The Rodgers Brief

This week, Paul and Adam review the stories of the week, and then dive into an analysis of police media tactics, in a week where two RCMP officers were shot in Saskatchewan, and very little information has been shared with the public. Also this week;Former RCMP officer, now BC MLA, Macklin McCall is calling for the government there to address the Project Eastbourne/OPP report into the treatment of...

Happy Father's Day to our viewers who celebrate. This week, we welcome police whistleblower, Kelly Donovan. Ms. Donovan was an officer with the Waterloo Police Service and has written two books about how those who speak out about issues in the police get suppressed, or else become the target of complaints from within their own police services. We discuss her early days on the job, how complain...

This week we welcome back former RCMP Deputy Commissioner, Curt Allen, to provide his reaction to last week's guest, Kelly Donovan's story, as well as his insight on issues with various police chiefs throughout Canada. Also, we discuss the shooting from this past Monday in Montreal, where Cst. Mohmaed Benredouane was killed, as well as 68-year old Michel Mizrahi. We discuss the shooter&#39...

This week we welcome Monty Robinson, the former police officer at the center of the controversial death of Robert Dziekański at the Vancouver Airport in 2007. He discusses the efforts he has made to clear his name, and the barriers to justice he has encountered. Also discussed;The deaths of two police officers in Ontario has brought to the forefront the challenges of policing in rural areas and th...

This week we are excited to welcome Ryan McMahon, the podcaster and documentarian behind the Crave hit "Thunder Bay", a 4-part story that follows McMahon as he re-investigates nine murders that were subject to official Police Review and Civilian Police Commission investigation reports. McMahon discusses his evolution from stand-up comedian to documentary storyteller, and has some advice...

This week, we welcome former RCMP officer, Cathy Mansley, to the show. Cathy has been the driving force behind two class action lawsuits against the RCMP, and made the complaint that lead to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission report on the death of Susan Butlin. Also discussed, the reaction to last week's story on the death by suicide of Clinton Ellision, including media coverage of...

This week we discuss the tragic death of Clinton Ellison, as well as the report from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP on the RCMP's botched investigation into the sexual assault complaint of Susan Butlin. Clinton Ellison was the brother of Corrie Ellison, who was killed on April 18, 2020 in Portapique, during the NS mass shooting. There have always been questions abou...

This week, we welcome guest Kim March, who was an 'unindicted co-conspirator' of William Majcher, who was acquitted this week in BC of targeting an alleged fraudster on behalf of the Chinese government. Mr. March was to be a witness in the trial, but was never called to the stand. He tells us about the trial, as well as stories from his career with the RCMP, and his work since travelling t...

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms (and maternally-inclined care providers). This week, we follow up on stories from our recent coverage, with new details and reactions. First, we discuss the growing calls for an outside police force to take over the Jack and Lilly Sullivan investigation after the RCMP has gone a year without finding any answers. We discuss why an outside agency makes sense, w...

This week, we are excited to introduce a new guest, former RCMP Complaints Commissioner, Shirley Heafey. She is joined by former RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curt Allen to discuss her career, her interactions with senior RCMP leadership, and her role in the Robert Dziekański case (where she assisted the responding officers, who were eventually exonerated by an OPP report on the incident).Also discusse...

This week we welcome back former Halifax Police and RCMP officer, Calvin Lawrence, author of 'Black Cop', to discuss the new book by retired Toronto Police homicide detective Hank Idsinga. Idsinga has made allegations of anti-sematic racism at the highest levels of the Toronto Police service in national interviews this week. Also, the NS government had committee hearings this week to discu...

This week, we acknowledge the 6th anniversary of the Nova Scotia mass shootings in Portapique and other communities in central Nova Scotia, with guests Scott McLeod and Darrell Currie. Scott's brother was a victim of Gabriel Wortman, and Darrell Currie was Deputy Fire Chief of the Onslow-Belmont Fire Department and was shot at by officers who claimed to have mistook an officer for Wortman. We...

This week, we welcome former RCMP officer, Rob Creasser, who was involved in the formation of the RCMP union, and who has thoughts (and breaking news) on the National Police Federation, and it's (now former) head, Brian Sauve. Also covered this week;The Premier of Nova Scotia called for respect for the RCMP, after vehicles were damaged following raids on cannabis dispensaries located on First...

Happy Easter! We start this week's show discussing the dispensary raids that ended in arrests, police having to abandon their vehicles, and politicians looking to shift the blame from their own Ministerial Directive. Paul and Adam also discuss the comments from Canadian Bar Association President, Bianca Kratt, regarding a newspaper column that that made comment on Ontario Justice Faisal Mirza,...

This week, Paul and Adam discuss the National Police Federation election controversy, the Attorney General's report on RCMP staffing levels, the RCMP's "expression of regret" for spying on Indigenous leaders (including former National Chief George Manuel) in the 1970's, and the arguments in the Supreme Court over Quebec's controversial legislation to prevent public servan...

This week, Adam and Paul delve into two parole board decisions, threatened school shootings, and the efforts being made to clear the names of Toronto Police officers who were found to by lying by a judge and jury. Cameron Ortis, the former head of RCMP Intelligence, was granted parole soon after starting what was reported as a 14 year sentence. The parole board decision indirectly calls into quest...

This week, it is just Adam and Paul, discussing the week's news and released cases. There is breaking news this week, as the guys discuss former spy Cameron Ortis being granted early parole from his 14 year jail sentence. This story was national news when Mr. Ortis was tried and convicted, but his being granted parole has not been covered by any mainstream media outlet. Also this week, a judge...

This week we welcome former RCMP Superintendent, and highly respected organized crime expert Garry Clement. Garry is the author of Under Cover - Fifty Years of Dirty Money, Organized Crime and the RCMP, and brings insight into the Ryan Wedding story, as well as how Canada is dealing with international criminal organizations. Stories covered this week include the coordinated raids the RCMP conducte...

This week we welcome documentary filmmaker, Amy Herdy, of Cove Tower, based out of Boulder, Colorado. Amy is looking into making a documentary on the NS mass shootings after having read Paul's books on the subject. She discusses the industry, why she thinks no documentaries have been made to date about the shootings, and how she is different from other filmmakers. Also this week, Paul and Adam...

This week, we take a few minutes to lament the gold medal hockey game loss to the US, before discussing the stories of the week. This week saw the US Supreme Court strike down the tariff's that had been imposed by President Trump, as Adam had predicted after hearing the arguments before that Court. Also, we learned this week that the Tumbler Ridge school shooter was banned from Open AI for the...

This week, we bring a special guest, who's name most will not recognize. Melissa Ellsworth was a forensics nurse and correctional guard who suffered a head injury trying to save an elderly woman from a dangerous patient. She has been battling Workers Compensation ever since, and has now been approved for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). She tells her story. Before hearing from Melissa, Paul...

This week we delve into two main stories, the brewing dispute between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the Judges of the province who are accusing the Premier of political interference, and then the dramatic arrests of eight Toronto police officers on allegations that they were collaborating with organized crime on auto theft, drug trafficking, extortion, and conspiracy to murder a corrections o...

This week, guests Scott McLeod (brother of the late Sean McLeod) and Retired Deputy Superintendent Curt Allen bring their perspectives to the news that 23 RCMP officers and lawyers received awards for their work in response to the NS mass shootings of April, 2020, and also that Employment and Social Development Canada released a Workplace Incident Report critical of the RCMP response. Also discuss...

This week we go beyond the excerpts and dig into the full book, The First Survivor: Life With Canada's Deadliest Mass Shooter, with citizen investigator Chad Jones, and Frank Magazine's Andrew Douglas. We discuss remaining unanswered questions, how the book is structured, reaction from family members of the victims and their lawyers, and how the mainstream media has been covering its release.

This week has seen an excerpt of Lisa Banfield's book, The First Survivor - Living With Canada's Deadliest Mass Shooter, published by the Nationals Post chain of newspapers. She also did an interview with CTV in advance of the book release on January 20, 2026. We review some of the details provided in the excerpt, and key outstanding discrepancies in this discussion with Chad Jones and Ryan Potter...