Real Sensical Politics

On this episode, we are joined by special guest MLA Peter Guthrie, leader of the Progressive Tory Party of Alberta. We ask Peter about a variety of topics including why he entered politics, what success would look like in the next election for the party, as well as moving forward on health care and education in Alberta. Join us on this insightful episode as we explore another option for voters her...

As discussion around Alberta separation continues to ramp up, we start this episode by exploring separation referendums in other jurisdictions and how it compares to what we are looking at here. We also lay out a roadmap for the next couple of episodes, including what will be our next episode featuring a special guest, Progressive Torie Party of Alberta Leader - Peter Guthrie.

In the past couple of weeks, and particularly the past couple of days, there have been some major updates on the separation movement/petition in Alberta. John and I look at what these are and where it could potentially take us moving forward. Ending out the episode we discuss the MOU signed between Alberta and Ottawa that signals the potential for a new oil pipeline to the west coast and tie that...

It's never truly boring watching federal politics (if you have the stomach for it). In this episode we first look at the recent election of Avi Lewis as the NDP leader and how that could shake out down the road. Afterwards we discuss yet another floor crossing with Marilyn Gladu now sitting as a liberal. We then discuss the recent by-elections that have now given Carney a decent majority gover...

With the federal NDP leadership race set to conclude thisweekend, John and I take a look at the candidates and make predictions. We also take about what and why of the price ofoil before concluding with a discussion about the 3 federal by-elections coming up on April 13th.

Usually we wouldn't release two shows so close together, but our last episode on federal issues and this one regarding Alberta topics are too timely to wait. A listener asked for some analysis on the recent changes to the Alberta Legislature Standing Orders as of February 24th. We take a look into what we see as the main changes and what those potentially mean. This could be a more dry section...

John and I discuss an overview of the political spectrum and what you find on each side as well as how parties in Canada fall onto that. John also describes a better way other than spectrums to describe political ideology! We also talk about Matt Jeneroux's floor crossing and a bit about how that fits into the recent conservative leadership review. Wrapping up the show we look at how Prime Ministe...

As conservative leader Pierre Poilievre prepares to face a leadership review the last week of January, we John and I talk a bit about what percentage of confidence is required to maintain effective leadership within a political party and how the conventions work. We also digest the recent announcement by Carney to allow former levels of Chinese EVs back into Canada, and the potential impact on Alb...

It’s been a few weeks since we were able to launch an episode. With all of the Christmas celebrations and some illness thrown in, we just couldn’t get together and putone together. But we are back and ready to go! So much happened politically in Alberta during the month of December that we just had to use our first episode of 2026 to cover some ofthe highlights. As many might be aware, there are a...

Canada's budget passed recently, and at a much later time in the year than normal. Join us as we converse the main points of the budget. As with everything, there was a lot of politics involved in passing the budget. We explore the floor crossing and resignation announcement and some of the other ins and outs of what happened leading up to the budget.

We received a number of questions over the past while, and we spend this whole episode going through them and answering them one by one. Some of the question topics include: - clarification on public sector vs. private sector wages - Alberta MLA salaries increasing in 2012 - several clarifying questions around the teachers being legislated back to work - the purpose of Question Period in the Legis...

As with all things, we look to take a balanced and fair look at any issue in exploring both sides. This episode is no different as we take on the heavy task of analyzing the public sector unrest here in Alberta. Many of the issues in Alberta are also being seen across Canada. We explore also the big issue here in Alberta as just this past week, teachers were ordered back to work after 3 weeks of s...

With our first run on Municipal Elections quickly jumping to our 2nd most listened to episode, we decided to add some further discussion to the mix. In this episode we discuss some of the logistics around running an election as workers and challenges in counting that will be faced this time around in the absence of electronic voting tabulators. We also look at additional municipal areas of respons...

In this episode we discuss the upcoming municipal elections here in Alberta and some of the major hot button issues. We also touch on some of the topics that you should discuss with the candidates when they come to your door. We hope you'll join us as we have some spirited debate around bike lanes and discuss what municipal officials have control over.

John and I discuss the Prime Minister's first four months in office as we head into the fall sitting of parliament. There have certainly been some highlights both good and bad. UPDATE: We recorded this just days before the official announcement on the major nation building projects was officially released. We acknowledge here that a major LNG project was on the list. However, much of our discussio...

Do you know how much Canada spent on climate change initiatives? What did we achieve with it? It could have been so much more. Join us as we revisit a couple forms of energy that deserve a little more attention - hydrogen and coal, and then we have a more broad look at politics and policy changes that affect the effectiveness of climate policy.

We start a two part discussion around different forms of energy and the slow conversion to greener forms of energy. Why does green energy cost more? What is the hold-up if there is such urgency? As with most things, it's very political. Join us as we start discussing the several forms of energy that we use here in Canada and the energy options moving forward. We will follow up next week with a...

With news now coming in that MLAs Pete Guthrie and Scott Sinclair have entered into formal talks to reignite the Alberta Party, we discuss where that could go in the current political climate here in Alberta. What will they need to do, and what can they expect? We also look at tackling some of the more popular myths regarding Alberta separating from Canada like using the Canadian passport and easi...

As part of our series on the Alberta Next Panel, and largely within that context, we discuss constitutional reform in Canada. Why it is so difficult for changes to be made, especially for changes that Alberta would like to see? It is a very brief overview given it is within 30 minutes, but we hope you find it insightful.

While Alberta currently collects its own corporate income taxes, personal income tax (PIT) is collected through Revenue Canada. The Alberta Next Panel asks the question of whether Alberta should collect its own PIT. What's involved in this and how much would that cost? Additionally, how does equalization work in Canada and what are transfer payments? Join us as we discuss these topics in this epis...

In continuing with our series on the Alberta Next Panel topics, we discuss the age old conversation of whether Alberta should have its own police service. Where did this conversation start? Why are we still having the conversation if nobody seems to want it? It may surprise you what some of the facts around this conversation are, and where we are actually at with the process. Join us as we explore...

We return with our series on the Alberta Next Panel and lead into it with some follow-up conversation around Premier Smith and how she became the leader. Afterwards, we discuss the Canadian Pension Plan vs an Alberta Pension Plan. We explore what the CPP is and provide a general overview of how it works, as well as what an APP would have to do in order to replace it.

In this episode we discuss the history of conservatism here in Alberta and where it comes from.  Ever wonder why talk of Alberta seperation is a thing? We dive into where it's roots come from and the Firewall Letter of 2001 that lays out a roadmap for how Alberta can take control of certain things within its constitutional autority and why it should. This topics covered in that letter have been di...

It's our first show! Thank you for taking an interest in the podcast. In this episode we explore Canadian identity. Where we came from, Truth and Reconciliation, the 2025 Canadian Federal Election, and where Canada is currently headed in becoming an energy superpower and what challenges that brings. We aim to educate and discuss what matters to you as Canadians in a way that is straightforward. Yo...