Milk Bag

Good afternoon everyone. Before we get into it, some observations from last weekend, which included a 24 hour stopover in Montréal for the F1 Grand Prix. On Saturday afternoon, I landed in a suite hosted by Cadillac, the newest team on circuit: it took three years and a reported $1 billion to get to this point, with parent company General Motors and partner TWG Motorsports stepping up to help foot the bill.

Good afternoon everyone. Almost every day since this newsletter’s launch about a month ago, I’ve heard from so many people who have continued conversations, rekindled connections, or are even now working or collaborating with someone they met that night. My definition of a great event is now one that lives beyond the calendar hold—in the form of friendly or working (and even romantic) relationships. That said, if you have ideas for a summer reader event, let me know by replying to this email.

Good afternoon everyone. Last night, I stopped by a preview of the new Badiali in Mirvish Village.

Good evening everyone. Over the weekend, food stylist, chef, and TV personality Michelle Rabin hosted her annual charity bake sale in the west end. I’ve never seen so much baking starpower under one roof: Julia Gallay from Gallz Provisions and Matthew Faust from Brodflour were among the line up of 20 bakers from across the city. I picked up rugelach from Bonnie Stern, crispy balaclavas from the great Dylan Muñoz, and savoury picks from Noctua Bakery.

Get more from Sarah Bartnicka in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android

Good afternoon everyone. If you’re interested in learning more about the topic of today’s newsletter, our country’s new sovereign wealth fund, tune into Milk Bag’s first Substack live at 3:30 p.m. ET, where I’ll be unpacking the details with University of Toronto economics professor Joseph Steinberg. And if you’re just here for the Aritzia and Matty Matheson collaboration story, this edition has that too. Milk Bag covers the business stories you won’t find on Apple News.

Good afternoon everyone. Yesterday evening started with dinner at SARA and ended with an event at the Park Hyatt hosted by Knightcap Chess Club. Taylor Harrison, the founder, and I recently connected after he complimented Milk Bag’s rebrand, and he clearly has good taste because this was a swanky as heck chess event. His team hosts meet-ups across major North American cities and, more recently, Milan, riding on the mania that built around the game during the pandemic.

I thought we’d be able to slowly ease back into the 2026 news cycle together—but no. In fact I’m already so exhausted by some of the headlines coming out of (specifically) the U.S. that it feels like a good time to redirect our attention to what’s happening at home, in Canada, with Milk Bag’s first edition of 2026.

Office Hours is a series where Milk Bag readers interview those who are driving Canadian business and culture. This interview is edited for clarity and length. You oversee the development and management of your properties. This is more of a statement, but having lived at The Selby, it’s striking to see the difference in the quality of that building compa…