laravel authorization @can directive always fails

I am trying to implement authorization in Laravel, following this guide.

SubscriptionPolicy:

public function manage($user) {
    return in_array($user->type, ['developer', 'admin', 'operations']);
}

SubscriptionController:

public function __construct() {
    $this->authorize('manage', Subscription::class);
}

The ability manage is not a method in SubscriptionController. The ability is for authorizing any method in the controller.

In the controllers, everything seems to work fine, i.e. if user is not authorized to add/edit/delete/view a Subscription, user gets a 403.

Now I would like to have certain menu items not show if the user is not authorized. However I can't get the @can directive to work.

@can('manage', Subscription::class)
    <li><a href="{{ route('subscriptions.index') }}">Subscriptions</a></li>
@endcan

That is, the menu item is always not shown (authorization always fails).

I am on Laravel 5.1.24

What am I missing?

via Chebli Mohamed