As a long-time reader and admirer of Mike's work, this is great news. Welcome back!

U.S. ambassador to Canada requests apology for Globe and Mail column In a letter to The Globe and Mail, Pete Hoekstra said he was ‘disappointed and outraged’ over Cathal Kelly’s column on U.S. men’s hockey team

"The letter was sent on Saturday, Feb. 28, hours after the U.S. began bombing Iran." www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/artic...

U.S. Manufacturing Is in Retreat and Trump’s Tariffs Aren’t Helping Levies on imports were supposed to bring back a golden age of U.S. manufacturing. They haven’t worked, so far.

"The White House’s stop-and-start policymaking—Trump threatened new tariffs on Europe, Canada and South Korea in recent weeks—has also led to what many executives view as a lost year for investment."

Why BYD’s first manufacturing foothold in Canada was a bust Replacement parts and language issues were among the challenges for the TTC

Chinese EV giant BYD has already made a Canadian foray – and it didn't exactly go to plan. (via @jasonkirby.bsky.social)

Twenty-nine ways that Trump has changed Canada A year ago, the U.S. President first unleashed his threats of tariffs and territorial expansion. Now, our country is different politically, culturally and economically

📈📉 One year ago this week, Trump threatened Canada with 25% tariffs. Since then, the country has changed dramatically.

Here, in text and charts, we look at 29 ways that Canada has changed in this very turbulent year.

Yamamoto is a wizard.

Great article on the bottlenecks to building better apartments in Canada. If you ask a random Canadian on the street they will tell you they want shorter high-rises, taller low-rises, and more livable apartments with cross-ventilation. Yet politicians and policymakers force the opposite.

Bank of Canada cuts rate to 2.25% and signals easing cycle may be over Governor Macklem says current policy rate should keep inflation close to 2% while helping economy through ‘structural adjustment’ period

And here is @markrendell.bsky.social's write-up.

Bank of Canada lowers key interest rate to 2.25% in second consecutive cut Governor Tiff Macklem suggests that it may be the bank’s last rate cut for some time

Here's our live blog of today's Bank of Canada decision, which lowered the policy interest rate to 2.25% – perhaps the final cut of this cycle.

Stark comments from Tiff Macklem: "Increased trade friction with the United States means all that works less efficiently ... What's most concerning is that unless we change some other things, our standard of living as a country, as Canadians, is going to be lower than it otherwise would have been."

Laid-off Stellantis auto workers in Brampton face a grim new reality The auto sector has long had its ups and downs, but this time feels different for its workers

Most Stellantis workers in Brampton have been on furlough for two years (!). And with the company shifting production to Illinois, they're not confident they're getting their old jobs back.

It's just one game!

Is this real life?

Can Canada really double non-U.S. exports in a decade? Idiosyncratic factors such as the price of gold or the number of foreign students could make or break the country’s diversification hopes

The Carney government wants to double non-U.S. exports in a decade. How feasible is that? @markrendell.bsky.social and @jasonkirby.bsky.social break it down:

😱

Canadian cabinet and furniture makers warn of ‘blood bath’ as Trump tariffs bite Industry representatives are asking Ottawa for more support, including protection from low-cost products made in China and Vietnam

Great piece from @markrendell.bsky.social on Canada's cabinet and furniture makers, who warn of a "blood bath" as the contend with new American tariffs on their orders.

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Maybe the best (and most worrying) chart in the package.

Ten charts that explain Canada’s messy and complicated housing markets The peak of real estate madness is behind us, but it seems as if the crisis is not going anywhere

📈📉 Ten charts that explain Canada's weird, messy and complicated housing markets:

Seven OB/GYNs at B.C. hospital resign, citing unsafe workloads, lack of support Years of challenges have made the situation untenable, doctors say in letter obtained by The Globe

All seven obstetrician-gynecologists at Kamloops hospital resign

“It is fairly unprecedented for an entire group of physicians to depart, but with the state of obstetrics in our community…we see no viable way forward.”
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/briti...

D’Angelo, Groundbreaking R&B Artist, Dies at 51 From his 1995 debut Brown Sugar to his 2014 comeback Black Messiah, he helped define the neo-soul movement

Terrible, terrible news. One of the great recording artists of the last 30 years.

N.B. seafood processor fined record $1-million for breaking temporary foreign workers rules Bolero Shellfish Processing hit with 10-year ban on using TFW program, plans to challenge Ottawa’s decision in court

A record $1-million fine for violating the rules of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program – nearly triple the previous high.

Meet the migrant workers Canadian farmers depend on to harvest their crops In Ontario’s Norfolk County, workers are shaping the community, changing lives back home and keeping food on our tables

A nuanced and entertaining read on the TFW program — and specifically its agriculture stream — from @jasonkirby.bsky.social. Maybe the best piece ever written on the program. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

Microsoft went public when Trump was nearly 40.

The summer funk isn’t over yet for young, jobless Canadians With the youth unemployment rate at a rare high, Gen Z is scrambling for entry-level work – and there’s no hope of a quick fix, economists say

Why is youth unemployment so high in Canada? Here's our feature (and a gift link):

Really enjoyed this!

No other way to slice it: this is incredibly fucked up.

And here's what the trend looks like:

Canada is building lots of rental housing – and losing interest in condos Rental housing starts are in a boom period, at nearly double the condo starts over the last year

This is one of the biggest shifts in the Canadian housing market, and frankly a rare bright spot:

We're building a lot of rental units, even as the economics prove challenging for other housing types.