CANADALAND

Carney hits pause on EVs but moves forward on “nation-building” projects.

With Canola farmers being hit hard by Chinese tariffs, is the solution to drop the 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs? Scott Moe and Danielle Smith think so.

Plus, a goodbye to Franklin, Babar, and The Magic Schoolbus.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking) tom sayers (Audio Editor), max ...

TIFF turns 50 with celebs, controversy, and Carney suggesting that we’re the John Candy of global trade.  

As the Toronto International Film Festival struggles to find its way in a changing film landscape, it leans into Canadiana with buzzy premieres from Canadian directors. 

But with its mishandling of controversial documentaries the last two years, can TIFF meet the moment? 

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: ...

While Donald Trump is bent on achieving and maintaining “unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance”, we’re just starting to gear up for the race. There are only about 300 data centres across Canada. And about HALF of them are run by American tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with Don Lenihan and Vass Bednar and asks whether we can control our digital sovereignty. 

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Mark Carney recently made noises about the future possibility of Canadian boots on the ground as part of an international “coalition of the willing” to help guarantee security in Ukraine. In the 1990s Canada had up to 3,000 peacekeepers around the world at any given time. Today we have less than 30. That’s one per cent of what we used to be able to do.

So how would Carney get us back in the game? Is it a game we want to play? Or...

The race to succeed Jagmeet Singh has begun, but most of the NDP’s big names are steering clear. Post-election, vibes within the party have been bleak, mired with handwringing, infighting, and no clear guiding vision. 

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that any new leader needs to build a big tent. Bring back the labour vote. With Trump playing tariff bingo, there’s a real opportunity to speak — and to listen — to wor...

The Hudson’s Bay Company is dead. 

While the Canadian media obsesses over the sale of The Bay’s retail properties, thousands of historical artefacts and artworks — including the original copy of the Royal Charter — sit concealed in the cockles of the company’s dustiest vault. Now, Canada’s oldest retailer is hemming and hawing over donating these culturally-significant artefacts to Indigenous communities requesting them, or...

Right now, a hulking Soviet-era Russian cargo plane is just parked at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. And Canada is trying to do something nobody has ever done before…pull off a legal heist. Host Noor sits down with IJF reporter Zak Vescera to talk about why that plane matters, and how far we’re willing to go to keep it.

And the latest on US accusations of lawfare from the International Criminal Court, coupled with a sanction on Jud...

Three years before the first episode of SNL. Four years before the first episode of SCTV. Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner. Andrea Martin and later Dave Thomas, co-starred in a legendary production of a musical called Godspell at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto.

The show that launched the careers of a whole generation of comedians is now the subject of a new doc at TIFF. Appropriately titled, You Had to Be There: H...

Doug Ford, Danielle Smith, and Pierre Poilievre all seem to want to make sure we have the right to beat people up in our homes. Only if they aren’t invited, of course.

Following a case out of Lindsay, Ontario, the media is all abuzz with talk about the right to self-defence in the case of home invasions. But we have a right, within reason. So what’s the big deal? And are we avoiding talking about systemic problems?

Harrison L...

Pierre Poilievre won his byelection and will be returning to Parliament in September. He’s raring to go, and probably drafting a whole bunch of new catchphrases and slogans. He’s back and ready to try and convince conservatives he’s the right man for the job.

But, in the media, the picture being painted is a little less clear. One poll shows the party being neck and neck with the Liberals. Another shows a huge disparity. How do ...

China’s tariffs on canola seeds would cripple western Canadian farmers. But this tit for tat fight is about more than just canola. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with Vina Nadjibulla who thinks China’s playing us and we shouldn't take the bait. 

And the latest news on Carney’s elbows on Trump’s tariffs, Canada’s all boys trip to Berlin, and the secrets our allies aren't telling us. 

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessa...

Something wild happened in Nova Scotia during filming of the James Cameron film Titanic. 

Parts of the blockbuster were filmed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and on the last night of filming there, someone did something. Something that caused director James Cameron to question reality itself, something that resulted in the rest of the cast and crew being piled into vans and rushed to a nearby hospital. The cops looked into it, ...

In July, Mark Carney made it clear to public workers that there would be a tightening of the belt. Ministers were told to save 15% from their departmental budgets over the next three years. The deadline to do so is next week, August 28th. 

What that looks like in practice is pretty bleak. By 2028, it has been estimated that over 57,000 full-time equivalent workers will be laid off. Who will be laid off? And is this type of ...

The Air Canada strike this past weekend affected tens of thousands of Canadians and international travelers. The negotiations have been going on for eight months, the contract renewal was known about for ten years, so how did the Air Canada strike sneak up on Canadians so fast?

Why were flight attendants, who are primarily women, not being paid for “ground work” for so long? 

Is labour coverage so non-existent in Canada ...

Our kids are broke and seriously unemployed.  We're in the dog days of summer, and for generations, that marked the end of scooping ice cream at the corner shop, pulling espresso shots at the café, or lifeguarding at the local pool.  But for many young Canadians, this isn't the end, cause there was no beginning. This episode, host Noor Azrieh unpacks  what happens when young people can't work.

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Les...

Singh built a bot. It’s a concoction of ChatGPT, Grok, and a handful of other advanced AI systems that might destroy truth-based civil discourse once and for all.

Or.

What if that same technology could be harnessed to champion the truth? To do what no human could possibly do to refute lies and misinformation?

Today we talk to Singh about his creation, DOGEAI. He’s been labelled a MAGA-bot master but he says he’s really a p...

TIFF’s whiff and the legacy of Trudeau’s media policies. 

Carney is reversing course on the Liberal’s approach to media, but can the Canadian media ecosystem exorcise the ghost of Trudeau? 

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: James Nicholson (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate producer and Fact Checking) Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Gues...

Last year Canadaland launched a new initiative called the Canadalabs Audio Journalism Fellowship programme, where we hired two young reporters to come and produce a story with us and learn from our team.

This week, we caught up with past Canadaland fellows to see how they’ve fared. Was their time at Canadaland worth it?

And we are talking about that because we have a fresh batch of fellows that will be joining the team very s...

Is Evan Solomon a chatbot? Deciphering the Minister of AI’s jargon-filled tech-speak. Canada is going all in on AI, but what is the plan, exactly?

Plus, new Trudeau tea and a controversial National Post headline. 

Clarification: A previous version of this episode implied that Cohere was both Canadian and American-owned. It is the data centre that is American owned. We regret the error.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: J...