As Canada seeks to land a trade deal with the United States, cracks began to emerge this week over whether some sectors — and corresponding provinces — are getting more attention than others. David Paterson, Ontario’s representative in Washington, joins the show to discuss whether Ottawa is too focused on Canada’s auto industry as B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba ask for more help with their lumber and canola sectors.

Plus, while the trade war continues to bubble, Prime Minister Mark Carney is attempting a plan to get tougher on crime — and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called RCMP leadership “despicable.” Political strategists Kate Harrison, Marci Surkes and Jordan Leichnitz join The House to dig into some of the biggest headlines of the week.

Then, Catherine Cullen speaks with former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell, who’s been tapped by the B.C. government to improve the city’s Downtown Eastside amid ongoing complex problems surrounding drugs, crime and homelessness.

And: even with cuts to government spending on the horizon, Carney says he’s making the Trudeau-era National School Food Program permanent. Debbie Field, national coordinator for Coalition for Healthy School Food, discusses the state of the program and whether the funding is still far from hitting the mark.

This episode features the voices of:

• David Paterson, Ontario’s representative in Washington, D.C.
• Kate Harrison, Conservative strategist and vice chair at Summa Strategies
• Marci Surkes, former senior advisor to Justin Trudeau and chief strategy officer at Compass Rose
• Jordan Leichnitz, NDP strategist and Canada Director at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation
• Larry Campbell, B.C.’s new adviser on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
• Debbie Field, national coordinator of the Coalition for Healthy School Food