Pistachio heist sparks larger cargo theft fears

A pistachio heist in Ontario hasn't just raised the eyebrows of people thinking, “Surely, no one could eat that many nuts,” but put businesses on high alert about food cargo thefts.

Driving the news: Some nutty thieves pulled off an Ocean’s Eleven-level heist on a cargo truck just outside of Waterloo, Ontario, earlier this year, making off with ~$70,000 worth of California pistachios, per the Toronto Star — though no word on whether they got all the shells off.

The Body Shop is no longer fresh and fragrant

A fading star of Canadian malls now has a stench that not even a coconut body scrub can wash off.  

Driving the news: The Body Shop Canada is shuttering 33 (over a third) of its locations,  ending online sales, and laying off over 200 workers after filing for creditor protection. The brand says it had to take these measures after its parent company siphoned money from it. 

Cities are looking for a place to park new homes

In the midst of a housing shortage, city officials are looking to build homes on top of some of the country's ~97 million parking spaces.

Driving the news: Toronto is the latest Canadian city to look into converting public parking lots into housing, following the examples of Vancouver, Calgary, Windsor, St. Catharines, and London. Roughly 74 parking lots, about a quarter of the city's lots, could be up for grabs. 

It’s pricier than ever to have fun, just ask Raptors fans

It’s getting more and more expensive to see sweaty men jump really high these days. 

Driving the news: The average price for season tickets to the Toronto Raptors will be ~4% higher on average next season.

Meta’s retiring from the newsroom

Like a jaded and world-weary beat reporter who’s seen too much, Meta wants out of the news game.

What happened: Meta announced that it wouldn’t sign any more deals with news publishers in the U.S., Australia, U.K., France, and Germany. 

Canada looks for answers to mineral slump

Canadian miners could be getting a shiny new pricing system that may help even the playing field with their competitors overseas. 

Driving the news: A federal cabinet minister says the government is exploring a way to manage prices of critical minerals, like nickel and cobalt, to mitigate the impact of a production boom overseas that’s sent mineral prices plunging.

Joe McReynolds on what cities can learn from Tokyo

 On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Joe McReynolds, a co-author of the book Emergent Tokyo, to talk about what Western cities can learn from Japan’s capital — including how the city manages to keep rent super low for residents.  

What to do this weekend

Greenland wants to cozy up with its neighbours

A history of using Danish schnapps to smooth over land disputes could set the tone for a budding friendship between Greenland and Canada. 

Driving the news: Greenland, a 57,000-person island nation that also happens to be the 12th-largest country in the world, is looking to strengthen political and economic ties with Canada and the U.S. as part of a larger push to become more economically independent. 

Elon Musk sues OpenAI

From the creators of Musk vs. Zuckerberg, Musk vs. Advertisers, and Musk vs. Delaware comes the most thrilling instalment yet… Musk vs. OpenAI. 

What happened: Musk is suing the AI industry’s leading company, OpenAI, which he helped co-found in 2015, and its CEO, Sam Altman. He alleges that the company has betrayed its founding agreement to create AI for the benefit of humanity by inking its deal with Microsoft.  

Figure gets a lot of cash to bring robots to factories

The market for human-looking robots just got a lot more money pumped into it.

What happened: Figure AI announced a US$675 million Series B round that values the two-year-old robotics startup at US$2.6 billion. Some big names in tech seem to think it’s a solid enough bet that their cash comes with new partnerships.

Explain It Like I'm Five: Diffusion transformers

What is a diffusion transformer?

It’s actually a combination of two concepts — diffusion and transformers — that make better-performing AI image and video generators.

Hackers probably don’t care about your smart devices

Be less worried about your smart toothbrush’s security and take a look at the office WiFi router instead.

The choppy rollout of single-use plastic bans

If the rollout of the national plastics ban feels a bit chaotic, well, that’s because it is. 

Driving the news: Under a new bylaw effective today, Toronto businesses will have to ask customers if they want single-use plastic items like utensils, straws, napkins, paper bags, and plastic containers with their takeaway orders, or else face fines from $500 up to $100,000.

Feds ordered to find ArriveCan dollars

Much like the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX did after its collapse, the feds are embarking on a treasure hunt for vanished money. 

Driving the news: The House of Commons passed a motion giving the prime minister 100 days to recoup funds paid to ArriveCan contractors who didn’t actually do any work on the app, which could impact about 76% of subcontractors hired, according to one estimate. 

First phase of Canadian pharmacare plan introduced

If you’ve ever longingly wondered why Canada can’t be more like Sweden, maybe a new pharmacare bill will help you feel a bit better.

Driving the news: The federal government has tabled the Pharmacare Act, which, if passed, would give Canadians access to free diabetes medication and birth control.

Sports cards reel in big bucks

Sure, trading stocks is cool and all, but have you tried trading your old sports cards? 

What happened: This week, an unopened case of hockey cards rumoured to have more than two dozen rare Wayne Gretzky rookie cards sold for $5 million at an auction.

Alberta says “no” to rampant renewables

                              Alberta       Scared birds

                                           🤝          

 “Maybe we should cool it with all these new wind turbines.”

What happened: After lifting a seven-month ban on new renewable energy projects, Alberta has introduced rules restricting where future developments can set up shop in order to keep prime agricultural lands for farmers and preserve the province’s “pristine viewscapes.”

Bitcoin is officially back

*Backstreet Boys voice* Bit. Coin’s. Back. Alright!

Driving the news: Bitcoin reached its highest mark since November of 2021 yesterday, with prices briefly eclipsing $85,000 at one point. Retail investors poured money into bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with BlackRock’s ETF registering a single-day record inflow of US$520 million.

Online Harms Act puts tech companies on notice

Debates about regulating online content and the safety of children can get… heated, to say the least. So before the yelling starts, let’s take a look at what tech companies will actually be expected to do under the Online Harms Act.