Let’s call this week a win: Vladdy finally hit a homer at home, Carly Rae Jepsen’s dropping 24 songs today, and a new Nathan Fielder meme is frying the internet. I’m bringing that energy into the Terry Fox Run this Sunday – my seventh, and no, I’m not just in it for the free captain shirt. I’ll be the one not being competitive at all, until some 10 year old tries to lap me. He will be destroyed.

– Shazia Khan, Social Media Strategy Manager

The takeaway: Welp, it happened. On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve hiked rates by 25 basis points in a unanimous 12-0 vote (more on that below). It also indicated another rate hike before the end of 2026, so pack an umbrella. But moods improved on Thursday as Treasury yields and oil prices eased somewhat, tech stocks rebounded a bit, and rising metal prices helped the TSX rally.

It’s getting romantic between Canada and Europe. On Wednesday, Mark Carney visited Strasbourg, France, in an effort to deepen Canada’s ties with the EU. Rather than counting on Canada’s increasingly toxic on-and-off relationship with the US, Carney is focusing on the fact that there are plenty of other fish across the Atlantic. 

In a speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed that Canada and the EU take their relationship to the “highest level possible.” Europe, we’re blushing! She even suggested putting a label on things, inviting Canada to be the EU’s first ‘associate member.’ But this has created some confusion; much like the term ‘situationship,’ ‘associate member’ has no legal definition.

Still, the combo of sticking it to Trump and getting shorter airport lines is a tempting possibility, and Canadians are into it. A recent Abacus poll found that 80% of Canadians support deeper strategic cooperation with the EU. 

The plan isn’t without its critics, and many have suggested that the move is more symbolic than substantive – especially given that Canada has had a free trade agreement with the EU since 2017, which ten member states still haven’t ratified. Still, there could be real benefits for Canada on the horizon, such as visa-free travel. Next month’s Canada–EU Summit in Montreal is expected to lock in some details.

The bottom line: Amidst our very public breakup with the US, Canadians are embracing a European rebound. The terms of the relationship have yet to be defined, but hey, at least we’ve made our ex jealous.

by Thomas Law

This is an excerpt of an article originally run in full on The Margin.

When I first moved to Canada from the UK three years ago, I knew sweet puck all about hockey. I didn’t know a Zamboni from Max Domi, and as a 25-year-old student that would baulk at spending hundreds of dollars on anything, let alone nosebleed Leafs tickets, I thought it would stay that way. It was only through casually watching CBC and stumbling across Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) that my love for the sport blossomed. Before long, I had gone from bored, channel-hopping viewing to solid fandom. (A Four Nations victory over the Yanks certainly helped matters too.)

The more time that I spent living here, the more engaged I became with the game. I’m never going to have Steve Dangles-levels of passion (or intonation), but my newfound familiarity with the game provided a fantastic means to immerse myself in Canadian culture. I came to feel a sense of belonging with this country and its people.

None of this would have happened without HNIC. So it was dispiriting to learn, in June of this year, that the show that turned me into a hockey head would no longer be aired free of charge. Despite the CBC wanting to keep it free, the show’s rights-holder, Rogers, asked for too much cash in return. As a result, HNIC now languishes behind a paywall, with myself and any would-be new fans stuck on the wrong side of it.

Read more

Shazia Khan, Social Media Strategy Manager: I regret to inform you of another Sydney Sweeney Controversy™. Her latest (NSFW!) ad for sports-betting app Novig has racked up views and backlash all week. Olympians and online folks say it’s a reductive, over-sexualized representation of ‘women in sport,’ but I actually don’t agree.

The ad sucks for a dumber reason: Novig (and Sweeney, as an equity holder) has profoundly no clue who watches sports. ‘Hot woman poses nude and occasionally speaks with Malibu Stacy inflection’ is a marketing pitch for one demo: heterosexual men aged 18 to 54. If you think they’re the only ones buying jerseys and filling seats, please locate a time machine and set coordinates for 2026 A.D., where women now make up 56% of new fans and are driving growth across male and female leagues, per Nielsen. 

For everyone else, this campaign was designed to be one thing: ragebait. Their CEO basically admitted it, and who can blame him? It’s, sadly, a reliable playbook. Netflix’s latest sports doc dredged up the Raygun controversy, Sophie Cunningham’s comments became kindling for a political flamewar no one asked for, and Callaway Golf trended this summer thanks to an ad where a man shoves a woman to the ground.

Ragebait only works if we let it. Nielsen says 60% of women's sports fans have dropped a brand over its values, so the way things are trending, I don’t expect it to work much longer. As sports fans, let’s remember: booing works. Leaving works better.

From The Margin group chat:

If you liked this newsletter, hated this newsletter, or are totally indifferent to it, hit the reply button and tell us why! We’re so lonely.

This week’s contributors: Tyler Haw (audience engagement), Amarah Hasham-Steele (staff writer), Shazia Khan (social media strategy manager), Thomas Law (writer), Anthony Milton (content lead), Martin Molpeceres (social video producer), Kat Angus (deputy editor), and Eric Wainwright (editor in chief).

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