Left East to West

Carla Beck, leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, talks about big data centres planned for just outside Regina and Moose Jaw and the Moe government's refusal to explain how the electricity will be provided, the cost to ratepayers or how many jobs will be created. Until the secrecy is lifted and important questions are answered, the Saskatchewan NDP is asking for a pause on the projects. Also, Nikki...

Shannon Devine joins us to talk about her doorstep experience as the NDP's candidate in the April 2025 general election and the August 2026 by-election in Beaches-East York. Shannon talks about the different strategic conditions, the improvement in volunteers, what voters want to talk about on the doorstep, and how she tried to get voters to engage. Also, Nikki reflects on recent comments fro...

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, joins Left East to West to talk about the trade war that President Trump has declared on Canadians and about Prime Minister Carney's investor agenda. Bea tells us workers are worried about the impact of Trump's attack on them, but also expresses labour's concern that Carney's investor agenda will limit worker rights and pri...

USW District 3 Director Scott Lunny joins to talk about how Trump's economic attack is affecting workers represented by his union, particularly those in the forestry sector. Scott gives us an update on key USW initiatives focused on boosting jobs, including stronger buy-Canada procurement, bringing predictability to forest harvests, and taking on a stronger role in worker skills training in m...

Jeremy Withers, senior researcher with the University of Toronto's New Housing Alternatives, sits down with Nikki to find out more about the causes of the 2020-2022 housing market bubble, its big pop in 2022 and the price collapse still going on in Toronto four years later. Jeremy shares his thoughts about government responses to the condo crisis in Toronto and Vancouver and falling home owne...

Jared Walker, Canadians For Tax Fairness Executive Director, joins Nikki and Tom to talk about C4TF's recent report detailing growing extreme inequality in Canada, province by province. Jared believes a wealth tax on fortunes of $100 million and more and a new income tax bracket on annual income over $1 million will reverse growing extreme inequality while providing revenue to end cuts to key...

Marit Stiles, leader of the Ontario NDP, sits down with Nikki and Tom to discuss the scandal-plagued Doug Ford government and her drive to raise people's expectation and break out of the cycle of cynical politics and bad outcomes Ontario has settled into. Marit tells us about the work she’s been doing as official opposition to Premier Doug Ford, digging up scandal after scandal. But she also...

Sabrina Fernandes, author and well-known Brazilian political commentator, talks about this fall's pivotal elections, which pits incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — Lula — of the social democratic Workers Party against Trump-backed candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his Liberals. What's at stake for Canada is that while we seek more trade partners to reduce dependance on US trade,...

Nikki and Tom celebrate six months of Left East to West with a retrospective on federal politics, federal-provincial relations and shifts in provincial politics across the country. The overriding federal story is continued Liberal strength. But polls show a drop in Mark Carney’s net approval score. Can Pierre Poilievre or Avi Lewis benefit? In federal-provincial relationships, alignment between pr...

Carla Beck, leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, sits down with Nikki and Tom to talk about her strategy to defeat Scott Moe and her economic plan to spur Saskatchewan growth. Carla launched her Grid and Growth plan more that two years before the next provincial election, due in October 2028, just before leaked information from inside SaskPower showed premier Scott Moe's coal-generation electricit...

Economist Jim Stanford discusses the cost of Trump’s Iran War to Canadians and Mark Carney’s economic agenda. Jim estimates the direct economic cost of high fuel prices will reach $50 billion and go higher if it  prompts the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates to reduce inflation. Jim also explores the investment banker vision of Mark Carney and concerns that his proposed “sovereign wealth fund...

Stefan Löfven, former prime minister of Sweden and now president of the Party of European Socialists, talks with Tom about the Nordic model, the key role played in it by the labour movement, and its ability to deliver strong economic and social results. Nikki dives into the results of the B.C. Conservative leadership race and how Kerry-Lynne Findlay will shape the contest leading up to the electio...

Shauna Sylvester, Founder and Lead Convenor of Urban Climate Leadership, sits down with Nikki and Tom to talk about Canada's city halls, convening nascent economic sectors, and long-term change that creates jobs, increases energy efficiency and helps people. The Urban Climate Institute is currently convening those who bring social capital -- skills, knowledge, production, finance, policy -- t...

Jennifer Howard, former Manitoba Minister of Labour and Finance, and 2025 NDP campaign director, joins Left East to West to talk about Mark Carney's direction for Canada, the Liberals undoing pharmacare, the NDP's unsolved strategic challenges and building a stronger brand for the NDP on jobs and economic development. Nikki checks in with James Valcke from Viewpoints Research with an upd...

Coree Tull, chair of the the BC Watershed Security Coalition, explores the challenges facing Canadian watersheds in our Feature Interview. Canada's watersheds face intensifying demands from industry, including new data centres, while Donald Trump makes unsettling comments about US desires for Canadian water. Coree believes that to protect jobs and the natural water so central to Canadian iden...

Josh Bizjak, Douglas Caldwell Layton Foundation executive director, talks with Left East to West about his organization’s movement-building work, the varying themes and challenges in different regions of the country -- and trying to build a national story from them. A major effort of the DCLF is their series of annual speaker and social events in eight cities across the country. Their region-focus...

Dave McGrane, University of Saskatchewan political studies professor and “Social Democrats of the North” podcast host, tells the history of Canada’s social democratic impulses, and the movements and people that have advanced them. Through Canada’s labour and farm movements, Dave tracks the women and men who fought to take power from old extractive elites and  democratized and modernized the Canadi...

Siobhan Vipond , Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress, joins Left East to West ahead of the labour federation's policy convention, which opens on May 11 in Winnipeg. Siobhan talks about the shifting demands in representing workers as Canadians took hits from the pandemic recession and inflation -- and now Trump 2.0. With an economic attack from outside and 1.5 million jobl...

Jen Pedersen, foreign policy expert and advisor, took her passion for international politics through a PhD, publishing analyses on regional conflicts included Yemen and Liberia, becoming a Broadbent Institute Fellow, and into advising the Federal NDP on foreign affairs. Jen talks with Nikki and Tom about the implications for Canadians in Trump shifting the global power system farther from multilat...

Claudia Chender, Nova Scotia NDP leader, joins to talk about the PCs government's budget-backdown, rising electricity and housing costs and Premier Tim Houston's mistake of attacking support to the culture of small town and rural Nova Scotia. Nikki delves into what Canadian municipalities are doing around maternity and parental leave for city councillors and Tom digs into first quarter f...

From the Winnipeg convention centre, Nikki and Tom dig into details about the Federal NDP convention and Avi Lewis' win to become party leader. Then, Nikki and Tom are joined by our NDP comm pro panel to talk about the challenges that lay ahead for Avi as he works to rebuild the federal NDP. Our comms pro panel is: - Melanie RIcher, former communications director for Jagmeet Singh - Farouk Ka...

Heather McPherson, candidate for leader of Canada's NDP and Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Strathcona, takes a break from her campaign to join Left East to West from Edmonton, Alberta: - how the NDP can escape polarization and the strategic voting trap - being a partner for provincial NDP leaders trying to defeat conservatives - deepening the relationship with labour - organizing stronger...

Rob Ashton, candidate for the leader of Canada's NDP and President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union of Canada takes a break from his campaign to join Left East to West from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan: - how the NDP can escape polarization and the strategic voting trap - being a partner for provincial NDP leaders trying to defeat conservatives - deepening the relationship wi...

Sussanne Skidmore, President of the BC Federation of Labour, shares her thoughts about growth and austerity, labour law reform including sectoral bargaining, and trying to bring that magic alignment to the social democratic labour movement both in BC and federally. Nikki and Tom discuss Canada's most popular premier Wab Kinew supporting working women by requiring workplace menstrual product a...

Mon Mar 16 - Guio Jacinto, economic and trade analyst, United Steelworkers Mon Mar 23 - Sussanne Skidmore , President, BC Federation of Labour Mon Mar 30 - Special federal NDP convention episode Mon Apr 6 - taking a one-week break -- maybe? Mon Apr 13 - Claudia Chender , Leader, Nova Scotia NDP Mon Apr 20 - Jen Pederson , foreign policy analyst Mon Apr 27 - Bea Bruske , President, Canadian Labour...