Two years ago bombshell allegations emerged suggesting foreign actors were succeeding in influencing Canadian electoral contests and Canadian parliamentarians. Media reports suggested the Liberal government hadn't done enough to warn the public or even MPs about the matter, and a political debate emerged about how best to get to the bottom of it. After a series of false starts, it was Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Marie-Josée Hogue who was appointed to investigate and weigh in with findings and...
Jan 31, 2025•42 min
The 2025 political landscape is looking very different than it did just a few weeks ago. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's pending resignation, the prorogation of Parliament, and the sudden Liberal leadership race has offered the Grits a new lifeline. U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to hit Canada with 25 per cent tariffs on Feb. 1 also offers the political parties another chance at reframing themselves and what they want the ballot question to be at the next election, whether that's in eight ...
Jan 24, 2025•39 min
It's been an eventful year in Canadian politics — from Chrystia Freeland's bombshell resignation, to allegations of foreign interference involving Parliamentarians, to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's upcoming return to the White House. As 2024 draws to a close, the Star's Ottawa bureau takes your questions and looks back on the year that was and what we can expect in 2025. In this episode: Ottawa bureau reporters Raisa Patel, Ryan Tumilty, and Mark Ramzy. Hosted by Althia Raj. Some of the cl...
Dec 18, 2024•49 min
United States President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House is renewing pressure on Canada to focus more on defense spending and border security. In February, Trump warned NATO members that if they didn't pay their fair share — spending 2 per cent of their country's GDP on their military — they should not assume the U.S. would leap to their defence. In July, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would meet the 2 per cent target, but only in 2032. The Liberals have invested bi...
Dec 06, 2024•59 min
The House of Commons is in gridlock. Government bills and private members' legislation have stalled. The Senate is running out of government matters to study. Parliament is paralyzed by a Conservative filibuster that started in late September. The Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Green Party accuse the Tories of hijacking the Commons for their own parliamentary games. The Conservatives say they are filibustering their own motion — tabling one sub-amendment after another — to pressure the Liberals...
Nov 22, 2024•44 min
Donald Trump will be president of the United States for a second time. Trump's decisive victory Tuesday plunges the U.S., the world and Canada into uncharted territory. The president-elect pledged to deport American residents, slap tariffs on imported goods, and renegotiate a crucial trade deal with Canada and Mexico. Not only are Canada and the U.S. each other's largest trading partner with $3.6 billion worth of goods and services crossing the border each day, but millions of jobs also rely on ...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced down more than two dozen MPs this week who suggested he should take time to contemplate his leadership and many who told him to his face that for the good of the Liberal party, and its upcoming electoral chances, he should resign. Trudeau was adamant, however, that he feels he is the best person to lead the Grits and Thursday he suggested he wasn't going anywhere. In this episode of "It's Political," we'll unpack what happened at the Liberals' three-hour caucu...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Immigration has become a hot political issue with politicians — federally and provincially — and Canadians are telling pollsters what they're feeling: there are just too many people coming into the country, and resources are being squeezed. In this episode of "It's Political," we'll take a look at what's happened on the immigration front, how the federal government is trying to reduce the number of temporary residents — now sitting at three million — and the challenges that lie ahead with Toront...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 1 min
The Liberal government survived its first confidence vote Wednesday, when the Bloc Québécois and the NDP decided to offer Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a lifeline. The Bloc's demand are clear — the protection of supply management for poultry, eggs and dairy and more generous pension payments for seniors aged 65 to 74. The NDP's less so. But, regardless, both parties concluded an election with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre leading in the polls is more dangerous to them now than cooperation...
Sep 27, 2024•57 min
Parliament is back with a bang! In a slick social media video, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced he couldn't stomach working with the minority Liberals anymore and he was shifting his focus to the next election and taking the fight to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. That was music to the ears of Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet who's been sidelined for most of the Liberals' third mandate.With Singh walking away, Blanchet would be able to put the squeeze on the Liberals and try...
Sep 13, 2024•51 min
The spring sitting on Parliament Hill is coming to a close. There's been a lot to keep track of — the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the introduction of a pharmacare bill, a federal budget that brought big changes to taxes on capital gains — not to mention intelligence reports of foreign interference. On June 3, a report from the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) revealed that some elected officials were either unwitting or witting participants in foreign inter...
Jun 14, 2024•53 min
If 22 people were being shot each day on Canadian streets, you might expect a federal state of emergency to be called, a co-ordinated federal-provincial-territorial response, billions of dollars flowing out of government coffers to stop the violence. The opioid crisis hasn't received the same kind of all-hands-on-deck approach. Instead, there has been immense politicization of the issue, with different sides arguing different approaches while accusing political opponents of making the crisis wor...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Hours after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was expelled from the House of Commons for calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "a wacko" and refusing to withdraw his comments, both leaders' parties had issued fundraising emails pointing to the incident on Parliament Hill and asking for donors for more cash. Fundraising is a huge part of what political parties do, it keeps their operations going and builds their war chest for the next election campaign. It also helps to buy them votes. The mor...
May 17, 2024•59 min
We started " It's Political " two years ago with an episode on the NDP's supply and confidence agreement. Back then, we wondered, would the party get any credit for what they accomplished? Two years on, public opinion polls suggest the answer is "no." The NDP believes the answer is really "maybe," and one they hope to turn into a resounding "yes." This week, we look at the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the NDP. First, Toronto Star reporter Raisa Patel, Abacus Data CEO David Col...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled her latest budget Tuesday, with big spending plans to increase the housing supply, deliver on commitments to Indigenous people, boost funding to the Canadian military and finally deliver on a promise to create a Canada Disability Benefit. But there is more to the budget's $39.3 billion in new spending than just those big ticket items. There is a little bit of money in there for nearly everyone. It is an election budget, with lots of promises, most of whi...
Apr 19, 2024•54 min
The federal government's latest effort to regulate speech on the internet was met with relief from parents who've long advocated for a safer space online for their children, but with alarm from free speech advocates who believe the government's bill goes too far. This week on " It's Political ," we dig into the Online Harms Act with a number of experts, discussing what it contains and what the controversies are about. Then we sit down with Justice Minister Arif Virani. In this episode: Federal J...
Apr 05, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attempted to topple the Liberal government this week by introducing a motion calling for a non-confidence vote on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plan to increase the carbon price on April 1. With all the other parties supporting a price on carbon — the Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Greens — Poilievre's motion was more about partisan communication strategy than a legitimate attempt to defeat the government, but it raises important questions. With the Conser...
Mar 22, 2024•57 min
On Feb. 29, Canada's Health Minister Mark Holland introduced a pharmacare bill in Parliament, seemingly laying down the foundation for a new national universal single payer pharmacare plan. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh declared victory. After fifty years of efforts, he boasted that a first big step had been taken toward giving all Canadians equal access to medicines regardless of employment status or financial means. The deal starts small, just two classes of drugs — diabetes medication and contrace...
Mar 08, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau managed one chaotic term under U.S. President Donald Trump, and he's made it clear he'd prefer to continue working with current President Joe Biden. But with the Republican primaries favouring Trump, a divided electorate and a U.S. election this fall, Trudeau faces the possibility of another Trump White House. One that's likely much more unpredictable and isolationist than the first Trump administration. Earlier this month, at a campaign rally, Trump suggested NATO ...
Feb 23, 2024•49 min
For decades, there was solid political and social consensus on immigration in Canada. But recently, cracks in that consensus have emerged. In 2023, Canada's population hit 40 million, after growing by more than a million people in one year. Most of that growth was in temporary residents, such as international students and temporary foreign workers. Unlike with permanent residents, Canada doesn't set targets or caps on how many people enter the country on a temporary status. Amidst a housing cris...
Feb 09, 2024•1 hr 3 min
Public opinion polls suggest Canadians have had enough of Justin Trudeau's government, and yet the prime minister vows to stay on. As 2024 began, Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt sat down with the prime minister for her yearly chat, and she allowed our microphones to listen in. This conversation was recorded on Jan. 12 in Guelph, Ont. In this episode: Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and Toronto Star National Columnist Susan Delacourt Some of the clips this week were sourced from th...
Jan 26, 2024•44 min
It's been quite a tumultuous year in federal politics, from allegations of foreign interference involving China and India, to the expansion of industrial and dental subsidies, and a rejigging of public support for Canada's two main parties. We asked Toronto Star readers and " It's Political " podcast listeners for their questions — and received many probing queries about themes from the last year, especially about the influence of Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre on Canadian politics a...
Dec 22, 2023•43 min
Alberta Conservative MP Damien Kurek was kicked out of the House of Commons this week for using unparliamentary language. Within minutes of his expulsion, Kurek had the video of his outburst up on social media proudly showcasing his outrage at the Liberal government. Last week, another Alberta Conservative, Rachel Thomas, was forced to apologize after requesting Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge stop answering her questions in French and instead use English. Thomas wanted a social media clip her...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 3 min
It's been described as a signature blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's signature policy. Last month, the Liberals announced a three-year pause to the application of the carbon price on home heating oil to help ease the costs, especially in Atlantic Canada where it's used in about a third of all households. Climate and energy experts decried it as a weakening of Trudeau's policy, former environment minister Catherine McKenna condemned the move, and potential leadership candidate Mark Carney s...
Nov 24, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Eight years ago, Justin Trudeau and 30 ecstatic Liberal MPs walked up to Rideau Hall, ready to be sworn in as Canada's next government. But after three elections, the Liberal glow has faded – drastically – as more and more Liberals suggest it's time for the prime minister to step down. This week on "It's Political," Abacus Data CEO David Coletto, P.E.I. Sen. Percy Downe and Toronto Star reporter Alex Ballingall join me to discuss whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should step down, and what t...
Nov 10, 2023•54 min
A month ago, we weren't talking about the Israelis-Palestinian conflict. The world's attention was elsewhere, on Ukraine and Russia, on China. But on October 7, all that changed. Hamas' brutality — the hunting of young adults at a music festival, the burning of homes, shooting of grandmothers, allegations of rape of women and girls, and the kidnapping of more than 200 Israelis and foreigners — placed the question of Israel and the occupied territories back on the front burner. And there are many...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 17 min
In this episode: Timmins—James Bay NDP MP Charlie Angus, South Okanagan—West Kootenay NDP MP Richard Cannings, Skeena—Bulkley Valley NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, Abacus Data CEO David Coletto, Traxxion Strategies President Karl Bélanger, Canadian Strategy Group senior manager of public affairs Sally Housser, University of Saskatchewan Political Studies Professor David McGrane,, St-John's East riding association president Amanda Will, Jason Arnold, of the United Steelworkers Local 7619 at the Highland...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr
In this episode: Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, Toronto Star Publisher Jordan Bitove, Ottawa University law professor Michael Geist, Toronto Star reporter Raisa Patel, Meta's head of public policy Rachel Curran, Google Canada's Richard Gingras, News Media Canada President Paul Deegan, Village Media CEO Jeff Elgie. La Presse President Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, Yellowknife evacuee Kelsey Worth, Conservative MP Kevin Waugh, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre...
Sep 29, 2023•54 min
In this episode: Abacus Data CEO David Colettto, Toronto Star Reporter Stephanie Levitz, Conservative Party members Kevyn Nightingale, Emilie Matheson, Nancy Bangsboll and Adrian Tarcea, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former executive director of policy and cabinet affairs Marci Surkes, former NDP MP David Christopherson, former spokesman for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre Anthony Koch, and Toronto Star National Columnist Susan Delacourt. Hosted by Althia Raj. The political ground shifted...
Sep 15, 2023•1 hr
With Parliament about to break for the summer, exchanges between MPs in the House have gotten tense. But is it just June — when the hours run long and the frustrations high — or has decorum in the chamber taken a nasty slide? This week on "It's Political," we survey MPs about the tone in the chamber and what it is leading to outside the House, and we sit down with three insiders, former Liberal MP for Northumberland—Peterborough South Kim Rudd, former NDP national director Karl Bélanger, and for...
Jun 16, 2023•54 min
