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CanCon

Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Laura Palmer, Mat Keselman

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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#49
Yesterday · 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
#37
June 11 · 24 min
Why is Canada getting a brand new police force?
Well, let's just say that if everything's going great, you don't generally need to spin up an entire law enforcement agency out of thin air. But after years of failing to meaningfully cope with financial crimes, and the subsequent hits to our reputation in the international community that failure brings, the federal government has seen enough. Instead of the RCMP, which has murders and kidnappings and daily small-town policing on its plate as well, the new Financial Crimes Agency will deal sole
#36
June 4 · 25 min
What happened to Canada's Pharmacare plan?
It was long overdue, and began with a promise: It might start small, covering just a few common drugs, and expand until Canadians without benefits were no longer struggling to afford medication prescribed by doctors under our universal health care system. Less than two years later, however, the program seems set to contract instead of expand. It never got beyond the first couple of drugs, and the funding might well be squeezed to zero by the federal government. What happened here? Does Pharmaca
#35
May 28 · 29 min
The US just paused a joint defence effort. How worried should Canada be?
You may not have heard about it, but the Permanent Joint Board on Defense has been a part of Canada and America's shared strategy for decades. Evidently, however, it may not be as "permanent" as its name suggests. Recently, the US announced it was pausing the board, citing Canada's need to contribute more to mutual defence in North America and a suggestion that we're talking the talk more than walking the walk when it comes to military spending. It's easy to take offence to that, given recent
#34
May 21 · 27 min
Why are gas prices so high in Canada if we produce our own? It's complicated.
Canada, as you may know, produces a ton of oil. Billions of tons every day, actually. Nearly all the oil we use was taken from the ground, one way or another, right here. And yet! When the Strait of Hormuz shut down, the price Canadians pay for Canadian-produced oil and gas went through the roof, just as it's done in nations that need to import almost all their oil. The answer to why that happened goes back to a policy that Canada has flip-flopped on over decades. It touches on Western Alienati
#33
May 14 · 15 min
Midseason update: Surveillance pricing, listener feedback and more
This week we're checking in with the audience on the first few months of CanCon, discussing episodes we did or didn't (yet!) create, reading some of your feedback and getting a feel for where we're at before we dive back in to another few months of Canadian stories. If you haven't yet, don't forget to let us know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover. And thanks, as always, for listening.
#32
May 7 · 31 min
The emotional side of the Canadian housing crisis
A roof over one's head has been a necessity of life since we lived in caves. But when that roof also represents Canada's class struggle, our income inequality issues and potentially the owner's entire retirement portfolio...things get complicated. More than half of young Canadians don't expect they'll ever own a home. There are millions of Canadians right now who own their homes thanks to privilege, timing, relationships and...just plain ol' luck. Some of those lucky Canadians, including Cancon
#31
April 30 · 27 min
What is YouTube 'Slopaganda'? And why is it pushing Alberta separation?
In recent weeks, dozens of videos pushing Alberta separation (and frequently US annexation) have driven tens of millions of views on YouTube. But there's a problem. All these videos and accounts are remarkably similar, and to someone who actually knows the province, there are signs the people making them ... do not. Who's behind these videos and what's their goal? To truly drive an independent Alberta, or to sow division during a tumultuous political time for Canada? How do they manage to pump
#30
April 23 · 30 min
When music went digital Canada was at the front of the line. What happened?
In the late '90s and early '00s, the music industry fundamentally changed. Within a decade, fans went from buying CDs in a local music store to purchasing $0.99 singles on iTunes. But before iTunes was available in Canada, and before the US giants took over the industry, Canadian startups were at the front of the pack. In this episode, we reminisce on a very strange and transformative time in media--you might remember the first CD you ever bought, but you probably don't remember the last one. W

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