The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, CPA Ontario, and the Port of Vancouver.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites. I’m looking for the most accurate adjective to sum up the year in Canadian politics. Watershed ... Pivotal ... Seismic.

They all fit to some extent. But they don’t really capture the whole of it, eh? So, the pod today is a Journalists Panel to do a fulsome Year in Review on all that went down politically across the country, in 2025.

Joining me are 3 titans of the Canadian political pen: Paul Wells, Tonda MacCharles, and Kathleen Petty.

When you’re a titan at something, and work in media to boot, you’re obviously pretty well known, so just as a primer:

Paul Wells – formerly at Maclean’s, the National Post and The Gazette. He now publishes his own brilliant and widely read newsletter: paulwells.substack.com.

Tonda MacCharles – Ottawa Bureau Chief and Senior Reporter for the Toronto Star. Spent nearly a decade on CBC’s The National and The Fifth Estate.

Kathleen Petty – Host of West of Centre Podcast. Host of Alberta at Noon. Former executive producer of CBC News Calgary and host of The House.

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