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A tragic shooting in Montreal resulted in the deaths of a police officer, a civilian, and the shooter. Following the incident, Canadian media withheld the shooter’s manifesto from the public, offering cursory summaries of the contents. Rahim Mohamed of the National Post joins Jesse Brown to consider what was actually in the shooter’s manifesto. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), imogen sayers (Mixing and Mastering), Tristan...
Progressive Conservative Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston had been one of the most popular politicians in the country. Mark Carney-level popular. Regina George-level popular. For a while, it looked like Nova Scotia would be Houston’s forever. But now his popularity is at its lowest point since he took on the top job. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with his former Justice Minister turned Liberal MLA Becky Druhan to unpack her striking political turn: how does a senior member of a government go from de...
For the past four years Canadaland has been investigating a cluster of terrible illnesses in New Brunswick. A group of people were suffering from debilitating symptoms that nobody could explain. Those people lost neurological function. Some lost their lives. What was afflicting them? Was it a prion illness like mad cow disease? Was it somehow linked to shellfish? Might it have to do with blue-green algae blooms or environmental contamination from heavy metals or contamination from the herbicide ...
Journalists and politicians are honouring Robert Fife, who retired after 48 years. Known for his big scoops, Fife leveraged anonymous sources to hold the powerful accountable. But Fife’s brand of “access journalism” also runs the risk of being used as a political tool. Jan Wong joins Jesse Brown to explain why journalists shouldn’t get too cozy with the politicians they cover. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), imogen sayer...
A gun-for-hire network is revealed after a Toronto Police Officer is killed in a raid investigating a shooting at the US consulate. The network is potentially linked to a slew of shootings across the GTA, including synagogues. Meanwhile, a US Dept of Justice indictment suggests some of these shootings may have been contracted by Iranian proxies. Plus, an update on Canadaland’s settlement with Theresa Kielburger. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Produ...
Mark Carney’s Liberals are trying to push a whole stack of bills across the finish line–and it’s no small stack. Bail reform, hate crimes, gender-based violence, housing, election financing, digital safety, lawful access, and privacy. Is this what an efficient Parliament looks like? Or is this what it looks like when a very determined Carney turns urgency into pressure, and pressure starts to feel a lot like being yelled at? Host Noor Azrieh asks POLITICO’s Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric. ...
This episode delves into the political complexities of the World Cup hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada, highlighting the divisive impact of Trump's "America First" policies on international sporting events, including visa restrictions and an unwelcoming atmosphere for fans and officials. Investigative journalist Karim Zidan discusses his career and redefines "sportswashing," arguing that the US World Cup may also distract from domestic human rights issues. The episode also critiques Canada's disproportionate burden and lack of prestige as a co-host, before concluding with tournament predictions.
So it looks like technically Canada is in the midst of a “technical” recession, but, technicalities aside, is a 0.2% drop in growth really that big a deal? Carney hasn’t said much on the subject, just that this is just a “settling-in period” while his policies take effect. On the other hand, Poilievre seems almost gleeful, saying that it’s a result of a “banker who can’t budget”. Oh, and he’s made a whole attack ad dunking on the technicalities of a technical recession with a little help from g...
Carney just released his new 55-page strategy, “AI for All,” to much fanfare, over $2B in funding commitments, and…very few details on how he’s going to accomplish any of it. Canadians were at the forefront of AI’s creation, yet we’re already falling behind in harnessing this revolutionary technology. But most of us aren’t convinced that AI is safe: not for the environment, or the kids, or our personal privacy. Plus, it seems like no one’s figured out how to actually make a return on their inves...
Host Sam spent a day at Canada's biggest defence trade show asking about autonomous weapons. The good news: Canada says humans must always be part of the decision to kill. The bad news: nobody can define what that means, the US just voted against a UN resolution banning killer robots, and Pete Hegseth wants the Pentagon to be an "AI-first warfighting force." Sam talks to an AI researcher, an underwater robot CEO, a defence contractor who tells it like it is, and an ethicist who somehow remains h...
Last week, Mark Carney announced his big A.I. strategy. Two billion dollars to support creating jobs, providing free A.I. literacy training, and protection against some of the potential harms and risks around A.I., especially with kids. Oh, and he wants to build a world-leading supercomputer. Canada's leading A.I. company is Cohere. Cohere isn't like OpenAI or xAI or Anthropic or any of those other well-known large language model companies. They're not public facing. They don't do image generati...
The Globe and Mail’s editorial board calls the initial reporting on Kamloops residential school graves a “failure of journalism.” Five years later, debate continues over small errors in the language used to report on the preliminary findings of an investigation into unmarked graves. Is the Globe’s decision to address these issues productive or will it fuel denial of the impact of residential schools on Indigenous communities? Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons(As...
As journalists, our work brings us to stories that fall into one large category: the public interest. If something is happening in your community that people need to know about, it’s our job to tell it. But of course, there are many other interesting stories that we would probably never publish. So we wanted to hear your stories, the ones that might not be fit for print, but have a good hook, a good twist — something memorable. And you came out swingin’. From dog bartenders to student teacher re...
Carney’s big address on antisemitism didn’t amount to much. Acknowledging what he called a “crisis,” Carney spoke at a Toronto synagogue, highlighting measures taken to address antisemitism in Canada, including changes in hate crimes laws and a council that will study the problem. Jewish Canadians expecting tangible action were disappointed, so why did he bother? NOTE: This episode makes use of generative A.I. for the following purpose: voice cloning to correct an error in the original recording...
This is the Liberal government’s second attempt at passing lawful access legislation. Last year, the government pushed Bill C-2, their marquee border security bill that didn’t even make it to committee because of the backlash. But now, Bill C-22 is here, and things are feeling a little deja vu. Host Noor Azrieh asks Robert Diab what new powers this bill actually creates. Why are tech companies, privacy advocates, and our allies so worried? Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Produce...
Trump and Putin both hate Chrystia Freeland. But her ability to unite world leaders under a single banner isn't her greatest accolade. Freeland is quite simply one of the most acrcomplished public servants in Canada's history. For starters, she was the first woman to serve as finance minister. She helped introduce $10 a day daycare in this country. She was also instrumental in the fall of the Trudeau government, and currently she runs the Rhodes Scholarship and works as an economic advisor for U...
Danielle Smith sidesteps the courts to ask Albertans a question about a referendum on separation. Carney calls it a “dangerous bluff,” reminiscent of Brexit, and Smith’s question is being criticized as confusing and potentially misleading. Rahim Mohamed of the National Post joins to explain why he predicted this would happen (but he didn’t say it would make sense) and why he thinks Danielle Smith is improvising on the fly, rather than following a plan. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson ...
This industry is notorious for exploiting interns. Thanks to our supporters, we’ve been able to build a program that does the opposite: pay a fair wage to emerging journalists to work on their own stories, not ours. Applications for the 2026 Canadaland Audio Journalism Fellowship are now open. This is a paid 4-month opportunity in the fall for two journalists to pitch, develop, and produce an original story to be broadcast on our network. Learn more and apply at labs.canadaland.com . Application...
After Israeli minister Ben-Gvir posts a video of the inhumane treatment of detained protestors, Canada joins the global condemnation of Israel’s treatment of Gaza flotilla participants, including 12 Canadians. Rahim Mohamed of the National Post joins Jesse Brown to discuss why Jewish Canadians are reluctant to voice their criticism of Israel, and what’s left out of the coverage of the Gaza flotilla. Host: Jesse Brown Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact ...
As Canada inches closer to China to escape the US's “global swagger,” do we even know who we're dealing with? As Canada inches closer to China’s “global swagger” to escape the US's orbit, do we even know who we're dealing with? This week, Noor sits down with Jonathan Cheng, The Wall Street Journal 's China Bureau Chief, a Canadian who's been based in Beijing since 2019, to get an inside look at China's current confidence, its trade posture, and what Beijing actually thinks of Canada. Also, Xav T...
Ebola. Hantavirus. Here we go again. Tracking outbreaks to see if they are going to spread across the world. Triggering fear: virus, epidemic, pandemic. And a flood of headlines. The locations, the numbers, the details change but the gist of the message is always the same. Keep the disease away from us. But today we meet someone who heard the news of an Ebola outbreak and ran straight at it. Into the hot zone. To the epicentre, to a village in what was then Zaire 30 years ago. Her five weeks liv...
CBC is pausing its production of an elaborate “prank show” led by Indigenous creators after outrage online. Critics say “Northland Tales” is political activism that has no place on the national broadcaster. But Ryan McMahon joins San Grewal to explain why pranking is fair game, even on the CBC, and why it would be a shame if the show gets cancelled. Host: San Grewal Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Kallan Lyons (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), Caleb Thompson (Mixing and Mastering), ma...
Nate Erskine-Smith lost his bid for nomination for the Ontario Liberals in Scarborough Southwest, putting his plans for leadership in question. He’s alleging serious voting irregularities, and that the Ontario Liberal establishment has it in for him. Meanwhile, the Toronto Star publishes a curious Editor’s Note, retracting a statement from the PMO that Carney did not in fact endorse Erskine-Smith, despite the video being posted online. Then, a Toronto Star freelance columnist criticizes the Star...
Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to turn Canada into a defence powerhouse — and venture capital is racing to cash in. Host Sam Konnert talks to defence experts and industry insiders about the new military-tech gold rush, and asks: can Silicon Valley mentality fix Canada’s stagnant defence sector, or are we scaling up its worst instincts? CORRECTION: at the 26 minute mark, the reporter mistakenly says Christiane Fox was questioned by Conservative MP Damien Kurek before the public accounts committ...
Elaine Dewar was tough. Contrary. The reporter who wrote an article that brought upon her the wrath of billionaires. It was a piece on the Reichmann family resulting in a $102 million dollar libel case that nearly killed Toronto Life Magazine. She argued against the Bering Strait theory on migration of humans to the Americas. She ruffled feathers with her views on the origins of Covid. Questioned ties between the environmental movement and big business. Those are just a few of the debates she sp...
Everyone is talking about Drake’s new album ICEMAN (except Canadian media.) Why is Canadian media more interested in the provenance of ice blocks than the next chapter in the career of one of Canada’s biggest stars? Drake is one of Canada’s biggest cultural exports. He represents Canada and Toronto on the global stage, and yet at home he isn’t given the same acclaim as other Canadian icons. Writer and Hip Hop lecturer Dalton Higgins joins to explain why Canada hasn’t fully embraced Drake. Host: ...
Inside the scoop that launched the Alberta data breach into the headlines. How independent media broke the story of the Alberta separatists' access to voter information. Plus, Danielle Smith visits Carney and makes progress on the Alberta MOU. Can Smith leverage separatism to get a pipeline? It’s our biggest sale of the year! Save 80% on a Canadaland subscription and become a supporter for only $2/month. You’ll get all of our podcasts ad-free, free access to our live events, and much, much more....
NDP Leader Avi Lewis has a massive task ahead of him. When host Noor Azrieh last spoke with him before the leadership election, he said he had a plan. Well, how’s that working out for him? Host: Noor Azrieh Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Host/Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork) Guests: NDP Leader Avi Lewis Background reading: Are you paying m...
The Kamloops Indian Residential School made headlines five years ago this month. What followed was tears across the country, marches, statues torn down, and the Prime Minister bending a knee while holding a teddy bear. Then came the counter narrative fuelled by books with titles like Grave Error and Dead Wrong. Today we talk to Dr. Kisha Supernant, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta, who has been working in the field at potential grave sites across the country. What has she f...
The new GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the press and it did not go well. With scathing questions and confounded columnists, Toronto reaffirmed its reputation as a tough media market. What is it about sports that creates unique regional media markets with their own tone and style of coverage? Dan Robson of The Athletic joins Sam Konnert to talk sh*t about sports reporting. It’s our biggest sale of the year! Save 80% on a Canadaland subscription and become a supporter for only $2/month. You’...
