Good morning. A former flight attendant from Toronto has pleaded not guilty to allegedly pulling a Catch Me If You Can — that is, pretending to be a pilot in order to fly for free. Authorities arrested the man on wire fraud charges last year, accusing him of using fake identification from his old employer to scam his way into hundreds of free flights.
We don’t condone criminal activity here at The Peak, but we do admittedly respect the hustle. Hey, it obviously beat the hell out of collecting Air Miles (until he got caught).
Today’s reading time is 5 minutes.
MARKETS
| ▲ | TSX |
32,851.53 |
+0.31% |
|
| ▲ | S&P 500 |
6,875.62 |
+1.16% |
|
| ▲ | DOW JONES |
49,077.23 |
+1.21% |
|
| ▲ | NASDAQ |
23,224.82 |
+1.18% |
|
| ▲ | GOLD |
4,834.6 |
+1.44% |
|
| ▲ | OIL |
60.69 |
+0.55% |
|
| ▲ | CAD/USD |
0.72 |
+0.01% |
|
| ▲ | BTC/USD |
90,194.13 |
+0.87% |
Markets: Canada’s main stock index and top Wall Street indexes bounced back yesterday as Donald Trump walked back Greenland tariff threats. Meanwhile, Cenovus Energy shares rose by 4.5% after news broke that its considering a sale of its Alberta oil and gas assets.
DEFENCE
Submarine suitors go big to woo Ottawa
Like the final two contestants on a Bachelorette season, Hanwha Ocean and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) are pulling out all the stops to win Ottawa’s affections.
Driving the news: South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean formally launched Canadian operations this week as it tries to win the right to supply Canada with up to 12 naval submarines. The company also inked a deal with defence firm Babcock Canada to ensure things like maintenance, repair, and performance upgrades of the subs are done in Canada.
And, to prove it wants a long-term industrial commitment and not just a quick military fling, Hanwha is participating in a liquefied natural gas project in Newfoundland.
Not to be outdone, Germany’s TKMS, the other candidate to win the sub contract, is discussing a deal with other companies to offer Canada a potential multi-billion-dollar investment package extending beyond subs, into sectors like AI, mining, and batteries.
Germany’s defence minister has previously suggested that if TKMS wins the bid, his country could buy Bombardier jets and Canadian space systems in return.
Why it’s happening: With Ottawa focusing on defence, this isn’t just a chance for Hanwha and TKMS to get in on potentially the most expensive military purchase in Canadian history, it’s an opportunity to secure a long-term relationship with a big-time industrial spender.
Why it matters: The navy desperately needs new subs as its current fleet is near retirement and can barely stay in the water at a time when Canada’s Arctic sovereignty is under duress. The selection, which could be made this year, is a vital test that Ottawa can spend defence dollars wisely.—QH
BIG PICTURE
Source: Michal Balada / Shutterstock.
Trump reaches Greenland deal outline with NATO chief. The U.S. president has waved off the tariffs he was threatening to impose on allies supporting Greenland, reportedly agreeing to terms on a future deal regarding Greenland and the Arctic region. No details of the deal were provided, including what role other Arctic nations — including Canada — would have in the pact. (CTV News)
Apple is rolling out its own chatbot. With a long way to catch up in the AI race, the iPhone maker is planning to replace the current Siri interface with a new AI chatbot named Campos. Apple won’t offer the AI assistant as a standalone app like ChatGPT, but rather integrate Campos into its various devices. The update is expected to be rolled out at Apple’s developer conference in June. (Bloomberg News)
A new fund wants to help commercialize Canadian AI research. Toronto VC Inovia Capital and Canadian AI research institute Mila are partnering to raise $100 million for a new fund that will invest in over 55 homegrown AI startups. The goal is to help commercialize homegrown research within Canada instead of the U.S., where 70% of Canadian-led startups are now headquartered. (The Logic)
The World Economic Forum could move from Davos to Detroit. The organization is reportedly considering moving its flagship event to Detroit or Dublin. Nice to see they're still strictly committed to ‘D’ cities. (Financial Times)
Doug Ford wants to start a Chinese EV boycott. The Ontario premier, who referred to Chinese-made vehicles as “spy cars” earlier this week, is calling on Canadians to avoid the EVs to protect Ontario auto workers. Between Crown Royal whisky, California wines, and now made-in China Tesla’s, it’s getting hard to keep track of all the products Ford would like his constituents to boycott. (CBC News)
YouTube will soon let creators make AI videos of themselves. The new feature, which we can’t imagine anyone actually asked for, will roll out sometime this year. (The Verge)—LA
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TECH
Social media algorithms face a legal reckoning
Source: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock.
The algorithms that keep us mindlessly scrolling for hours could soon be in legal peril.
Driving the news: Snap has settled a social media addiction lawsuit just a week before it was set to face a landmark trial alongside Meta, TikTok and YouTube. Those three tech giants will still head to court on January 27, pending any other settlements, to face allegations that their products are directly responsible for youth mental health issues.
Despite its one-off settlement, Snap and the rest of the social media giants are still facing two other bellwether cases that combine thousands of lawsuits filed by teenagers, school districts and U.S. states.
Catch-up: The structure and legal arguments of the three lawsuits follow a near-identical playbook as litigation against Big Tobacco back in the ‘90s. They allege that, just like the tobacco companies, social media giants intentionally hid information about their products’ harms from the public, leading to the personal injury of millions.
The cases are the first to argue the legal theory that these social media platforms’ designs are inherently defective and are therefore subject to personal injury liability.
The tech giants have previously held that the First Amendment protects their right to design their algorithms and other features as they see fit, in the same way a newspaper can decide what stories to publish.
Why it matters: If the plaintiffs in one of these three cases are successful, legal experts say the social media companies will not only have to write a big cheque, but they could be forced to fundamentally redesign their platforms to be less addictive.—LA
ONE BIG NUMBER
📉 1,599. New condos that were sold in Toronto last year, down 95% from 2021 and the lowest total in 34 years. The measly 262 condos sold in the fourth quarter of last year marked the lowest tally for any quarter since 1990. Good news if you’re looking to buy!
PEAK PICKS
The coolest new restaurants around the world, including one in Ottawa. (Financial Times, paywalled)
The realities of ditching your smartphone for a month.
Canada’s best employers of 2026, according to Forbes.
The New York Times launched its first two-player word game.
A pilot explains what it was like flying the first Concorde jet.
Jennifer Lawrence said that she cried while filming in Calgary because it was so cold.
GAMES
Hop aboard the Games Express and play the mini-crossword and the daily sudoku!
And if you want to help us out, play today’s bonus mini and let us know if you run into any bugs.