that around half of Canadians are now using AI for health information, even though many users don’t really trust the answers.

Catch up on yesterday: 

What’s happening today:

The fate of one of the world’s largest trade agreements is looking dicey. 

Driving the news: President Trump has been privately discussing the idea of quitting the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) altogether, according to Bloomberg. The trade pact, which Trump negotiated in his first term, is currently under review ahead of a July 1 extension deadline. 

Zoom in: The CUSMA review has a few possible outcomes. The deal could be renewed (which would keep it in place for the next 16 years), the U.S. could withdraw completely, or they could decide to punt the issue, which would keep negotiations open and trigger a review every year. 

Why it matters: With a US$1 trillion trade relationship on the line, keeping some version of CUSMA intact is crucial for Ottawa. The pact has spared Canada from the worst of Trump’s tariffs, with around 85% of Canadian exports currently entering the U.S. tariff-free.

Our take: The most likely scenario is that Trump uses the threat of withdrawal to cut a new or restructured deal that favours U.S. interests more than the current pact. Withdrawing from CUSMA would worsen cost-of-living pressure in the U.S., and with the U.S. midterms in November, Trump likely wants to declare a major economic victory. What better way than a shiny new deal with two of America’s largest trading partners?—LA

🚗 47,000. Vehicles that were stolen in Canada last year, down 18% from 2024 and 33% from 2023’s total. Despite the reduction in thefts, over a third of the vehicles reported stolen last year were never recovered. Insurance claims for those stolen vehicles hit $900 million last year.

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Without further ado, today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, and last but not least, Codebreaker.