Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will bid the premiership adieu/farewell, announcing yesterday that he’ll end his nine-year tenure once his Liberal Party chooses a successor.

Trudeau quitting shocked no one, given that he’s about as popular in Canada as Vermont maple syrup, with a measly 22% approval rating as of December. Even before President-elect Donald Trump’s recent threats to impose a punishing 25% blanket tariff on all Canadian goods sparked new anxieties, the PM has dealt with a whirlwind of economic woes.

• Canada’s annual inflation peaked at over 8% in 2022 and didn’t dip below the targeted 2% rate until this summer.
• Attempts to jumpstart the economy by increasing immigration at an unprecedented pace likely contributed to rising housing costs and spurred a backlash.
• Unemployment rose to nearly 7% in November, and the number of Canadians visiting food banks hit a record last spring, almost doubling since 2019.
• Meanwhile, Canada's workers have become less productive, falling behind peers in many rich countries.

This left Trudeau dodging dung from across the political spectrum, with some calling for business-friendly reforms and others demanding an expanded social safety net.

Defeating blow

Trudeau’s departure became a foregone conclusion after his finance minister Chrystia Freeland resigned last month, calling his government spending plan too generous. She argued that the treasury should tighten its belt in preparation for looming tariffs from the US—the destination for nearly 80% of Canada’s exports.

Even members of his own party publicly called on him to step down, while opponents argued he’s unequipped to handle tough trade talks with Trump, who mockingly called him the “governor” of the “great state of Canada.”

What’s next? Canadian law demands an election be held by October (though it’ll likely happen sooner), and the conservative party led by Pierre Poilievre is up in the polls by double digits. Poilievre recently said he’s ready to address Trump’s trade concerns in part by expediting oil, gas, and mineral extraction, as well as hydropower projects, to ship cheap natural resources and electricity to Canada’s southern neighbor.—SK

Congress certified Trump’s election win. In what was probably an awkward day at the office for VP Kamala Harris, the former presidential candidate presided over Congress’s certification of her opponent Donald Trump’s win yesterday. The certification, which used to be a pretty staid part of the march toward Inauguration Day, was held under elevated national security levels this year in light of the riots that disrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s win on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has vowed to pardon the rioters who stormed the Capitol—something Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized before the certification.

US Steel and Nippon Steel sue over blocked deal. Last week, President Biden nixed the Japanese company’s $15 billion acquisition of the American institution on national security grounds, but now the two companies are asking federal courts to let the deal proceed in a pair of lawsuits. In one case, they’re telling a DC appeals court that election politics tainted the security review. In a separate case filed in Pittsburgh, the companies allege that the CEO of rival Cleveland-Cliffs—which tried to buy US Steel but was outbid—conspired with the head of the steelworker’s union to scuttle the sale.

Winter storm snarls traffic and travel. Snow fell across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic yesterday, and came down heavily on DC, making it hard for drivers and planes to get where they were going. Drivers were stranded on highways, and at least four people died in car accidents. Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 flights were cancelled as the storm raged on. More than 330,000 people were also left without power yesterday. The intense winter weather is expected to continue as a polar vortex rolls through.—AR

That moment when the popular kid asks you to bundle : In an effort to snag subscribers from YouTubeTV, Disney and small-fish sports streamer FuboTV are combining their live television forces to become the second-largest cable dupe in the US, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

Fubo’s stock more than tripled on the announcement. As part of the team-up:

• Fubo will retain its name and CEO but will reorganize to absorb Disney’s Hulu + Live TV business (which doesn’t include regular ol’ Hulu). Disney will own 70% of the new-and-improved Fubo and will appoint most of its board.
• Fubo will go from 1.6 million North American subscribers—near-bottom of the online television provider totem pole—to a combined 6.2 million with Hulu + Live TV (vs. YouTubeTV’s 8 million).
• Fubo will also be able to create a new broadcast service and mini sports/news/entertainment bundles with Disney-owned channels, including ESPN and ABC.

Enemies to lovers: Fubo spent last year as Disney’s opp after it sued to block a joint Warner Bros./Fox Corp./ESPN sports streaming bundle called Venu. Under the new deal, Fubo will settle its lawsuit—which would’ve been heard yesterday—for $220 million plus a $145 million loan from Disney. Venu is now expected to resume its launch.

Separate bedrooms: Once the deal closes in the next 12 to 18 months, you’ll still access Hulu + Live TV from the Hulu app, and Fubo through the FuboTV app—at least for now. “Having two separate platforms today, obviously, it’s not ideal,” said Fubo co-founder and CEO David Gandler.—ML

If you shudder at the thought of spending a Sunday watching guys on TV slowly walk around a grassy field, prepare to have your mind blown. TGL, the new Tiger Woods-backed, high-tech indoor golf league begins its inaugural season tonight, and it wants you to be a fan.

How it works: TGL consists of six teams of four golfers from the PGA Tour, which has an ownership stake in the business. Teams face off inside a custom football field-size arena surrounded by 1,500 fans in Palm Beach, where fancy golf simulators combine with real tees and greens.

Why? Investors (many of whom, like Serena and Venus Williams, are legendary athletes in their own right) want to boost golf’s TV appeal with matches that are intended to have the same intensity and interaction as NFL games and WWE smackdowns. TGL sessions will have an emcee, a DJ, and the golfers will be mic’d up so fans can hear a li’l friendly smack talk. “If it's a country club in here, we have failed,’’ said golfer Billy Horschel, who plays on the Atlanta Drive team.

Big picture: TGL has star power in Woods, but the sports world is waiting to see if young fans take to the new age game, or if it flounders like SlamBall.—CC

Turns out people really are spending more time thinking about the Roman Empire—or at least about the past in general. Per Bloomberg, history books and podcasts are gaining popularity.

In the US, amid a generally flat book market, the history category grew 6% last year, research firm Circana found. They flew off the shelves even faster than books on politics in a first for an election year. And it’s a global phenomenon: In the UK and Ireland, more was spent on history books in 2023 than at any other point since Nielsen started keeping track in 1998. Meanwhile, people without the attention span for Barnes and Noble’s wares are getting their history fix through podcasts. Bloomberg noted the rise of several widely listened to history-themed podcasts, including “The Rest is History,” which garners 12.5 million downloads per month, and whose parent company has negotiated a film/TV deal.—AR