Step right up

Even if you were a devotee of disco, you probably enjoyed leafing through Circus magazine back in the day. From Van Halen to Ozzy, it was a great way to stay on top of rock’s hottest acts. Plus, those pull out posters were totally rad! 😎

Speaking of Van Halen, David Lee Roth recently gave fans a little surprise. The frontman shared an alternate version of the band’s 2012 song, As Is. With spoken word and crooning-like vocals, the style is different, yet still cool.

But it won’t have you dancing the night away ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card!)

IN THE NEWS

Carney calls April 28 election, parties build platforms

Prime Minister Mark Carney officially requested Gov. Gen. Mary Simon to dissolve Parliament yesterday, and Canadians will now go to the polls on April 28th for one of the most consequential federal elections in recent memory.

An Ipsos poll published Thursday found 47% of Canadians believe Carney would be best suited to handle U.S. president Donald Trump and his tariffs, compared to 31% for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Still, Poilievre has been displaying a more cheerful and optimistic personality over the last few days, seemingly pivoting from a strategy based solely on criticizing his opposition.

Since late last week, he’s pledged to expand federal training programs to boost Canada’s supply of skilled trades labour as the country looks to expand its natural resource export industry. He pledged to designate “shovel-ready” zones across the country to expedite permits for mines and other energy and infrastructure projects, and also announced he would repeal the entire federal carbon pricing legislation.

Carney announced his government would end the consumer carbon tax, but stopped short of pledging to repeal the legislation that underpins it. He did, however, say his government would not renew plans to increase the capital gains tax inclusion rate.

Both parties now seem to be in a race to cut red tape, remove trade barriers, and renew capital investment in Canada as it looks to limit its economic reliance on the United States.

TRAVEL

Canada updates advice for U.S. travel

The Canadian government updated its travel advisory for Canadians looking to enter the United States for longer than 30 days, based on new rules expected to kick in on April 11.

On Jan. 20, U.S. president Donald Trump signed the “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” executive order, which included a series of provisions restricting travel to the United States.

Upon entry starting on Apr. 11, Canadians will have to register with the U.S. government if they intend to stay for longer than 30 days. Previously, such restrictions only applied for those looking to stay for longer than six months, after which they’d need a visa.

Snowbirds will certainly be affected by the new regulation, forcing those who like to head south for the winter months to inform and register with Washington, D.C.

“Failure to comply with the registration requirement could result in penalties, fines, and misdemeanor prosecution,” the executive order states.

The Canadian government now recommends Canadians check if they need to register ahead of travel, and to check if they have or haven’t already been registered if it’s a requirement for their trip.

“You can verify if you have been automatically registered on entry to the U.S. by looking up your I-94 admission form on the U.S. Customs Border Protection (CBP) website,” the travel advisory states.

MONEY MONDAYS

Soft landing threatened by tariffs

After years of battling inflation, the Bank of Canada managed to combat the threat of a recession with the soft landing that governor Tiff Macklem had been aiming for the whole time.

However, the prospects of that lasting have taken a grim turn in recent months, Macklem said at an event in Calgary the other day.

“The Canadian economy managed a soft landing. Unfortunately, we’re not going to stay on the tarmac for long,” he said.

“After more than 50 years of high predictability in trade policy, there was a sharp increase in uncertainty during President Trump’s first term in office. But that uncertainty doesn’t come close to what we see now.”

Uncertainty has been the word of the day for several weeks now, as its pervasiveness isn’t just a problem today, but a problem for long-term investment. Businesses can’t make informed decisions about where and how to allocate capital if they don’t know what to expect of economic headwinds in the future.

AI

Perfectly in sync

It used to be that if you wanted to see a foreign film in theatres, you’d have to watch it in that country’s native tongue, and if you were lucky, there would be subtitles.

Later, studios would actually overdub the audio with tracks of voice actors translating the dialogue into English. With the English audio clearly not syncing with the facial movements of the actors on screen, this typically looked slightly ridiculous. It even grew to be a lucrative source of satire for Japanese martial arts films.

Today, however, AMC is set to release the Swedish film Watch The Skies with an AI-powered “visual dubbing” tool that will alter the actors’ facial movements, allowing the overdubbed audio to appear in-sync with the facial movements of the actors on screen.

The over-dubbed audio was recorded in English by the actual actors in the film, which was how AMC was able to get permission to use the AI visual dubbing in the first place, circumventing the worst nightmares of the SAG-AFTRA members who were on strike for so long in 2023 over concerns about future AI-use.

The original actors speaking in their non-native tongue may result in the watering down of the voice-acting; after all, it’s one thing to be able to read a script in a foreign language, but it’s another to actually act one out.

Critics are certainly divided on the direction this experiment is sending the film industry in, but consumers will have the chance to evaluate it themselves in early May.

HEALTH

Seed oils healthier than butter?

Last week Stake covered a story on the growing popularity of beef tallow, which advocates are pushing as an alternative to seed oils.

A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine by researchers at Harvard suggests seed oils aren’t only fine for human consumption, but they’re a healthier alternative than butter.

The researchers analyzed data from three previous studies to compare the rates of early death for the participants in those studies to the frequency at which they consumed seed oils or butter. The studies included the Nurses’ Health Study, which began in 1990, the Nurses’ Health Study II, which started in 1991, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1999.

The Harvard study found those who consumed butter more often had higher incidents of premature death than those who consumed more seed oils.

“After adjusting for potential confounders, the highest butter intake was associated with a 15 per cent higher risk of total mortality compared to the lowest intake,” says the paper.

“In contrast, the highest intake of total plant-based oils compared to the lowest intake was associated with a 16 percent lower total mortality…There was a statistically significant association between higher intakes of canola, soybean, and olive oils and lower total mortality.”

IN THE KNOW

Here’s what you said

We’re not suprised Stakers love pets but we had no idea how many of us own several pets. Special mention has got to go to Janine W and Memphis, Diego, Levi, Luna, Sully, Boo, Captain, Daisy and Kona—her 9 parrots! 🏆

CURIOSITIES

Colour me happy

“Dopamine dressing” is a fashion trend based on wearing big and bright colours to express confidence and the notion of feeling good.

Kerry Jones is a British artist credited with pioneering—or at least championing—the trend, and is known mostly for her self-expression of wearing bright colours like orange, yellow, red, pink, and lilac. They’re all known to boost her mood, and the moods of those around her.

In fact, she’s so attached to the colourful wardrobe that when she packed it all away after having her daughter 16 years ago, it just made her feel depressed—like she’d lost a part of herself.

“It’s very mood orientated,” said the 40-year-old from Manchester. “The actual process of getting dressed alters my mood. If I’m feeling low, I play dress up and go for a bold rich tone. The bolder the better.”

“It helps transform me into a bolder and better version of myself. Bright bold colours always feel better on gloomy days, so be your own sunshine. Yellow is a favourite colour of mine and a big mood booster.”

It’s not necessarily a science-rooted source of joy or happiness, but just like last week’s Stake story about living with purpose, happiness seems to be derived from pursuing our passions, and perhaps part of that can include the way we dress while we pursue them.

STAKE TRIVIA

Shaken, not stirred

Happy National Cocktail Day, Staker! 🍸️ 

To commemorate the day, we’ll be quizzing you on the intersection of boozy beverages and pop culture with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified tomorrow—keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.