The Progress Report

University of Manitoba history professor Sean Carleton joins us to break down Jason Kenney's long history of defending the genocidal legacy of Canada and its first prime minister John A. MacDonald, whether Canada Day is cancelled (it is) and the pros of tearing down the statues of the architects of genocide. 

University of Calgary law professor Martin Olzsynski joins us to discuss the inquiry that never ends. Regardless of whether or not the Allan Inquiry meets its latest deadline the inquiry has been an omnishambles since it started—we break down why as well as what's going to happen with this mess. 

York University humanities professor Shama Rangwala joins us to dissect and discuss copaganda—everything from Adorno and Althusser to Brooklyn 99 and  Falcon and the Winter Soldier  as well as some examples from the local media and the local cops. And while we're bringing a critical and educational lens to this pod we need to be clear, this is a no-scold zone. You can still listen to thi...

We have the originator of the term maplewashing, podcaster and Jacobin staff writer Luke Savage, on the pod to discuss the way politicians, corporations and the media sanitize and conceal Canada's violent, genocidal past and present by perpetuating the notion that Canada is somehow morally superior to other countaries. 

Every day for the past 14 months independent journalist Nora Loreto has tallied up COVID deaths in residential care. We chat with Nora about her incredibly valuable but unpaid journalism, the long-term care disaster and the state of Canadian media. Don't miss it.  If you like this podcast and you want to support it go to  https://www.theprogressreport.ca/patrons  and become a monthl...

Minnesota is often called the most Canadian state in the U.S. and given the fact a pipeline corporation is working closely with the police to arrest and harass their political opponents we're inclined to agree. Alleen Brown of the Intercept joins us to discuss how Alberta-based pipeline corporation Enbridge is funding and supplying police in Minnesota in order to quash Indigenous-led resistance to...

Julia Levin of Environmental Defence joins us to talk about her recently released report that dives into just how much financial support the fossil fuel industry squeezes out of the federal government and we also have Jeremy Appel on to discuss his investigative deep-dive into the 16 orphan wells famous rich guy W. Brett Wilson was able to dump on the public. Would it surprise you to discover that...

Ubaka Ogbogu, a law professor with the University of Alberta, joins us to discuss the monster Jason Kenney has created with Gracelife church, carding legislation introduced by the UCP, Justice Minister Kaycee Madu's extraordinary and now-deleted statement about him and much more. 

Rob Houle and Irfan Chaudhry were both a part of a task force started by the city of Edmonton as a reaction to wide-scale calls to start fixing the problem of racist, violent policing last summer. The task force's report has been submitted to council. We talk with Rob and Irfan about the report's findings, recommendations and how the only thing that really matters in the next municipal election is...

As the third wave of COVID-19 gathers steam the anti-mask, COVID denier groups have become more violent, more emboldened and are putting people in danger. We do a deep dive on the COVID denier movement with Kurt Phillips, the formerly anonymous author of Anti-Racist Canada and a founding board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. 

Independent consultant and crude-by-rail expert Samir Kayande joins us to talk about the $2.3 billion dollars (and counting) the government of Alberta has lost on crude-by-rail. Is there a rail yard somewhere with thousands of empty rail cars? Quite possibly, the government has told us nearly nothing about this debacle. When they have told us anything about it, they've lied. We dig into this huge...

How do we build working class power? How do we make the rich and powerful afraid of us instead of the other way around? We talk with Q. Anthony (formerly known as Andray Domise) a contributing editor with Maclean's and Brandon Love, co-secretary of the Toronto Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World to talk about this important question. 

Human rights lawyer Avnish Nanda and labour lawyer Adam Cembrowski join us to talk about Avnish's notable public interest law cases, winning and losing in and out of court with the Alberta government as well as a wide ranging conversation on the limits of the legal system when it comes to building power for social movements and the working class. 

Edmonton Public school board trustee Bridget Stirling and Speaking Municipally co-host Troy Pavlek join us to talk about the city council and school board elections in Edmonton coming later this year. With massive turnover coming to both institutions what are the races to keep an eye on and what kind of campaigns are we likely to see? And yes, two-thirds of the panel is on team Breezy Brian Gregg...

Duncan and Jim were in the budget media embargo and sifted through hundreds of pages of facts and figures, tables and charts, spin and counter-spin and came to this conclusion: the 2021 Alberta budget sucks ass. They break it down and get into the details in the latest Progress Report podcast.

Robert Miller and Tabitha from Treaty Six Outreach join us to talk about the grassroots, street outreach, mutual aid work their group does, the Edmonton Police kicking homeless people out into -30 degree weather and whether human beings are fundamentally decent or not. 

Tyler Ogilvie and Sean Willett of the Alberta Advantage join us to discuss a Youtube video encouraging Christians everywhere to pray for Jason Kenney even though, "he's been off his game lately," as well as a project they're working on called Normal Quest. It's a simple idea that could actually save the world – if we want to win we're going to have to log off and start talking to our neighbors and...

We sit down with Senator Paula Simons on what is to be done with the senate. Is it a vestigial structure from a bygone era – the coccyx of Confederation? Or is the newly reformed senate actually providing value to Canadians? Listen and find out. 

We speak with Dean Dettloff about his recent piece on how Jason Kenney is at odds with the Pope on carbon pricing, austerity and how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. We also touch on the history and the reality of the Christian left in a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation. 

Chief McFee of the Edmonton Police Service answered the Progress Report's questions (kind of) on defunding the police, secret armoured vehicles, school resource officers and more. We break down his answers with Reakash Walters and Molly Swain. 

The B117 variant of COVID-19 is hyper infectious, currently rampaging through the U.K. and Ireland and is already here in Canada. It's only a matter of time before it gets to Alberta. We talk to Dr. Gosia Gasperowicz about the super strain and what Alberta needs to do to stop it. 

Shannon Phillips, the NDP MLA for Lethbridge West, breaks down Alohagate with us. Producer Jim Storrie joins host Duncan Kinney to wrap up the pod and gets some things off his chest about this scandal.

Jeremy Appel, the author of our recent investigative piece on the "Alberta Model" approach to the opioid crisis, joins the crew over at the Alberta Advantage crew alongside Garth Mullins, the host of Crackdown. They discuss Jeremy's piece as well as the wider sociological and ideological issues around the Alberta government's mishandling of the opioid poisoning crisis that has led to record amount...

Content creator king Abdul Malik joins us to talk about what is to be done about the lack of enforcement at COVID-19 superspreader rallies, Kenney's bizarre Xmas message, prominent Alberta columnists engaging in centrist fanfic and the little matter of the government of Alberta giving the NHL $4 million for a "unique partnership."

That headline is not hyperbole, a Calgary Police officer sued to try and stop the documentary No Visible Trauma from being screened. Thankfully the filmmakers won and we have Marc Serpa Francouer and Robinder Uppal on to talk about their case as well as their documentary that examines several cases of police brutality and explores just how broken of an institution the Calgary Police Service really...