Good morning. We made it to Friday! It's Chris Bilton and Jane Armstrong.

Our colleague Jenna Benchetrit rounded up the apps that are helping make it easier to "Buy Canadian." Meanwhile, there were some big announcements out of Ottawa about funding for CBC/Radio-Canada and changes to terrorist group designations.

But first, a big win for Canada at a high-stakes hockey game in Boston last night.
 

Canada beats U.S. 3-2 to win 4 Nations Face-Off title in overtime thriller

Canada captain Sidney Crosby, right, hoists the trophy after defeating the United States following an overtime period of the 4 Nations Face-Off championship hockey game last night in Boston. (Charles Krupa, The Associated Press).

Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off final in Boston last night, with a thrilling, sudden-death overtime goal from Connor McDavid. 

The game was played against the backdrop of heightened political tensions between the countries.

How did a hockey game get political?  U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened sanctions against Canada and mused repeatedly — including yesterday on social media — about making his northern neighbour the "51st state."

Trump also posted on Truth Social he would be watching the game. Added White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt: "And we look forward to the United States beating our soon-to-be 51st state, Canada."

After the game, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back with a post of his own on X.
 

The drama began even before the puck dropped when Canadian Grammy-award winning singer Chantal Kreviazuk changed the lyrics to O Canada. 

A representative confirmed to CBC News that Kreviazuk intentionally sang "that only us command" instead of "in all of us command" to protest recent rhetoric from the U.S. president.

Kreviazuk posted a photo of the adjusted lyrics written on her hand on Instagram.

"In this very peculiar and potentially consequential moment I truly believe that we must stand up, use our voices and try to protect ourselves," wrote Kreviazuk, who is from Winnipeg.

Want to buy Canadian? There's an app for that

A sign in front of the American whiskey section at a B.C. liquor store after top selling American made products had been removed from shelves in Vancouver, on Feb. 2. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press)

Wouldn't it be great if your phone could just magically tell you whether the products you want to buy are Canadian or not? Well, now it can — thanks to savvy entrepreneurs across the country who've created apps meant to help shoppers identify the origin of everyday staples.

What's being done: These four apps have a feature that lets shoppers scan an item's barcode to determine how Canadian it is: there's Shop Canadian, the brainchild of two software developers in Edmonton; Buy Beaver, which was dreamt up by two Montreal entrepreneurs; O SCANada, created by a mother and son in Calgary; and Maple Scan, an AI-powered tool made by a Calgary researcher.

What experts say: When the economy gets tough or the supply chain is disrupted, people pay more attention to where their money is going, according to Michael Mulvey, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management. The "Buy Canadian" apps that have recently cropped up are "a way to make a more educated consumer, a more demanding consumer," he said, adding that a crowdsourcing approach used by the likes of Buy Beaver and Shop Canadian also helps people feel more engaged during times of crisis.

Ottawa designates cartels and street gangs as terrorist groups, fulfilling a promise to Trump

The letters 'CJNG,' which stand for Jalisco New Generation Cartel, cover an abandoned home in Mexico. The cartel was one of seven groups added to Canada's list of terrorist entities yesterday. (Eduardo Verdugo/The Associated Press)

The latest: The federal government designated seven criminal organizations — including cartels and street gangs involved in trafficking fentanyl — as terrorists yesterday, delivering on a promise made to U.S. President Donald Trump in hopes of staving off economically devastating tariffs.

The list: 

• Jalisco New Generation (CJNG).
• Sinaloa cartels.
• The Gulf Cartel.
• The Michoacán Family. 
• Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, which started in California and has roots in El Salvador. 
• United Cartel. 
• Tren de Aragua, known as TdA, a gang started in a Venezuelan prison.

The background: Historically, Canada has used the Criminal Code designation for religiously motivated groups, like ISIS or al-Qaeda, or ideologically motivated players, like neo-Nazi terror groups Atomwaffen Division and The Base, and not for crime rings. Listing the groups as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code means certain activities are now illegal, including those related to financing, travel and recruitment.

Canada's heritage minister pitched a CBC/Radio-Canada overhaul and a major funding hike

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge wants CBC's news programming to be ad-free, and its per capita funding nearly doubled. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

What happened: Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge announced yesterday a plan to overhaul CBC/Radio-Canada to shore up an institution she said is "at a critical crossroads" but one that is necessary as the country faces American threats to its sovereignty.

Why it matters: St-Onge said American "billionaire tech oligarchs" are tightening their grip on the flow of information and Canada needs to revive its nearly century-old public broadcaster to "tell our own stories," saying it's a "national security issue" that so much of what Canadians consume is generated elsewhere. "CBC will never be controlled by Musk or Zuckerberg," she said. "It will always belong to the people of Canada."

The proposed changes: St-Onge is pitching a funding increase that could nearly double its yearly appropriation and proposing to take the funding out of the normal budgetary process, which is subject to the political whims of the day, and embed the funding formula in a separate act of Parliament so that the money is preset based on population levels. 

St-Onge also wants to make more of what CBC/Radio-Canada offers ad-free and fee-free. In exchange for a boost in funding, she will require there be no ads around news, public affairs and "information" programming — on TV, radio or online. She's also pitching amendments to the Broadcasting Act, which governs the corporation, to force CBC to do more public consultations "on issues related to its priorities and strategies."

In case you missed it

• Donad Trump's threats and claims about Canada may be unprecedented in the history of U.S.-Canada relations. But they closely resemble remarks made by Russia's Vladimir Putin to justify his invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

• Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King announced he’s stepping down after nearly six years in the job. Rob Lantz, a longtime Progressive Conservative and the province's current education minister, will be sworn in as P.E.I.'s 34th premier today, the party says.

• FAFO parenting is the latest trend parents are buzzing about right now, with the idea that the approach teaches kids natural consequences to their actions. The acronym FAFO stands for, "fool around and find out," except it's the other F-word.
   
• Israel says the body released by Hamas is not Shiri Bibas, slain mother of two children killed in Gaza.

And, in today's animal news, a visit from a moose. 

This B.C. woman had to figure out what to do when a moose is at your door

The moose, which Chelsea Coles believes was a juvenile female, showed little interest in leaving. (Chelsea Coles)

When Chelsea Coles opened her door in Fort St. John, B.C., on Monday morning, she was greeted with temperatures well below -30 C when factoring in the wind chill — as well as a blast of heat from a moose standing right outside. "I could have reached out and touched her," she said, though what she actually did was "slam the door and screamed. It was terrifying."

Coles had to get on with her day, so she grabbed a shovel and started shooing the moose away. Eventually, it started going down the road, which meant the problem was solved — or so she thought. "I came home, and she was nuzzled up, laying down at my front door again," Coles said. She tried waiting out the moose, on the advice of the Conservation Officer Service she’d called, and eventually used an extension cord to make enough noise that the moose left.