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CanCon

Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Mat Keselman, Kattie Laur

It's a fascinating time to be Canadian. This is a show that breaks all that wide open. Dangers. Opportunities. The stories that make this country what it is. And what it isn't.

Longtime journalist and podcast host Jordan Heath-Rawlings (Elbows Up, The Big Story, The Gravy Train) returns to host critical Canadian Conversations with leading experts and storytellers.

These are discussions—about who we are, how we got here, and where we're going—designed to offer more than soundbites and headlines. They'll introduce you to places, people and policies you might not have otherwise met, or perhaps not considered to be worth your attention. But they are.

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31 episodes
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#57
Thursday · 22 min
Your feedback: Privatized airports, expensive referendums and more
It's been too long, but this week the whole crew comes together to be called out (or praised!) by our listeners. Will Canada's privatized airports become another example of enshittification? Was $100 million worth it to put down the Alberta separatists? How many referendums are enough, exactly? This week it's all about your feedback, our responses, and Jordan's apparently wrong opinions!
#56
October 22 · 32 min
With the PQ in charge, what comes next in Quebec?
Unlike their Western brethren, Quebec separatists are good at this. They've been at it a long time. They are organized, patient and understand how to get elected. And they just did. With the Parti Quebecois winning a minority government, another referendum is at the very least back on the table, even if it isn't likely anytime soon. But there's a lot more going on in the province than a potential vote years down the line. Politics in Quebec is largely ignored by English Canada unless separation
#55
October 15 · 23 min
The case of the Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin
There's no way to sugartcoat the story of Ryan Wedding. Once an aspiring snowboarder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding qualified for the 2002 Olympics as a member of the Canadian team. He didn't medal. Two decades later, he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, being compared to the likes of El Chapo and Pablo Escobar by American officials. After years on the run, Wedding was apprehended in January of this year in Mexico City, and he'll soon head to trial facing up to 19 felonies for his role
#54
October 8 · 25 min
Inside the ever-advancing world of grandparent scams
You've been warned about them, undoubtedly. You've probably passed on that warning to your elderly loved ones, or anyone you see as a little digitally naive. But how much do you really know about how so-called 'Grandparent Scams' operate in Canada—from the scale of them to their ever-increasing sophistication to the damage they leave behind in their wake? This week, Rachel Brown walks us through her detailed reporting for The Walrus to give you a detailed look inside what's becoming a huge crim
#53
October 1 · 22 min
How a small Canadian business copes with a trade war
Many of us have been lucky enough to experience the ongoing trade war with the United States as a small part of everyday life. We may pay slightly higher prices, or choose not to buy American products. We may read headlines about job losses or plant closures and feel sympathy, but we don't know what it's like to grapple with the ever-changing tariffs playing havoc with our bottom line. But small Canadian businesses have been living this hell for a year and a half now, and we wanted to give you
#52
September 24 · 30 min
What will private investment in Canada's airports mean for travellers?
Mark Carney's government will open up three major Canadian airports to private investment, raising billions of dollars and fundamentally changing how these facilities are run. It's a strategy used in many countries around the world, but it's a new one for Canadian travellers. So, what's about to happen? John Gradek, Professor Emeritus at McGill University and one of the country's leading aviation experts, walks us through what could be a massive improvement to the Canadian airport experience. A
#51
September 18 · 30 min
The state of local news in Canada
If you're reading this in a big city, congratulations! You have reliable local news options! If you're living somewhere smaller... well, it's a bit of a dice roll, really. While most communities still have at least one options for reporting on their every day lives — everything from city council to education, local hospitals and sports and events — but news deserts are spreading with every closure of small town newspaper or radio station, and while independent publications and podcasts are work
#50
September 10 · 34 min
The case for the Alberta referendum. (And other referendums.)
Most Albertans don't want to leave Canada. Most Canadians don't want to see them go. The data is clear, the separatist wing is a small percentage of the population, and is likely buoyed by foreign influence campaigns. To many Canadians, it seems clear there's no need for a referendum at all—that it only raises a question that millions of people already answer every day; that it's a bad faith attempt to steer the political conversation further right. So, why have it? Because we live in a democ
#49
September 3 · 23 min
Canada's economy is ... somehow doing pretty well?
New tariffs have hit us. Our government will respond in kind next week. A trade war has begun in earnest. And there's no doubt Canadian businesses will suffer and jobs will be lost. And yet. After more than a year and a half of economic turmoil, the numbers tell a story of resiliency. Of an economy that did not, in fact, enter a technical recession. An economy that, in the last quarter, actually posted a very impressive number. Is this our economic diversification at work? Is it the calm befo
#48
August 27 · 31 min
How Canada is taking the lead on Arctic security
Canada's going to become one of three "framework nations" taking the lead on Arctic defence. The government is moving to purchase military equipment outside the United States or even (gasp!) build it here at home. Is all that talk about taking national defence seriously starting to show up in action? Alistair Edgar, Associate Dean at the School of International Policy and Governance at Wilfred Laurier University, joins us to analyze the Carney government's recent defence decisions.
#47
August 20 · 31 min
Has the Carney government abandoned climate policy? It's complicated
You may have noticed that we're talking about building another pipeline. And our acknowledgement that we'll probably blow past our emissions targets. You may have also noticed all the trees burning. Again. And the smoke and the flooding and the ... you get it. But the country faces economic and non-economic threats as extreme as any in recent memory, and in times of trouble we often look to the oil fields. So has Prime Minister Carney's government sacrificed our climate future for dollars and j
#46
August 13 · 41 min
IN REVIEW: How do we keep Canada's automotive industry rolling?
This week, as another set of US tariffs loom, we're revisiting a previous episode about an industry that is particularly vulnerable to them. We'll be back next week with fresh CanCon in your feed! More than 120,000 Canadians work in Canada's auto industry...for now. As tariffs imposed by the US President kick into gear, only to change and then change again, plants and shifts are adjusting by the day, and some have already shut down some production lines, at least temporarily. Right now, we're a
#45
August 6 · 31 min
IN REVIEW: Exploring Canada's Hidden Gems
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be revisiting a couple of our previous episodes—beginning with a trip through some of Canada's least-known but most worthy places to visit if you've still got some time to explore this summer: This summer, given ... everything going on down there, Canadians are more interested in exploring their own backyard than traveling to the United States. And since we've spent four months exploring everything about this country we need to fix, we wanted to look around
#44
July 30 · 28 min
This Canadian social media platform wants to be in your neighbourhood
Last week, we examined the Canadian Tech from a 10,000-foot perspective. This week, we take you inside the launch of Eh!, a Canadian social media platform that aims to get users out into their cities, towns and neighbourhoods, rather than lost in an algorithm. It's been around for almost a year now, and boasts tens of thousands of users—which is great, but is also a drop in the ocean compared to Facebook and Instagram. So what makes Eh! different? How can it grow? And what won't its creator sac
#43
July 23 · 35 min
So...how's that digital sovereignty thing going?
It's been well over a year since Canadians (and our governments) realized just how dependent we are on American technology—for everything from our day-to-day lives to the infrastructure of Canadian businesses and even our defence capabilities. We knew then that Canada had the talent and the resources, all we needed was the will. Well, that and hundreds of billions of dollars. And a tech industry that doesn't keep losing talent to the US. And a whole bunch of other things that threaten to oversh
#42
July 16 · 33 min
A trip inside Vancouver Island's dark history
Laura Palmer has been investigating and reporting on crimes on Vancouver Island for years. It's changed the way she sees one of Canada's most gorgeous places, and made her something of a local celebrity. But she's never dug into a case as old as the one she's chasing on her current season of Island Crime. In this episode, Laura (one of the founders of this podcast) takes us inside what it's like to be something of a public detective, how chasing crimes changes the way you see your own hometown,
#41
July 9 · 26 min
Did Canada just become a 'soccer nation'?
Nothing much had ever been expected from soccer in Canada—or at least from men's soccer in Canada, and mainstream soccer fandom. Until recently. After our women's team showed the world we could punch well above our weight in the 2000s, the game started to gather steam. Now, after a successful run by the mean's team at the World Cup, and what has been by all accounts a superb atmosphere at the games played in Toronto and Vancouver, are we finally a 'soccer nation'? And is it worth the hundreds of
#40
July 1 · 32 min
The strange, silly and sad stories you've never heard about Canadian Parliament
The House of Commons is a staid, formal institution. Right? It's been that way for well over a century. Gentlemen (and eventually Gentlewomen) debating important issues in a dignified manner? Not always. The real history of our halls of power includes exploding protesters, lots of cats and nudity and myriad other strange situations that crop up when flawed people hold power, public citizens protest and everyone pushes for their own proposals. On this special Canada Day episode, we're joined by
#39
June 25 · 26 min
How Canada's great outdoors became a ticking time bomb
Ticks in this country used to be a minor, if dangerous, annoyance. That's changing quickly. Not only are the traditional deer ticks that we've lived with in some areas of the country spreading further north than ever before, other species that carry different tick-borne disease than what we've come to expect. Some of them increasingly harmful. Driving this explosion are a combination of factors. Climate change, of course. But it goes beyond that. So what do you need to know about which ticks ar
#38
June 18 · 31 min
Could Halifax's housing strategy be an example for Canadian cities?
Halifax, like many cities in Canada, faces a housing crunch. Not because of how big it is geographically. There's plenty of room. But because of how hard it can be for cities to rezone for increased density and create more affordable housing. If you live in a city of decent size, you're probably familiar with why: NIMBYs, lobbyists and all the assorted complaints and opposition and money that tends to stop ambitious city-planning in its tracks. And governments that can't look further than all t

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