8 Things You Need To Know For August 19

Good morning — Andrew from Narcity here! ☕

And joining me this morning is Renée LeBlanc Proctor from our copy desk.

Off The Top: Amateur baby name consultant and full-time Legend of Zelda cosplayer Grimes asked Twitter for advice on getting "elf ear modifiers," briefly positioning her ex Elon Musk as the most level-headed person on the social media platform.

In Case You Missed It

1. How To Spot A Con: Rental Scams Are On The Rise

If times weren’t already tough enough on Canadian renters an uptick in rent scams is making a gruelling market worse. A recent report suggests that Canada has seen a 15% rise in rental scams over the past year. With fake profiles and online listings becoming increasingly difficult to suss out, Janice Rodriguez says that "if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is."

• Red Flag: One easy way to spot a scam is if a "landlord" asks for an application deposit or cash deposit just to see the property. That's a big no-no.
• Some Hope: For Canadians willing to drop a deposit on a unit, consider looking for tax sales like this one in Markham, where the opening bid can start as low as $8K!

2. OK, I Guess We Better Learn About 'Quiet Quitting'

If you've spent much time online this past week, you've invariably stumbled upon a think piece about the latest trend in western work culture: "quiet quitting." What does the alliterative phrase actually entail? As Sameen Chaudhry outlines — with a big assist from... HR TikTok (?) — it's really just another way to say that workers are rejecting opportunities to go above and beyond at the office in order to preserve a healthy work-life balance. Read more about the trend here.

• My Take: It's pretty audacious for HR TikTok to present "mailing it in" as a novel concept rather than the culmination of years of research and training by our top soon-to-be-retired high school civics teachers.

3. People Hate That The Finnish PM Does Cool, Normal Stuff

Finland's Sanna Marin is like a lot of millennials in that she occasionally likes to go dancing, a recreational activity enjoyed basically all over the world (except in that one town from Footloose). Unlike a lot of millennials, however, the 36-year-old is also the world's youngest prime minister — which means her critics are now demanding that she submit to drug testing. For more insight into one of the more preposterous attempts to paint a politician as unfit to lead, here's Sameen Chaudhry once more.

• Her Own Words: "I danced, sang, and partied — perfectly legal things," Marin said. "And I've never been in a situation where I've seen or known of others (using drugs)."
• My Take: The only crime here was Marin's (now-former?) friend posting her cringey dance moves on main.

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What Else You Need To Know Today

🎉 HOLIDAYS
Happy National Potato Day, a day celebrating a vegetable most improved by condiments. It’s also World Humanitarian Day; today’s humanitarian mission? Eradicate the baked potato.

🎓 BOOK SMART
Looking to cut down on the doomscrolling? Well, Lisa Belmonte rounded up some of the most interesting online courses from Canada’s top universities, from studying the origin of birds to decoding DNA. The best part? They're free.

⚔️ GAME TIME
The first episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon drops Sunday, Aug. 21, 9 p.m. ET on Crave. Set 200 years before the original Game of Thrones series, is there enough distance from the original storyline (and its much-maligned ending) to give Westeros another go?

🦙 ALPACA LUNCH
Looking for a cute, budget-friendly day trip outside of Calgary? Charlie Hart recommends spending an afternoon hanging out with alpacas at this nearby farm.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Arcade Fire chanteuse Régine Chassagne turns 46. Ottawa-raised Friends star Matthew Perry is 53; the late, great Nate Dogg also would have been 53 today. Johnny Drama himself, Kevin Dillon, is 57. John Stamos is 59. Former President Bill Clinton turns 76. The late Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was born on this day in 1921.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — and remember: elf ear modifiers are recommended but aren't required for reading this newsletter.

Let me know your favourite potato dish at andrew.potter@narcity.com.

Have a great weekend and see you back here on Monday!