The problem: Gas-powered cars are a big contributor to the world’s carbon emissions, but the transition to electric vehicles is sputtering as consumers remain skittish about pricey purchases. Toyota is one of the biggest skeptics among major automakers, estimating that the EV market will top out at 30% of drivers, meaning that carbon reduction will have to come from elsewhere.

With the Paris Olympics less than five months away, Canada’s sports bodies have put out a plea for more cash. 

What happened: The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees (COC and CPC) submitted a budget request to the feds for $104 million in extra annual funding to cover rising operational costs of increased stakeholder demands, made clear by a new Deloitte report.

“Babe, wake up, Tiff Macklem is dropping the rate decision today…,” if this isn’t how your partner woke you up this morning, let us get you up to speed. 

Driving the news: The Bank of Canada is widely expected to hold interest rates steady today for the fifth consecutive rate announcement. This is even as the inflation rate dropped to 2.9%, far from its 8.1% peak in 2022 and within the bank’s target range of 1% to 3%.

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.

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. 

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 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.

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. 

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.

 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.  

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. 

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.  

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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.