🍁Signing off

What the future of television looks like

Good morning and happy Monday. An important week ahead as the Bank of Canada makes its rate decision at the end of the month.

  • Bank of Canada’s business outlook survey comes out this morning, offering insights into how companies view inflation.

  • This Thursday will bring the retail sales report for June.

Plus, Mercury is now in retrograde in case you need to explain yourself for whatever you may have done.

SAFETY

Politics is a dangerous game

Saurabh Singh

The threats and anger initially started on social media. Then, they became a real problem: a former minister in the Trudeau government, Catherine McKenna, would face harassment and threats outside her home and with her children.

Politics has always been a lightning rod profession. You put yourself out there for thousands to see almost every day, expressing opinions that can divide people. And then you have to go online to see videos amplified with opinions, scrutiny and threats that reach even more people through the algorithm.

The Trudeau government was going through it. The Privy Council Office (PCO) tracked the threats directed at the Trudeau government through 2019 and has hard numbers to show the rising danger against them during Trudeau’s tenure.

  • It started with a handful of threats in 2019.

  • With policies including the carbon tax, pandemic response, vaccine mandates and Freedom Convoy, threats against all ministers rose to 269 in 2023, and were 337 for the first half of 2024 alone.

There has yet to be any updated data from July 2024 on how the Mark Carney government is facing threats at this time.

It wasn’t just the Liberals. Jagmeet Singh needed RCMP protection after credible threats were made against his life. Armed RCMP guards followed Jagmeet Singh wherever he went, had exit routes mapped out for him anywhere he was and prevented him from basic things such as riding his bike. Singh considered stepping away from politics after receiving the warning.

A 29-year-old was arrested last week for threats of bodily harm or death against Brampton’s mayor, Patrick Brown.

Bottom line: While many of these threats would be delivered in “silence,” think mail, email or social media, a growing number have grown emboldened to act in unison, with the two most infamous cases being the January 6 US Capitol attack and the Freedom Convoy that paralyzed Canada’s capital for two weeks. Social media and “the algorithm” have brought people with similar mindsets together where movements of many different kinds, including politically motivated and extremist ones, can gain traction.

CANADA

🇹🇩 Canadian Headlines

đŸ€–Ottawa keeps an eye on AI. With some policy wins in the US under their belt and ongoing court cases in Canada, including Ontario, the Federal government is keeping an eye on AI as it navigates ways to regulate the industry in Canada. While there are no current plans for a standalone bill, AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon plans to use court cases and market developments to help create policy.

🐄Canada and New Zealand settle differences. Following a trade dispute related to Ottawa’s tariffs on dairy imports that protect domestic producers, New Zealand and Canada have reached an agreement to make technical changes to the quota rates. In 2023, New Zealand successfully argued in front of a trade panel that the rates were “unfair” and threatened retaliatory tariffs against Canada.

đŸ’ŒQuebec businesses sue. 23 businesses are suing the Federal government for limits placed on the temporary foreign workers program. The lawsuit is worth $300-million and the companies argue they face bankruptcy if the government moves forward with limits.

More stories:

  • Metals producer Alcoa is feeling the squeeze from American tariffs. The CEO says the company has had to pause all projects in Canada and may have to resort to seeking assistance from the government.

  • In the wake of both countries receiving letters from President Trump, Mexico and Canada aim to create a stronger working relationship. This includes having Mexican businesses that were planning to expand and invest in the US talk with Canada and get them in on the negotiations.

ENTERTAINMENT

The future of television

Getty Images

If you haven’t heard, Stephen Colbert’s late night show is not being renewed and has its expiration date stamped on it: May 2026. It’s the biggest late night controversy since Jay Leno refused to take the breakup graciously and ended up taking his old time slot away from Conan O’Brien.

Rewind
 a few weeks ago, Paramount settled with President Trump for $16-million following Trump’s lawsuit for a “60 Minutes” episode. Industry experts also noted that with Paramount looking to get the Skydance merger to move forward, they had to “cozy up” to the Trump administration, and the settlement was one of the ways to do so. The other way? Well
 we can put two and two together.

Stephen Colbert is most known for his political commentary and comedy, and excluding the President of the United States from his jokes is not his style. It also doesn’t help that Stephen Colbert had the highest ratings in the time slot, and they were increasing from Q1. That’s an increasing number of people listening to what he has to say about President Trump.

Reaction has been mixed. The happiest of them all was the President of the United States, and he wasn’t shy to share it. President Trump said he “absolutely loves” that Stephen Colbert was fired and suggested Jimmy Kimmel was next.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel responded with a “fuck you” to CBS for cancelling Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, another political commentator and comedian, was unsure of his own future following Colbert’s cancellation. It doesn’t stop there, as the Writers Guild called for an investigation into Colbert’s cancellation due to concerns around bribery.

Jamie Lee Curtis weighed in and was a lot more blunt, saying with Colbert’s firing and the funding that has been stripped away from PBS and NPR, the administration is trying to silence its critics.

It’s not just TV, either. Hasan Piker, known as “hasanabi,” has the largest political commentary Twitch channel and was pulled aside for questioning at customs in May, which he believes is due to his criticisms of the Trump administration.

Big picture: With funding reductions to public broadcasters, excited to see those critical of his work out of a job, and constant attacks on the “mainstream media” that date back to 2015, free speech has been under attack. This may not be the last of it if more corporations believe it’s better to appease Trump and keep him happy rather than stand a bit firmer against him.

WORLD

🚹 More Headlines

đŸ›ïžTrump sues the WSJ and Rupert Murdoch. Stop me if you’ve heard this before - Trump is suing a media company. This time, it’s the Wall Street Journal’s parent company, Dow Jones and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, in a $10-billion lawsuit for libel after reporting he wrote a “bawdy” letter to Jeffrey Epstein.

💡Astronomer CEO resigns. After being put on blast by Coldplay in front of 60,000 people, laughed at by millions on social media and now mocked during “Coldplay cams” at sporting events this weekend, Astronomer’s CEO has resigned from the company after his kiss cam affair was revealed.

💳Billions in the cushions. Imagine finding $20 in a pair of pants you had completely forgotten about and how you’d feel. Now multiply that by
 a lot. An unknown investor liquidated their entire “ancient” Bitcoin wallet and turned their initial $132,000 investment from 2011 into $9.5-billion.

More stories:

  • In a case that's hitting many people with whiplash with all the directions it’s been taking, the Justice Department has now ordered the release of Epstein’s grand jury testimony from years ago. This comes after controversy was sparked when the Trump administration said the case was closed and there was no list, which sent his supporters into a tailspin.

  • 30 people, mainly women, were injured after a vehicle drove into a group of people waiting to enter a performance venue in East Hollywood. The driver had been shot, but it was unclear if the driver was shot before or after driving the vehicle into the crowd.

  • President Trump is pushing for a “minimum” of 15-20% tariffs in any deal that is agreed upon with the EU.

STAT

American travel will be (slightly) more expensive

Alan Schein/Getty Images

It’s about to become slightly more expensive (and annoying) to travel into the United States as a visitor. One of the provisions in the “Big Beautiful Bill” Act included a $250 integrity fee for all visitors who require nonimmigrant visas. Travellers who comply with the conditions listed on their visa may be eligible for reimbursement of the fee. It’s expected that the fee will bring in close to $30-billion in revenue over the next decade.

The expectation is that only a “small number” will seek reimbursement as nonimmigrant visas are valid for several years, but it’s also been noted that it would take several years for a working process to provide reimbursements anyways.

Doing their due diligence, since this affects the government funds, the fee also rises with inflation each year. 🙃

Thinking ahead: The projections look nice and all, but with instability within the United States, this could be a further deterrent against tourism to the United States, which many border states are already feeling the effects of after alienating Canadian tourism with the 51st state talks.

NEWS

💭 ICYMI

đŸŽ„Netflix uses generative AI in one of its shows. Netflix admitted to using generative AI in one of their TV shows for the first time, arguing that the scene wouldn’t have fit in the budget without the tool and that generative AI will make films and shows cheaper but better.

đŸš»The $1-million bathroom break. A jewellery store is missing out on a $1-million insurance payout during a robbery because of an employee who was in the bathroom when it happened.

đŸ“ș”See you in court, buddy”
 is what Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said in a statement after Jesse Watters apologized publicly for misleading the public. Newsom sued Fox News for defamation, and isn’t dropping the case.

🚙Cybertruck slips. Tesla’s Cybertruck sales can be described in the same way as their appearance: ugly. Cybertruck sales are down over 50% in Q2 this year compared to the same time period last year.

✈Delta taps AI
 to determine the maximum price you will pay for a ticket. Delta plans to do away with set prices and ask AI to use its data on you to determine how much they can price gouge you for. Something to keep an eye on if more airlines, including Canadian ones, try to use AI similarly.

REFERRAL

🍁 ENJOYING READ MAPLE?

If you’re enjoying Read Maple, please refer your friends who may be interested in staying informed with everything going on in an easy way.

Want to see a particular piece of content added into the mix? Reply to this email and let me know.

Have peace of mind in knowing that we’ll ALWAYS be free.

RECOMMENDATIONS

✅ TO-DO FOR THE WEEK

đŸ“șWhat to watch: The summer tradition continues as Shark Week is back, starting July 20th through to the 25th. Eddington released in theatres this past Friday, with a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix.

đŸŽ”What to listen to: Tyler, the Creator dropped a new album, “Don’t Tap the Glass" at 6AM Eastern.