Stories by Austin Blake

Prime Minister Mark Carney has officially reset Canada’s trade relationship with China, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford is already warning that the deal could be a death blow to the province's auto sector. The new strategic partnership, signed in Beijing this week, effectively trades agricultural relief for a significant surge of Chinese electric vehicles on...

Sesame Street just became a lot easier to find. YouTube and Sesame Workshop announced today that the platform is now the largest digital home for the show, dumping a massive "treasure trove" of full episodes and classic clips online for families. The move brings over 100 full episodes to the main YouTube app and YouTube...

The Competition Bureau dropped a massive report today with a simple message: Canadians are being overcharged because it's too much of a "hassle" to switch companies. The agency says if we actually had control over our own data, we could save nearly $4 billion every year. The report, "Your Data, Your Control," argues that when...

Digg is back, baby. Kevin Rose and Alexis Ohanian have officially relaunched Digg. The site went live in public beta on January 14, 2026, marking a major comeback for the platform that once led the social news world before Reddit took its place over a decade ago. The new version of the site is owned...

According to reporting by the New York Times, Canada is quietly trying to reset its tense relationship with China. Economic pressure is growing at home, and the U.S. has become a harder partner to rely on under President Donald Trump. The NYT describes the moment as a “pragmatic thawing.” Canadian and Chinese officials are working...

Following a morning of rough headlines for the Canadian telecom industry, Quebecor has released its own statement to drive the point home. While national rivals are drowning in a 17% surge of complaints, the company's subsidiary, Videotron Group (which includes Freedom Mobile and Fizz), is using the CCTS report to crown itself the leader in...

Google is rolling out a massive update for its Gemini AI today called Personal Intelligence. The feature, which is launching as a beta for paid Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S., allows the assistant to pull details directly from your Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube history to solve real-world problems. Josh Woodward, VP of...

Bell is moving ahead with a planned change to its home Internet and TV lineup in Ontario, officially pulling those services from its flanker brand Virgin Plus. Starting today, January 14, Virgin Plus will no longer accept new home Internet or TV customers in Ontario. The services will continue to be offered in Quebec. For...

Canada’s privacy watchdog says Staples Canada (again) failed to fully wipe personal data from some returned laptops before reselling them. The finding comes from a recent investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which found that some devices still contained customers’ personal information when they were sold to new buyers. The issue...

Rogers-owned Fido is facing some mockery online after a customer shared a text message pitching an "exclusive deal" that looks more like a bad joke. The message offered 70GB of data at 4G speeds for $120 a month after autopay discounts, plus a potential $20 fee just to change the plan. Fido framed the offer...

Some Public Mobile customers are getting texts offering a switch over to parent company Telus, but the deal itself isn’t anything special. Users on RFD say the message offers a $25 per month Telus plan with 5GB of 5G data, including the autopay discount (requires debit pre-auth) and no contract. The problem is that Public...

Have you been trying to recover a payout from airlines after submitting a complaint to Canadian Transportation Agency? Well, that delay in the process may be for a reason, according to new documents obtained under Access to Information requests. Internal government records seemingly suggest the federal government played a direct role in delaying a fee...