Weekly Quiz: Shifts at Shopify, Future-Oriented Floristry, and the Pressure on Paramedics

1 2 const title = "Shifts at Shopify, Future-Oriented Floristry, and the Pressure on Paramedics"; const date = "May 10, 2025"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WAL_Web-Greenblatt-Shopify_APR25_003-1536x1024.jpg", title: "The Death of Shopify’s Start-up Dream, One Layoff at a Time", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/the-death-of-shopifys-start-up-dream-one-layoff-at-a-time/", question: "Shopify was founded with the intention of “democratizing entrepreneurship” by giving anyone the tools to start their online business. Their low sign-up costs and user-friendly website attracted waves of merchants, but most new sellers don’t make it past their first year on the platform. Which merchant segment is the exception?", options: [ "Small- to medium-sized businesses", "Enterprise clients", "Individual entrepreneurs", "Dropshippers", ], answer: "Enterprise clients", correct: "Shopify doesn’t disclose their customer retention numbers—how many merchants stick around—but in 2022, the Globe and Mail reported that most new sellers don’t make it past their first year on the platform. One merchant segment, however, had an exceptionally high survival rate: enterprise clients. These are large-scale organizations that pay for a Shopify Plus account—a tier with access to advanced tools and white-glove support. While Shopify promised to “arm the rebels”—that is, fledgling entrepreneurs hoping to claw back dollars from behemoths like Amazon—it was instead quietly doubling down on the customers who needed the least help and brought in the most money.", incorrect: "Shopify doesn’t disclose their customer retention numbers—how many merchants stick around—but in 2022, the Globe and Mail reported that most new sellers don’t make it past their first year on the platform. One merchant segment, however, had an exceptionally high survival rate: enterprise clients. These are large-scale organizations that pay for a Shopify Plus account—a tier with access to advanced tools and white-glove support. While Shopify promised to “arm the rebels”—that is, fledgling entrepreneurs hoping to claw back dollars from behemoths like Amazon—it was instead quietly doubling down on the customers who needed the least help and brought in the most money.", }, { title: "Code Zero: How Ontario’s Paramedic Crisis Is Breaking the People Who Save Lives", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/paramedics-ontario/", question: "Between regular staffing issues and gruelling working conditions—particularly in rural communities—Ontario’s paramedics are in crisis. What does journalist Kunal Chaudhary argue is the main reason for the dire state of the province’s emergency medical services?", options: [ "Increased use of emergency services in the aftermath of COVID-19", "Insufficient mental health supports for staff, resulting in burnout and high turnover", "Stricter certification requirements slowing down hiring", "Imbalanced funding structure that burdens municipalities", ], answer: "Imbalanced funding structure that burdens municipalities", correct: "For Chaudhary, the current state of Ontario’s emergency medical services is the result of provincial policy failures decades in the making. In 1998, Mike Harris’s Tory government downloaded the responsibility for land ambulance services from the province to municipalities. Despite injections of additional provincial funding over the intervening years, this funding arrangement leaves municipalities liable for unforeseen expenditures and means they often contribute more than their fair share. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care currently shares half the costs of emergency medical services with municipalities. This, according to an analysis commissioned by the Ontario Paramedic Association, “holds municipalities in a perpetual state of underfunding for current year requirements.”", incorrect: "For Chaudhary, the current state of Ontario’s emergency medical services is the result of provincial policy failures decades in the making. In 1998, Mike Harris’s Tory government downloaded the responsibility for land ambulance services from the province to municipalities. Despite injections of additional provincial funding over the intervening years, this funding arrangement leaves municipalities liable for unforeseen expenditures and means they often contribute more than their fair share. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care currently shares half the costs of emergency medical services with municipalities. This, according to an analysis commissioned by the Ontario Paramedic Association, “holds municipalities in a perpetual state of underfunding for current year requirements.”", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WebArt_Mason_RebelswithaVase_1800x1200_01.jpg", title: "Rebels with a Vase: Meet the Florists Taking on Big Flower", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/rebels-with-a-vase-meet-the-florists-taking-on-big-flower/", question: "The flower industry can cause serious harm to the planet, but there’s a growing movement of sustainability-focused florists carving a new path forward in an industry that often requires speed, volume, and consistency. What does writer Adrienne Mason identify as the first change this new wave of florists typically make to their practice?", options: [ "Swapping cellophane wrapping for paper wrapping", "Using local flowers over imported ones", "Ditching single-use floral foam", "Opting for non-heated greenhouses", ], answer: "Ditching single-use floral foam", correct: "Ditching foam is usually the first step for florists trying out sustainable practices. Florist Natalia Solis fully understands the appeal of foam—it’s fast, reliable, and convenient. You know it’s going to hydrate and hold your flowers in place. But the most popular foam is a phenol-formaldehyde-based single-use plastic that is tossed after every use, from large conferences with dozens of tabletop bouquets to private homes where it’s been delivered in an arrangement. In 2017, Rita Feldmann, an Australian florist and founder of the Sustainable Floristry Network, started the Instagram account @nofloralfoam to highlight the downsides of floral foam. Since then, controversy has split the industry between advocates who are adamant that they couldn’t do their work without it and florists like Solis, who no longer use it.", incorrect: "Ditching foam is usually the first step for florists trying out sustainable practices. Florist Natalia Solis fully understands the appeal of foam—it’s fast, reliable, and convenient. You know it’s going to hydrate and hold your flowers in place. But the most popular foam is a phenol-formaldehyde-based single-use plastic that is tossed after every use, from large conferences with dozens of tabletop bouquets to private homes where it’s been delivered in an arrangement. In 2017, Rita Feldmann, an Australian florist and founder of the Sustainable Floristry Network, started the Instagram account @nofloralfoam to highlight the downsides of floral foam. Since then, controversy has split the industry between advocates who are adamant that they couldn’t do their work without it and florists like Solis, who no longer use it.", }, { title: "I Regret My Tesla", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/i-regret-my-tesla/", question: "After a string of controversial actions by Elon Musk, writer Paul Adams says he has buyer’s remorse for having purchased a Tesla. He admits he’d sell it if it weren’t for fear of financial loss and would protest outside a dealership if he didn’t already own the car. What small act of protest did Adams do instead?", options: [ "He left Tesla negative reviews online", "He dissuaded a friend from purchasing a Tesla", "He bought an anti-Elon bumper sticker", "He deleted his X account", ], answer: "He bought an anti-Elon bumper sticker", correct: "Like many Canadians, Adams is now asking himself a crucial question: “If Trump does annex us, will I have the courage to stand up and fight?” By comparison, his moral dilemma over his Tesla seems puny. Adams has done something, though—a tiny “gesture of protest”. He bought a bumper sticker, one that says “Elon” with a big red slash across his name.", incorrect: "Like many Canadians, Adams is now asking himself a crucial question: “If Trump does annex us, will I have the courage to stand up and fight?” By comparison, his moral dilemma over his Tesla seems puny. Adams has done something, though—a tiny “gesture of protest”. He bought a bumper sticker, one that says “Elon” with a big red slash across his name.", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_Corporate-Lawsuits_MAY25-1536x1024.jpg", title: "Do Big Lawsuits against Big Companies Really Fix Anything?", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/do-big-lawsuits-against-big-companies-really-fix-anything/", question: "There’s a growing trend of legal battles between big business and government in Canada, but many question if these lawsuits can create meaningful change for citizens harmed by corporations. In 1998, the US filed a lawsuit against tobacco companies, resulting in a $206 billion (US) settlement and one other change that significantly lowered youth smoking rates. What was this change?", options: [ "Increasing funding for anti-smoking campaigns", "Creating age-specific, anti-smoking workshops for schools", "Implementing more severe warning labels on packaging", "Banning the sale of tobacco products to consumers under the age of twenty-five", ], answer: "Increasing funding for anti-smoking campaigns", correct: "A big lawsuit against a big company may be a government’s last resort, but they can sometimes work. For example, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in the United States was the largest civil litigation settlement in dollars. The final settlement in the tobacco case agreement required the companies to pay $206 billion (US) over twenty-five years. In addition to the money, the tobacco companies also agreed to stop certain marketing practices and to fund anti-smoking campaigns, which ultimately benefited regular citizens; youth smoking rates have fallen a whopping 86 percent in the US from 1997 to 2021.", incorrect: "A big lawsuit against a big company may be a government’s last resort, but they can sometimes work. For example, the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in the United States was the largest civil litigation settlement in dollars. The final settlement in the tobacco case agreement required the companies to pay $206 billion (US) over twenty-five years. In addition to the money, the tobacco companies also agreed to stop certain marketing practices and to fund anti-smoking campaigns, which ultimately benefited regular citizens; youth smoking rates have fallen a whopping 86 percent in the US from 1997 to 2021.", }, ]; The post Weekly Quiz: Shifts at Shopify, Future-Oriented Floristry, and the Pressure on Paramedics first appeared on The Walrus.