The Breach Show

For three decades, Pierre Poilievre’s analysis and vision has been shaped by one thinker: Milton Friedman, the godfather of neoliberalism.

Political scholar Ryan Kelpin sits down with Martin Lukacs to discuss the radical economist’s influence on Poilievre. 

Nearing the end of the 2025 federal election, the party leaders locked horns in back to back debates.

Desmond Cole, El Jones, and Martin Lukacs debrief who came out well—and if it will have an impact on the polls.

With the federal election just a couple of weeks away, what will become of Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples?

Lawyer and professor Pam Palmater of the Eel River Bar First Nation joins Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs on The Breach Show to discuss campaign promises and the future of reconciliation.

Almost two weeks into the Canadian federal election, Mark Carney’s Liberals have consolidated their lead—but a Conservative victory shouldn’t be ruled out just yet.

Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs discuss Carneymania and the quiet strength of the Conservatives, and get up to speed with campaign promises on housing, energy, and taxes.

A recent court ruling found the RCMP breached land defender Molly Wickham’s Charter rights—but still upheld her criminal conviction for blocking the CGL pipeline.

Wickham sits down with Desmond Cole to discuss Canada’s colonial courts, police violence, and what she’s learned from a decade of land defense.

With Ontario facing a snap election, we take a deep dive into more than six years of austerity and free market fundamentalism under Doug Ford. 

Desmond Cole is joined by Bryan Evans, co-editor of Against the People: How Ford Nation is Dismantling Ontario, to break down the Ford playbook and unpack the damage done.

As Trump’s tariff threats loom, trade expert Stuart Trew talks to host Donya Ziaee about what Canadian workers should be prepared for, how the corporate elite are exploiting the crisis, and how the Left can seize on the moment to push for more progressive change.

El Jones speaks to Martin Lukacs about her recent trip to the occupied West Bank, where her delegation visited with scholars, journalists, artists, and communities engaged in non-violent resistance to Israeli apartheid.

Writing by Budour Hassan here.

Desmond Cole and Martin Lukacs reflect on Justin Trudeau’s almost decade in power, from the initial psychic relief of Conservative Stephen Harper’s ousting to the grim accumulation of symbolic Liberal postures and assists to Canada’s corporate elite. Plus, what Justin deserves real credit for.

In the wake of Chrystia Freeland’s explosive departure from the Liberal cabinet, Martin Lukacs and El Jones discuss the establishment media’s infatuation with Ottawa’s palace intrigue and what the future for a hobbled Trudeau government might look like.

Plus, we answer listener questions just in time for the holidays.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish recently generated headlines when she stepped down from her local police services board, calling the city’s escalating police budget “out of control.”

Desmond Cole visits her office to discuss her resignation and the alternatives to policing.

It was a big week for the military-industrial complex in Canada, with the west’s war-making establishment convening in Halifax for the annual International Security Forum (then hopping over to Montreal for a NATO summit). 

El Jones fills Martin Lukacs in on her attempts to report on the Security Forum, where the hand towels were plush, the security uptight, and the drumbeat for increased Canadian military spending strong.

Independent journalist Duncan Kinney of Progress Report was charged with mischief for allegedly spraypainting two monuments dedicated to Nazis and their collaborators—a charge he says the Edmonton Police have used to surveil and silence him. Kinney sits down with Desmond Cole to discuss his case. 

To donate to Kinney's legal fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/duncan-kinney-legal-defense-fund

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, sits down with Desmond Cole to discuss Canada’s ‘crystal clear’ complicity in the Israeli destruction of Gaza and the ‘hope that remains in this darkness.’

As Americans hit the polls next Tuesday, El Jones and Martin Lukacs hash out the U.S. election campaign, the folly of pandering to the right, neoliberal identity politics, the implications for Palestine, the threat of Trump, and their respective halloween costumes.

With a potential Pierre Poilievre Conservative government on the horizon, Martin Lukacs, Anjali Appadurai, Syed Hussan, Judy Rebick, and Laura Walton discuss how to organize in the face of a surging right.

El Jones and Martin Lukacs discuss the worst and weirdest examples of the crackdown on the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada over the past year—and how to understand why it has been so severe and widespread.

Plus: why the elite are worried about Canadians identifying as “settlers.”