Party Lines

By popular demand, our hit election primer podcast — co-hosted by Rosemary Barton (Chief Political Correspondent, CBC News) and Elamin Abdelmahmoud (BuzzFeed News) — is relaunching as a political weekly. Its broader goal in divided times: to help Canadians understand our politics, and each other, better.

Though the Conservatives lost urban votes in Ontario and Quebec, Andrew Scheer says it’s possible for him to hold socially conservative views and be the next prime minister. The results say differently, and Elamin breaks them down. Plus, Rosie speculates why Trudeau is taking so long to build a new cabinet that checks a lot of different boxes: [ ] gender balanced, [ ] regional representation, [ ] experience.

This is our last episode before we take a break! Now that the federal election is over, what would you like to hear in a political podcast going forward? Let us know through our survey on cbc.ca/podcasts

So, that just happened. The Liberals have been re-elected with the smallest vote share of any government in history. Rosie and Elamin reflect on what Trudeau can (and can’t) do with his party’s new minority status and a growing regional divide.

It’s the final stretch before voting day and opinion polls suggest it will be a very close race. Elamin wants to define some key terms (coalition, anyone?) and walk through a brief history of minority governments.

Plus, Rosie wants to check in with strategic voters. What’s the difference between voting for your favourite party and voting against your least favourite? What’s smart? What’s cynical? Could strategic voting be both?

We’re told to avoid politics at the dinner table, but with advanced polls open on Thanksgiving weekend, it may be harder to avoid the subject this year. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, says Rosie — but she’s got some advice. 

And Elamin wants to talk about younger voters. More Millennials are now eligible to vote in Canada than Baby Boomers. How will they, and their younger Gen Z siblings, wield their collective power? And what does Rihanna have to do with it?

You could be forgiven for thinking only diehard political junkies watch election debates. Rosie thinks we should change that. She makes the case for spending some of your precious time watching the leaders duke it out for your vote.

Plus, we’re just a little over halfway through the campaign and Elamin is feeling uninspired. The polls suggest he’s not alone. He wants to talk about the barely budging numbers and why a lack of bold ideas may be to blame.

The polls suggest that a majority of Canadians (9 out of 10) see addressing climate change as “important or urgent.” But do they behave and vote accordingly? Rosie wants to talk about political posturing and the state of the planet.

And Elamin tries to predict this year’s “ballot box question.” His current front runner is an affordable cost of living — but should it really be simple as voting for the party that will save you the most money?

The Liberal campaign is in damage control mode after Time surfaced a yearbook photo of Justin Trudeau wearing “brownface” in 2001. Elamin and Rosie got on an overnight call to talk about his swift apology — and the likely lengthier fallout.

The federal election campaign has officially started, and Rosie wants to talk about what women want. They aren’t a monolith — but how they vote could determine the outcome of this election (as it did in 2015).

And Elamin wants to talk about immigration policy. He say it's both an economic issue and a way for parties to do a bit of virtue signalling.

Rosie takes stock of each party’s position out of the gate. What’s at stake for each leader — and what would success look like? And Elamin wants to talk about the elephants in the room. How does each leader talk about the things they’d rather not talk about?