Private matters

Good morning. A nursery with billions of baby sea cucumbers has been found by a group of scientists off the coast of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. The discovery has sparked hope that the local community can harvest and sell the notoriously elusive sea cucumbers to buyers in China and Japan (and save some to eat themselves). 

If all goes to plan, Canada could be adding sea cucumber to its list of national delicacies. 

Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.

Markets: All ​three major U.S. stock indexes inched lower yesterday, while the TSX saw even heavier losses, falling 1.7% and finishing the day at its lowest level since July.

Tech companies aren’t thrilled by the idea of building a digital peephole for Canadian law enforcement. 

Driving the news: Encrypted messaging service Signal is threatening to pull out of Canada if the federal government passes its proposed lawful access law, claiming that recent changes made to the bill are insufficient to protect users' privacy. Encrypted search engine DuckDuckGo has also threatened to withdraw services from Canada over the bill. 

Catch-up: The bill, which is currently in the Senate, would require tech companies to change their systems to give law enforcement easier access to people’s digital information for criminal investigations.

Yes, but: Law enforcement agencies say they simply can’t keep up with the new technologies that criminals are using, and that the lawful access changes will help them better detect and respond to public safety threats.

Zoom out: Apple threatened to remove iMessage and FaceTime from the U.K. in 2023 over a similar law, but despite its opposition, the bill was passed (with a few small concessions) and Apple never pulled its services. While privacy-focused firms like Signal may have no choice but to leave, it’s unlikely major tech companies would exit Canada over this bill.—LA

The Westons are buying British pharma chain Boots for $12.7 billion. Whittington Investments, the holding company of the Weston family, will take control of Boots, which has been likened to the U.K.’s Shoppers Drug Mart (which the Westons also own). Boots expanded to Canada in 1978, but exited after 11 years in the country. It’s unclear if the Westons will bring the brand back to Canada, but given that its primary competitor would be Shoppers Drug Mart, it seems unlikely. (The Canadian Press)

First Nations groups in Saskatchewan fight back over Bell’s AI data centre. Two First Nations groups are threatening to take legal action against Bell over its planned data centre near Regina, accusing the telecom and the provincial government of failing to consult Indigenous peoples on the project. The data centre, which already has the backing of the George Gordon First Nation group, is being billed as the largest private sector investment in Canadian history. (CBC News)

Michigan Senate candidate calls for an end to Trump's tariff war with Canada. Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers — who was endorsed by Donald Trump for the upcoming midterm elections — has called on the president to remove all tariffs on Canada, citing rising prices for Americans. In an ad released yesterday, Rogers said, "Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy." (Axios)

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Six Figures is our anonymous interview series with Canadian workers making over $100,000 in all kinds of industries. Do they feel well-compensated? How did they get to where they are? What advice do they have for others looking to break in or level up? To get these stories, we dipped into our very own Canadian Salary Index, a growing database of compensation intel. Check it out — and add your own salary. 

“I minored in political science, which was more of an interest than a career opportunity. Right out of school, I was a stockbroker. Then I saw an opportunity to get involved politically, in a riding association for the Liberals. The executive director of the party hired me as a manager of communications in the downtown Toronto office. After that, I worked for a city councillor for the city of Toronto as his chief of staff. But this is my first foray into lobbying and government relations in the private sector.”

Do you feel well-compensated?

“No, I don't. I feel like I should be making more. Forty grand more is where I think I should be, which is kind of depressing.” 

What’s the job like? 

“I’m usually pulled in to write press releases or speaking notes, but my real job is lobbying the government and asking them for things. Mostly it’s relationship building, going out and grabbing a beer.”

Advice for anyone looking to break into your industry? 

“I initially got involved by volunteering. But I know that’s like today’s equivalent of your parents telling you to go door-to-door and hand out resumes. But getting involved, especially on the grassroots level, is important.”

Want to share your own salary story? Or just see what everyone else is making? Add your salary to unlock our full Salary Index.

The federal government is drawing some red lines around medical assistance in dying (MAID). 

What happened: Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced the government would prohibit MAID for people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness, a population who were slated to become eligible beginning in March 2027. 

Why it matters: The new law will close the door on next year’s expansion of the MAID program, which some health experts said would have allowed for the procedure to be done in cases where it wasn’t clear if a patient was truly able to give consent. 

Yes, but: Advocates of MAID argue that restricting the procedure in this way amounts to a violation of the Charter rights of people to “make fundamental decisions about their body and life.”

Zoom out: Around 76,000 Canadians have died using MAID since the program began, with 16,499 of those in 2024 — the most recent year for which statistics have been released — making it the fourth-leading cause of death in the country.

What’s really shaping Canada’s economy? And what does it mean for where we’re headed?

"Canada’s Economy, Explained", the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Business Data Lab podcast, brings leading economists, researchers and global experts into the conversation to unpack the forces behind the headlines, from trade and productivity to inflation, labour markets and geopolitics.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

🏠 24. Consecutive months that the average rent has fallen in Canada, marking two full years of steady price declines. Last month, average rent hit $2,034 — 7.3% lower than two years ago and 9.2% below the price peak in May 2024.

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Enough dilly-dallying, it’s time for today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who.