Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Maclean's

As soon as Trump mused about Canada becoming the 51st state, I joined many Canadians in a quiet boycott of American products. I now make sure my grapes come from Chile or South Africa, not California. I switched to locally produced whisky. Lettuce has been tricky to source, but Maclean’s did a story about an innovative agri-tech venture in Ontario that mass-produces lettuce year-round in an automated greenhouse. Now I buy from that company whenever I can. Grocery store packaged goods are trickier. You never really know where they come from. Out shopping, I see a spectrum of labels emblazoned with maple leaves, appealing to my newfound patriotism. But is “Made in Canada” the same as “Processed in Canada”? And what am I supposed to do when a box or…

RADICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS WHEN I TELL PEOPLE I WORK in urban mining, they sometimes (incorrectly) picture me sporting a hard hat and chipping away at old office towers with a pickaxe. In the past, the main way to obtain in-demand materials—like those precious critical minerals everyone’s fighting over—was through primary mining, digging deep into the ground in remote locations to extract them. But since 2014, in my chemical engineering lab at the University of Toronto, I’ve been plumbing another abundant source in Canada’s cities: e-waste, a term for the discarded electronics and batteries rusting in our landfills. For a culture that’s constantly tapping on technology, we rarely think about the untapped resources inside it. Critical elements power many of our modern machines: for example, smartphone and computer…

ANNA WEYANT ARTIST The renaissance woman with powerful connections Anna Weyant paints like a 17th-century master—but with a touch of millennial malaise. The Calgary-born, New York–based artist blends old-world technique with eerie surrealism. In 2022, she became the youngest artist represented by the powerhouse Gagosian gallery (she also dated gallerist Larry Gagosian for a few years). Now, at just 30, she’s landed her first museum exhibit at Madrid’s Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: an opus on the vulnerability and theatrics of female adolescence (with no shortage of wilting flowers and dangling ribbons). Her prices speak to her staying power, often reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars (and at least one, Falling Woman, sold for US$1.6 million). She’s also finding fame in the fashion world: Marc Jacobs, who has one of her paintings hanging…

DAX DASILVA CEO, LIGHTSPEED For dreaming up one of Canada’s billion-dollar businesses Dax Dasilva has a flair for reinvention. Born in Vancouver, he taught himself to code at 12, founded point-of-sale company Lightspeed Commerce at 29, took it public in 2019 and grew it into a billion-dollar enterprise. Lightspeed provides small and medium-sized businesses with powerful, cloud-based e-commerce tools (like inventory management and customer data and insights) once reserved for large enterprises like Walmart and Amazon. In 2022, Dasilva vacated the CEO chair to get in touch with his creative side—and wasted no time. He founded an arts non-profit in Montreal, produced the Emmy-winning film Wildcat and partnered with Jane Goodall for an environmental activism project to preserve ancestral lands in the Brazilian Amazon. In 2024, he returned to the…

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurological disease that causes motor neuron degeneration, leading to paralysis and, ultimately, death. An estimated 4,000 Canadians are currently living with ALS, and 80 per cent of patients die within two to five years of diagnosis. Fortunately, the first signs of significant progress in ALS treatment are here. Donor-funded research through ALS Canada is advancing understanding of the disease and driving major advances. For many years, the ALS Canada national Research Program has supported research that contributed to the discovery of the SOD1 gene — one of the genetic causes of ALS — and continued to fund work that deepened our understanding of SOD1 biology. This foundational research helped pave the way for the development of Qalsody, the first Health Canada-approved treatment for…

As Canada works toward net-zero emissions, small modular reactors (SMRs) will play a key role as they are more cost-effective, faster to deploy, and better-equipped to power remote or off-grid locations. GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) is delivering the world’s first commercial, gridscale SMR at the Darlington New Nuclear Project (DNNP) in Bowmanville, Ontario, along with Ontario Power Generation, Aecon and AtkinsRéalis. Delivering the Western World’s first SMR GVH’s SMR technology, the BWRX-300, made history when it was approved for construction by the Province of Ontario and Ontario Power Generation. “The BWRX-300 is the only shovelsin-the-ground project of its kind in the western world.” says Lisa McBride, Canada Country Leader at GVH. “This project is really laying the groundwork for the future. People want to learn from what we’re…

POOR THING “Confessions of the Working Poor,” Jeni Gunn’s cost-of-living memoir in the August issue, drew universal praise for its humour, vulnerability and frankness about her financial situation. Many readers confessed they were also struggling. Jeni’s article was persuasive, effective and relatable. I have the highest-paying job I’ve ever had but, as a newly single person after 30 years of marriage, my financial situation has destabilized, and I now worry that I’ll live too long in my retirement years, and the paltry amount of money I’ve socked away will run out. Jeni, please write more. Your tone, wisdom and humour is appreciated. Dominique Lavigne Thunder Bay “As Jeni Gunn shows, being poor is a full-time job, and poverty reduces your mental bandwidth”David esdaile Ottawa As I sat in the Ottawa airport…

BOLDLY CANADIAN POINTS OF VIEW EARLIER THIS YEAR, I was in the plush boardroom of the wealth-management division of a major Canadian bank. My investment manager wasn’t happy. The strategy I’d recommended, she explained, could lead me to pay quite a bit more money to the CRA. “That’s okay,” I responded. “I’m comfortable paying more in taxes.” She laughed nervously: “Well, this is the first time I’ve ever heard that.” I’m rich. At 30, I sold my small Canadian tech company, Dabble DB—an early online database tool—to Twitter. For the next decade, I worked in senior technical roles at Silicon Valley startups, sometimes in person but mostly remotely from Galiano Island in B.C. I retired at 40 with enough wealth to do pretty much anything I wanted for the rest of…

@MediaplanetCA Please recycle How Brain Cancer Canada Is Changing the Outlook for Patients A brain cancer diagnosis can be scary — Brain Cancer Canada provides hope, research funding, and resources across Canada. Abrain cancer diagnosis is a devastating new reality for approximately nine Canadians each day. Patients, families, and neuro-oncology experts are scrambling and deserve better. Brain cancer, pediatric or adult, remains incurable. The physical, logistical, emotional, and financial burden is profound. Funding levels for brain cancer research fall short against the disease complexity. Additionally, access to neuro-oncological care in a patient’s community and access to therapies approved in Canada is not guaranteed in every province and territory. Brain Cancer Canada is the only 100 per cent volunteer-led national charity solely dedicated to funding brain cancer research. To-date, we have…

The Building Canada Act is now the law of the land, but it remains to be seen exactly what shape this decisive new course for Canada will take. We’ve been told the goal is to fast-track large projects that will strengthen Canada’s autonomy, security, and economy in a time of international uncertainty. In the context of an ongoing climate emergency and a looming global energy crisis, when we talk about “Building Canada,” we must talk uranium. Over a decade ago in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin, NexGen Energy discovered Arrow - one of the largest, highest grade uranium deposits on the planet. It has gained global notoriety amidst the rapidly growing and unprecedented demand for clean, reliable and affordable baseload energy. Oncefederallyapproved and in production, NexGen’s Rook I Project will account for…

Leading the charge in a changing energy world With global energy demands rising and climate change intensifying, the need for secure, reliable power is reshaping economies and industries. Ontario alone will need to more than double its electricity generation by 2050 to remain competitive. Meeting these challenges at home and abroad will require more than technology — it will require a highly skilled, visionary workforce that’s ready to lead. This fall, Humber Polytechnic is launching the School of Clean Energy, leveraging our award-winning campus as a living lab to deliver applied learning opportunities that will equip students with specialized skills in renewable energy, smart grids, battery storage, and AI-driven energy optimization that our future demands. Named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for 10 consecutive years and on track to be…

EVERY VICTORIA DAY long weekend, when the ice has finally melted, Jeff and Chris Fettes hop in their boats and head for their island cottage in Kenora, Ontario. Getting there requires navigating the sprawling Lake of the Woods, an expanse dotted with tens of thousands of islands that stretches from Ontario to Minnesota. But the effort is part of the fun: “Even a mundane task, like going to the grocery store by boat, is an excursion,” says Chris. Like the lake, Jeff and Chris’s love affair crosses borders. They met 28 years ago at a Gold’s Gym in Orlando, Florida, where Jeff, originally from Regina, was studying audio recording and engineering, while Chris, a vocal performance student, was working as a dancer at Disney. The couple wanted to live closer…

Created for Just a short drive from Edmonton is the idyllic city of Beaumont, Alberta. With its sustained residential growth, business-friendly environment and proximity to Edmonton’s innovation economy, Beaumont offers tremendous promise for businesses and commercial investors on the lookout for untapped potential. Here are the top reasons why this gem of a city is a prime destination for commercial and business expansion. Sustained population growth Beaumont is the fastest-growing municipality in the Edmonton Metro Region and the third fastest in Alberta. Over the past two decades, its population has tripled, reaching an estimated 24,688 residents in 2024—a 5.85 per cent increase over the previous year. It’s also a primary trade area that extends to 66,937 people. Its thriving downtown, excellent amenities, health care services and infrastructure create a welcoming…

When you hear “muscular dystrophy,” you might picture a single disease. In reality, it’s part of a much larger group of neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) — rare, often progressive conditions that weaken the muscles we rely on to move, breathe, speak, swallow, and live independently. September is NMD Awareness Month, recognizing conditions like Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. For Danielle Campo McLeod, awareness and advocacy are deeply personal. She has a form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and waited 35 years for an accurate diagnosis. “This September marks one year since newborn screening for SMA became available across Canada,” she says. “Now, babies are tested at birth and can start treatment within their first month. This is a game-changer. For decades, families like mine faced…

Nuclear energy is a zero-emission source that supplies about 15 per cent of Canada’s electricity, and 50 per cent of Ontario’s. Owned and operated by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station (PNGS) has been active since 1971. Now, it’s preparing for a major refurbishment. A part of Canada’s clean energy capital Four of Pickering’s eight reactor units — units 5 to 8 — are currently licensed to operate through December 2026. OPG has submitted a license renewal, which includes approval to refurbish these units and extend their operation. “Pickering plays a vital role in Durham Region’s leadership as the clean energy capital of Canada,” says Mayor Kevin Ashe. “The PNGS refurbishment will create thousands of skilled jobs, strengthen energy resilience, and support the electrification of our economy…

WHAT TO SEE, HEAR AND READ THIS MONTH EVERY WINTER, tiny shelters pop up on frozen lakes across the country. Their purpose is quaint and simple: to provide a warm room where fishers sit around a hole drilled into the ice, their lines dangling into the dark. These are ice huts—portable, makeshift structures built by anglers during the fishing season. For the record, ice huts are not made of ice. They’re pieced together from whatever the builder has in the garage, be it plywood, lumber or tarps. They date back to Indigenous fishers who chipped holes through the ice with bone or stone tools and speared fish through the opening. To better see into the water below, they built simple coverings to block the light. Over the centuries, as ice…

CLUES FROM ACROSS CANADA ACROSS 1 Crater creators 8 Person defaming in print 15 Cooking ingredient with a high smoke point 16 One expelled from the Maritimes in the Great Upheaval 17 1983 film about Guatemalans fleeing to the United States 18 Ministers of finance traditionally wear new shoes to present these 19 Saxophonist Cannonball, or his brother Nat (continued at 23-across) 20 BCE part 22 Piano virtuoso Oscar (continued at 25-across) 23 (Continued from 19-across) 24 Downward dog surface 25 (Continued from 22-across) 26 Kenojuak Ashevak’s field 27 Consumer protection org. 30 People to keep up with, metaphorically 34 Durham’s region, for short 37 Defoe protagonist 39 Muscleman’s bounce 41 Way to learn things without trying 45 Enigma Variations composer Edward 46 Pianist who inspired Thelonious Monk’s “In Walked…