Morning Brief: Trudeau Slams Poilievre, An Avatar 2 Review & More

TGIF; welcome to the third-last Friday of 2022 — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off The Top: In part due to his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion this fall, Elon Musk has sold a lot of Tesla stock lately. Of course, when you dump, say, billions and billions of dollars of shares into the open market, you're going to drive the stock price down — supply and demand, baby! But because Musk still owns a ridiculous number of shares, and that's where the bulk of his immense wealth is stored, that downward pressure has resulted in Musk losing his title as the world's richest person. It's perhaps the most stunning self-implosion since, well... since the last time a Tesla self-drove itself straight into a hydro pole.

In Case You Missed It

1. Justin Trudeau Slams Pierre Poilievre For 'Amplifying Conspiracy Theories'

Prime Minister Trudeau is rejecting sentiment from his chief political rival, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who opined that it felt "like everything is broken in this country" at a press conference in November. Trudeau hit back with a broad assertion that Poilievre was "undermining" Canada's democracy by promoting conspiracy theories. For more on the latest war of words between Trudeau and Poilievre, here's Tristan Wheeler.

• Context: It's unclear what conspiracies Trudeau was referring to — although Poilievre has previously asserted that the Bank of Canada had been "printing money" to fund the Liberal government, spurring inflation. The Bank of Canada rebuked those claims this summer.
• In His Words: "Mr. Poilievre might choose to undermine our democracy by amplifying conspiracy theories; he might decide to run away from journalists when they ask him tough questions. That's how he brands himself. That's his choice," Trudeau told his colleagues. "But when he says that Canada is broken, that's where we draw the line."
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

2. Quebec Has A Compelling Case As Canada's Most Family-Friendly Province

In a recent ranking of the most family-friend cities in Canada, Quebec in general emerged victorious. The No. 1 spot overall went to Quebec City thanks to the capital's great health care, affordable housing and low crime rate, but the fun didn't stop there. Quebec was the only province to boast three cities in the top 10, with Montreal (No. 8) and Sherbrooke (No. 10), and the good times continued to roll with Longueuil (No. 11), Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (No. 14) and Trois-Rivières (No. 20) placing in the top 20, Mike Chaar reports.

• Go Deeper: The breakdown for the remaining seven cities in the top 10? Two cities each for Ontario, B.C. and Alberta, plus one city in Saskatchewan. See if you can guess which cities made the cut before clicking the link below.
• READ THE FULL STORY HERE

3. Our Writer Waited 13 Years For You To Read His 'Avatar 2' Review (OK, Not Really)

A lot has changed since Avatar was released to ludicrous fanfare way back in 2009. Namely, you've probably forgotten most of what happened in James Cameron's then-stunning sci-fi epic about elongated Smurfs fighting space commandos over extraterrestrial mining rights. Our Josh Elliott has just seen the three-plus-hour sequel, The Way of Water, and has some thoughts about the whole endeavour — including the head-scratching decision to have 73-year-old Sigourney Weaver play a teenage character through motion capture. Here's why Avatar: The Way of Water only received a 3/5-star rating from Josh.

What Else You Need To Know Today

🌴 TRAVEL ADVISORY
The Government of Canada has issued a travel advisory for Jamaica after the island nation's leaders declared a state of emergency. As Katherine Caspersz writes, the Caribbean destination has been beset with violent crime and gang activity — including areas near popular tourist havens like Montego Bay. Here's what to know before packing your bags.

✈️ TRAVEL TIPS
Give credit where it's due; Toronto's Pearson International Airport does appear to have made strides in efficiency since that stretch this summer when viral photos of long lines dominated the internet. Still, there are some great tools available to travellers that can make the bag drop/security/customs gauntlet a little more manageable. Stuart McGinn breaks it down for us.

🎄 HOLIDAY HISTORY
Look, you're old enough to know the real truth about Christmas: the vast majority of scenes set in Santa's workshop in the modern holiday tale Elf were not actually filmed at the North Pole. However, as Ashley Harris notes, the production team did ultimately head north — to Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum at the PNE, a space big and bright enough to give off the needed North Pole energy. Here's the role Canada played in the Christmas classic.

🥟 MARKET MANIA
Forget the bagels or the nightlife scene; the real reason to visit Montreal is that it now lays claim to the largest T&T supermarket in Canada. MTL Blog's Willa Holt spoke with T&T's CEO to learn what the venerable Asian grocer's signature products include — like reasonably priced lobster, Peking duck and mochi lava puffs.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Canadian tennis pro Rebecca Marino turns 32 years old today. The White Lotus slimeball Theo James is 38. Small-screen Marvel maven Krysten Ritter turns 41. Two-time Olympic curling gold medalist John Morris drops the hammer on 44. Lead Billy Talent yeller Ben Kowalewicz is 47. Canadian track legend Donovan Bailey is sprinting his way straight into 55. The late great stand-up comic Bill Hicks would've been 61 today. 60 Minutes stalwart Lesley Stahl is 81. The late sci-fi author Philip K. Dick was born on this day in 1928.

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Thanks for reading Narcity'sCanada Morning Brief — the newsletter that can't stop dreaming about electric sheep.

Have a question or comment about today's edition? Let me know at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!