Unfathomable

Good morning. Tim Hortons in South Korea is currently running a campaign honouring Winnipeg — the Canadian black bear that inspired A.A. Milne to create Winnie-the-Pooh. It’s not the first time SK Tims has used its Canadian roots to make some interesting menu items. 

While we find the AI promotional video a little uncanny, we’re charmed by the embrace of Canadiana kitsch. Plus the “Winnipeg Cherry Chocolate Iced Capp” looks pretty tasty.   

Today’s reading time is 5 minutes.

Markets: It was a session of little dips yesterday, as Canada’s main stock index fell slightly and two big names on the index — Tim Hortons parent company Restaurant Brands International and potash giant Nutrien — both stumbled after uninspiring earnings reports.

Losing ground in the EV race by the day, Ford needs to convince its truck-loving customers to go electric. 

What happened: Ford announced that it will release a US$28,350 electric truck next year called Fathom, the first model in its new line of low-cost EVs designed to compete with popular Chinese models. 

Catch-up: Back in December, Ford abandoned its electric F-150 pickup and took a US$19.5 billion writeoff in the fourth quarter — mainly from its struggling EV division. That balance sheet hit was more than the company’s operating income for the past three years combined. 

Why it matters: Legacy automakers like Ford can’t rely on the Canadian and U.S. governments to keep Chinese EVs out of the market forever — Ottawa has already opened the door. Fathom is Ford’s self-described “moon shot” to get back in the EV race before BYD and Chery’s low-cost vehicles inevitably make their way into the States. 

Yes, but: Even with an affordable pickup, playing catch-up won’t be easy. China already makes 70% of the world's electric cars and has dramatically increased its EV exports to Europe, South America, Australia, and other international markets.

What’s next: The Trump administration has hinted that it would be willing to allow Chinese EV makers into the U.S. market as long as they build the vehicles in the States with American workers.—LA

Carney says he won’t make a sector-specific trade deal with the U.S. The PM said he is not interested in any individual trade deals with the Trump administration that don’t address all of the major tariffs currently in place (or being threatened). Carney says that any pact with the U.S. will have to be wide-ranging and cover Canada’s hardest-hit industries including autos, steel, aluminum, and lumber. He did hint that addressing the current tariffs on aluminum could be the key to getting a broader deal over the line. (Globe and Mail)

A deal to open the Strait of Hormuz is reportedly in the final stages. Iranian officials say they are putting the finishing touches on a draft agreement with Oman to reopen the crucial trade artery, while Donald Trump said a deal could be announced within the week. There are still reportedly sticking points holding up the agreement. Iran has insisted on maintaining some level of control over the strait, though Trump has previously dismissed any deal that would give Iran more influence in the waterway. (AP News)

WestJet flight attendants land ground pay concession. The union representing the airline's cabin crew released the details of their tentative agreement with WestJet, including new compensation for work done outside of the plane as well as an 18% wage increase over the next three years. WestJet’s flight attendants are set to vote on the new deal in the next few weeks. (CBC News)

📡 What else is on our radar:

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Telesat secures a contract worth as much as $2.7 billion from Ottawa’s Defence Investment Agency. The 15-year contract is the largest ever for the Canadian satellite operator, and will see the company greatly expand its Lightspeed low Earth orbit constellation.

Why it matters: Ottawa’s increased attention to defence in Canada’s Far North will be all for nought if the Armed Forces can’t actually relay information. This contract is the first major investment made as part of the military’s new initiative to establish secure and sovereign military satellite communications in the Arctic.

If one genomics expert is to be believed, the field of biology just had “its Wright Brothers moment.”

Driving the news: For the first time ever, an AI model has created viruses that don’t exist in nature. The revelation was unveiled in a paper published in Science, where researchers detailed how they used a program called Evo to design and make 16 novel bacteriophages. 

Zoom in: Evo works a lot like a traditional large-language model, but instead of analyzing reams of text to learn predictive patterns, it's trained on genetic sequences. Eventually, it got good enough at predicting genome sequences that researchers felt it could generate its own. 

Why it matters: There’s a lot of work to be done in this field — it’s worth noting that almost all of Evo’s viruses failed and the ones that it created are fairly close to existing ones — but the effects of this breakthrough could be massive for testing vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Yes, but: And boy, is this a big yes, but: the development poses a frightening biosecurity risk. The thought of a bad actor using the tech to create an untreatable virus is chilling. Still, the researchers believe the potential good outweighs the harm, and have kept Evo open source.—QH

🌎 Hint: In the backyard of the Cascade Range, this city is a world-class hub for skiing, mountain biking, and river sports. It's home to one of the country’s highest concentrations of breweries per capita, an extinct volcano, and the world’s last remaining Blockbuster store. 

Think you have an idea where this is? Lock in your guess here.

💊 72%. How often Health Canada met its 180-day target for assessing generic drug submissions last year, down from 84% in 2024. This number used to regularly be 100%, but assessment times have climbed because of a sharp increase in applications. The backlog of submissions stood at 250 as of June — more than double what it was last September.

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