10/3: Canada Covered

While the new year has brought some hope in the covid-19 fight, with a ramping up of vaccine campaigns, 2021 is also presenting a new set of challenges in the pandemic. Variant strains that can be passed more easily from person to person are cropping up, and there are supply issues when it comes to the vaccines. National Post Health Reporter Sharon Kirkey joins Dave to talk about the concerns arou...

Prime minister Justin Trudeau has set the lofty goal of Canada being net-zero for carbon emissions for 2050. And as part of that strategy, the country has bet on nuclear power to help get us there. Financial Post energy reporter Geoffrey Morgan joins Dave to talk about why the government is looking at nuclear power, what communities could eventually see mini-reactors at use, and why some are oppos...

After the National Hockey League finished its season in unorthodox fashion, with playoffs held in hub cities and a Stanley Cup celebration in late September, we’re looking at some semblance of normalcy this season. Fans won’t be in the stands, but the NHL is set to resume with a truncated season in all 31 arenas. But for Canadian fans, things will look a lot different. Postmedia national hockey wr...

We are taking a couple weeks off for the holidays. We hope to see you in the new year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many many Canadians who grew up in cities, the connection with agriculture and rural life is merely what they drive past on the highway, or produce bought from the store.  But for others, it’s a story of their family history.  In part two of our look at the series Abandoned Saskatchewan Dave talks to Saskatoon Star-Phoenix sports editor Kevin Mitchell about growing up on his family farm, his r...

To many Saskatchewan is still seen as Canada’s breadbasket. A land of farms and flat stretches of road. But as Regina and Saskatchewan grow into thriving cities, there has been a decline in the rural heartland. In the first of two episodes highlighting the series Abandoned Saskatchewan, Dave is joined by Saskatoon Star Phoenix reporter Phil Tank about when the decline started, what’s driving it, a...

The opioid crisis was already ravaging B.C., and then covid-19 showed up. This has meant a disruption to drug supplies, more overdoses, and in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside an increase in crime and social disorder. Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham joins Dave to talk about how COVID-19 crisis has made things worse in the Downtown Eastside, what’s driving an increase in overdose deaths in B.C....

Canada is on its way to having some form of national childcare program. In its recent fall economic update, the Trudeau government announced it was looking at more than $400 million dollars for the provinces to train qualified staff as preview of more money coming in next year’s budget. But is a plan to create more child care spaces the right move? Postmedia columnist Tasha Kheiriddin joins Dave t...

Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, Alberta was among the provinces that seemed ready to face the challenge head on, and in many ways, that’s what happened at first. But, as summer turned to fall, Alberta followed many provinces, and countries with mounting case counts in the pandemic’s second wave. And cries have grown louder for the government to do more. The National Post’s Alberta reporter Tyle...

With three major pharmaceutical companies showing success with COVID-19 vaccines in phase 3 trials, a lot of people are getting their hopes up about the beginning of the end of the pandemic. But while other countries could see rollouts in the coming weeks, it could be months before Canadians get their turn. Parliamentary Bureau Chief and National post columnist John Ivison joins Dave to talk about...

A lawsuit out of Montreal has revealed unorthodox procedures for dealing with sexual assault allegations on campus. A student at Montreal’s McGill University has filed a lawsuit alleging he was forced to defend allegations of sexual assault which weren’t detailed to him and from an accuser who remained anonymous. Dave is joined by Montreal Gazette crime reporter Paul Cherry to talk about how this...

With COVID-19 cases on the rise in Canada, the lingering question that’s on a lot of peoples minds is “When the heck are we gonna get a vaccine for this thing?” Well, some promising signs on this front as a pair of pharmaceutical companies say they have vaccines almost ready to go. Dave is joined by National Post health reporter Sharon Kirkey to talk about why cases are on the rise in Canada, the...

Erin O’Toole could well be Canada’s next prime minister. He just needs to do something that has happened just once in the last 30 years, win a Conservative majority. And to do that, he’s looking for voters you don’t typically see right-wing parties courting. Union members. Dave is joined by National Post politics reporter Brian Platt to talk about why O’Toole is looking at this voter base as a way...

The Republicans may have lost the White House, but it doesn’t mean their party is battered and bruised. With a conservative majority on the supreme court, and potentially retaining the Senate, the Republicans are in a good place to keep president-elect Joe Biden in check over the next four years. But what does a Republican Party look like without Donald Trump? Nicholas Lemann, a staff writer at Th...

As a candidate for U.S. president, Joe Biden talked about wanting to get the country off its dependency on oil. But how things will actually play out under President Biden — and what this means for Canada’s energy sector — is still up in the air. Will that stance mean less U.S. oil production, which means an opportunity for Canadian companies? Could Alberta’s oil be hit with a cross-border carbon...

The Canadian Forces is looking to set up a new propaganda arm to try to influence the behaviour of people in this country. The proposal, revealed in documents uncovered by Postmedia, are an extension of a plan from the Chief of Defence Staff to ‘weaponize’ the military’s public affairs branch Dave is joined by Ottawa Citizen military affairs reporter David Pugliese, who uncovered the story, to wal...

It has been 11 years since an Ottawa teen vanished without a trace. Initially thought to be a runaway, there appears to be no indication of what happened to Justin Rutter. Dave Breakenridge is joined by Ottawa Citizen reporter Taylor Blewett about the circumstances around Rutter’s disappearance, why his family has concerns about the investigation, and whether his mother feels she’ll ever get closu...

B.C. Premier John Horgan shocked many, including his governing partners in the Green Party, when he called a snap election last month. And while many felt voters would punish Horgan and the NDP for heading to the polls during a pandemic, breaking an agreement with the Greens in the process, the NDP now has a majority government. Dave is joined by Vancouver Sun legislative columnist Rob Shaw to tal...

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals survived a confidence vote over a Conservative push to dig deeper into the WE Charity affair. Canadians may be spared a fall election, but the political games are far from over. Dave is joined by National Post political reporter Chris Nardi to discuss why the Liberals seemed keen to push us close to a pandemic election, why this move poses a problem for the NDP, and wheth...

The 1984 death of Christine Jessop and wrongful conviction of Guy Paul Morin rocked the country. In a surprise announcement this month, police announced they had identified Christine’s Killer. Dave is joined by Toronto Sun columnist Joe Warmington by phone to talk about the historic case, who it’s believed the killer is, and how police solved this mystery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

The story of Barry and Honey Sherman, whose murder nearly three years ago remains unsolved, has taken another twist. The fight over the couple’s estate files has hit the Supreme Court this week. National Post crime reporter Adrian Humphreys joins Dave to talk about how an inheritance proceeding wound up at Canada's highest court, why the family is fighting to have these records kept private and wh...

The viral video showing a dying Indigenous woman screaming while she is subjected to verbal abuse by staff at a Quebec hospital has reignited the debate over racism in the health-care system. The recording, made by Joyce Echaquan herself from her hospital bed, has led to the firing of two hospital staff members, and has sparked a coroner’s investigation. But there are many saying that this is a de...

Already battered by a price roller-coaster in 2020, big players in Canada’s oilpatch have announced plans for cost-cutting or layoffs. Oilsands giant Suncor was the latest to announce changes, with a planned 10-15 per cent cut to its workforce. Dave is joined by Calgary Herald business columnist Chris Varcoe to discuss what’s driving these moves, how deep the industry’s problems go, and what it me...

One of the hardest hit provinces in COVID-19’s first wave, Quebec’s rising case numbers suggest it is into a second wave of the pandemic. The spike in cases in September has meant that premier Francois Legault has had to announce stricter lockdown restrictions in some areas. Dave is joined by Montreal Gazette Assistant City Editor Monique Beaudin to discuss where the spike in cases is coming from,...

After proroguing parliament in August, the Liberals delivered just their second throne speech since being elected in 2015.  And with the support of Jagmeet Singh and the NDP, the Justin Trudeau’s team avoids having to fight an election battle a year into their second mandate.  I’m Dave Breakenridge and this is 10/3.  I’m joined by Parliamentary bureau chief and National post columnist John Ivison ...