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This week: The Bank of Canada and U.S. Fed both cut their key interest rates, but that harmony didn’t reach every corner of the bilateral relationship. Sources say U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra profanely scolded Ontario’s representative to Washington at the Canadian American Business Council gala. Why? Take our quiz and find out.

1Why did the U.S. ambassador to Canada subject an Ontario government official to a profanity-laden tirade this week?

a. He was upset about the World Series

b. He was angry about an anti-Trump cartoon in a Toronto newspaper

c. He was furious about an anti-tariff ad commissioned by the province

d. He was peeved by a lawsuit filed by the province to recover money it had given U.S. automakers

c. He was furious about an anti-tariff ad commissioned by the province. These are odd times: Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, delivered an expletive-filled dressing-down to David Paterson, Ontario’s representative in Washington, at the annual Canadian American Business Council gala at the National Gallery of Canada, according to sources. Mr. Hoekstra’s tirade apparently focused on an ad commissioned by the province that quotes former U.S. President Ronald Reagan making the case against tariffs.

2It was a busy week for economy watchers as both the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled their latest interest moves. What did the central banks do?

a. Canada cut rates, the U.S. raised them

b. Canada raised rates, the U.S. lowered them

c. Both central banks raised rates

d. Both central banks lowered rates

d. Both central banks lowered rates. These are odd times, indeed. Both central banks cut their key policy rates by a quarter of a percentage point. The simultaneous decisions to cut are unusual because inflation is running hotter than desired in both countries. Ordinarily, that would suggest interest rates should be going up, not down.

3“What we’re going through is not just a cyclical downturn.” Who said that this week?

a. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem

b. Prime Minister Mark Carney

c. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell

d. U.S. President Donald Trump

a. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem. In a normal business cycle, lowering interest rates helps to spur a vigorous recovery. This time? Maybe not. In announcing the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision, Mr. Macklem emphasized that fiddling with interest rates can do only so much to address the country’s problems. He said Canada is undergoing “a structural transition” because of the U.S. trade conflict. In short: Don’t expect a rapid rebound from the current economic weakness.

4Why did shares of Cameco, the Canadian uranium producer, surge this week?

a. It announced the discovery of a new uranium deposit

b. It won a court judgment against U.S. power companies

c. It signed an agreement with the U.S. government

d. It landed a new contract with French nuclear companies

c. It signed an agreement with the U.S. government. Cameco shares got a boost when U.S. reactor vendor Westinghouse Electric Co. inked a deal with the United States government intended to spur construction of as many as eight large nuclear reactors. Cameco co-owns Westinghouse.

5Which company just became the first to surpass US$5-trillion in market value?

a. Microsoft

b. Alphabet

c. Tesla

d. Nvidia

d. Nvidia made history this week when it became the first company to reach US$5-trillion in market value. Once a niche manufacturer of graphics chips, it is now the essential supplier of advanced computer chips to much of the artificial-intelligence industry. Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, its shares have climbed 12-fold.

6Which of these vanished Canadian brands made a reappearance this week?

a. Zellers

b. Wardair

c. Sam the Record Man

d. Honest Ed’s

a. Zellers, the discount retailer that has died and been reborn several times since its 1928 beginnings, is being relaunched yet again, starting with an outlet at Londonderry Mall in Edmonton. The brand is now owned by the Benitah family, which bought it from Hudson’s Bay earlier this year.

7Shares of Canadian fashion retailer Lululemon Athletica briefly jumped this week on news that it has a new partnership deal. Who is the new partner?

a. The National Football League

b. Taylor Swift

c. Drake

d. The Toronto Blue Jays

a. The National Football League. Lululemon and the NFL are teaming up to release league-themed apparel. The collection will feature gear for both men and women and showcase all 32 NFL teams.

8Which company announced plans this week to chop about 14,000 corporate jobs?

a. Starbucks

b. Amazon

c. FedEx

d. Royal Bank of Canada

b. Amazon. Why aren’t American workers in a good mood? Perhaps because jobs are becoming increasingly precarious. Amazon said this week it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs as the online retail giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence. Amazon joins a host of other job cutters, including UPS (which is slashing about 48,000 jobs this year) and Target (which is eliminating about 1,800 positions).

9How much did the Trump family rake in from the sale of crypto assets during the first half of 2025, according to a Reuters analysis?

a. About US$200-million

b. About US$400-million

c. About US$600-million

d. About US$800-million

10What did U.S. President Donald Trump describe as “12 out of 10” this week?

a. The plans for his new White House ballroom

b. The state of the U.S. economy

c. His talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping

d. His health

c. His talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Mr. Trump described the talks as “amazing,” ranking them “12 out of 10.” Um, right. The two leaders reached an agreement to essentially put their trade war on hold for a year. Which means we can look forward to more of these amazing talks in a few months’ time.

11Canadian private equity group Onex Corp. just teamed up with American International Group on a US$7-billion deal to acquire Convex Group. What does Convex do?

a. It builds solar power stations

b. It offers speciality insurance

c. It produces specialty computer chips

d. It operates eyewear stores

b. It offers speciality insurance. Convex is a property and casualty insurer that focuses on “complex specialty risks.” There seems to be a healthy appetite for its wares: Convex expects to write gross premiums of US$6-billion this year, according to a news release.

12Which country’s stock market has been the best performer this year?

a. Canada

b. South Korea

c. The United States

d. Brazil

b. South Korea. Canadian, U.S. and Brazilian stock markets have each enjoyed a nice run this year, but for real action you should have been in South Korea, where the market soared more than 60 per cent.

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