10/3: Canada Covered

The greatest outdoor show on ice returns to Edmonton with the NHL’s Heritage Classic making a stop where it all started 20 years ago. The inaugural event, played on a chilly November evening at Commonwealth Stadium, sparked an idea that has garnered a host of similar games in stadiums across the league. But it wasn’t necessarily a guaranteed success. Postmedia national sports writer Dan Barnes joi...

The Quebec government has courted controversy with a new tuition policy that some feel unfairly targets Anglophones. The government, meanwhile says it’s vital to help protect the French language in Montreal. Montreal Gazette political reporter Philip Authier joins the show to discuss the policy, which universities it affects and why the government is facing pushback on yet another language policy....

Alberta won a round in one of its many battles with the federal government after a key piece of legislation was struck down. The Supreme Court ruled Bill C-69, or the Impact Assessment Act, which affected the approval process for major projects on federal land, was unconstitutional. Alberta had challenged it on the basis that it infringed on provincial jurisdiction. Calgary Herald columnist Chris...

Six months after a massive heist at Toronto’s airport, a lawsuit is shedding new light on the crime. $20 million in gold and nearly $2 million in cash were nabbed from a cargo facility, and police as yet have not announced any developments in the case. National Post reporter Adrian Humphreys joins the show to discuss the nature of the lawsuit, what it reveals about the heist, and what recourse is...

Just months after announcing the decriminalization of possession of all drugs, the B.C. government unveiled legislation aimed at curbing open-air drug use. The plan has been met with criticism from harm reduction proponents and skepticism from the NDP government’s political opponents. Vancouver Sun legislative reporter Katie DeRosa joins the show to discuss the motivation behind the law, what loca...

Albertans were given a grim reminder of the dangers that can lurk in the backcountry with the fatal grizzly attack that took the lives of two experienced outdoors people. The attack, in a remote area of Banff National Park, was believed to be predatory in nature and also saw the death of the couple’s dog. Calgary Herald reporter Bill Kaufmann joins the show to walk us through the attack, what’s be...

Wab Kinew and the NDP steamrolled the PCs in Manitoba this week to win a convincing electoral majority. Kinew becomes the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province, and Heather Stefanson has resigned as leader of the PCs. National Post reporter Tristin Hopper joins the show to discuss why Stefanson failed to resonate with voters, where the PCs stumbled during the campaign, and how the NDP...

Canada stumbled into an international incident after parliament honoured a Ukrainian vet who fought on the side of the Nazis in the Second World War. This has created problems not just for the Liberal government, but for our Ukrainian allies. National Post columnist Tasha Kheiriddin joins the show to discuss why the Liberals response to the incident was problematic, the fallout internationally and...

Should Alberta go alone, and split from the Canada Pension Plan, even if it means taking half the total funds for the whole of the CPP with it? That’s the question being asked in Alberta right now as the UCP government looks to consult Albertans in advance of a potential referendum on the issue. Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell joins the show to discuss why the province is considering it’s own pens...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made waves this week when he announced that Canada has intelligence linking the government of India to the murder of a prominent B.C. Sikh leader on Canadian soil. Trudeau said that Canadian security agencies have been pursuing what he calls credible allegations of the link, but the Indian government has so far called the claims absurd. National Post political reporte...

Politicians return to the House of Commons this week, and affordability is bound to be a key issue for all parties. The Conservatives and the NDP have been banging the drum for months, and the Liberals have started to make the issue a priority. National Post columnist Sabrina Maddeaux joins the show to discuss new Liberal initiatives on housing, why they fall short, and how the new approach may pl...

Alberta is dealing with what's believed to be its worst-ever E. coli outbreak after kids became sick at a number of Calgary daycares. Now the cases are in the hundreds with two dozen in hospital while health officials investigate the likely source of the outbreak. Calgary Herald reporter Michael Rodriguez joins the show to discuss how it’s believed the bacteria spread, what other issues have been...

Canadian Conservatives converge on Quebec City this weekend for the party’s first in-person convention in five years. The event comes as the party is riding high in summer polls and presents an opportunity for leader Pierre Poilievre to cement his standing in the minds of Canadians. National Post political reporter Catherine Levesque joins the show to discuss what main themes you’ll hear from Cons...

The prime minister’s official residence is crumbling. Has been for years. There’s talk of potentially fixing or replacing it after a lot of political debate about it. But is there actually the will in this country to replace it? And how much would it cost? Independent journalist Tom Spears joins the show to discuss the problems plaguing the nearly 160-year-old home, the potential bill for the taxp...

Two Canadian provinces have sparked controversy with policies that would impact students who want to adopt a new name or pronouns at school. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have indicated that parents students under 16 have to be notified if their child wants to socially transition at school. National Post reporter Tristin Hopper joins the show to discuss why they want to implement these policies,...

When a safe injection site opened in their Toronto neighbourhood, residents initially had to contend with just discarded needles. But over the years, the streets around the South Riverdale Community Health Centre have become home to open drug use, fights and this summer saw an innocent bystander struck down by gunfire among drug dealers. Independent investigative journalist Derek Finkle joins the...

Canada’s power couple, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau announced they’re officially separating after 18 years of marriage. This makes Justin Trudeau only the second prime minister whose marriage has ended in office, after his father Pierre.  National Post political reporter Ryan Tumilty joins the show to discuss the announcement, why it has caught the attention of so many...

While the overwhelming majority of hospital visits in Canada go as expected, there are still thousands of errors every year that in some cases can have lasting, even deadly consequences for patients. And while there are estimates, the true scale of medical errors is unknown. National Post health reporter Sharon Kirkey joins the show to discuss what kinds of errors we’re seeing in hospitals, why is...

With conflict raging between Ukraine and Russia, the role of NATO, and member states’ commitments have become top of mind for many. One key issue is getting countries to meet defence spending targets, and one country missing the mark is Canada. National Post politics reporter Catherine Levesque joins the show to discuss why Canada is falling short of its targets, why this is a problem that has pla...

Canada has a reputation for being a welcoming place for people fleeing war or hardship in their home countries. But scenes out of Toronto, showing refugees sleeping in tent encampments because there’s nowhere for them, are contradicting the image the federal government would like people to have. National Post columnist Sabrina Maddeaux joins me to discuss why Toronto is struggling to help refugees...

The sky-high cost of real estate in the Vancouver area has people in the Lower Mainland looking at creative solutions to be able to afford their own homes.  For some, that has meant going halfers on a house with total strangers, splitting the mortgage and the space. Vancouver Sun reporter Lori Culbert joins the show to discuss why this is taking off in Vancouver, what some of the pros and cons are...

It’s a tale of two towns. Both nestled in the picturesque Rocky Mountains. Both a hot tourist draw in winter and summer alike.  But Jasper and Banff, situated along Alberta’s western border couldn’t feel more different.  National Post reporter, and producer of this podcast, Tyler Dawson joins the show to discuss the factors that saw Banff take off to become a glitzy destination for globe-trotters,...

The $20 million gold heist at Pearson airport in April caught headlines because of the brazen nature of the crime, but it also struck some as eerily similar to another 70 years ago. The theft of gold bars from Toronto’s airport had gone unsolved for seven decades, until now. National Post reporter Adrian Humphreys joins the show to discuss how he was able to identify the culprits of the 1952 gold...

A longtime member of the Ontario Provincial Police has finally been fired after being convicted of multiple offences, including several assaults, drug charges and a sexual assault which he recorded on his phone. Jason Redmond was sentenced to six years for the sexual assault and is awaiting sentencing for assaulting another female victim. Sabrina Bedford, a reporter with the Brockville Recorder an...

The Canada Revenue Agency is going after a trio of former Blue Jays stars, to the tune of millions of dollars. The players, Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, and Russell Martin are fighting with the taxman relating to what amounts to a dispute over taxes and retirement income. National Post political reporter Chris Nardi joins the show to discuss what the issue is, why these players may have run afou...