On this week’s episode of Free Lunch by The Peak, we sat down with Graeme Thompson to talk about the record-setting number of elections happening around the world this year, what the likely outcomes are in countries like the U.K. and U.S., and what it all means for Canada. 

The Russian election is perhaps the only one this year for which the results had been reported well before the first ballots had been cast. 

Driving the news: People in Russia and occupied Ukraine are heading to the polls this weekend to vote in the national election, but given the lack of genuine opposition to current President Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader is all but guaranteed another six years in power. 

While some of us are still not entirely sure what a large language model is, EU lawmakers have gone ahead and passed the world’s first comprehensive AI regulation act.

Catch-up: The Artificial Intelligence Act — we love legislation with to-the-point titles — has been contentious, but it should be finalized in May, with implementation beginning next year. It stands to set the tone for global AI regulation and influence Big Tech developments.

Apple’s latest stealthy acquisition brings a Canadian startup into AI plans that are slowly coming into focus.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Great question. I have no idea.

Yes, Mark Zuckerberg talking to his glasses in a onesie could be a breakthrough moment for smart glasses.

In a reversal of the famous slogan, Nestlé’s shareholders are telling the company to take a break from the KitKats. 

Driving the news: Nestlé is facing demands from its shareholders to sell more nutritious foods. The coalition is led by a responsible investing charity that has criticized the world’s biggest food maker for relying too “heavily on sales of less healthy foods.”

As ‘athleisure’ and ‘quiet luxury’ continue to dominate fashion trends, one Canadian menswear store that made its name with formalwear is trying to keep up with the times.

What happened: The historic Canadian men’s clothier Harry Rosen is launching a five-year, $50 million plan to overhaul its stores across Canada, including making stores better suited (lol) for online pick-ups, condensing display spaces, and showcasing newer, trendier labels.

As the situation worsens in Haiti, some Canadian diplomats are getting out. 

What happened: Canada evacuated most of its embassy staff in Haiti, leaving only essential employees in the Caribbean nation, including Ambassador André François Giroux. Meanwhile, the ~3,000 Canadian citizens in Haiti have received shelter-in-place orders. 

If you thought the security line was bad at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, wait until you see the queue of customers just trying to leave your local Loblaws. 

Driving the news: Loblaw-owned grocery stores, including Superstore and Zehrs, are now testing receipt scanning systems at four locations in Ontario, part of the company’s efforts to beef up security as thefts at grocery stores and retailers rise across Canada. 

While Alberta formally ended its “Alberta is Calling” advertising campaign last year meant to attract workers to the province, the province is still singing a siren’s song.

What happened: Alberta has introduced a program to offer skilled tradespeople from outside the province a $5,000 tax credit if they pack up shop and move to Alberta. The province will shift $10 million in its budget to pay for it, making up to 2,000 workers eligible. 

Canadian-Indian relations have been, shall we say, testy lately. But you wouldn’t know it from looking at the investments Canadian pension funds are making. 

What happened: The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) will invest ~$107 million in Indian B2B fintech company Perfios, unlocking unicorn status. It’s the latest investment OTPP has made into an Indian startup since launching an Indian investment drive in 2022. 

Getting users and creators to lobby on its behalf didn’t help TikTok’s parent company make new friends in Washington.

Most online arguments are pretty easy to ignore, but sometimes the arguments are about how to spend billions of dollars on a world-changing technology.

In 2021, when MIT researchers proved that nuclear fusion — how stars combine atoms to generate energy — could be replicated to provide power here on Earth, there was a caveat: The superconducting magnets needed were so large and costly that the process was light-years away from being practical. 

Some new ground rules from our southern neighbour are putting Canadian cattle at risk of losing their honourary dual citizenship. 

What happened: This week, the U.S. issued new, more restrictive guidelines for when “Product of USA” labels can be used on meat, poultry, and eggs. The move is meant to help U.S. farmers, but experts expect it to hit Canada’s agriculture sector hard in the process. 

Telegram, it’s not just for your journo friends anymore. 

Driving the news: Encrypted messaging app Telegram is mulling a U.S.-listed IPO, its owner Pavel Durov told the Financial Times, after surpassing 900 million monthly active users and projecting it will hit profitability within the next year thanks to newfound ad dollars. 

Arts and culture festivals could sadly be following the woolly mammoth trajectory — once prominent across Canada, but slowly on their way to extinction. 

Driving the news: The shockingly sudden cancellation of this year’s Just for Laughs comedy festivals in Montréal and Toronto has brought to light the dire state of the business of festivals in Canada. Everything from music fests to theatre fests are struggling.

A new type of retreat is going after a demographic that needs more R&R than perhaps any other: new parents. 

Driving the news: Last month, Alma Care — a retreat for mothers who have just given birth — officially opened in Toronto. Per the owner, it’s the first facility of its kind in Canada, offering new moms cozy rooms, doula consultations, masseuses, and a staffed nursery.