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Ontario's $1.9B Alcohol Expansion Costs

Ontario’s decision to accelerate the expansion of alcohol sales to convenience stores will cost taxpayers $612 million, according to a new report from the province’s Financial Accountability Office.

The fiscal watchdog revealed that Premier Doug Ford’s move to speed up the implementation from 2026 to 2024 represents a significant portion of the projected $1.4 billion in total costs associated with the expansion through 2030.

A huge chunk of these acceleration costs — $225 million — will go directly to The Beer Store to maintain its retail footprint until the end of 2025. The remainder stems from lost tax revenue and decreased LCBO retail sales.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• FAO: Ford’s Accelerated Alcohol Plan Could Cost Province Up to $1.9B (theDeepDive)

• Ottawa planning pandemic-level relief for workers, businesses if Trump imposes tariffs (Globe)

• Chandra Arya: “Unfit For The Office” But Still Fit To Be MP? (theDeepDive)

• Trudeau concludes Poland trip with nuclear energy co-operation deal (TS)

• Test Flight Could Herald Return of Supersonic Travel (theDeepDive)

• Scott Bessent pushes gradual 2.5% universal US tariffs plan (FT)

• National Mood Hits New Low As Canadians Question Country’s Path (theDeepDive)

• US to withdraw from climate deal on Jan. 27, 2026, says UN (Reuters)

• Can Canada Counter Trump’s Tariffs With Suspending Patents? (theDeepDive)

• UK Considers Making Netflix Users Pay License Fee to Fund BBC (Bloomberg)

• Eric Trump Plans Zero Capital Gains Tax for Domestic Crypto (theDeepDive)

What’s the latest?

• US Steel: U.S. Steel faces turmoil as hedge fund Ancora seeks to replace CEO David Burritt and most of the board, urging the company to terminate its $15 billion sale to Nippon Steel, blocked by the Biden administration on national security grounds. Cleveland-Cliffs previously offered a $7 billion takeover and, with Nucor, is reportedly considering a bid in the high $30s per share. U.S. Steel’s shares have risen 21% since challenging the Nippon decision, reaching $37, though still below Nippon’s $55 offer. Ancora proposes Alan Kestenbaum as CEO, highlighting potential $4 billion in synergies if Cleveland-Cliffs acquires U.S. Steel.

• OpenAI: OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Gov, a secure AI platform tailored for U.S. government use, operating within Microsoft Azure’s government cloud to manage sensitive data. Over 90,000 government employees have generated 18 million prompts using ChatGPT since early 2024. The platform is designed to enhance efficiency while addressing privacy concerns, with FedRAMP accreditation for nonpublic data still pending. OpenAI emphasizes the importance of the U.S. maintaining a competitive edge in AI, amid global competition from initiatives like China's DeepSeek.

• Musk: Elon Musk's platform X has launched a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payments system, "X Money Account," in partnership with Visa. This service enables users to transfer funds between bank accounts and the digital wallet, offering instant payments similar to Zelle or Venmo. X Money is licensed in 41 states, with plans to launch in Q1 2025 and expand financial features, including creator payments. This marks a significant step toward Musk's vision of making X an "everything app" for financial and social services.

• NVIDIA: Nvidia's stock rebounded 1.7% on Tuesday after plunging 17% the previous day, erasing $595 billion in market value, a record one-day loss. The drop followed the release of DeepSeek's cheaper open-source AI model, reportedly outperforming OpenAI's at a fraction of the cost. Wall Street analysts, while trimming price targets, largely maintained positive ratings, citing potential for faster generative AI adoption despite market concerns. Nvidia shares remain down 23% from their all-time high earlier this month.

• Politics: The Trump administration fired over a dozen Justice Department lawyers involved in prosecuting cases against the former president, citing their inability to "faithfully implement the President’s agenda." The dismissals follow Acting Attorney General James McHenry's assessment and come amid a broader reshuffle of senior DOJ officials. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal cases against Trump, had resigned earlier, and the cases were dropped post-election under a policy barring prosecution of sitting presidents. The firings reflect Trump’s efforts to reshape the DOJ and address perceived grievances against prosecutors from his previous term.

Could Founders Metals be the next great bear?

The stock market and stuff

• Eldorado Gold Outlines Potential 17 Year Mine Life Extension To Lamaque Complex (theDeepDive)

• HSBC to exit parts of investment banking business in UK, US and Europe (FT)

• Ray Dalio: US Debt Crisis Looms, But Gold Still Better Than Bitcoin (theDeepDive)

• Trump Memecoin Likely Generated at Least $11 Million in Fees, Analysis Shows (Bloomberg)

• Metro Sees 14% Earnings Jump In Fiscal Q12025, Thanks To Tax Break (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Riverside Resources To Spin Out Ontario Assets Into New Entity (theDeepDive)

• Power Nickel Update -Following up on 2024 Drill Successes, Expanding Exploration Target Areas, and Announcing a New Discovery 700 Metres East of The Lion Zone (JMN)

• Plurilock Adds Former UK Deputy National Security Advisor To Advisory Council (theDeepDive)

FULL DISCLOSURE: PTX Metals is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. Canacom Group is currently long the equity of PTX Metals. The author has been compensated to cover PTX Metals on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. We may buy or sell securities in the company at any time. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.