The LeDrew Three Minute Interview

Daniel Tate, founder of IntegrityTO and candidate for Toronto City Council, joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss why this year’s municipal election may feel very different. Toronto recorded historically low voter participation in the 2022 municipal election. Tate says that after four difficult years, the mood he is encountering at the door is changing: voters are frustrated with the corruption and inco...

John Rapley, economist and contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail, joins Stephen LeDrew to ask a question many Canadians are increasingly asking: why can’t Canada build big things anymore? Rapley argues that Canada’s enormous natural-resource wealth may have contributed to a degree of complacency. Rather than developing more high-value industries and manufacturing, Canada has often relied o...

Stephen LeDrew says Canada should trade with China — but argues that doing business with Beijing cannot mean ignoring the national-security risks that come with it. In this Friday rant, LeDrew previews upcoming conversations with guests who have experience in intelligence and national security, focusing on Jihadi Terrorism, on Chinese government interference, espionage, economic influence, and Can...

Catherine Swift joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss LNG Canada’s massive project in Kitimat, British Columbia — and whether it represents a Canadian success story or an example of just how long it takes this country to build major infrastructure. LNG Canada was announced in 2012, received its environmental approval in 2015 and reached a final investment decision for Phase 1 in 2018. On September 28, 2...

Toronto Sun columnist Brian Lilley joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss Alberta’s upcoming referendum and the question getting most of the national attention: could Alberta actually leave Canada? Both LeDrew and Lilley expect Albertans to reject separation. But Lilley argues that focusing exclusively on independence misses the much bigger story. Albertans are also being asked about immigration, provinc...

John Rapley, contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail, joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss one of the biggest economic questions surrounding artificial intelligence: is the AI boom actually a bubble? Rapley argues that enormous amounts of money are flowing into AI infrastructure, data centres and technology companies, but the productivity gains needed to justify today’s valuations still haven’t c...

Catherine Swift joins Stephen LeDrew for a pointed discussion about political appointments, government spending and whether Canadians are demanding enough accountability from Ottawa. The conversation begins with Diana Fox Carney, the Prime Minister’s wife, who he has named Canada’s Ocean Envoy and Chair of the 2027 Our Ocean Conference ! The Carney Government says the position is volunteer and unp...

Former Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri joins Stephen LeDrew to ask whether Canadians are becoming overwhelmed — and increasingly numb — to controversies surrounding government spending, transparency and accountability. The conversation begins with the appointment of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s wife, Diana Fox Carney, as Canada’s volunteer Ocean Envoy and chair of the 2027 Our Ocean Conference, a...

In this Friday rant, Stephen LeDrew asks a question he does not ask very often: could Canada finally be starting to move in the right direction? LeDrew remains deeply critical of the federal government, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, government spending, bureaucracy and what he sees as continuing problems with accountability. But this rant is also about something bigger. After years of poli...

Economist and Globe and Mail columnist John Rapley joins Stephen LeDrew to ask why the war involving the United States and Iran is still dragging on months after it began. Rapley argues that Washington entered the conflict with powerful military capabilities but without a sufficiently clear political endgame. The United States and its allies have inflicted substantial damage on Iran’s military inf...

Lawyer, columnist and Save Our History founder Mark Johnson joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss his campaign to make candidates take a public position on the future of Sir John A. Macdonald statues removed from public spaces. Johnson says Save Our History has contacted candidates asking a straightforward question: should Macdonald statues be returned to public view, or should they remain in storage? F...

In this Friday rant, Stephen LeDrew takes aim at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing ability - arguing that Canadians are hearing plenty from the Prime Minister on the international stage while getting too little debate, accountability and explanation at home. LeDrew points to Carney’s recent New York Times interview, where the Prime Minister discussed preparing for the remote possibility of U....

Economist and small-business advocate Catherine Swift joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss the latest trouble facing Canada’s steel industry after Stelco announced layoffs affecting up to 500 workers. While Stelco has cited U.S. tariffs, weakened demand and import pressures, Swift argues that Canadians also need to look at global steel overcapacity and competition from heavily subsidized Chinese produc...

Former Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss Parliament, government accountability and whether too much political power has become concentrated around Prime Minister Mark Carney and the PMO. The conversation begins with Carney’s recent interview with the New York Times, in which he said Canada may eventually resume a “controlled increase” in population as the government...

Mark Milke, President of the Aristotle Foundation, joins Stephen LeDrew to ask whether Canadians are really disengaged from politics — or whether the political system gives them too few opportunities to participate. Milke argues that ordinary Canadians cannot be expected to become experts on every issue when they are busy working, raising families and living their lives. The deeper problem, he say...

Writer David Polansky, author of the Strange Frequencies Substack, joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss Canada’s rapidly evolving relationship with the European Union — and whether anyone actually knows what the proposed arrangement would mean. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has floated the idea of Canada becoming an EU “associate member,” even though no established status by that n...

Harrison Faulkner, contributor to Juno News and founder of Ensign Media, joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss Canada’s rapidly deepening relationship with the European Union — and what an unprecedented proposal for Canada to become an EU “associate member” might actually mean. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has floated Canada becoming the EU’s first associate member, although no suc...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss one of Canada’s biggest economic problems: the extraordinary amount of time it can take to get major projects approved and built. Smith points to a transmission project that took 17 years to complete and argues that no serious investor can be expected to wait that long before earning a return. Alberta is now testing a different approac...

In this Friday rant, Stephen LeDrew argues that Canadians need to apply much greater scrutiny to Prime Minister Mark Carney — not because of partisan politics, but because major claims and government decisions deserve to be tested against the details. LeDrew begins with Carney’s history in international finance. Carney led the UN-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance in 2021. American, Canadian and Eur...

Former broadcaster and MPP Peter Shurman joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss Canada’s brain drain and why so many talented young entrepreneurs and innovators are choosing the United States over building businesses at home. Shurman argues that Canada still produces exceptionally talented graduates and promising new ideas, but lacks the venture capital, speed, and business environment needed to turn tho...

John Capobianco of FleishmanHillard joins Stephen LeDrew to ask whether Donald Trump and the Canada-U.S. trade dispute are changing the traditional relationship between the Prime Minister and Canada’s Premiers. Normally, Ottawa speaks for Canada internationally while Premiers concentrate on their provinces. But Doug Ford, Wab Kinew, David Eby, Tim Houston and others have increasingly taken their o...

Mark Milke, President of the Aristotle Foundation, joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss a growing frustration in Canada: the feeling that institutions making major decisions are increasingly disconnected from the people who live with the consequences. Milke argues that businesspeople and politicians face obvious reality checks — businesses fail, politicians lose elections — while people working within...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss one of the biggest political questions hanging over the province: could Alberta actually separate from Canada? Smith says roughly 30% of Albertans currently support leaving Canada — a number she says is far too high for comfort. She argues that separatist sentiment grew after another Liberal federal victory and reflects years of frustr...

In this Friday rant, Stephen LeDrew shares two recent conversations that convinced him Canadians are paying closer attention to politics, government and the direction of the country. The first came when several businessmen challenged LeDrew for being too hard on Prime Minister Mark Carney. LeDrew’s response was simple: show me the results. He argues that Carney has made ambitious promises about ac...

Public provocateur Robin Bredin joins Stephen LeDrew to discuss a question increasingly confronting Canadians: how do we rebuild social cohesion in a country that feels increasingly divided? Bredin argues that restoring Canadian society begins with individual liberty, independent thinking and a stronger education system. He and LeDrew discuss whether schools have abandoned fundamentals, whether pa...