10/3: Canada Covered

For the first time in 101 years, there will not be a Grey Cup winner.

And for the first time in 102 years, there won’t even be a CFL season.

The Canadian Football League cancelled plans for shortened play in a hub city, after failing to get a loan from the feds.

Dave is joined by Postmedia national sports columnist Dan Barnes to discuss why the feds turned down the league, whether we’ll see a 2021 season, and what this says about the health of the league and football in Canada.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a months-long campaign hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conservative Party of Canada will soon have a new leader.

The deadline for ballots is just days away, and it’s anticipated Andrew Scheer’s successor will be crowned on August 23.

Just who that will be is very much up in the air.

The National Post’s Brian Platt joins Dave to talk about why Peter MacKay’s front-runner status isn’t a lock, why Erin O’Toole could be vulnerable, and how Leslyn Lewis and Derek Sloan could play spoiler on a ranked ballot.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fault lines in the Liberal government were laid bare Monday with the resignation of finance minister Bill Morneau.

Morneau had served as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s only finance minister since the Liberal government was elected, but he has opted to step down as MP less than a year into the government’s second term.

Dave is joined by the National Post's Chris Nardi to talk about the friction between Morneau and the PM that likely led to his departure, what this could mean for the direction of the federal government, and who Morneau's replacement will be.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is part of Postmedia’s reopening Canada series.

Getting kids back to school is seen by many as one of the keys to getting Canadians back to work in the wake of COVID-19.

But, as the first day of school looms, many are worried that the first math lesson of the year focused on counting new infections.

Dave is joined by National Post health reporter Sharon Kirkey to talk about what we’ve learned so far when it comes to kids and coronavirus, how effective they are at spreading the virus, and what can be done to make a return to the classroom as safe as possible.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The reduced sentence for an Edmonton man convicted of five sexual assaults has once again raised concerns about how Canada’s justice system handles cases of sexual violence.

Matthew McKnight’s crimes warranted 16 years, the judge said, but ultimately he was handed a sentence of half that amount.

Dave is joined by advocate Kristin Raworth, herself a survivor of sexual violence, to discuss why the sentence is concerning and how the justice system is failing victims.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What started as a controversy about ties between the prime minister’s family and a prominent Canadian charity, and a 900 million dollar government contract has turned into an ethics investigation involving Justin Trudeau and one of his senior ministers, as well as more scrutiny on the operations of WE charity.

The brewing scandal came to a head last week in key testimony before a parliamentary committee.

National Post political reporter Chris Nardi joins Dave to talk about what we learned from the finance committee last week, how there are still conflicting accounts about how this deal came together, and whether the PM has been able to shed any light on the matter.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada’s oil and gas sector took a major hit as COVID-19 shut down travel and a price war cratered the cost of a barrel.

But as our economy starts to grow again, things are a little more sluggish in the oilpatch.

Dave talks with Calgary Herald business columnist Chris Varcoe about how the industry has rebounded, what the pandemic has done to the bottom lines of some big players, and what the outlook is for the future

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the time of summer when parents are thinking about back to school. New clothes for the kids. New school supplies. Watching their children grow.

But COVID-19 has added a new dimension to the back to school discussion: how to do so safely, while we’re still in the middle of a pandemic. While some provinces are still working out plans or waiting on school boards to submit theirs, Alberta laid out its guidelines this week.

Dave is joined by Edmonton Journal legislature reporter Ashley Joannou to talk about what Alberta classrooms could look like come September, why the government feels there is a need to get kids back in the classroom, and how they hope to manage safety concerns.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is part of Postmedia’s Reopening Canada series, a look at how the country’s economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite diving into a deep recession brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s economy is reopening, and showing signs of growth.

Experts say while the recession was as deep as anyone can remember, it is relatively short-lived. But how long Canada will take to recover is still an open question.

Dave is joined by Financial Post columnist Kevin Carmichael.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What seemed like a noble program in the middle of a pandemic — a grant that would pay students for volunteer hours — has turned into a political nightmare for the prime minister.

The Justin Trudeau government’s $900-million Canada Student Service Grant  program was awarded to WE Charity, an organization with ties to the PM and his family members.

Amid controversy, WE has pulled out of the project, but it has continued to dog Justin Trudeau.

Dave is joined by National Post political reporter Christopher Nardi.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices