The Rodgers Brief

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms (and maternally-inclined care providers). This week, we follow up on stories from our recent coverage, with new details and reactions. First, we discuss the growing calls for an outside police force to take over the Jack and Lilly Sullivan investigation after the RCMP has gone a year without finding any answers. We discuss why an outside agency makes sense, w...

This week, we are excited to introduce a new guest, former RCMP Complaints Commissioner, Shirley Heafey. She is joined by former RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curt Allen to discuss her career, her interactions with senior RCMP leadership, and her role in the Robert Dziekański case (where she assisted the responding officers, who were eventually exonerated by an OPP report on the incident).Also discusse...

This week we welcome back former Halifax Police and RCMP officer, Calvin Lawrence, author of 'Black Cop', to discuss the new book by retired Toronto Police homicide detective Hank Idsinga. Idsinga has made allegations of anti-sematic racism at the highest levels of the Toronto Police service in national interviews this week. Also, the NS government had committee hearings this week to discu...

This week, we acknowledge the 6th anniversary of the Nova Scotia mass shootings in Portapique and other communities in central Nova Scotia, with guests Scott McLeod and Darrell Currie. Scott's brother was a victim of Gabriel Wortman, and Darrell Currie was Deputy Fire Chief of the Onslow-Belmont Fire Department and was shot at by officers who claimed to have mistook an officer for Wortman. We...

This week, we welcome former RCMP officer, Rob Creasser, who was involved in the formation of the RCMP union, and who has thoughts (and breaking news) on the National Police Federation, and it's (now former) head, Brian Sauve. Also covered this week;The Premier of Nova Scotia called for respect for the RCMP, after vehicles were damaged following raids on cannabis dispensaries located on First...

Happy Easter! We start this week's show discussing the dispensary raids that ended in arrests, police having to abandon their vehicles, and politicians looking to shift the blame from their own Ministerial Directive. Paul and Adam also discuss the comments from Canadian Bar Association President, Bianca Kratt, regarding a newspaper column that that made comment on Ontario Justice Faisal Mirza,...

This week, Paul and Adam discuss the National Police Federation election controversy, the Attorney General's report on RCMP staffing levels, the RCMP's "expression of regret" for spying on Indigenous leaders (including former National Chief George Manuel) in the 1970's, and the arguments in the Supreme Court over Quebec's controversial legislation to prevent public servan...

This week, Adam and Paul delve into two parole board decisions, threatened school shootings, and the efforts being made to clear the names of Toronto Police officers who were found to by lying by a judge and jury. Cameron Ortis, the former head of RCMP Intelligence, was granted parole soon after starting what was reported as a 14 year sentence. The parole board decision indirectly calls into quest...

This week, it is just Adam and Paul, discussing the week's news and released cases. There is breaking news this week, as the guys discuss former spy Cameron Ortis being granted early parole from his 14 year jail sentence. This story was national news when Mr. Ortis was tried and convicted, but his being granted parole has not been covered by any mainstream media outlet. Also this week, a judge...

This week we welcome former RCMP Superintendent, and highly respected organized crime expert Garry Clement. Garry is the author of Under Cover - Fifty Years of Dirty Money, Organized Crime and the RCMP, and brings insight into the Ryan Wedding story, as well as how Canada is dealing with international criminal organizations. Stories covered this week include the coordinated raids the RCMP conducte...

This week we welcome documentary filmmaker, Amy Herdy, of Cove Tower, based out of Boulder, Colorado. Amy is looking into making a documentary on the NS mass shootings after having read Paul's books on the subject. She discusses the industry, why she thinks no documentaries have been made to date about the shootings, and how she is different from other filmmakers. Also this week, Paul and Adam...

This week, we take a few minutes to lament the gold medal hockey game loss to the US, before discussing the stories of the week. This week saw the US Supreme Court strike down the tariff's that had been imposed by President Trump, as Adam had predicted after hearing the arguments before that Court. Also, we learned this week that the Tumbler Ridge school shooter was banned from Open AI for the...

This week, we bring a special guest, who's name most will not recognize. Melissa Ellsworth was a forensics nurse and correctional guard who suffered a head injury trying to save an elderly woman from a dangerous patient. She has been battling Workers Compensation ever since, and has now been approved for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). She tells her story. Before hearing from Melissa, Paul...

This week we delve into two main stories, the brewing dispute between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the Judges of the province who are accusing the Premier of political interference, and then the dramatic arrests of eight Toronto police officers on allegations that they were collaborating with organized crime on auto theft, drug trafficking, extortion, and conspiracy to murder a corrections o...

This week, guests Scott McLeod (brother of the late Sean McLeod) and Retired Deputy Superintendent Curt Allen bring their perspectives to the news that 23 RCMP officers and lawyers received awards for their work in response to the NS mass shootings of April, 2020, and also that Employment and Social Development Canada released a Workplace Incident Report critical of the RCMP response. Also discuss...

This week we go beyond the excerpts and dig into the full book, The First Survivor: Life With Canada's Deadliest Mass Shooter, with citizen investigator Chad Jones, and Frank Magazine's Andrew Douglas. We discuss remaining unanswered questions, how the book is structured, reaction from family members of the victims and their lawyers, and how the mainstream media has been covering its release.

This week has seen an excerpt of Lisa Banfield's book, The First Survivor - Living With Canada's Deadliest Mass Shooter, published by the Nationals Post chain of newspapers. She also did an interview with CTV in advance of the book release on January 20, 2026. We review some of the details provided in the excerpt, and key outstanding discrepancies in this discussion with Chad Jones and Ryan Potter...

This week we are following up on the revelation from last week's show that Peter Griffon, a close friend of Gabriel Wortman, had a 'handler' and was likely an RCMP agent. We are joined by former long-time undercover operator, Paul Derry, who gives insight into how that relationship can work. Also discussed, the shooting in Minnesota of Renee Good by an ICE agent, and how it bears some...

We welcome everyone to 2026 in our first episode of the new year with breaking news of the Nova Scotia mass shootings. Having sifted through a trove of emails among RCMP officers assigned to the Mass Casualty Commission analysis of the shootings, citizen investigator Ryan Potter has found evidence of a key individual having had a 'handler'. Paul, Adam, and Ryan discuss what this might mean...

This week, Paul and Adam look back at the stories covered on Dispersing the Fog in 2025, themes that have weaved their ways through those stories, and some of the great guests who have added to the richness of the show over the past year. As well, they look ahead to 2026 and some of the potential developments with the RCMP, new justice legislation, and other stories that have more to come. This ep...

This week we take a dive into the new justice legislation proposed by the Federal Government. It is designed to address delays in the criminal courts, and there are elements that should have this effect. Bill C-16 also seeks to criminalize 'coercive control' and makes 'femicide' a crime equal to first degree murder by default. We also welcome back Dave Moore, who describes how he w...

This week we welcome back former CBC reporter Curt Petrovich, to discuss the report into the four RCMP officers charged after the taser death of Robert Dziekański in the Vancouver Airport in 2007. Curt has written a book on the topic, and walks us beyond the headlines to what really matters about the conduct of those in the RCMP named in the report. Also covered this week, Nova Scotia Justice Mini...

This week, we welcome Moira Webster to discuss her former husband, Mike Webster, a former clinical psychologist with a focus on policing (and also CFL football player and professional wrestler). She describes how he was smeared by the RCMP after his comments on the Robert Dziekański taser death, and his role in the Gustafsen Lake standoff (the largest ever RCMP operation to that point). Also discu...

Our guest this week is Tammy Oliver McCurdie, sister of the late Jolene Oliver, who was killed along with her partner and daughter in the Portapique, Nova Scotia mass shooting. Tammy is also a member of the Progress Review Committee, tracking the progress on recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission. She describes the terrible hours of uncertainty while she and her family awaited word from...

This week, we have the pleasure of a rare interview with retired RCMP analyst, Dave Moore. Dave discusses his investigation into the murder of Brenda Way, which he discovered was not committed by Glen Assoun, who had been found guilty, but by serial killer Michael McGray. His investigation was quashed, and the evidence he had gathered was destroyed by officers higher up. Dave tells us about the co...