Morning Brief: Canada’s Most Overrated Tourist Spots

Good morning; Welcome to the very last Monday of January 2023 – Andrew from Narcity here. ☕

Off the Top: The Royal Canadian Mint has issued a new commemorative coin, The Imperial State Crown, in honor of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The silver piece features the monarch’s face on one side and what appears to be cheap costume jewelery on the other – meant to commemorate the Queen’s crown. If you thought Canada was starting to get inflation under control, think again; This $20 commemorative piece will set you back about $160.

In case you missed it

A Canadian flag in Montreal.

Diego Grandi | dreamtime

Freedom should never be taken for granted – not even in politically quite progressive Canada. That much was made clear by the recent update of the Human Freedom Index; The report, produced by the libertarian Fraser Institute, concludes that Canada is no longer in the top 10 freest countries in the world, falling six places globally in the last three years. Canada is now 13th, notes MTL Blog’s Sofia Misenheimer, still ahead of the UK (20th) and the US (23rd), but not quite as high as it used to be.

In Numbers: On a 10-point scale, Canada scored 8.95 for personal liberty, 7.81 for economic liberty, and 8.47 for human liberty. The country also saw its permissiveness score drop to 6.5 after almost a decade of near-perfect scores. Go Deeper: The Top Three Nations? That would be Switzerland, New Zealand and Estonia. Bottom? Syria, Venezuela and Iran brought up the rear. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Students run on the University of Toronto campus. Right: Canadian money.

@uoft | Instagram, Derek Robbins | dreamtime

The Canada Learning Bond is a relatively new way for parents to save for their children’s education. Children under the age of 18 and students ages 18-21 are eligible to participate in the program, which pays up to $2,000 into a registered education savings plan. These funds can then be used towards the cost of full-time or part-time post-secondary education – including universities, colleges, apprenticeships, CEGEPs and trade schools. Lisa Belmonte explains how it all works.

Downtown Toronto. Right: The Calgary Tower in Calgary.

Giovanni Gagliardi | Dreamstime, Benkrut | dreamtime

It is said that you don’t really see your own city until someone else visits it. Apparently many of our guests left Canada a little underwhelmed. According to a study by UK-based King Casino Bonus, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have been named the three most overrated tourist destinations in Canada, with visitors primarily targeting the Toronto Zoo, Montreal’s Biodome and Vancouver’s Gastown district. Katherine Caspersz breaks down the data, including the next three most overrated Canadian cities in the ranking.

My Opinion: I wanted to ask myself out loud why we care what “King Casino Bonus” thinks about anything – then I remembered that the global fine dining referee is a tire company. READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE
What else you need to know today

⛅ SPRING FORECAST
Ontario is beginning to get some clarity on what spring will be like in the province this year. According to Patrick John Gilson, the Farmers’ Almanac is forecasting an above-average rainy spring for Canada’s largest province. However, a rainy April and May could give way to a scorching hot June; Ontarians just have to weather a stormy early spring.

🛒 BC FOOD
When our Sierra Riley relocated to BC from Ontario, she didn’t expect that grocery shopping would be a very different experience in her new home. For one, how come Vancouver isn’t on the packaged milk trend? Even for someone who doesn’t drink milk, the lack of packaged dairy was just one of several surprises that caught Sierra by surprise.

🔍 SNACKS WITHOUT SCOOBY
One funny thing about the latest Scooby-Doo reboot is that the titular dog is nowhere to be found. Instead, the focus shifts to the hard-working Velma, whose voice comes from series co-creator Mindy Kaling of The Office. Unfortunately for the show, South Asian TV viewers seem fed up with Kaling’s shtick. Sameen Chaudhry puts the setback into perspective.

🏠 SURREAL REAL ESTATE
Oddly enough, for a list price of $12 million, this 15-room mansion in Senneville, Quebec leaves a lot to be desired. MTL Blog’s Willa Holt points out that the property itself has seven acres of wooded land and a nearby lake, but the interiors require some major work before they’re ready to move into. Here you have to make up your own mind.

🎂 BIRTHDAYS
WWE star Becky Lynch turns 36 today. Rapper and actor Kid Cudi is 39. That 70s Show’s Wilmer Valderrama is 43. Ever-young sketchcomic Andy Milonakis is 47. With two Oscars together, Christian Bale and Olivia Colman are both 49 today. Jalen Rose, former Michigan Fab Five”, reaches the half-century mark. You can hear him partying on the air tonight; Genesis frontman Phil Collins is 72 years old. Chess grandmaster Boris Spassky and actress Vanessa Redgrave are both 86 years old. The wonderfully rugged Gene Hackman is 93 years old.

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Thanks for reading Narcity’s Canada Morning Brief – and remember: you don’t have to build a modern Xanadu to be a media baron (but having a stately pleasure dome doesn’t hurt).

Do you have a question or comment about today’s issue? Let me know at [email protected] or contact me on Twitter if you prefer @andrewjoepotter.

Have a nice day and see you back here tomorrow!