by Tod Maffin
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I’m a little embarrassed that it’s taken me 55 years to learn this: Cold water is fine for clothes.
All this time I thought you had to wash them in hot water. But no, turns out detergent is smarter now. It does more. The enzymes activate at lower temperatures. They hold onto oil molecules better (or something).
Cold water uses less energy. The colours hold. The elastic holding it all together doesn’t give out.
Let others boil
Canada is known for being cold, although not everywhere — there are literally palm trees at my city’s airport. But geopolitically, we’ve always been the cold water.
T O D B I T
“Cold” diplomacy is part of Canada’s global image. The term “middle power” was coined for Canada after WWII, reflecting a reputation for calm, moderate, steady mediation — what Lester B. Pearson called “keeping our heads cool when others overheat.”
Our neighbours to the south have always believed in heat. Passion. Urgency. It’s not always bad. That same spark built split atoms and put people on the moon.
But it must be exhausting to live in that heat all the time. The noise of the machine wears you down. The fabric pulls. The democracy that once fit perfectly starts to shrink around the edges.
Slow burn politics
Our own politics have been trying to turn the heat up lately.
Talking points copied straight out of the MAGA playbook.
Scripted shouting matches on Facebook.
Premiers scoring points with their base by yelling about trans kids, while quietly dismantling the public health system in the backrooms.
You don’t need to plunge a country into boiling water to destroy it.
You just need to turn up the heat slowly enough that nobody notices.
The myth of the boiling frog
Something else I’ve had wrong all my life was that saying about the frog. You know the one—about how if you drop a frog in boiling water, it jumps out, but if you warm it slowly, it stays until it dies.
Turns out, it’s not true. The frogs actually will jump out.
In that way, they’re smarter than us. Because often, we stay put. We adjust. We tell ourselves the rising political temperature is probably normal. Nothing to worry about. These bubbles around us aren’t a warning.
That’s what happens when a country stops paying attention. When outrage becomes background noise. When straight-up lies go unchallenged. When the heat rises one degree at a time and we tell ourselves it’s still fine.
What keeps a nation from tearing
Every country is fabric in the end: threads of pride and pain, hope and history, woven by people who care enough to keep it from tearing.
Some nations scrub themselves raw trying to stay spotless. Others live with a few stains, because they know the cloth still holds.
All that matters is that the fabric lasts. That it still fits the people it was made for. That the beautiful colours it holds endure without being bleached away.
If we don’t watch the temperature, even the strongest fabric can tear apart before we notice.
And if we don’t resist, we risk becoming, well, America.
Boiled slowly, one degree at a time.
During the post-World War II period, Canada’s reputation as a peacekeeping nation was significantly bolstered by the efforts of Lester B. Pearson in which international crisis?
THE WEEKLY CROSS-CANADA POLL
Have Your Say!
Do you wash your clothes in:
Last Week’s Results
THE WEEK THAT WAS
The News You Didn’t Hear… But Should Have
There’s Still Good News Out There 💗
Step by step: A Regina-based nonprofit says an anonymous donor is funding new tech that helps children with disabilities take their first steps.
The device, called Trexo, is a Canadian-made robotic exoskeleton that monitors how a child is moving and provides support as needed.
Makeup that speaks volumes: A blind 13-year-old from Oneida Nation of the Thames near London, Ont., inspired one of the first tactile makeup palettes for blind and low-vision users after sharing her struggle to apply makeup she couldn’t see.
The prototype features tactile markings and audio descriptions to help people who are visually impaired apply makeup independently.
The Nova Scotia government has approved plans to build North America’s first coastal refuge for whales and dolphins retired from marine theme parks.
Chuck Norris, who?: A B.C. man survived a brutal grizzly bear attack near Fort Steele by using his boxing skills to fight back.
A Canadian man survived being struck by lightning while hiking Humphreys Peak, Arizona’s highest mountain peak.
A historic former WW II prisoner of war camp cafeteria in Clarington, Ont., is one step closer to being saved after councillors granted the site a second opinion instead of deciding on its demolition.
Toronto's St. Michael’s Hospital is hosting its own “Dragons’ Den” for doctors, where six teams of scientists pitch cutting-edge ideas to improve health care, competing for $1 million in research funding and grants.
Trade War Tea 🫖
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’ll pause the province’s anti-tariff ad campaign in the U.S. after it upset Chairman Trump, who performatively halted trade talks.
The ad will be paused on Monday (meaning it will still run over the weekend, including during World Series broadcasts — heh)
Patriotism > price: A new poll shows that most Canadians are willing to pay more for groceries they know are Canadian, even if U.S. products cost less.
Ottawa is cutting how many U.S.-made vehicles Stellantis and GM can import tariff-free, hitting back after both automakers shifted some production out of Canada.
After investing nearly $105 million to retool two Ontario plants, the federal government is reviewing whether Stellantis violated the deal by announcing it's moving some production to the U.S.
Molson Coors plans to cut about 400 jobs across its American business by the end of the year in a bid to streamline costs amid a corporate restructuring.
The First Peoples 🪶
Indigenous artifacts held in the Vatican Museums are finally returning home, with dozens of items set to be handed back to Canadian communities, marking a step in reconciliation for the Catholic Church’s troubled role in suppressing Indigenous culture.
Moon Time Connections, a national Indigenous-led menstrual equity group, is hosting its annual October drive to send much-needed period products to northern Saskatchewan communities, where costs are often higher and some girls miss school due to lack of access.
Go Jays Go! ⚾
8th Wonder of the World goes blue: Niagara Falls will light up blue this weekend to celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays’ first World Series appearance in 32 years.
Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that U.S. President Donald Trump seems "afraid to make a World Series bet" with him because he “doesn’t like to lose.”
Toronto is buzzing with World Series fever, but one local bar got a curveball from the Blue Jays after using the team’s logo on social media. The bar’s owner says the organization, owned by Rogers, emailed him to take it down, citing trademark violations.
Everyone’s on Jays time now: The Maple Leafs and Raptors are shifting their game times so fans can catch the Blue Jays take on the Dodgers.
Toronto Blue Jays coach Don Mattingly will work his first World Series game 43 years after making his MLB debut, despite a long career as a player and coach.
As Jays tickets are resold for thousands of dollars, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government could bring back anti-scalping laws it scrapped soon after taking office.
Entertainment 🎭
Protect this man at all costs: Kenny Loggins is calling for the removal of a video using his song “Danger Zone” without permission, which features an AI clip of Trump dumping excrement from a fighter jet on last weekend’s “No Kings” protests.
Loggins said, “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together."
Canadian icon Shania Twain was spotted at Calgary’s Spanky’s Saloon, sharing clips on Instagram as she enjoyed live music and mingled with fans.
SkyTrain’s original Mark I cars, built in the 1980s and early 1990s, have been long featured in film and TV, and now a retired SkyTrain car has been transformed into Canada’s first standing subway film set.
Compositor Del Año: The NFL is standing by Bad Bunny as its Super Bowl halftime headliner, despite criticism from Trump and his supporters.
The Sorry Files 🤦
A terrifying thrift store doll dubbed “Anne of Scream Gables,” spotted at a Value Village in Sydney, N.S., is actually a 40-year-old sculpture by a late Nova Scotia artist, her son says, who saw the post on Facebook and is now hoping to track it down.
A new report from the auditor general found that CRA call centres give out wrong information as often as 83% of the time.
Organized crime, but make it athleisure: A Lululemon heist led to the discovery of $10K worth of stolen leggings in a Newfoundland home.
Across Canada 📍
A petition to keep Alberta in Canada is closing in on the nearly 300,000 signatures needed to trigger a provincial vote on the province’s future.
“Spirit Halloween Coming Soon” signs have been popping up across vacant storefronts in downtown Windsor, but the seasonal pop-up store isn’t behind them. A local street artist created the fake ads to draw attention to the number of empty spaces in the city’s core.
Parks Canada has confirmed lightning sparked last year’s devastating Jasper wildfire, which was worsened by “tornado-force fire-generated” winds and dry conditions.
Canadian snowbirds are reporting inconsistent fingerprinting at the U.S. border, saying experiences vary widely despite a March policy requiring anyone staying in the U.S. for more than 30 days to register.
Canadian trips to the U.S. have dropped for the eighth consecutive month.
Call it a comeback… literally: As concerns grow over online safety and screen time, some parents are bringing back the landline for their tweens and teens as a safer way to stay connected.
MY WORK THIS WEEK
In Case You Missed It
HOW CANADA’S COMPANIES ENDED THE WEEK
The Market
Royal Bank | |
TD Bank | |
Enbridge | |
ScotiaBank | |
Bank of Montreal | |
CP Rail | |
Shopify | |
Canadian Tire | |
Loblaws | |
Tim Hortons (RBI) | |
Dollarama | |
Rogers |
I write this newsletter because I care about this country, and I know you do too.
There’s no big media boss here. No hedge fund. Just one person with a keyboard, some facts, and a healthy dose of Canadian side-eye.
If that’s worth something to you, please consider chipping in if you can. 💚
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