The Paul Wells Show

As the former president of Estonia, Toomas Henrik Ilves has a unique perspective on Russian aggression. Though he grew up in the United States, he moved back to Estonia and got into politics, helping to lead a technological revolution that has given them a unique advantage for a country of only 1.3 million inhabitants. He talks to Paul about building up his country’s tech sector, pushing to get Es...

When John Tory resigned as mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow decided to take another shot at the job. Despite much of the establishment lining up against her, she won. She talks to Paul about that campaign, and about trying to implement her vision for the city on a shorter-than-usual term, while dealing with a $1.5 billion deficit from COVID. This episode was recorded live at the University of Toronto...

The Quebec government recently announced it will double university tuition for out-of-province students, raise international student fees, and change how the money from those fees is distributed. The new measures will disproportionately affect the province’s three English universities.     Graham Carr, president of Concordia University in Montreal, tells Paul that these changes will cause a major...

The National Gallery of Canada had a rough year, as they reckoned with shifting attitudes towards culture and representation. Their new CEO, Jean-François Bélisle, joins Paul to talk about how he plans to move forward, and what a national art gallery should look like in the year 2023. This episode was recorded live at the National Arts Centre. FURTHER READING: Turmoil Engulfs Canadian Art Museums...

Mark Sutcliffe decided to run for mayor of Ottawa after being frustrated by the Freedom Convoy and the city's ill-fated LRT project. He won. A year into his term, he reflects on trying to solve some of the city’s biggest problems, including saving the downtown core and getting the LRT back on track. This episode was recorded live at the National Arts Centre. Subscribe to Paul's Substack...

Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu joins Paul to talk about reconciliation, drug policy, and the road that led her from working with the most vulnerable members of society, to sitting in Trudeau's Cabinet. This episode was recorded live at the National Arts Centre. Subscribe to Paul's Substack for a premium version of this show: paulwells.substack.com

Author and Globe and Mail writer John Ibbitson joins Paul to discuss his new book, The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada. Ibbitson talks about how the decade-long showdown between these two Prime Ministers set the stage for the world we live in today, and why he believes Diefenbaker has been unfairly maligned in the historical record.   This interview was recorded live at...

Timothy Garton Ash has chronicled some of the biggest moments in European history for over 40 years. In his new book,  Homelands: A Personal History of Europe,  he offers a history of postwar Europe, told through personal memoir. He talks to Paul about the future of Europe, the war in Ukraine, advising George W. Bush on how to think about the European Union, having Victor Orbán as a student, and w...

The part of King Lear has a storied history, with classic performances by actors like William Hutt, Brian Cox and James Earl Jones. At 64, Paul Gross has taken on the role at Stratford, and he thinks the whole mythology around it is “just bullshit.” He reflects on the weight of the role, making Lear his own, and why Shakespeare still feels relevant.  In the episode, we mention Paul Gross's ag...

B.C. Premier David Eby has a lot to contend with: a housing crisis, the opioid epidemic, healthcare, foreign interference, the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, federal-provincial relations, and the province's energy needs. We get into all of it.   You can get a premium version of this show with extra content by subscribing to Paul's newsletter: paulwells.substack.com

As traditional news organizations have faced a steady decline, the online local news network Village Media has been thriving in small and medium-sized communities. But as the government and tech giants have gotten into a standoff over Bill C-18, the Online News Act, Village Media has been forced to pause their growth. Their CEO Jeff Elgie talks to Paul about how C-18 has hurt his business, and wha...

Kennedy Stewart is a former federal NDP MP and was mayor of Vancouver from 2018 to 2022. In his new book,  Decrim: How We Decriminalized Drugs in British Columbia , he writes about how he worked with the federal government — and, eventually, with a provincial NDP government he saw as far less cooperative — to decriminalize simple possession of street drugs in British Columbia. He joins Paul to tal...

The job of Government House Leader is always a challenge, but it's especially so in a minority Parliament. For Justin Trudeau's outnumbered Liberals, that minister is Mark Holland. One of the Liberals' longest-serving MPs, he's responsible for steering the government's legislative agenda through Parliament. He speaks frankly about the perils of political life, his own stru...

k.d. lang reflects on her four decade-long musical career, which may have reached its end. “All music tends towards silence and I have to honour the silence,” she tells Paul in an open and wide-ranging conversation in Calgary. 

In May, Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley will get a shot at becoming Premier again. Paul meets Rachel in Calgary to discuss her vision for the province and the prospect of facing off against a united conservative movement. She also talks about the opioid crisis, the federal healthcare deal, the future of the energy industry and dealing with Ottawa.

What is the future of sitting in the dark with strangers? The film industry has had to face major existential questions lately, between disruptions from COVID and the rise of streaming. Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival, joins Paul to talk about it. He also talks about how TIFF became the world-class institution that it is, his path from film critic to CEO, and casting...

Judging from the Group of Seven’s paintings, you would think post-war Canada was nothing but empty wilderness. But the women artists of the period showed a different vision of the country, filled with cities, people and industry.   Sarah Milroy is the Chief Curator for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which houses a vast collection of the Group of Seven’s work. She talks about how they have...

Andy Byford has gained a reputation as the person to call when your public transit system is in crisis. In over three decades as a public servant, he has run transit systems in Toronto, New York and London, England. He talks about what makes a good transit system, a recent wave of violent crime, and his public battle with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The Trudeau Government has made a lot of promises about reconciliation. As the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Affairs, Marc Miller’s job is to follow through on them. In this live conversation, Minister Miller talks frankly about his successes and failures in the role. He also talks about his own background, including his childhood friendship with Justin Trudeau, his time in the military and learnin...

Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger joins Paul to talk about his storied career and his new book, The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II. He also discusses ghostwriting Caitlyn Jenner’s memoir, why he left Twitter, his time at Vanity Fair, and why he’s considering leaving the US.   Thank you to Perfect Books in Ottawa for hosting this conversation. 

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 where Canada fits in to it all.   This episode was recorded liv...

Former finance minister Bill Morneau joins Paul to talk candidly about his life in politics, his resignation, and his vision for the future of the Canadian economy, from pension reform to green energy. His new book is called Where To From Here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity. This episode was recorded live at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

Last week, German police arrested 25 members of a far-right group who were plotting a coup. What is the Reichsbürger movement? How dangerous are they? And what does this incident tell us about the nature of political extremism in Europe -- and closer to home? To answer these questions, Paul Wells is joined by Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project.

This week, Paul has two conversations about the struggle for democracy in Eastern Europe, with people who are living through it. First, Janis Kazocins, national security advisor to the president of Latvia, talks about what lessons we can draw from the Baltic states to shed light on Ukraine, NATO and Russia. Next, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya talks about how she went from being an “ordinary housewife”...

Children's hospitals across North America are seeing a major surge of sick kids as a result of the "tripledemic" of COVID, RSV and the flu. And they're struggling to keep up. Alex Munter, President and CEO of CHEO, talks candidly about how the current crisis in children’s healthcare has only exacerbated problems that began long before the pandemic.