Wag The Doug

This episode is from our friends on the CANADALAND network, COMMONS! This season they are digging into monopolies and asking, is there something special about Canada that makes it especially hospitable to monopolies? To listen to the rest of the COMMONS: Monopoly season, use this link or search COMMONS in your podcast app of choice. Canadians are being squeezed at every end. When it comes to...

A monthly podcast grappling with the reality of four more infuriating years with the Fords and what that means for Ontario. Hosted by Allison Smith and Jonathan Goldsbie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Doug Ford loves calling things “corrupt.” But just how often must his party’s friends and donors reap rewards from their policies before the word can be liberally flung back? On this month’s show, Allison and Jonathan look at who benefits from dismantling the Greenbelt and then trade fave findings from the latest Auditor General’s report. Hosts: Allison Smith, Jonathan Goldsbie Credits: Kattie Lau...

This week, Doug Ford learned that while it’s stunningly easy to toss out constitutional rights, it’s a heck of a lot harder to get away with that. By passing the Keeping Students in Class Act complete with notwithstanding clause, the government mounted an unprecedented attack on CUPE, and essentially all organized labour, picking a fight for which they were thoroughly unprepared. Hosts: Allis...

Meet David Wallace, political fixer. After decades in the game he says he’s getting out, telling all, and dumping his files in public. The result is the viral "Klondike Papers" theory of conspiracies, conservatives, and cults. But are the allegations true? And why is he really implicating himself, and so many others? A wild, true story. Series launches October 31st. Subscribe now ( link ). Hosted...

With electricity demand set to rise and Pickering’s nuclear plant set to close, Doug Ford’s government is now scrambling to keep the province’s lights on. Perhaps spending hundreds of millions to cancel green-energy projects and dismantle new wind turbines might not have been the most forward-thinking of ideas. With an eye on the thermostat, Allison and Jonathan plug in to Ontario’s frayed energy...

The province has got a housing crisis, and the only prescription is… more mayoral powers?? Allison and Jonathan probe the comically flimsy pretense under which Doug Ford has fundamentally, if casually, reshaped how Ontario’s two largest cities are governed. Because what doesn’t quite kill Toronto and Ottawa, apparently just makes their mayors stronger. Clarification (September 22, 2022, at 8:46 p....

Wag the Doug will return in September, by which time who knows what else Doug Ford will have swallowed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allison and Jonathan talk with Jacobin ’s Luke Savage about why the NDP so often provokes indifference, while its American and British counterparts sometimes seem poised to spark revolution. Might a new leader succeed where Andrea Horwath did not? Plus: The Premier’s new cabinet offers unprecedented representation by members of the Ford family. Because it’s 2022. Savage’s new book, The Dead Center...

The PCs are up seven seats from last time, and the opposition parties are down two leaders.  We were going to record this from Doug Ford's election-night event, but Jonathan wasn't allowed in. So he and Allison met up after to talk about life in the Second Age of Ford, and what it means when a vindictive government also believes it's a vindicated one.  This episode is supported by Dougla...

As Doug Ford campaigns against fumes, his opponents are increasingly running on them. Less than a week away, the election's outcome is hardly a foregone conclusion, but the Liberals, at least, have reached chicken-suit levels of desperation. Are they telling us there's no candour available in all of Del Duca's vista? Also, Allison and Jonathan consider whether Doug Ford has actually “evolved...

Our election coverage continues into week three. This week, there was a weirdly upbeat leaders' debate, two party leaders got COVID and several trade unions came out in support of Doug Ford and the PCs. Jonathan and Allison break down what it all means. Want to try ad-free? For a limited time, get access to all of Canadaland's shows ad-free for $1/month for 3 months! Subscribe at canadaland.com/jo...

On week two of the election campaign, the dirt starts to surface about candidates, the party leaders participate in their first debate and the Liberals release their fully-costed platform.  Links:  Read the Press Progress piece about Stephen Lecce participating in a slave auction: https://pressprogress.ca/ontario-education-minister-stephen-lecce-participated-in-slave-auction-during-time-...

Wag the Doug is going weekly for the Ontario election! On the first weekly Wag, Jonathan and Allison talk about Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca's introductory Youtube series, Ford's campaign launch, cringey Star Wars memes, transit ideas and plenty more.  Want to try ad-free? For a limited time, get access to all of Canadaland's shows ad-free for $1/month for 3 months! Subscribe at canadaland....

A listener writes in, wondering why she's getting a rebate cheque in the mail right before an election campaign. Jonathan and Allison take stock of everything the Progressive Conservative Party is doing to secure an election victory, from conveniently-timed cheques to a spree of spending announcements.  Plus, a special announcement about the show. This episode is sponsored by Rotman , Oxio ,...

It's once again that time of year, when the stars of Ontario politics come out to — well, not shine, exactly, so much as drably absorb a depressing fluorescent glow. The 3rd Douggie Awards honour the terrible and hilarious developments of the past 12 months or so that made us laugh 'til we cried or cry 'til we laughed. Allison and Jonathan hand out the prizes, and all signs point to a triump...

When the trucker convoy cratered Ottawa, Doug Ford hoped he could turn the other cheek. However, when another protest blocked the Ambassador bridge in Windsor, disrupting his beloved supply chain, he declared a state of emergency to make sure Ontario stayed ‘Open for Business.' Jonathan and Allison discuss what prompts action from the premier and why he's behaving differently than his federa...

The  Toronto Sun  likes to blast the “unelected” public health officials informing pandemic policy in Ontario. But who's really calling the shots in Doug Ford's government? Allison and Jonathan look at the sway held by pollster Nick Kouvalis and PC campaign manager Kory Teneycke. Not only are they unelected — they don't even work there. This episode is sponsored by Rotm...

It was only a matter of time before Doug Ford dragged us back into a casino debate. Except this time, it's not on the waterfront but in your pocket. Allison and Jonathan look at the possibly criminal implications of his government's new approach to internet gambling, and why you might soon be able to literally place a bet on that. This episode is supported by Rotman's Negotations program. See...

With an election seven months away, Doug Ford's government has suddenly decided it's pro-worker. But would any of their proposed reforms actually improve the lives of low-income and gig workers in Ontario? Allison and Jonathan talk to Brice Sopher of Gig Workers United about whether Ford is actually “Working for Workers” or — like many gig workers themselves — is simply tak...

Support us here: https://wtd.supercast.com/ How do you put a smiling, election-ready face on a government that's done little but slash regulations and mismanage a pandemic? That calls for a brand refresh! Allison and Jonathan look at how Doug Ford's PCs are positioning themselves as The Party of “Yes,” despite a track record that's at best full of maybes. See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

Doug Ford used to oppose vaccine passports. Now's he super in favour. That he changed his mind wasn't surprising; that he did so before Ontario hit a new crisis point was. With Allison in New York, where she's coming to love her vaccine passport, she and Jonathan pore over clues as to why Ford reversed himself sooner rather than later. What does it take to change the premier's mind? This...

Opened in 1971, Ontario Place was an idealistic effort to celebrate and cement a provincial identity. Fifty years later, and having been left to rot, it's about to be carved up and privatized by the Doug Ford government. Join Allison and Jonathan as they take a trip to Ontario Place, where past, present, and future collide in an awkward mishmash of ambitions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...

Over 25 years, WE built a golden brand by inspiring children to rally around their charismatic leader. But behind the scenes, employees experienced a cult-like culture and a troubling blur of charitable and commercial activities. In the aftermath of a national scandal, thousands of donors and volunteers (and dozens of ‘celebrity ambassadors') are left wondering where the money went, and whet...

Allison and Jonathan answer listener questions, such as: Will the government really give a boost to personal-support workers? And what's the deal with Doug Ford's brother's hat? Join them as they venture into the Ford Family Extended Universe. Guaranteed more Fords per minute than any other podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...