Morning Brief: The Feds Take On Grocery Greed, A Lunar Eclipse & More

Happy Hump Day — Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off The Top: The Toronto Raptors' season begins tonight with a 7:30 p.m. ET home tilt against their budding Eastern Conference rivals the Cleveland Cavaliers. For the second straight year, the Raptors lead the NBA in international (non-U.S.-born) players with eight, including three Canadians — Dalano Banton, Khem Birch and Chris Boucher. In fact, Canada boasts the highest number of international players for the ninth consecutive year, with a new all-time record of 22 Canadians making opening night rosters.

In Case You Missed It

1. Ottawa's Political Rivals Break Bread To Fight Back At Grocery Greed

It's increasingly rare that the denizens of Parliament Hill are in unanimous agreement about anything but a recent NDP-tabled motion garnered 327 yeas to zero nays in the House of Commons this week. The unifying theme? Canada's major grocery chains might be screwing Canadians with price hikes well beyond the current rate of inflation — on their way to massive profits. Tristan Wheeler reports on the motion that managed to get Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh all nodding in agreement.

• Go Deeper: The motion calls on the federal government to deliver on three key actionable items: 1) closing corporate tax loopholes, 2) calling on the Competition Bureau to investigate potential price-fixing among grocery chains, with increased penalties for abusers, and 3) inviting grocery CEOs before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food to probe the role "greedflation" has played in Canada's current cost-of-living woes.
• Context: Recall that it was only in 2018 that the Competition Bureau determined that major chains like Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro colluded with suppliers to artificially raise the cost of bread. The price-fixing scheme apparently took place over the period of 14 to 16 years.
• My Take: Don't take the bait on those stories about Loblaws' price freeze on No Name products through early 2023; it's like running someone over, then trying to plea down to a parking ticket.

2. Americans Keep Searching 'Move To Canada' & Here's Where They Live Now

It's nice to be wanted — and by and large, a fair number of Americans seem open to relocating to Canada. A new report suggests that residents of a majority of U.S. states — 42, to be exact — would move to Canada over any other country. According to Helena Hanson, the report indicates that key factors in the Americans' apparent affinity for Canada are job security and housing conditions (ha!). Other than Canada, here are the other two countries where Americans would consider moving.

• By The Numbers: America's search interest in moving abroad has increased by 29% since 2020. You can probably come up with some reasonable hypotheses about how the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced the trend.

3. How To Permanently Ruin Your Eyes (Or 6 Key Rules For Wearing Contact Lenses)

It's said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Even if you're not the poetic type, you must at least concede that eyes are pretty darn important. Dr. Katerina Kurteeva certainly agrees; after a horror story with a patient, the California ophthalmologist released a great list of six must-follow rules for everyone who wears contact lenses, starting with her No. 1 piece of advice: DO. NOT. SLEEP. WITH. YOUR. CONTACTS. IN. Don't even think of doing it. To take us through the other five rules, here's Asymina Kantorowicz.

• Context: If you're wondering what sparked Dr. Kurteeva's recent public service announcement, look no further than the case of a recent patient who had 23 contact lenses removed from one eye. Fair warning, you'll probably want to wait until after your breakfast to watch the accompanying clip.

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What Else You Need To Know Today

🌕 PURE LUNAR-CY
Insomniacs rejoice! You now have a viable reason for being up in the middle of the night — for one night, anyway. Lisa Belmonte notes that Canadians will be able to take in a blood moon total lunar eclipse on November 8. Here's what that somewhat sinister-sounding celestial event entails plus the ideal time for residents of each province to crane their necks skyward.

🏠 SURREAL ESTATE
You don't have to be as rich as Richard Branson to own your own private island... though deep pockets definitely help. Morgan Leet points out that you can currently buy the entirety of the nearly five-acre Dunsmuir Island in B.C. for less than the cost of your typical West Vancouver palace. However, there are a few big catches that accompany the potential island enclave.

👻 OTTAWEIRD
October is the one month where the scariest sights and sounds in our nation's capital don't necessarily come from Parliament Hill. Megan Johnson breaks down eight local spots that have ties to the paranormal or supernatural — like the supposedly haunted Ottawa Jail Hostel.

💌 YOU'VE GOT MAIL
Fledgling entrepreneurs can enjoy a nice perk at the post office this month, notes Sarah Rohoman. Canada Post is offering free shipping on one free package within Canada and one within the U.S. every Tuesday for those who are enrolled in their free Canada Post Solutions for Small Businesses program. You've got one more Tuesday to take advantage of the deal.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
Retired Blue Jays legend José "Joey Bats" Bautista is 42. Montreal-born Juno director Jason Reitman is 45. Go on down to South Park to celebrate co-creator Trey Parker's 53rd birthday. Reality TV carpenter Ty Pennington is 58. Dumbledore actor Michael Gambon is 82. Legendary Canadian distance swimmer Marilyn Bell is 85. The late spy fiction master John le Carré would have been 91 today.

Thanks for reading Narcity's Canada Morning Brief — the newsletter written by more of a tinker/tailor than a soldier/spy.

Have a prediction for how well the Raptors will do this year? Let me know at andrew.potter@narcity.com or hit me up on Twitter if you'd prefer at @andrewjoepotter.

Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow!