Balance of Power

What does it actually take to run for office, and how do you know whether you should? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward, and Shannon Phillips offer a practical guide for anyone thinking about putting their name on a ballot, from the first conversation with a riding association to the realities of campaigning, fundraising, vetting, and family life. First: forget the myth...

What happens when conservatives pick a fight with someone who knows exactly how to fight back? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil and Shannon Phillips dig into Calgary’s Stampede noise war, Jeromy Farkas’s escalating feud with Danielle Smith and Pierre Poilievre, and what happens when conservative messaging gets turned back on the people who invented it. First: the fun police. Why...

What happens when stepping away from politics creates room to think differently about art, fear, community, and the work still left to do? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward, and Shannon Phillips unpack Shannon’s recent trip to Patmos, Greece, where she joined artists, writers, and musicians including Ani DiFranco, Neko Case, Anaïs Mitchell, and Ann Powers for a ten-day...

How many ballots is too many ballots? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil and Leah Ward unpack the staggering logistics behind Alberta’s October referendum vote. With Elections Alberta preparing to print 45 million ballots and recruit 60,000 workers, they explore what happens when direct democracy collides with administrative reality. First: the ballot problem. The hosts break down...

For years, Alberta's separation movement has talked about what it wants. What happens when it has to talk about what it costs? This week on Balance of Powe r, Annalise Klingbeil and Leah Ward look at what it means for a political project built on emotion to encounter a spreadsheet. As new estimates put a price tag on Alberta independence, they ask whether the politics of grievance can survive cont...

In a moment when Prairie politics feels increasingly untethered from reality, what happens when governments start making generational decisions while chasing internal political pressure? This week on Balance of Power , Leah Ward and Shannon Phillips are joined by Saskatchewan NDP MLA Aleana Young to unpack Saskatchewan’s stunning $26 billion coal gamble, the politics driving it, and why the fight...

In a province where politics increasingly feels like performance, what happens when the people who understand the stage best start talking openly about persuasion, authenticity, and fear? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward, and Shannon Phillips unpack the politics of communication, the growing international fascination with Alberta separatism, and why the fight over Cana...

In a week where Alberta politics somehow got even messier, what happens when the process itself becomes the problem? This week on Balance of Powe r, Annalise Klingbeil and Shannon Phillips dig into the escalating fallout from the alleged misuse of Alberta’s voters list, the separatist petition, and why a data leak involving nearly three million Albertans is about much more than privacy. First: the...

Balance of Power: Gay Enough? In a moment when trust in democracy feels fragile, what happens when the basic machinery of politics becomes the story? This week on Balance of Power, Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward, and Shannon Phillips dig into the Elections Alberta investigation, the alleged misuse of the list of electors, and why a story about voter data is not just procedural, but deeply personal....

If the problems keep getting worse, are we even solving the right one? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil and Leah Ward take on a set of decisions that feel increasingly out of step with how people actually live. From time changes to family planning to public consultation, they walk through what happens when policy targets miss the mark. First: daylight saving time. Alberta is movi...

In a moment where things feel like they’re slipping, what does control even look like? This week on Balance of Power , Shannon Phillips, Leah Ward, and Annalise Klingbeil step into a rough stretch for the Conservatives and unpack what happens when a party starts to wobble. From by-election losses to internal pressure, they walk through how instability takes hold and what it really takes to stop it...

Balance of Power: Does Anything Matter? In a political moment where lines are blurring and power is shifting, what actually matters anymore? This week on Balance of Powe r, Shannon Phillips, Leah Ward, and Annalise Klingbeil dig into the growing trend of floor crossing. They talk about what it says about political values and whether consistency still counts in modern politics. From party loyalty t...

What happens when a leadership win sparks tension inside the party? This week on Balance of Power , Shannon Phillips, Leah Ward and Shannon Greer reflect on the legacy of Stephen Lewis, unpack the implications of Avi Lewis’s decisive leadership win, and dig into what it all means for New Democrats across the country. First: legacy and loss. The panel reflects on Stephen Lewis’ impact on Canadian p...

Is this about rights or strategy? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward and Shannon Phillips talk kettlebells (kettleballs?) before digging into the politics behind the latest waves of anti-trans policy in Canada and what it reveals about how governments choose to fight. First: the framing. How “parental rights” moved from the margins to the centre of the debate and who it...

Big news. Serious business. No press conference. Just a leak. This week on Balance of Power, Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward and Shannon Phillips dig into how this actually works. Government wants something out there. Not a scrum. Not a pile of questions. Their version. First. So it shows up in a column. A scoop. Headline already pointed where they want it. Why do it this way? What do they get out o...

How do political campaigns actually win once the voting starts? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward and Shannon Phillips unpack the strategy behind the federal NDP leadership race as voting begins, check in on the budget fight unfolding in Nova Scotia, and talk about the rarely discussed cost of maintaining a political image in the age of constant cameras. First: the mech...

Are Alberta’s immigration referendum questions actually about immigration, or about politics? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil and Leah Ward are joined by Dr. Bronwyn Bragg, a human geographer at the University of Lethbridge who studies labour migration and precarious work. First, the politics behind Alberta’s proposed immigration referendum. The panel breaks down what the questi...

Are we governing for the moment? Or reacting to it? This week on Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward and Shannon Phillips break down three political pressure points, and what they reveal about leadership in high-stakes moments. First: The fallout from the Tumbler Ridge tragedy in B.C. After reporting revealed OpenAI had flagged violent content from the alleged shooter but did not aler...

Are we misreading the political moment? This week, Annalise is away and Shannon Phillips and Leah Ward are joined by pollster and data scientist Kyla Ronellenfitsch, President of Relay Strategies, to cut through three dominant narratives: Alberta separatism, immigration backlash, and the supposed rightward shift among young voters. First: new reporting reveals Alberta separatist organizers meeting...

Is Alberta separation gaining ground, and can it be stopped? In the debut episode of Balance of Power , Annalise Klingbeil, Leah Ward and Shannon Phillips unpack new polling showing 29% of Albertans would vote to leave Canada, and why that number could shift quickly in a referendum. They debate the messaging war behind separatism, the silence from business leaders, and what a Brexit-style shock co...