In 1947, the Canadian chocolate bar industry was mostly controlled by three companies. And all three, on the same day—April 25th—raised the prices of their bars from 5¢ to 8¢. All three, the same day, with no notice. A little sus.

In the Vancouver Island town of Ladysmith, the local kids thought that was sus too, and on that same day, they started a protest. Every day at lunch, they’d march outside the local café.

And then, word spread.

• Four days later in Victoria, 200 kids stormed the provincial legislature.

• Outside of Vancouver, a group took to their bikes and blocked the Kingsway thoroughfare.

• In Edmonton, 300 kids marched down Jasper Avenue. They even got a police escort.

• In Toronto a few days later, 500 kids blocked Bloor Street.

• There were protests in Montreal, Calgary, and Quebec City.

• In Ottawa on Parliament Hill, they were led by 10 buglers and carried signs reading “We'll eat worms before we eat eight-cent chocolate bars.”

Sales of chocolate bars fell by a reported 80%. During the Winnipeg protest, it was said that not a single chocolate bar was sold in the city that day.

Where Did Our Mojo Go?

We used to be good at protesting injustice in this country. And then something happened.

Take cell phone plans. We’ve never been able to get a cell plan that doesn’t make us feel like we’re financing a small yacht for some executive in Toronto. God forbid I want to stream an episode of Schitt’s Creek without putting my kidney on Kijiji.

Canadian wireless rates are among the highest in the developed world. We pay double, sometimes triple, what people in Europe pay.

• In France, $20 gets you unlimited data, unlimited calling, and a baguette.

• In Canada, $20 gets you three text messages and a strongly worded letter from Telus telling you to calm the fuck down.

I still can’t drive from Nanaimo to Victoria without reception dropping out 12 times.

The Big Three

Like the chocolate industry 80 years ago, three cell companies control everything: Rogers, Bell, and Telus. We call them the “Big Three,” like they’re some majestic sports dynasty. But really, it’s more like The Sopranos with better branding.

Rogers takes Ontario, Bell gets Quebec, Telus grabs the West, and if you live in the Maritimes you’re being screwed by all three simultaneously.

Sure, every few years Ottawa comes out and says they’re going to fix it. Competition Bureau this, CRTC that, but nothing ever changes. The government says “We’re making progress” and the Big Three just smile, raise the price of roaming, and buy another hockey team. Then, I assume, they all go golfing.

And an American Shall Lead Them?

We love to think of ourselves as polite, but somewhere along the way we confused “polite” with “pushover.” We’ll grumble at the till, complain on Facebook, but quietly pay up.

There is a solution to this, and it will come from our new American imports. Americans have had cheap unlimited plans since the 1800s, so, my American friends, in return for a safe place to live with universal healthcare, here’s what we need you to do. When you call to get a cell plan, and they tell you the price, scream this: “WHAT?! Oh HELL no!”

Because we can’t. We’re not built that way. Even though the few times we have fought back against gouging, we’ve often won.

‘Big Candy’ Blinked

That kid’s chocolate strike? It spooked the industry.

• The candy manufacturer Rowntree's published an open letter in Canadian newspapers titled “Why You Pay 8¢ for a Rowntree Chocolate Bar.”

• An executive from the Moirs chocolate company raced to a CBC studio to defend the price increase.

• The Willards' Chocolate company published a full page ad in the Toronto Star with the headline "5¢ Chocolate Bars just aren't possible NOW"

Corporations don’t stop because they’ve taken enough, they stop when we stop buying what they’re selling.

The Price of “Polite”

If thousands of kids in the 1940s could rally against a 2¢ chocolate bar hike with nothing more than shoe leather and handwritten signs, what excuse do we have with smartphones in our pockets and social networks at our fingertips?

Surely we can muster a bit of outrage…

Over a phone that costs more than a week’s groceries.

Or grocery stores being full of California lettuce.

Or banks charging record fees while posting record profits.

Or Indigenous communities still waiting for clean drinking water.

Or emergency rooms closing because we don’t pay nurses enough.

There’s a lot of great things about Canada. But there’s also a lot of room to do better.

And foreign shareholders cashing dividend cheques won’t be the ones to change it.

There’s Still Good News Out There 🫶 

• Golf Queen: A 92-year-old Albertan is celebrating her second hole-in-one and still hits the course twice a week with her daughter.

• Trump dump: More than half of Canadians with U.S. properties say they have either sold or are planning to sell their properties down south. 

• A Robin’s Donuts superfan is celebrating the 100% Canadian-owned company's 50th anniversary with a full-on shrine dedicated to the brand in his house. 

• The cat came back: Luigi, a beloved tuxedo cat, has been found after going missing more than two weeks ago on board a BC Ferries sailing.

• Former NHL star Marian Gaborik is celebrating seven years sober, marking the milestone since retiring after a 17-year career.

• Canadian Olympian Clara Hughes lost a shoe on B.C.’s West Coast Trail and hiked 53 km wearing a stranger’s Croc.

Wild Things 🐻 

• Swan heist: Five of Stratford, Ontario’s iconic swans have gone missing, and parks officials are urging residents to keep an eye out after they disappeared from Lake Victoria with no trace.

• An angler is expected to recover after a grizzly bear attack along a river in southwestern Alberta; the bear hasn’t been seen since.

• Should’ve just gone for a donair: A 75-year-old U.S. man visiting Nova Scotia for the first time came face to face with a great white shark while scuba diving near Hubbards.

• Fewer loons on your lake? Climate change may be to blame, as researchers warn decades of slow decline could threaten the bird’s future.

Trade War: Canada vs U.S. 🥊 

• Mom-and-Pop vs. Uncle Sam: As of yesterday, Canada's small businesses can no longer ship small packages to the U.S. duty-free, and some sellers fear they won’t survive the loss of the de minimis exemption

• Facing U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, a Quebec-based food can manufacturer is expanding its operations and bringing the American portion of its supply chain back home.

• Canadian car parts manufacturers are hoping military contracts can help them diversify away from the auto sector amid ongoing U.S. trade tensions.

• Tariffs and trade uncertainty are casting a shadow over the Canadian harvest season as farmers navigate varying weather and market concerns.

The First Peoples 🪶 

• A Saskatchewan Cree community is fighting to become the newest First Nation in Canada, after more than a century of being forcibly merged. 

• Bloodvein First Nation in Manitoba will ban non-Indigenous hunters after years of alleged overhunting and meat wastage left the community's traditional hunters with a dwindling animal population.

Science! 🔬 

• A new species of dinosaur-era dragonfly, has been discovered in Alberta’s Badlands by a McGill undergraduate, filling a 30-million-year gap in dragonfly evolution.

• Can fish feel pleasure? Scientists say yes: New research suggests that some fish not only seek out pleasurable experiences but may even remember and crave them.

The Sorry Files 🤦 

• $34K typo: A Guelph, Ont., business owner meant to send Bell $341.26, but forgot the decimal and sent $34,126. Now, after three months of headaches, he finally got it back.

• Court documents say an Ontario man accused of breaking into a Lindsay apartment, a clash that turned violent and led to charges against both him and the resident, was armed with a crossbow.

• A Canadian man has been deported from the U.S. after admitting to drone spying at Florida’s Space Force base.

Across Canada 📍 

• Alberta students to learn from TikTok comments instead: More than 200 books, like The Handmaid’s Tale, will be removed from Edmonton public school libraries under new provincial rules on “sexually explicit” content.

• Tabarnak, où est Homer?: Quebecers are petitioning Disney+ after the Québécois French dub of Les Simpsons was dropped after 35 seasons. 

• The Quebec government says it is planning to ban prayer in public places.

• A new survey shows 4 in 10 Canadians aren’t sure if higher education is worth the price tag.

• ‘My heart sank’: A Nova Scotian photographer captured a striking image of a charred maple leaf amid wildfire ash.

• The number of new international students entering Canada has plunged, dropping 70% in the first half of 2025 compared to last year.

• A Windsor-area bottling plant for Crown Royal whisky will shut down next year, with production shifting closer to U.S. consumers.

  • The union vowed to fight the closure.

Dystopian Hellscape 🔥 

• 👋 Trump’s “Alligator Alcatraz” is being emptied: Following a judge’s order to close most of the immigrant detention centre, its population has already been cut in half.

  • Florida taxpayers may foot the $218M bill for converting an Everglades training airport into the center.

• Americans seeking refugee status in Canada are on the rise since Trump’s return.

• U.S. border agents are searching more electronic devices than ever, with nearly 80% of last year’s searches targeting non-U.S. citizens.

• A U.S. father of three who faked his own death to escape to Europe has been sentenced to 89 days in jail, the same amount of time authorities spent searching for him.

• The Old Timer rises again: Cracker Barrel scrapped its “modern” logo after backlash, with Trump applauding the reversal.

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