Canada Morning Brief: What You Need To Know For June 24

Good morning — Andrew from Narcity here! ☕

Tim Hortons was somehow named one of the world's most trusted brands — which is especially odd considering we can't even trust them to keep the same Timbits in rotation for very long.

Psst... You can now sign up for the soon-to-launch email version of the Canada Morning Brief right here.

5 Things You Need To Know Today

🏳️🌈 PRIDE
June is Pride month but many of Toronto's signature festivities will take place this weekend. The Trans Pride March gets underway tonight at 8 p.m. ET, the Dyke March starts at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, and the Pride Parade basically runs all afternoon on Sunday down around Church Street.

🏀 BASKETBALL
The Toronto Raptors bolstered their core by selecting big man Christian Koloko out of Arizona last night with the No. 33 pick in the 2022 draft. As it happens, the 22-year-old is from Douala, Cameroon — the same town as veteran Raptors star Pascal Siakam.

🏒 HOCKEY
The 2021-22 NHL season could soon be at an end. The Colorado Avalanche enjoy a 3-1 series lead over the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The puck drops tonight in Denver at 8 p.m. ET.

🎥 WIDE RELEASE
Thank ya, thank ya very much: Elvis hits theatres across Canada today. However, if you're looking for something less nauseating than a Baz Luhrmann picture, the Ethan Hawke horror vehicle The Black Phone is also out in wide release today.

🎄 HALFWAY THERE
This weekend is officially the halfway mark to Christmas 2022 — or as non-celebrators call it, "a random Sunday in December."

In Case You Missed It

1. Canada Dominates Most Livable Cities Ranking

You could do a lot worse than calling Canada home, according to a new study. The country can claim three of the world's top 10 most livable cities based on a number of factors like health care, culture, education and infrastructure, Lisa Belmonte reports. Perhaps surprisingly, none of Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver ranked first among Canadian metropolises.

2. Hitting Cruise Control From Ottawa To Iceland

If you've ever had a burning desire to retrace your Grade 8 history class in reverse, there's now a 19-day cruise that takes passengers from Ottawa to Montreal, out past Newfoundland to Greenland and eventually Iceland. The voyage sets sail in 2023 and 2024 and will set guests back over $11,000. Alex Arsenych has all the details on the frosty expedition here.

3. The Worst Part About Playing Darth Vader

In his recent chat with Narcity's Josh Elliott, Canadian actor Hayden Christensen broke down the most challenging part of revisiting his signature role at Darth Vader in the Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Spoiler: it has nothing to do with sand (though someone in a galaxy far, far away once noted its coarseness). Watch the full interview here.

4. Check Your Homes For These 6 Recalled Products

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued recalls for six food items, including a brand of whole raspberries that could contain microbial contamination and a brand of processed potatoes in which pieces of metal were found, Sarah Rohoman reports. There's also a warning for certain Abbott brand baby formulas, a major crisis throughout 2022 so far. You can find the full list of items here.

5. The Man From Toronto Stars Apologize To Toronto

The consensus is that Torontonians generally don't pronounce the second T in the city's name — which is why the stars of the upcoming Netflix release The Man from Toronto have gotten a hard time for their seeming lack of authenticity. Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson actually apologized for the apparent offence, though as Brooke Houghton reports, there's actually a pretty good reason why the characters keep flubbing "Toronto."

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — where the T in "Kevin Hart" is as silent as he is short.

Soon, you will be able to get our newsletter straight to your inbox. Until then, I'd love to know what you liked (and disliked) about today's edition at andrew.potter@narcity.com.

Have a great day!