Canada’s inflation rate rose slightly to 2.9%. That’s up a hair from 2.8% in February, driven largely by an increase in gas prices. In spite of the tick-up, core inflation — the Bank of Canada’s preferred metric that excludes more volatile measures — actually cooled from levels seen in February, raising the odds of an interest rate cut in June. (CTV News)

Peel Regional Police make gold heist arrest. Police are announcing arrests today in connection to a heist at Toronto’s Pearson Airport last year that saw $23 million in gold bars and cash lifted from an Air Canada cargo facility. According to a civil suit brought against Air Canada by the gold’s owners, the thief — using fake credentials — was simply handed the goods by airline staff. (CP24) 

Lululemon drops Team Canada kits. The Vancouver athleisure brand has released the Team Canada athlete kits for the upcoming Paris Olympics. The new look features a red and white print that incorporates art, architecture, and nature from each Canadian province. Lululemon replaced Hudson’s Bay as the official apparel partner in 2022. (Global News)—LA

Class-action lawsuits can be a real headache, but luckily Shoppers Drug Mart executives have an unlimited supply of extra-strength Tylenol at their disposal. 

What happened: An ex-Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against his former workplace, and its parent company Loblaw, claiming that the chain breached franchising deals by coercing pharmacists into “unsafe and unethical" behaviour.

• The claim states Loblaw brought in shady practices after buying Shoppers in 2014 — like quotas for medical reviews, axing support staff hours, and requiring questionable off-site med preparation — which restricted pharmacists’ ability to care for patients.
  
  
• The suit, which current and former pharmacists could join if it goes to trial, also alleges that Shoppers terminated franchise deals if pharmacists spoke up.

Zoom out: The proposed suit comes just weeks after the CBC found Shoppers imposed quotas on pharmacists for medication reviews — allegedly because they can charge the federal government up to $75 a pop for them — despite the chain’s president denying it did any such a thing. 

Why it matters: If Shoppers did impair pharmacists’ capacity to do their jobs at the risk of patient safety, that’s a big deal, as Shoppers has a lot of patients. With over 1,300 locations across the country, it is one of the main places Canadians go to get prescriptions filled.

Big picture: Incidents like this raise concerns about Shoppers’s conflict of interest between providing adequate care and turning a profit for its shareholders. This concern has grown among some advocates as the company expands its number of for-profit care clinics, which have been touted as a viable substitute for minor visits to the doctor’s office.—QH