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Issue #10 25.08.2026
The weekly standup
Everything you need to know before you have to microwave your coffee (for the first time).
🤖
Anthropic is picking a fight for Alberta’s AI future
🤳
Meta is facing a $1.4T nightmare that could break the internet
🏒
John Tavares is taking on the CRA in an $8M tax showdown
The office chatter ☕
What everyone’s pretending not to read during meetings.
🤖
Anthropic wants Alberta to pick its side
Anthropic is courting Alberta as the province goes all-in on AI, hoping to build relationships with government and businesses before its competitors do. The AI race is getting very Canadian.
🛍️
Canadians are still opening their wallets
Canadian retail sales climbed to $74.3B in June. Despite tariffs, higher costs and plenty of economic doom, consumers haven’t completely stopped spending.
Like what you’re reading?
The breakroom bulletin 📌
What’s hot, what’s not and what’s all for show.
Getting promoted 📈
🥩
Trump is letting more beef through the door
The U.S. is temporarily easing ground-beef import quotas in a bid to bring down grocery prices, but American cattle producers aren’t exactly cheering.
🏠
Delaying adulthood is the new strategy
Forget buying a house, getting married or retiring. Nearly two-thirds of Canadians are pressing pause on big financial milestones to sit on cash and outwait high rates.
On a PIP 📉
🍽️
Canadian startups are starving
Canadian foodtech has a scaling problem: there were zero Canadian-led Series A-or-later deals in the first half of 2026. Turns out, getting the cheque is only half the problem.
🔄
Canada is tariffing back
Canada is imposing tariffs of up to 50% on $27.6B worth of U.S. goods after trade talks collapsed. Steel, dairy, appliances and agricultural equipment are among the products affected from September 8. The trade war has officially re-entered the group chat.
Corporate Theatre 🎭
🤝
Amazon’s B.C. labour battle just got messier
Canada’s only unionized Amazon warehouse is caught in a fight over its union, with workers pushing for decertification. Labour relations: never boring.
🏒
Johnny T is taking the CRA to court
Maple Leafs star John Tavares is fighting an $8M+ tax bill tied to his 2018 signing bonus. The CRA says he owes; Tavares says the math is wrong. Hockey, but make it tax law.
Ideas worth stealing 💡
🍷
The boycott might have worked a little too well
Canadians may be getting U.S. booze back on the shelves, but 18 months of buying local has changed buying habits. Canadian wine producers hope we don’t revert to our old ways.
💦
Turns out, pee might save AI
Liquid Death joked about using urine to cool data centres. It turns out, recycled wastewater is already being used to reduce the amount of drinking water data centres consume.
Source: See what pee can do
The Thing I Can’t Stop Thinking About 🧠
Is social media’s business model about to break?
📖
The story
Meta is currently defending itself against 29 U.S. states accusing the tech giant of designing addictive features that deliberately harm young users’ mental health. If the courts rule against them, the potential legal and financial fallout could top $1.4 Trillion.
📶
The signal
This isn’t just another privacy fine that Meta can write off as a cost of doing business. It signals a fundamental shift in how tech regulation works: moving away from data protection and toward duty of care. Regulators are treating notification loops, infinite scrolls and algorithmic feeds the same way they treat tobacco or gambling.
🛫
The takeaway
If Meta loses or is forced to settle, the entire digital economy will have to pivot. Product design, engagement metrics, and advertising strategies across every major platform, from TikTok to LinkedIn, will need to be rebuilt from the ground up to prioritize user safety over raw screen time.
Smart people saying smart things 💬
One post, tweet or take that’s making people in the world of work stop scrolling.
This week, Canada’s own “Mr. Wonderful” sat down to discuss the importance of financial freedom, and how it all boils down to one simple principle:
My music at work 🎵
One song helping us survive another week of impromptu Slack huddles.
The last thing before we jump 🦘
Before you close your laptop and sign off for the day, remember: if you’re feeling overwhelmed by your inbox today, at least you’re not defending an $8M tax bill against the CRA or trying to explain to 29 U.S. states why your algorithms are so addictive.
Have a great week, log off early if you can and don’t forget to re-heat that coffee.
See you next week!
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