The Breach Show

It was a big week for the military-industrial complex in Canada, with the west’s war-making establishment convening in Halifax for the annual International Security Forum (then hopping over to Montreal for a NATO summit).  El Jones fills Martin Lukacs in on her attempts to report on the Security Forum, where the hand towels were plush, the security uptight, and the drumbeat for increased Canadian...

Independent journalist Duncan Kinney of Progress Report was charged with mischief for allegedly spraypainting two monuments dedicated to Nazis and their collaborators—a charge he says the Edmonton Police have used to surveil and silence him. Kinney sits down with Desmond Cole to discuss his case.  To donate to Kinney's legal fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/duncan-kinney-legal-defense-fund ___...

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, sits down with Desmond Cole to discuss Canada’s ‘crystal clear’ complicity in the Israeli destruction of Gaza and the ‘hope that remains in this darkness.’ _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠h...

As Americans hit the polls next Tuesday, El Jones and Martin Lukacs hash out the U.S. election campaign, the folly of pandering to the right, neoliberal identity politics, the implications for Palestine, the threat of Trump, and their respective halloween costumes. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining m...

With a potential Pierre Poilievre Conservative government on the horizon, Martin Lukacs, Anjali Appadurai, Syed Hussan, Judy Rebick, and Laura Walton discuss how to organize in the face of a surging right. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://breachmedia.ca/support-us/ ⁠ An hour of yo...

El Jones and Martin Lukacs discuss the worst and weirdest examples of the crackdown on the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada over the past year—and how to understand why it has been so severe and widespread. Plus: why the elite are worried about Canadians identifying as “settlers.” _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?...

El Jones and Martin Lukacs dissect a viral confrontation NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had with far-right wing protesters on Parliament Hill—and unlike everyone else, they’re not cheering. Plus: the crisis management firm that defends the “rich and guilty.” _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠htt...

Tenant rights organizer Chiara Padovani joins The Breach Show to discuss how a Canadian mega landlord is using algorithmic software as it massively hikes rents. The software maker is being sued by the U.S. government for allegedly enabling landlords to collude to artificially inflate rental prices. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts...

Organizer Syed Hussan of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change joins The Breach Show to talk about the uptick in immigrant bashing, the bipartisan project to exploit migrant labour, a Liberal backtrack on a historic plan to give status to undocumented people—and why anti-racism is the only way to stop all workers from getting divided and ruled . __________________________________________________...

Canadian doctors Yipeng Ge and Ben Thomson join The Breach’s Brishti Basu to discuss what they witnessed during humanitarian trips to Gaza. Soon after returning, they got surprise emails: international lawyers wanted their testimony to build a war crimes case against Israel. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a su...

Professor Jemima Pierre dissects Canada’s participation in a 20-year debacle of military occupations and failed elections in Haiti. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://breachmedia.ca/support-us/ ⁠ An hour of your wages each month will fuel independent and progressive journalism, free...

The pharmacare bill is a breakthrough—and while it doesn’t cover enough medications, it gets the universal public framework right. Dr. Nav Persaud joins Donya Ziaee to discuss how corporate interests fought it bitterly—and will try to derail its expansion. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at...

This week, Emma Paling sits down with Alex Cosh of The Maple to discuss his exclusive story on Canada’s weapons exports to Israel.  As Cosh explains, it’s not just Liberal doublespeak that makes it hard to nail down the details of Canada’s weapons exports. Canada’s system has structural features that make it impossible to know exactly how many goods made here end up in the hands of the Israeli mil...

Trans activist Celeste Trianon sits down with Katia Lo Innes to discuss Alberta’s new anti-trans policies. Danielle Smith’s new gender identity bill is the most extreme anti-trans law that has been proposed in Canada. It bans puberty blockers for children under the age of 15 and outright bars trans girls and women from sports. Trianon breaks down how we got here, why these policies are becoming mo...

The Canadian government's response to the ICJ ruling on Israel's genocide in Gaza exposes its "egregious double standards" towards the Palestinians. International law expert Mark Kersten joins Martin Lukacs to dissect the historic decision from the UN’s top court. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Beco...

This week, Martin Lukacs interviews Eriel Deranger, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the executive director of Indigenous Climate Action. She gives us the 4-1-1 on this year’s UN climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, including the influx of fossil fuel lobbyists, Canada’s paltry commitment to financing Global South countries dealing with the brunt of the climate crisis...

Israel’s assault on Gaza has become a flashpoint in Canadian media.  This week, Martin Lukacs and Emma Paling dive deep into the current state of reporting, from CTV’s anti-Palestian bias to the arrest of Palestine solidarity activists in Toronto. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to hear more podcasts like this?  Become a sustaining member at ⁠https://...

This week, Martin Lukacs interviews Dan Freeman-Maloy, a leading scholar of Canadian foreign policy toward Palestine and director of strategic operations for Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. From the U.K. to the U.S., Canada has long served as the right-hand man to imperial interests in the Middle East. As an American-backed Israeli army devastates Palestinians in Gaza, Freeman-...

Dania Majid, president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, joins The Breach Show to talk about the legal dimensions of Israel’s escalating assault on Gaza.  As UN experts warn of a “risk of genocide,” is Canada meeting its obligations? And as an occupying state, does Israel actually have a “right to defend itself?” Majid also breaks down the effect of Anti-Palestinian racism and the surge in...

The Breach’s managing editor Martin Lukacs brings a dispatch from the NDP convention in Hamilton, Ont., where Israel’s siege of Gaza and Pierre Poilievre’s popularity dominated the show.  Plus, how Canadian governments across the political spectrum—and the mainstream media—have allowed Israel to act with impunity toward the Palestinians. ____________________________________________________________...

The Breach’s Martin Lukacs speaks with Naomi Klein about her new book “Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World.” It dissects an uncanny post-pandemic moment in which a surging right—whether in the United States, Canada, or globally—has absorbed left-wing ideas and regurgitated them as something dark and dangerous. _________________________________________________________________________ Want to...

The Breach Show returned for a special Alberta election night special, and here are some highlights! Hosts Martin Lukacs and Aditya Rao are joined by a great lineup of guests from all over Alberta. Ricardo Acuña, Romy Garrido, Emma Jackson, Angele Alook, Brad Lafortune and Des Bissonnette unpack what Danielle Smith’s win means for Albertans and what Rachel Notley’s uninspiring campaign and ultimat...

On a special production, The Breach’s El Jones hosts a national conversation about defunding the police with Desmond Cole in Toronto, Meenakshi Mannoe in Vancouver, Leon Laidlaw in Winnipeg, Ted Rutland and Tari Ajadi in Montreal, and Hafsah Mohammad in New Brunswick. Their conversation covers the police backlash to the defund movement, and strategies for organizing against continuing hikes to pol...

On The Breach Show this week, guest host Aditya Rao joins panelists Pam Palmater and El Jones.  First up - according to Justin Trudeau, it’s “Electric Vehicle Week” in Canada. We’re joined by author and tech critic Paris Marx, to look at some of the potential environmental and social costs of positioning Canada as a leader in the EV industry.    And what would it take to remake the...

This week, on the heels of the repeal of Roe v Wade in the U.S., we interview reproductive justice activist Darrah Teitel about abortion access in Canada. The Trudeau Liberals' policy record, it turns out, isn't as good as their photo-ops in front of abortion clinics. And El Jones, Martin Lukacs and Pam Palmater discuss Canada Day, which in many cities will be about more than fireworks and beer th...