📈 Turn that frown upside down

Good morning. It’s well known that Vancouver winters are typically rainier than they are snowy, but B.C.’s biggest city usually gets at least a little snow — not so this past season. 

With spring arriving today, Vancity completed its first winter in 43 years without an official snowfall. It failed to register the one-centimetre minimum of snow accumulation at the airport needed during any of its winter days. 

Most of Canada can’t say the same. And yes, we are judging you, Vancouver. 

Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.

Markets: Canada’s main stock index was battered yesterday amid volatile oil prices and investor fears that hoped-for interest rate cuts might not be on the immediate horizon.

Death, taxes, and Finland ranking as the happiest country in the world are all certainties in this world. But Canada’s place among the world’s cheeriest nations is no longer a sure thing.

Driving the news: Canada slipped to 25th in the latest World Happiness Report, the lowest it’s ever ranked in the 14 years the list has been published — that’s seven spots lower than last year, and a far cry from our sixth-place finish a decade ago.

Zoom in: Canada’s precipitous decline in life satisfaction is being led by young folks (and it goes beyond regular old teen angst). The nation’s most hopeful cohort a decade ago is now its most pessimistic, with Canada ranking 71st out of 136 for happiness among under-25s.

Why it matters: The cause of growing dissatisfaction with life among young Canadians isn't surprising — the report cites social media, experts point to economic anxiety… no duh —  but that doesn’t make this any less concerning for the future of our nation’s mental health.

Yes, but: The majority of Canadians, even young ones, are still either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with life. And some experts are hopeful that the national frown can be turned upside down, as the speed at which happiness has dropped signals that it can be improved.—QH

Canadian biz could move from quarters to halves. A Canadian Securities Administrators pilot will let smaller issuers post earnings semi-annually instead of quarterly. Advocates argue that alleviating the burden of quarterly reports will promote long-term growth and spur  more IPOs. U.S. regulators are looking into implementing this change at the behest of Donald Trump. (Reuters) 

The feds keep spending on defence. Ottawa is buying 30,000 made-in-Canada assault rifles from Colt Canada at an estimated price tag of $307 million over three years, with an option to buy 35,000 more. The guns will replace old Colt rifles the Canadian Army has had for more than 35 years. The contract is being managed by the new Defence Investment Agency. (The Canadian Press)

DoorDash wants gig workers to train robots. DoorDash launched a new app called Tasks in select U.S. markets, which pays workers for completing various small tasks to train AI and robotics models. This can include filming themselves doing mundane chores like washing dishes and folding clothes. The company plans to expand to more countries in the future. (TechCrunch)

📡 What else is on our radar:

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MDA Space nabs $32 million federal contract to build space surveillance telescopes. The Canadian spacetech company will erect three sites in Alberta, Manitoba, and New Brunswick that will allow the Canadian Armed Forces to monitor threats to national space infrastructure. Much of this space infrastructure, it should be noted, is also made by MDA.

Why it matters: The sites will be a first, as Canada has traditionally monitored space from, well, space. It’s all part of the country’s broader space defence push — see also: plans for a $200 million launch pad in Nova Scotia announced earlier this week. The deal is also another feather in MDA’s cap since launching an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

🌎 Hint: This nation is home to 10 islands and even grows some of its local wine on lava rocks and volcanic ash. The official language is Portuguese, although the African cultural influence is strong and many locals speak a Creole that’s unique to the island. Tuna isn’t just a staple of the national diet, it's one of the island’s major economic drivers. 

Think you know where this oasis is? Lock in your guess here.

Less than a week out from a new MLB season, the league is entering the gambling industry’s most controversial corner.

What happened: MLB signed a licensing deal with Polymarket, a pact that will allow the league to monitor suspicious bets placed on the prediction market platform. The NHL signed a similar deal with both Polymarket and Kalshi in October. 

Catch-up: MLB is happily profiting off of the betting boom, but it's worth noting that all of the major sports leagues fought for decades to stop legalized sports betting, primarily out of fear that it would spark a game-fixing epidemic (a good hunch, as it turns out). 

Why it matters: The sportsbooks — and now prediction markets — ultimately hold the cards. As one former ESPN reporter put it,“The betting apps are in charge now, and everyone knows it. The leagues are hostage to the forces they unleashed.”—LA

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🏀 36. Canadians participating in this year’s men’s March Madness NCAA basketball tournament, a record high. Two of them play for the defending champion Florida Gators: guard Xaivian Lee and seven-foot-nine centre Olivier Rioux, the tallest college basketballer ever. More Canadians are now competing in the tourney than any other non-U.S. country.

Congratulations to the winners of last week's cartoon caption contest and thanks to everyone who submitted!

Want to see this week's cartoon and try your hand at another caption? Click here and give us your best witticism.

Prove you were paying attention this week by crushing The Peak’s Weekly News Quiz!

Then, it’s time for the Fun Four: the mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who.