The Decibel

The Globe and Mail

Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.

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1,335 episodes
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Episodes1335

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Nov 27, 2025 · 33 min
Why Canada lost consensus on immigration — and how to get it back
The Canadian consensus on immigration cratered last year. In the fall of 2024, an Environics poll found that for the first time in a quarter century most Canadians felt there was too much immigration. Under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the country experienced one of the biggest periods of immigration growth in its history, but after the shift in public opinion, the Liberal government reversed course. Despite big reductions to immigration levels, most Canadians still think rates are too
Nov 26, 2025 · 23 min
If AI is a bubble, how will it pop?
Some of the world’s largest tech companies, like OpenAI, Google and Meta, have invested hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence as they try to build the data centres they need. And right now, a lot of the stock market’s growth is based on AI companies. But what if it’s all a big financial bubble? And if it is, what are the signs it’s about to pop? Globe business reporter Joe Castaldo, who covers AI, explains why markets are twitchy about AI right now and what’s behind inves
Nov 25, 2025 · 24 min
Alleged drug trafficking, murders and an Olympian-turned-fugitive
Last week, the FBI and the RCMP announced 10 new arrests in connection with a $1-billion drug-trafficking ring allegedly run by Canadian former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. The charges, which haven’t been tested in court, include drug trafficking, conspiracy to retaliate against a witness and murder. Wedding, who’s been in hiding since 2015, is now one of the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives. Eric Andrew-Gee is The Globe’s Quebec correspondent. He’s on the show to talk about what these new c
Nov 24, 2025 · 22 min
The controversial push to expand private health care in Alberta
No Canadian province allows doctors to offer care under both private and public systems – but leaked draft legislation obtained by The Globe and Mail shows Alberta is trying to change that. The province says it’s proposing the change in an effort to reduce surgery wait times and retain health care workers. But experts say it could result in a two-tiered medical system. Today, Carrie Tait, a reporter in The Globe’s Calgary bureau, joins The Decibel. She broke the story last week, and she’ll tell
Nov 21, 2025 · 29 min
The bureaucracy slowing down access to life-saving drugs
For cancer patients, every day of treatment is critical. But the best care possible is not always reaching patients quickly. Despite Health Canada approving a drug treating an aggressive blood cancer, a complex web of organizations, insurance plans and negotiations over drug pricing means it’s still not available in Canada. Globe reporters Kelly Grant, who covers health, and Chris Hannay, who covers the business of health care, tell us what is holding up life-changing drugs and why Canadian pat
Nov 20, 2025 · 20 min
Canada courts UAE amid calls to stop its arming of Sudan militia
This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney is in the United Arab Emirates to try to shore up foreign investment ahead of next week’s G20 summit in South Africa. Human rights groups and Sudanese activists are calling on Carney to condemn the U.A.E. for allegedly sending weapons to Sudan — a claim the country denies — but federal officials won’t say whether he’ll raise the issue. Geoffrey York is the Globe’s Africa Bureau Chief. He’s on the show to talk about what’s been happening in Sudan and why Car
Nov 19, 2025 · 22 min
The Epstein scandal and the Canadians who knew him
Last week, over 20,000 pages of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s emails, texts and other documents were released. In one email, Epstein – the deceased child sex trafficker with ties to U.S. President Donald Trump – writes that Trump “knew about the girls.” It has intensified the public outcry for the U.S. government to release all of its investigative files on Epstein. And on Tuesday, the U.S. Congress voted to make all of its information public. Today, the Globe’s international correspondent, Nathan
Nov 18, 2025 · 22 min
Why beef is so expensive right now
Beef prices are currently around 23 per cent above their five-year average. And there’s no relief in sight. Kate Helmore is The Globe’s agriculture and food policy reporter. She explains what’s going on in the beef industry to cause these sky-high prices.
Nov 17, 2025 · 24 min
Why a B.C. billionaire’s bid for Hudson’s Bay stores failed
In May, a B.C. billionaire named Weihong (Ruby) Liu made a $69.1-million deal to acquire 28 leases of former Hudson’s Bay stores. Her company, Central Walk, owned malls where three of those stores were located, so those leases went unopposed; however, landlords of the other 25 stores were skeptical of her ability to operate her proposed stores. She had cash, real estate experience, and a vision — but no experience running a major retailer. Susan Krashinsky Robertson is the Globe’s retailing rep
Nov 14, 2025 · 24 min
What Carney is prioritizing with his new nation-building projects
Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled the next set of projects the federal government plans to prioritize in a bid to jumpstart Canada’s economy. The announcement focused on energy and mining, with six projects across the country ranging from liquefied natural gas to critical minerals. But many questions remain about how these projects will work and what disputes they will cause. Adam Radwanski, feature writer and policy columnist for The Globe joins The Decibel to talk about Carney’s strateg
Nov 13, 2025 · 18 min
Where is the best place to rent in Canada?
Where in Canada is it best to rent right now? The Globe analyzed cities from coast to coast to coast, comparing cities’ median incomes with their average rental prices, to find out which places are the most renter-friendly. The Globe’s personal finance reporter Salmaan Farooqui joins The Decibel to break down where and why rents are trending downward, why it’s a good time to take advantage of the rental market and what advice realtors have for renters.
Nov 12, 2025 · 20 min
Two Conservative MPs are gone. Where does the party go from here?
On the day the budget was tabled, Chris d’Entremont, the lone Conservative MP from Nova Scotia, crossed the floor to the Liberals. Two days later, Matt Jeneroux, a Conservative MP from Alberta, announced he would be leaving politics altogether. His name had also been circulated as a potential defector to the Liberals. These moves overshadowed news of Carney’s first budget — and d’Entremont’s move gives him one more crucial seat ahead of next week’s confidence vote, which could trigger an electio
Nov 11, 2025 · 23 min
The Indigenous land claim that could override private property rights
A precedent-setting ruling involving Aboriginal title at the B.C. Supreme Court has caused widespread uncertainty and tension in the province. In August, Justice Barbara Young decided that Cowichan First Nation had title to roughly 800 acres in the city of Richmond — including private property. The ruling has raised questions over both residential and commercial property rights, as well as governance of the region. Today, B.C. politics reporter Justine Hunter joins the show. She’ll explain the
Nov 10, 2025 · 23 min
Carney’s big bet for $500-billion in private investments
A big part of the federal budget rests on the assumption that its measures will spur the private sector to invest in Canada…a lot. It’s projecting a half-trillion worth of investment. But at a time when Canada is suffering from sluggish productivity and the impact of U.S. tariffs, how realistic is it to expect businesses to invest? James Bradshaw covers institutional investing for The Globe and Mail. He explains how the government is trying to spur 500-billion dollars in investments from the pr
Nov 7, 2025 · 21 min
The stress of shared calendars in modern parenting
Parents are increasingly relying on elaborate calendar systems to keep track of their families’ activities – from a shared calendar or paper planner to high-end devices that can create a calendar for you by scraping data from your emails. Some parents say it helps them better involve their teen children in scheduling their lives; for others, they feel themselves becoming beholden to their calendars – a draconian digital personal assistant. Zosia Bielski is The Globe’s time use reporter. She joi
Nov 6, 2025 · 23 min
Why the condo bubble burst could lead to better housing
For more than a decade, Canada’s condo boom was on. Investors, at home and abroad, drove the craze over reselling preconstruction units. Rents skyrocketed, all while the condos themselves shrank in size. Today, the bubble has burst and the housing crisis continues. New condo sales in markets like Toronto and Hamilton are at 35-year lows and prices are driving potential homebuyers out of the city core. Is this actually an opportunity for developers to course correct to find “the missing middle?”
Nov 5, 2025 · 30 min
Key takeaways from the Carney government’s first budget
On Tuesday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled the first federal budget from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government. It had long been advertised as a fiscal plan that would make difficult decisions to put Canada’s economy on the right track. The Globe sent more than a dozen journalists to Ottawa to study the details and assess how transformative this budget actually is. We break down what it says in terms of the deficit, job cuts to the federal public service, defence spending
Nov 4, 2025 · 23 min
What to look out for in the 2025 federal budget
Today, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is set to deliver the first budget under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Early announcements have signalled sweeping cuts to the public sector. There’s no guarantee that the budget will pass, given Carney is presiding over a minority government. The NDP has said they wouldn’t rule out abstaining from the budget vote; for his part, Carney has said he’s ready to fight another election campaign if it comes down to that. But beneath all the politics s
Nov 3, 2025 · 35 min
Whales, extinction and the sounds of underwater noise pollution
North Atlantic right whales are nearing extinction, with fewer than 400 left in the world. We know what is killing them: getting hit by shipping boats, entangled in fishing lines and the impacts of climate change — which is changing the location of their food sources. But now, researchers think that human-made noise in the ocean may be having an effect too. Jenn Thornhill Verma is an environmental journalist who has been reporting on the plight of the North Atlantic right whale as part of her E
Oct 31, 2025 · 22 min
Why a sleep doctor says we should never change our clocks again
On Sunday, most Canadians gain an hour of sleep as the clocks get turned back to standard time. But while most of us have gotten used to the bi-annual time change, our bodies have not. And with a growing number of experts saying the practice messes with our sleep – should Canadians stop messing with the clock? Today, psychology professor Joseph De Koninck is here. He studies sleep at the University of Ottawa, and his recent research looks at how Daylight Savings Time impacts our circadian rhyth