The Paul Wells Show

Our election coverage continues!   Stephen Gordon, economics professor at University of Laval, evaluates the economic policy we’ve seen on the campaign trail so far, from tax cuts to housing plans.    Author Mark Bourrie talks about his new book, Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre.    CTV host and chief political correspondent Vassy Kapelos trades notes with Paul on the campaign so far.

The election campaign heads into its second week, and everything feels brand new. The Liberal campaign plane finally has the Liberal logo on it. Mark Carney has a  candidate he should probably drop . Pierre Poilievre is having a very hard time moving the debate from the issue he can’t win on to an issue he might win on. And Jagmeet Singh would just like to be noticed. We’ve got Allison Gifford, Ma...

This is an elections podcast now. Each week throughout the election, we'll bring you a variety of smart commentators to keep you upto speed. This week, former Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod talks about her old riding of Nepean, where Mark Carney is running, with Pierre Poilievre running just next door. MacLeod has also worked with Poilievre, and weighs in on his leadership. And Hél...

Campaign Week 1, featuring an assist from Danielle Smith   The original Conservative on our Panel, the great Garry Keller, won his nomination battle in Nipissing—Timiskaming. Now he’s off trying to get elected to Parliament. (Note to readers who worry that this corner might be endorsing somebody: Please vote for whoever you want!) So, in a move reminiscent of Season 2 of  Bewitched , we’ve got a n...

This week, we’re replaying one of our favourite interviews. What can history tell us about the world we live in? Paul is joined by acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan, author of books including Paris: 1919, Nixon in China and History’s People. They discuss some of the major events shaping the world today, including the war in Ukraine, the fallout of Brexit, Xi Jinping’s regime in China, and whe...

Former Defence Minister and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been horrified by what he’s been seeing from the new Trump administration. He got so mad that he ended a lengthy Twitter hiatus to sound off about it. He joins Paul to share his views on Trump’s takeover of America conservatism, Trump’s relationship with Ukraine, and what Canada should do about U.S. aggression.

Paul breaks down some of the major challenges facing higher education in Canada, including a lack of political will to invest in the sector.    He is then joined by a panel of insiders for their takes on what to do about it. How are they handling this moment? What does the future look like? And how can universities make the case for their relevance in a changing world?   The panelists are: Graham...

Writer, professor and cousin-of-Paul Ira Wells was concerned about the rise of censorship coming from both sides of the political spectrum. So he wrote a book about it, diving into the history of people trying to control what you read. That book is called On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy. He talks to Paul about the personal incident tha...

Mark Norman believes an attack from the U.S. in not hypothetical. It’s already happening. And Canada’s lacking a strategy to respond.    He first laid out his argument in an opinion piece for the National Post titled  “ Canada’s relationship with the U.S. can’t be saved .”   He joins Paul to explain why he thinks we need to change our national mindset towards the U.S.    Mark Norman is the former...

The Conservative leader is planning a big rally in Ottawa this weekend. It follows a sustained slide in the polls. Can he change his message for a world of Donald Trump and Mark Carney? Does he even want to? Our Panel — Garry Keller, Allison Gifford, Marci Surkes — discusses all of this and more.

Jonathan Wilkinson has a lot going on. As the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, he holds a critical position in trade disputes with the U.S. He talks to Paul about dealing with the Trump administration, adapting Canada's energy strategy to a new reality, and the difficult decision not to run for Liberal leadership.  Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s M...

Canada often seems "unready and out of step” with the world’s current challenges, according to the editors of a new book on foreign policy. With the rise of authoritarianism around the world and increasing hostility from the U.S., are we taking our place on the world stage  seriously enough? Or does our foreign policy need an overhaul?   Philippe Lagassé and Vincent Rigby are two of the edito...

Donald Trump’s return to power could have serious consequences for Canada. First, there’s the threat of tariffs. Then there’s that other thing about making us the 51st state. This week, we get two takes on the situation. First on the show, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith talks about why she opposes the threats to cut off energy exports to the U.S. in retaliation for tariffs. It's a position th...

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis has won Grammys, played with artists including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Sting, and was the leader of Jay Leno's house band. In recent years, he has also been scoring movies and playing more classical music.    He dropped by Paul’s office while was in Ottawa to perform with the National Art Centre Orchestra. He talks about life on the road, his recent home...

U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen gives a long and wide-ranging interview as his time in the role comes to an end. As Biden’s man in Ottawa, he was an important figure in trying to usher in a new era of Canada-U.S. cooperation. As he gets ready to head home to Philadelphia, Paul asks him about Biden’s mental acuity, Trump’s comeback, a potential trade war, Canada’s military spending, and mo...

On Monday, Justin Trudeau announced he'll resign as Liberal leader and Prime Minister once the party picks a successor, bringing an end to almost a decade in power. Marci Surkes gives us an inside view of the Liberal party before and during the Trudeau years.    Marci Surkes was executive director for policy and cabinet in Justin Trudeau’s Prime Minister’s Office. She ran the caretaker govern...

Live from Ottawa! Paul reluctantly makes a New Year's resolution. Writer Ian Williams reads from his upcoming novel You’ve Changed. Strategists Garry Keller, Marci Surkes and Allison Gifford (“The Panel”) talk about the political year to come. Ada Lea performs her songs “Damn” and “Baby Blue Frigidaire Mini Fridge.” Jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould performs the Paul Wells Show theme music.   Than...

Happy holidays. We're on a break, but we thought you might enjoy this episode from our friends at CANADALAND. It's a conversation about Substack's role in the future of journalism, featuring Paul Wells, The Line's Jen Gerson and Substack founder Chris Best. If you like this episode, you can subscribe to CANADALAND for more like it. CANADALAND credits: Host & Publisher: Jess...

Join us for an hour of live music, politics, and self-reflection. Former Premiers Kathleen Wynne and Jason Kenney trade jabs onstage and look back on the year that was. Catharine Vandelinde, executive director of Options Housing , talks about her work getting people off the street and into homes. Jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould performs "It Had To Be You," "Softly As In a Morning Sunri...

In a conversation that took place less than three hours after Chrystia Freeland resigned from the federal cabinet, Paul Wells is joined by Justin Ling and Jen Gerson to discuss what this astonishing news means for the Liberal Party and the Trudeau government. Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

Paul answers questions from readers (and producer Kevin Sexton) about the state of Canadian politics, Trump, journalism, and more! Season 3 of The Paul Wells Show is sponsored by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy.

In his book We Have Never Been Woke, Musa al-Gharbi argues that a new class of liberal elites uses the language of “wokeness” without actually helping the marginalized and disadvantaged.  He joins Paul to talk about a decades-long trend of the Democrats reorienting themselves towards a constituency of wealthy white people. It’s a message he was sharing well before Kamala Harris lost the election. ...

What does a Trump presidency mean for trade? Paul is joined by a panel of analysts from the U.S., Canada and Mexico, to talk about what might be in store for North America during the next Trump administration.  The panellists are Vassy Kapelos, chief political correspondent for CTV news, Doug Palmer,  senior trade reporter at Politico, and Enrique de la Madrid, author, newspaper columnist, and for...

Ontario’s government recently announced that Jane Philpott will lead a team with the goal of connecting every person in the province to primary health care within the next five years. With around 2.5 million people currently without a family doctor in Ontario, the task is enormous.  So how did a former Liberal health minister get hired on by a conservative government for such an important job? And...

With Trump’s decisive win in the U.S. election, American writer Ross Barkan argues his country has finally reached the end of the "Obama era" of politics. Barkan talks about what went wrong for Democrats, why he was early to say Harris was the wrong candidate, what he expects to come from Trump’s return to the White House, and why he sees an opportunity for the American left.  Ross Barka...