CANADALAND

The race to succeed Jagmeet Singh has begun, but most of the NDP’s big names are steering clear. Post-election, vibes within the party have been bleak, mired with handwringing, infighting, and no clear guiding vision. 

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that any new leader needs to build a big tent. Bring back the labour vote. With Trump playing tariff bingo, there’s a real opportunity to speak — and to listen — to workers. Are the leadership hopefuls ready to take it?

Taylor C. Noakes joins Jesse Brown to discuss.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Jules Bugiel (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Taylor C. Noakes

Further reading on our website.

Canadaland Politics is recording a LIVE podcast and Q&A from Calgary on September 22nd, 2025 at 7:30PM MT hosted by Mount Royal University. Let us know you’re coming by RSVPing here. 

Sponsors: 

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer   

The Oat Company: Head over to oatcompany.com and use code CANADALAND20 for 20% off your order. They ship across Canada so you can enjoy them anywhere.

Car Gurus: Buy your next car today with CarGurus at https://www.cargurus.ca/

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hudson’s Bay Company is dead. 

While the Canadian media obsesses over the sale of The Bay’s retail properties, thousands of historical artefacts and artworks — including the original copy of the Royal Charter — sit concealed in the cockles of the company’s dustiest vault. Now, Canada’s oldest retailer is hemming and hawing over donating these culturally-significant artefacts to Indigenous communities requesting them, or selling the artefacts for cold, hard cash… all-the-while refusing to share what’s in their inventory.

Taylor C. Noakes chats with Jesse about why the Bay’s obfuscation of their collection is more important than a document — even one the king signed.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Jules Bugiel (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Taylor C. Noakes

This episode uses generative AI for the following purposes: Voice cloning of Canadaland’s editor and publisher Jesse Brown.

NOTE: A previous version of this episode included a shorter version of Ruby Liu's email to Justice Peter Osborne. The new version includes more of the email.

Further reading: 

• Despite requests from Indigenous leaders, HBC artifacts will not be returned - Ricochet     
• Billionaire David Thomson wants to buy Hudson's Bay charter, donate it to Manitoba Archives - CBC
• B.C. billionaire wanting Bay leases doesn't have cash to launch new chain: landlord - The Canadian Press
• Liberal MPs call for action against antisemitism after stabbing of Jewish woman in Ottawa - The Globe and Mail

Canadaland Politics is recording a LIVE podcast and Q&A from Calgary on September 22nd, 2025 at 7:30PM MT hosted by Mount Royal University. Let us know you’re coming by RSVPing here. 

Sponsors: 

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!  

The Oat Company: Head over to oatcompany.com and use code CANADALAND20 for 20% off your order. They ship across Canada so you can enjoy them anywhere.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Right now, a hulking Soviet-era Russian cargo plane is just parked at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. And Canada is trying to do something nobody has ever done before…pull off a legal heist. Host Noor sits down with IJF reporter Zak Vescera to talk about why that plane matters, and how far we’re willing to go to keep it.

And the latest on US accusations of lawfare from the International Criminal Court, coupled with a sanction on Judge Kimberly Prost, who sits on the ICC. And, newly released data on the dramatic immigration turnaround. 

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Guests: Zak Vescera

Background reading:

• Inside Canada’s legal fight over grounded Russian plane – Investigative Journalism Foundation 
• In Kyiv, Carney not ruling out Canadian troops in Ukraine if a peace deal reached – Canada’s National Observer
• Canadian judge among four ICC officials sanctioned by U.S. – The Globe and Mail
• Canada’s latest immigration data revealed: Here’s what happened after a year of seismic changes – Toronto Star

Sponsors: 

Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more! To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Canadaland Politics is recording a LIVE podcast and Q&A from Calgary on September 22nd, 2025 at 7:30PM MT hosted by Mount Royal University. Let us know you’re coming by RSVPing here: https://forms.gle/LoxvdZ8LFfubFpGeA

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Three years before the first episode of SNL. Four years before the first episode of SCTV. Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner. Andrea Martin and later Dave Thomas, co-starred in a legendary production of a musical called Godspell at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto.

The show that launched the careers of a whole generation of comedians is now the subject of a new doc at TIFF. Appropriately titled, You Had to Be There: How The Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love and Overalls, and Created a Community that Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way).

Today we speak with someone who had a front row seat to it all. Paul Shaffer, of Letterman fame, but who back in the days of Godspell was just a kid from Thunder Bay gigging in strip clubs on Younge Street. That is, until he landed the job of musical director for the play that would change the comedy world as we know it.

Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Reported by Ilana Gordon

Fact checking by Julian Abraham

Additional music by Audio Network

Further Reading:

You Had to Be There at TIFF

You Had To Be There - IMDB

You Had To Be There - Trailer

Sponsors: 

Squarespace: Check out Squarespace.com/canadaland for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch use code canadaland to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer.

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!

Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit article.com/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Doug Ford, Danielle Smith, and Pierre Poilievre all seem to want to make sure we have the right to beat people up in our homes. Only if they aren’t invited, of course.

Following a case out of Lindsay, Ontario, the media is all abuzz with talk about the right to self-defence in the case of home invasions. But we have a right, within reason. So what’s the big deal? And are we avoiding talking about systemic problems?

Harrison Lowman from The Hub, breaks it all down with Jesse.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Harrison Lowman

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading: 

• Jamie Sarkonak: Home invasion is serious. The law of self-defence should reflect that — The National Post
• ‘You can’t just get mad’: Lawyer explains limits of self-defence in Canada - CTV News
• Toronto Police Service - Public Safety Data Portal
• J.D.M. Stewart: No more burying our history—The statues of Canada’s prime ministers are out of hiding and back on display - The Hub
• Police Called Over A.I. Protest Against Bell's Booth At FanExpo Canada - Bleeding Cool News

Sponsors: 

Squarespace: Check out Squarespace.com/canadaland for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch use code canadaland to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer.

Car Gurus: Buy your next car today with CarGurus.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pierre Poilievre won his byelection and will be returning to Parliament in September. He’s raring to go, and probably drafting a whole bunch of new catchphrases and slogans. He’s back and ready to try and convince conservatives he’s the right man for the job.

But, in the media, the picture being painted is a little less clear. One poll shows the party being neck and neck with the Liberals. Another shows a huge disparity. How do we make sense of all of this?

Harrison Lowman joins Jesse to break it down.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Harrison Lowman

Further reading: 

• Poilievre’s Prospects: CPC voters back him; those who could’ve put him over the top are far less supportive - Angus Reid
• For both Carney and Poilievre, success has nothing to do with their strengths and everything to do with their weaknesses - The Toronto Star
• Pierre Poilievre attempts to recapture the narrative... | This Hour Has 22 Minutes
• Alex Jones’ Infowars will go up for sale yet again, judge rules | CNN Business
• B.C. nurse Amy Hamm gets suspension, fines for comments about transgender people - CTVNews

Sponsors:

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!

BetterHelp: Visit https://BetterHelp.com/canadaland today to get 10% off your first month.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s tariffs on canola seeds would cripple western Canadian farmers. But this tit for tat fight is about more than just canola. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with Vina Nadjibulla who thinks China’s playing us and we shouldn't take the bait. 

And the latest news on Carney’s elbows on Trump’s tariffs, Canada’s all boys trip to Berlin, and the secrets our allies aren't telling us. 

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Post Production), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Guests: Vina Nadjibulla

Background reading:

• China’s canola tariffs are a dangerous trap – The Globe and Mail
• ‘Economic coercion’: Five takeaways on China tariffing Canadian canola and the escalating Canada-China trade war – The Hub
• Let’s free ourselves of the U.S. and forge closer ties with China – The Globe and Mail
• Facing tariffs, canola farmers call on the Canadian government for help – CBC News
• China ‘ready to move forward’ in relations with Canada, envoy says – The Globe and Mail

Sponsors: 

Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today at douglas.ca/canadaland

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Something wild happened in Nova Scotia during filming of the James Cameron film Titanic. 

Parts of the blockbuster were filmed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and on the last night of filming there, someone did something. Something that caused director James Cameron to question reality itself, something that resulted in the rest of the cast and crew being piled into vans and rushed to a nearby hospital. The cops looked into it, but they never figured out who was responsible.

That mystery is now a piece of Canadian film industry lore. It has been whispered about and speculated on for decades. Lots of people have theories, but so far nobody has cracked the case. Now, Canadaland goes searching for the answer. Who spiked the Titanic chowder?

Caleb Thompson (Post Production), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Reported by Julian Abraham

Fact checking by Lucie L

Additional music by Audio Network

Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Further Reading:

“Grips are doing wheelies in wheelchairs” - Variety

James Cameron Recalls the Night the Titanic Crew Were Spiked with PCP - CBC

James Cameron on CBC’s The Q - Video

Sponsors: 

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free!

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In July, Mark Carney made it clear to public workers that there would be a tightening of the belt. Ministers were told to save 15% from their departmental budgets over the next three years. The deadline to do so is next week, August 28th. 

What that looks like in practice is pretty bleak. By 2028, it has been estimated that over 57,000 full-time equivalent workers will be laid off. Who will be laid off? And is this type of austerity bad governance?

Meanwhile, in Ontario, Doug Ford is mandating a return to office for all workers, five days a week, come January 2026. Who will this affect?

Host San Grewal and reporter Stacy Thomas break it down.

Host: San Grewal

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Stacy Thomas

Photo: Creative edit by Tristan Capacchione, with photos from Gage Skidmore and Simon Dawson

• Further reading on our website

Sponsors:

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free! 

BetterHelp: Visit https://BetterHelp.com/canadaland today to get 10% off your first month.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Air Canada strike this past weekend affected tens of thousands of Canadians and international travelers. The negotiations have been going on for eight months, the contract renewal was known about for ten years, so how did the Air Canada strike sneak up on Canadians so fast?

Why were flight attendants, who are primarily women, not being paid for “ground work” for so long? 

Is labour coverage so non-existent in Canada that these stories just go unnoticed?

Labour reporter Stacy Thomas joins San Grewal to talk all about it.

Host: San Grewal

Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Lucie Laumonier (Associate Producer and Fact Checking), tom sayers (Audio Editor), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor)

Guest: Stacy Thomas

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading on our website 

Sponsors: 

oxio: Head over to canadaland.oxio.ca and use code CANADALAND for your first month free! 

Cargurus: Buy your next car today with CarGurus at https://www.cargurus.ca/

BetterHelp: Visit https://BetterHelp.com/canadaland today to get 10% off your first month.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.  

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.