The Peak Daily

A new non-profit group wants to help 129 Indigenous groups pursue ownership of the Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX), making it 100% Indigenous owned. Companies have had to increase their budgets on Super Bowl LVI ads, the biggest advertising event of the year, as Omicron disrupted commercial shoots and drove up production costs. Google scrapped their controversial plans to replace traditional tracking cookies with Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), and instead announced a new proposal called Topics.

Canadian lawmakers prepare to pursue internet-related legislation next week, a Canadian Google executive has cautioned that such proposals could dramatically worsen people’s online experiences, per The Globe and Mail. Toronto-based startup BenchSci raised US$50 million to expand its AI-enabled platform that makes drug research less of a hassle. activist investors that have built stakes in consumer goods giant Unilever, Kohls and Peloton are now pushing for corporate changes to improve performance. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Desperate for cattle feed, Canadian farmers are importing record amounts of corn from the US. Prices of bitcoin and ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, have dropped by 23% and around 35% since the start of the year. Intel announced it would spend US$20 billion to build a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Columbus, Ohio as part of a broader industry-wide effort to alleviate a chip shortage that has disrupted swathes of the economy (and made it such a pain to get a new car) Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Canadian and US trucking industries are grappling with driver shortages, straining already-fragile supply chains. Facebook’s parent company Meta could be making its first foray into the non-fungible token (NFT) market. Amazon will open its first physical clothing store in Los Angeles later this year. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Show Notes: Toronto-based password manager 1Password raised US$620 million round, marking the largest round raised by a Canadian company. In another effort to rein in the US’ biggest tech companies, the White House is weighing support for the bipartisan American Innovation and Choice Online Act, a bill designed to stop big tech companies from stifling competition. Energy consumption around bitcoin mining is gaining more attention, with a top EU financial regulator calling for an outright ban on the main form of bitcoin mining. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Pen maker Bic has announced a deal to buy Toronto-based temporary tattoo startup Inkbox for US$65 million. Microsoft has agreed to acquire game publisher Activision Blizzard, bringing together the two video game forces to create the world’s third-biggest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and PlayStation maker Sony. Canadians’ confidence in their personal finances has dropped to a record-low, per the latest MNP Consumer Price Index. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Canada’ busiest airport and airlines are calling on the federal government to drop the requirement for an arrival test for vaccinated air travellers. Major brands, such as Coca-Cola and Walmart, signed a joint statement that calls for the formation of a global pact to cut down plastic waste. Stripe is helping Ford scale its e-commerce strategy, signing a five-year deal to strengthen the carmaker’s online payment process. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

What goes up must come down, unless we’re talking about Canadian housing prices. At least that’s the conclusion we’re reached after reviewing new reports on our overheated housing market that predict rising prices well into 2022. Zara’s billionaire owner Amancio Ortega is buying Toronto skyscraper Royal Bank Plaza for over CA$1 billion. Bausch & Lomb, the Quebec-based maker of contact lenses and other eye health products filed to go public on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.

The Canadian government extended the deadline for small businesses to pay back emergency loans—one of the most widely used pandemic programs for businesses. Insurers will pay over CA$2 billion to settle climate-related claims from last year. TikTok star, Charli D’Amelio makes more than top CEOs, according to Forbes’ ranking. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

US oil prices peaked to $81 a barrel for the first time in two months, reflecting stronger consumption than many observers had expected. Saskatoon-based Vendasta Technologies announced its second acquisition since the software company dropped plans to go public in favour of financing, per The Globe and Mail. Canada’s annual pace of inflation has been hanging at around 5% in recent months, levels not seen 2003, with RBC’s CEO Dave McKay telling Bloomberg that the Bank of Canada needs to take quick action by hiking interest rates. Celebrating something? Let us know for a shoutout here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/GuHjLDoa The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.