Full Comment

With his journey to a majority government hitting the rocks, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is ditching his sunny ways and doing all he can to spook swing voters away from the Conservatives and frighten NDP voters into saving his Liberals from a split vote. He’s warning that Tory Leader Erin O’Toole will ban abortion, empower anti-vaxxers, and open the floodgates to more assault weapons, climate ch...

The majority of Canadians have been clamouring for vaccine passports as a way to make them feel safer about COVID-19. But while feeling safe isn’t the same as actually being safe, politicians are rushing ahead with these polarizing policies anyway. Christine Van Geyn, litigation director at The Canadian Constitution Foundation, talks to Anthony about why passport policies probably won’t work, but...

In 2017, Mark Norman was in line to be Canada’s next chief of defence staff — until he was accused of and criminally charged with leaking government secrets. It was an accusation that was widely seen as a political witch-hunt by the Liberal government, and the House of Commons eventually offered an all-party apology for it when the charges were dropped. Had that not happened, the retired vice-admi...

Federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole takes a break from the campaign trail for an exclusive one-on-one conversation with Anthony to discuss Ottawa abandoning Canada’s allies to the Taliban, and how Conservatives, if elected, will offer a more serious foreign policy, particularly when it comes to China. O’Toole also explains why he believes the Liberals under Justin Trudeau are fumbling the eco...

Description: Separatism is rising in the West. Federal leaders wield fear to win power. Division and dirty politics are only getting worse. And all indications are that this election could intensify distress and disunity. Preston Manning, founder of the populist Reform and Canadian Alliance parties, joins Anthony to discuss the threat to Canada if politicians continue to perpetuate the problems th...

Hollywood’s box-office formula is infected with COVID. The pandemic got audiences more used to streaming at home, instead of heading out for a pricey night at the theatre. And it doesn’t look like they’ll be racing back to the cineplex soon just for more played-out superhero sequels, pretentious dramas or preachy woke films. Mark Daniell. Entertainment editor at Postmedia, joins Anthony to talk ab...

Negativity seems to be the only thing we hear from media and public officials about the virus: An endless narrative of more fear, more warnings and more waves. Throughout the pandemic, Canada has acted entirely out of proportion to the problem. And now we’re being warned that, with the Delta variant, the worst may still be to come, while rare “breakthrough” infections are played up for scary headl...

It’s obvious: the Trudeau Liberals are prepping to call an election, apparently confident they can cruise to another victory. But Jenni Byrne knows polls and pundits have been wrong before — very wrong. Byrne was a key manager in national campaigns for Stephen Harper during his years leading the Conservatives to power from 2006 to 2015. She joins Anthony to explain why Erin O’Toole’s Conservative...

Legendary journalist Rex Murphy joins Anthony to discuss what he sees as the deliberate destruction of Canada's history and institutions. Murphy says it's the work of a radical minority determined to impose a Great Reset on not just the national economy, but on our democracy, our culture and our society. And he explains how the Trudeau Liberals are eagerly helping it along. (Recorded July 7, 2021)...

The fanatics burning down churches on Indigenous reserves and the Twitter pseudo-intellectuals who cheer them on have one thing in common: They presume to speak on behalf of Aboriginal people. Not letting First Nations speak for themselves is nothing new: if it’s not it’s church-burning cheerleaders, it’s politicians cancelling Canada Day, or environmentalists hijacking First Nations’ economic opp...

What happens when a young, Black academic dares to criticize Black Lives Matter in the media? Her words get deleted, of course. That’s what happened to Sonia Orlu, a PhD student at Simon Fraser University, whose interview with a Canadian news station was recently erased for its “potential negative impact.” In this episode of Full Comment with Anthony Furey, Orlu explains how she came to realize th...

It’s a story so shocking it’s hard to believe. A Canadian politician laundering Asian drug money. A crime boss running Chinese gang wars from his Vancouver home. A local fentanyl super-factory capable of killing scores of Canadians. What they all have in common is their link back to Communist Chinese agents, who use criminal syndicates to corrupt Canadian officials, flood Canada’s streets with dan...

There is a revolution afoot in Canada. Long-held principles about what it means to be a liberal democracy — free expression, equality under the law — are getting pushed out. Amazingly, it’s a revolt not being led by the masses, but by governments and elites. Anthony talks to law professor Bruce Pardy about the shocking speed of the transformation, and how the federal Liberal government is pushing...

Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng has been at ground zero throughout the pandemic, as a critical care and palliative care doctor who has seen the worst of what COVID can do. He also has serious concerns with how governments handled an outbreak that was fatal for some, but not for the overwhelming number of people. Even now, many of the problems haven’t been fixed, but dissenting voices are silenced. Anthony...

With a viral pandemic raging, casual relationships suddenly faced a whole new level of danger. Dating, hook-ups, and even strip clubs were thrown into turmoil. When just a coffee with someone new could present frightening risks, let alone touching, kissing, or something more, the issue of consent took on a very different meaning. In this special pandemic check-in, Anthony talks to three guests — a...

Random police stops. Provincial border guards. Free-speech restrictions. The last 15 months have arguably represented the most intense throttling of Canadian civil liberties by governments — ever. And it hasn’t stopped yet. This has all been done in the name of public health. But Michael Bryant, executive director and general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Union, explains why that isn’t a...

China has been holding Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig captive for two years as it plays “hostage diplomacy.” Ottawa seems paralyzed even as pressure mounts for difficult decisions about allowing Chinese telecom into Canada’s 5G networks and calling out credible charges of a Chinese-perpetrated “genocide” against Uyghur Muslims. Josh Rogin, Washington Post columnist and author of Chaos...

What if everything the government told you about why it’s racking up huge deficits and debts wasn’t actually true? Dr. Ian Lee, a professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, explains how the federal Liberals’ recent budget is about to spend more than $100 billion solving problems that don’t actually exist — while ignoring real ones that threaten a very troubling future for Canadi...

Lindsay Shepherd went from being an unknown graduate student at an Ontario university, to becoming a subject of international controversy, all for playing a five-minute clip during a class discussion, recorded from a mainstream Canadian news program. Her professors didn’t like the conservative ideas discussed in the clip, claimed she was spreading hate and bigotry, and tried to discipline her. But...

For over a year, Canadian governments have responded to the COVID pandemic with the same lockdowns and restrictions, but are they really the best approach? Anthony talks to Dr. Jennifer Grant, a microbiologist and infectious diseases physician at UBC, about why we’ve taken the path we have and whether we can do better. Recorded April 15, 2021.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

In the debut episode of Full Comment with Anthony Furey, Anthony interviews Celina Caesar-Chavannes. Caesar-Chavannes, a former Liberal MP an parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, talks about her disillusionment with Trudeau's commitments to equity and diversity, her new book "Can You Hear Me Now?" detailing her experience, and why she very publicly quit the Trudeau Liberals. R...

Host Anthony Furey introduces Full Comment, Postmedia's new podcast for compelling interviews, controversial opinions and fascinating discussions. We'll go where other media outlets won't, ask the tough questions, and feature the colourful opinions you have come to expect from us. We're not worried about pushing buttons. We'll be bringing you interesting opinions and compelling ideas, even if they...