CANADALAND

We’ve got a Minister of A.I. Now what? Former Journalist MP Evan Solomon leads Canada’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation, but it’s unclear exactly how A.I. fits into the Liberal government’s mandate.  Vass Bednar explains why she’s still optimistic about Canada’s A.I. future.  Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Prod...

Political divides are growing, and it’s not just over basic issues anymore. Increasingly, people are feeling differences in basic conduct, morality, and how they approach discussions. These divisions feel too big to ignore. How do you go about fixing that divide? This week host Sam Konnert sits down with Ryan Broderick to iron things out. And the latest on the grand meeting of the Premiers in Sask...

The election is done and dusted. Votes cast, tallied, and 343 newly minted MPs are on the job. But even though we, the media collectively, tried our best to vet everyone, some things slipped past us. There’s one candidate that we at Canadaland did not vet. That candidate won. And then she was named to Cabinet. She is now a federal minister. Only then did we get a tip about her. A tip that did...

The American populist left has a roadmap for Canadian progressives.  With the NDP wandering the political wilderness, the rise of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez points to where left-wing politics is headed.  But will Canada’s progressive movement catch the wave?  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Produ...

Canadians and Americans alike are afraid of crossing the border, and for political commentators like Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks travel requires extra precautions. What’s behind Trump’s puzzling decision to politicize border crossing for US citizens? Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), max collins (Director of Aud...

Earlier this year, Jagmeet Singh laughed off the idea of losing. Now, he’s out and the NDP is in free fall. They lost official party status. They lost ground with key voters, organized labor, and their traditional strongholds in B.C. and the GTA. So, did the NDP learn anything from this catastrophic loss? To answer that question, host Noor Azrieh asks Heather McPherson, one of the 7 NDP MPs left.&...

Canadian comedy legend Dave Thomas is here. What else is there to say? If you want to understand the last half century of comedy from SCTV to SNL to The Simpsons you only need to look to the comedic big bang moment when Thomas, Moranis, Levy and Martin converged on Toronto in the early 1970s. So Dave Thomas will tell you all about it, eh? Of course SCTV is only one of the hats (toques) the writer,...

A new study suggests that New Brunswick’s mystery brain illness doesn’t exist, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.  Recent headlines declare the mystery is solved, but the new study only raises more questions.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor), Sam Konnert (Fact Checking), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor) Guest: La...

What the coverage isn’t capturing about the Hockey Canada Trial. Five former junior hockey players are on trial for sexual assault, and the reporting is full of graphic details. Laura Robinson takes us inside the courtroom and explains what’s really happening.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), max collins (Director of...

After a couple of weeks of pats on the back and trying to find Pierre Poilievre a new home, we’re finally seeing how Mark Carney’s government plans to tackle the country’s biggest problems and who he’s putting in charge to do it. Next week, King Charles is set to kick off parliament with the throne speech, and we’ll finally have MPs back in the House of Commons after months of parliamentary paraly...

In 2005 Courtney Kocak was a “merch girl” on the Girls Gone Wild tour bus. She doled out the swag, T-shirts, thongs, drinks, to help get the GGW parties started. The GGW party on wheels rolled through places like Red Deer, Banff, Kelowna, and promised small town kids a “wild” time. By the time the tour was over Courtney and the bus crossed back across the border with boxes of release forms and vid...

It's a new era for corruption in Canada, but the coverage isn’t keeping pace. Meanwhile, American outlets are breaking stories about Doug Ford and Brookfield.  Why covering corruption isn’t worth the risk and the expense for many Canadian outlets, and why the reporting that does happen often doesn’t make a difference.  U of T’s Dr. Jack Cunningham co-hosts.  Host: San Grewal Credits...

Stuck between a monarchy and a superpower. Carney calls on King Charles to deliver the Throne Speech–brilliant strategic move or colonial regression?  U of T’s Dr. Jack Cunningham co-hosts.  Host: San Grewal Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Sam Konnert (Fact Checking), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor) Guest: J...

Mark Carney promised tougher bail and more police – a “get tough” agenda that the Liberals shoplifted right off the Conservative shelf. Host Noor sits down with Adelina Iftene, a criminal law professor, who calls Mark Carney’s revival of “tough on crime” a “slippery slope”. Will Mark Carney’s revival of “tough on crime” fix anything? What  actually  makes communities safer? And what...

He was a man who was convinced he was fighting monsters. A video vigilante capturing alleged paedophiles with a camera and shaming them online. He was a “creep hunter.” Then people started to die. Suicides. And the law came after him.  Today we meet the filmmakers who caught the creep catcher in their new documentary “Shamed.” Host: Jesse Brown Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor &...

What’s really behind Danielle Smith’s separatist flirtations.  Is separatist sentiment rising in Alberta, or is it just a convenient distraction? Max Fawcett explains why a referendum would actually be good for Alberta and Canada.   Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer),  Sam Konnert (Fact Checking), max coll...

Last month, Sam Googled your candidates. It was a hoot. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’re working on something new, exclusively for our supporters… Stay tuned. You can become a supporter or increase your level of support at https://canadaland.com/join Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carney dodges a “Zelenskyy Moment” in the Oval Office.  In their first official meeting, Trump and Carney adopt a friendly tone amid 51st state rhetoric. Will Carney’s restraint pay off for Canada?  Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Sam Konnert (Fact Checking), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)...

Pierre Poilievre is packing his bags to rural Alberta, after losing his seat to Bruce Fanjoy. How the hell did Fanjoy do it? We asked him. Plus, pollster David Coletto breaks down things you may have missed in the election results. Host: Sam Konnert Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Host/Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), M...

Canada will not bend the knee to Orange Jesus. That’s one reading of our recent federal election. The ballots were barely tallied before headline writers around the world were posing the question:  Will Canada lead the global opposition to Trumpism? Do we have the muscle for the fight? Are we internally coherent enough to pull it off? Can we stay focused long enough on what Canada is and could be?...

The deck is being shuffled in the conservative movement.  After Poilievre’s bad week, Tim Houston, Doug Ford, and Danielle Smith are making moves.    Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Noor Azrieh (Fact Checking), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor) Guest: Julian Abraham   Further R...

Even the losers get lucky sometimes.  Mark Carney was the big winner, but we dig into the narratives the rest of the field spun in the aftermath of Canada’s pivotal election.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Sam Konnert (Fact Checking), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor) Guest: Julian Abraham...

Carney wins, Poilievre loses, Jagmeet steps down. What went down? Politico’s Mickey Djuric breaks it down for us, way past bedtime. Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork) Guests: Mickey Djuric Backg...

Jesse Brown is an ideological slut. Well, so he says. His past votes have jumped, in no particular order, from the Conservatives to the NDP “....maybe there was a fringe party or Parti Québécois vote in there somewhere, I can’t even remember who I’ve thrown in with over the years — I have no loyalty, I’m politically promiscuous.” Given that this is supposed to be the most consequential vote o...

Autopsy of a News Media Meltdown. More details have emerged about Ezra Levant’s confrontation with the CBC on debate night, as well as new information around his third party advertiser finances.  Plus, Snopes fact checks Dean Blundell.  Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Sam Konnert (Fact Checking), max collins (Di...