Metro joins Loblaw in grousing about raising the minimum wage. Galen Weston Jr. is no longer alone in voicing concern about how paying $15 an hour will impact the industry—Eric La Flèche of Metro told shareholders he’ll exert “strong control” on the issue. Meanwhile, the Keep Ontario Working Coalition claims the hike will ultimately cost each household $1,300 a year. The premier retaliated with what might as well be outsourced video content:

Charity the chrome cow is up for an actual political debate in Markham. After a thumbs-down all around Cathedraltown, a flood of selfie-takers who wanted to see the shiny statue on stilts, a claim that it was built under false pretenses, and clashes over its historical relevance, the city put the big bovine's fate on the September agenda.

Rebel Media “staff memo” grapples with the "alt-right" thing. Ezra Levant publicly pondered where his company fits on the political spectrum in the wake of fatal violence in Charlottesville. (Levant's soul searching was partly triggered by criticism from Alberta Conservative leadership candidate Doug Schweitzer.) Naturally, everyone working for The Rebel wants it known that they're not neo-Nazis. But one took the extra step of exiting the company:

Canadian mainstream media called out for “marketing hatred.” Ira Wells at The Walrus delves into the paucity of coverage of the personalities amplifying alt-right ideology—in particular, a lack of critical attention for Lauren Southern’s best-selling book, Barbarians. But covering them doesn’t work, either: CBC's The National caught flak for re-running its interview with white nationalist Richard Spencer.

The government can’t legislate gender parity on country radio. Global News runs the numbers on three FM playlists across Canada to find roughly two female voices turning up per hour. “They don’t want to hear the women talking about love,” Leigh Robert, a host and music director on Corus country radio stations says of the format's main audience. “[T]hey want to hear the men talking about how they’re going to treat [the women], the romanticized version of how they’re going to treat them like queens.”

A half-million digital song plays are worth a refrigerator. Heritage minister Mélanie Joly has ordered the CRTC to take a second look at reducing Canadian content requirements. Meanwhile, singer-songwriter Danny Michel showed off what he purchased with streaming payments. He's hoping others will become similarly transparent:

Canada Goose wants to sell parka-owners something to wear underneath. The future belongs to $650 sweaters, as the coat-maker tries to transform itself into more of a “cold-weather lifestyle brand.” Canada Goose is in the process of expanding stateside, figuring any Canadians inclined to a $1,000 parka already bought theirs.