As the world transitions to a knowledge-based, innovation economy, Canada is lagging behind. The Financial Post has kicked off a deep look at how this trend could endanger the country’s economic well-being, and what is needed to help businesses flourish and grow. In this episode, we speak with Jim Balsillie, a leader at the heart of the innovation movement about the challenges companies face, and what role the government can play to help Canadian businesses succeed. Learn more about your ad choi...
Nov 17, 2018•21 min
It looks like Calgary will not be in the mix to host the 2026 Olympic winter games after all. After months of back and forth, the No side won out in a city-wide plebiscite Tuesday, leaving city council little choice but to scuttle a multi-billion dollar bid. We look at how the Yes side failed to make its case, and what the no vote says about possible future bids. Dave is joined by Calgary Herald reporter Ryan Rumbolt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 15, 2018•17 min
This Sunday, Buglers or trumpeters will stand stoically at ceremonies across the country and their instruments clarion call will usher in two moments of silence. The plaintive notes of the Last Post will resonate in the hearts and minds of those paying tribute to all those who have lost their lives in service of our country. Dave is joined by Ottawa Citizen reporter Bruce Deachman to look at the origins of that familiar melody, and why it is so important. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
Nov 09, 2018•13 min
As the trial for Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" guzman kicks off in Brooklyn, the National Post has uncovered the story of a Canadian working as a cocaine smuggler in El Chapo's operation. Mykahylo Koretskyy, also known as Russian mike and cobra was picked up earlier this year in the dutch territory of curacao, on a 2014 u.s. indictment. Dave is joined by reporter Brian Fitzpatrick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 08, 2018•20 min
The suspension of a B.C. university professor is being investigated over concern his employer violated his academic freedom. Derek Pyne was suspended without pay over research into the practice of his colleagues publishing in so-called predatory academic journals. And now the Canadian association of university professors is looking into how Thomson Rivers University handled the incident. Dave is joined by Vancouver Sun columnist Douglas Todd. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...
Nov 06, 2018•16 min
A gunman walked into a Pittsburgh Synagogue last weekend and open fire, killing eight people. In the wake of Pittsburgh massacre, and the Mosque shooting in Quebec city last year, we look at what is driving hateful rhetoric online, and how we’re seeing a rise in anti-Semitism in Canada. Dave is joined by Montreal Gazette columnist Bill Brownstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 01, 2018•17 min
Toronto Mayor John Tory easily cruised to a second term as leader of Canada’s largest city last week. He did so amid a fight with the provincial government over a push from Ontario’s premier to shrink the size of city council in the thick of a campaign. Dave and Toronto Sun editor-in-chief Adrienne Batra look at how the mayor and the premier are looking to put that fight behind them, and how the changes to city council may help Tory after all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Oct 30, 2018•20 min
Vancouver, a city reeling amid a housing crisis and being on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, has a new mayor. Former NDP MP Kennedy Stewart was elected last weekend as Vancouver's first independent mayor in 30 years. During the campaign he took strong positions on housing, and he has been a staunch opponent of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Dave is joined by Dan Fumano of the Vancouver Sun and Province. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 26, 2018•22 min
One week into legalized cannabis, and business is booming on the prairies. In Alberta, were retail sales are privatized, stores have been lined up out the door since opening day on Oct. 17 and the novelty hasn’t worn off. One major retail says cannabis sales have even outpaced the company’s liquor business in some stores. Is that just the novelty factor? Or will the popularity, and product shortages, continue? Dave is joined by Calgary Herald reporter Bill Kaufmann. Learn more about your ad choi...
Oct 25, 2018•20 min
The case against Vice Admiral Mark Norman doesn’t hit court until next summer, but it caused a big ruckus in the House of Commons last week. Norman, the former vice chief of defence staff is charged with breach of trust for allegedly leaking information related to a shipbuilding contract. The Tories have been making political hay over whether there was interference on the contract from Treasury Board president Scott Brison. Dave is joined by National Post political columnist John Ivison Learn mo...
Oct 23, 2018•22 min
Other countries use it, Political parties use it, even the Oscars and the NHL awards use it. But so far, Canada has been reluctant to adopt the idea of ranked ballots for major elections. That could be changing. Dave is joined by London Free Press reporter Megan Stacey to look at how London Ontario is making the shift to ranked ballots for its upcoming municipal election, and whether it could spread elsewhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 18, 2018•21 min
We are down to the last 24 hours until cannabis becomes legal in Canada. But that doesn’t mean that all the smoke has cleared when it comes to retail sales and police enforcement of new laws around the black market. Dave is joined by Megan Henderson of the GrowthOp, Postmedia's cannabis news site, to look at how the legal pot landscape is shaping up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 16, 2018•20 min
Two of Canada’s most prominent conservative leaders met in Calgary Friday, in front of hundreds of cheering supporters. Doug Ford and Jason Kenney had one other politician politician top of mind: Justin Trudeau and his planned carbon tax. Dave is joined by the always-animated Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell to look at how the rally frames the debate around the federal climate plan, and what it means for elections next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 11, 2018•16 min
Last week, Alberta became the province with the highest minimum wage in Canada, with a bump to $15/hour. Labour groups are happy, but some businesses are feeling the pinch more than others. Dave and Edmonton Journal food reporter Liane Faulder take a look at how the restaurant industry has been faring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 09, 2018•14 min
Quebec politics got turned upside down this week, with Francois Legault and his Coalition Avenir Quebec taking down the governing Liberals. Legault won on a platform of shrinking the size of government, and fixing health and education, but also limiting the number of immigrants to Quebec. Dave and Montreal Gazette politics reporter Philip Authier look at what the change in government will mean for the province, and for the relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada. Learn more about your...
Oct 04, 2018•19 min
The U.S., Canada, and Mexico have a new agreement to replace NAFTA, but there’s still political fallout to consider. We look at how Canada fared, how the Justin Trudeau government looks in all this, and how this could change future trade agreements. Plus, we catch up on what has apparently been a turbulent first year in office for Julie Payete, Canda’s Governor General. Dave is Joined by the National Post's Marie-Danielle Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 03, 2018•20 min
Abdulahi Hasan Sharif is charged with five counts of attempted murder in addition to charges for fleeing Edmonton police and possessing a knife. While police initially said they were investigating the events as “acts of terrorism,” no terrorism charges have been laid. Dave is joined by reporter Jonny Wakefield, who spoke with Sharif's partner recently. Read more: https://edmontonjournal.com/news/crime/who-is-abdulahi-hasan-sharif-one-year-later-everything-we-know-about-the-alleged-edmonton-attac...
Oct 02, 2018•26 min
When people think about sports and Alberta, there are two things that immediately come to mind: The Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, and Calgary’s appearance on the world stage as hosts of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games. It’s a possibility that Calgary and surrounding alpine slopes will once again host the best athletes on the snow But it’s not without controversy. We look at the debate that has a bid for the 2026 games on thin ice. Dave is joined by Calgary Herald city hall reporter Meghan P Learn m...
Sep 27, 2018•26 min
A pair of tornadoes touched down in the Ottawa-Gatineau region Friday, the first time a tornado has hit a major Canadian city in decades. Homes were destroyed, people were injured, but miraculously no one has yet died from the the storm. The aftermath caused the capital to be eerily quiet on Monday. Dave is joined by Ottawa Citizen reporters Elizabeth Payne and Tom Spears. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 25, 2018•20 min
As Canada and the U.S. Negotiate NAFTA behind closed doors, at top U.S. Republican Lawmaker has publicly turned up the heat. The GOP house whip has said there is ‘growing frustration’ in Congress with what he calls Canada’s negotiating tactics. Dave and National Post reporter Tom Blackwell look at what the urgency is in the talks, and what it may take to get a deal done. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 19, 2018•19 min
The two big drug topics that are front and centre in the minds of Canadians are the coming legalization of marijuana, and the opioid crisis, which has seen thousands die of overdoses from fentanyl and other deadly drugs. Is there anything that can be learned from Portugal, which decriminalized all drugs following a wave of overdose deaths in the 1990s? Dave is joined by Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham who spent a week in Portugal for a seven-part series on drug policy. Learn more about yo...
Sep 18, 2018•26 min
As NAFTA talks between Canada and the U.S. roll on, suggestions grow louder that we roll back on supply management in our farming sector That has met with fierce resistance in Quebec, and the issue has become a flashpoint in that province’s ongoing election campaign. Dave and Montreal Gazette reporter Rene Bruemmer look at what’s at stake, and how the Liberal government’s fortunes hang on the outcome of these talks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 13, 2018•20 min
Just as construction was set to begin on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the Federal Court of Appeal threw a wrench into the process. Dave and Edmonton Journal columnist Graham Thomson look at what the court ruling means for the future of the project, and for the future of two of its biggest backers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 04, 2018•22 min
On Monday, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould approved the Dräger DrugTest 5000, a device that will soon be available to police forces across the country to combat drug-impaired driving, as the government prepares for cannabis legalization in October. Lawyers from a Vancouver-based law firm say they are ready to challenge the usage of the newly approved saliva-screening device for marijuana in court as soon as it hits the road. Vancouver Sun reporter Behdad Mahichi joins Dave to discu...
Aug 30, 2018•17 min
The Conservative Party of Canada headed to Halifax hoping for a display of unity and momentum as electioneering heats up. But outspoken Quebec MP Maxime Bernier rained on their parade in a big way, announcing he was leaving the party. Dave is joined by National Post reporter Marie-Danielle Smith, who explains the long simmering fight between leader Andrew Scheer, and his one-time opponent, and where the conservative movement goes from here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
Aug 28, 2018•26 min
A war of words is waging between Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and Toronto city council. The fight, over shrinking that city’s council, to just 25 seats from a proposed 47, will spill into a courtroom later this month. Dave is joined by Toronto Sun political bureau chief Antonella Artuso to discuss what both sides are saying and how it’s more than just a fight between two levels of government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 23, 2018•22 min
Since last's month's spree shooting in Toronto that left two people dead and 13 others injured, there has been renewed calls for a handgun ban in Canada. Dave is joined by National Post columnist Chris Selley, who argues why a handgun ban might not have the desired outcome of reducing gun violence in Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 21, 2018•18 min
As the floodgates on Canada's legal cannabis market are set to open this fall, Mohawks on the Kahnawake territory near Montreal say they don't plan on submitting to outside regulation. Rather than abide by Quebec's system of government-run and taxed cannabis stores, the Kahnawake Mohawk Council will move forward with its own plan to cultivate and distribute weed on the territory. On this episode Dave is joined by Montreal Gazette reporter Christopher Curtis to discuss how the First Nation will i...
Aug 16, 2018•16 min
On Friday morning four people were shot dead in Fredericton, including two police officers. Little is known about the alleged shooter, or what might have motivated these crimes. Dave is joined by Canadian Press reporter Morgan Lowrie who covered the story from the small New Brunswick city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 14, 2018•13 min
Tweets from the federal government calling on Saudi Arabia to release imprisoned political activists have landed Canada in a growing spat with the Gulf kingdom. The Saudis have expelled the Canadian ambassador, frozen new business deals, and recalled students studying in Canada. Dave is joined by National Post reporter Marie-Danielle Smith to discuss the unusual international incident. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 09, 2018•21 min
