Ryan & Lisa: The Podcast

Changing migratory patterns brought on by El Nino promised to bring more rare bird sightings around Vancouver Island this summer, but how did that actually shake out? Well, just this past weekend the Rocky Point Bird Observatory documented one sighting of the Hawaiian Petrels, a Cocos Booby and a short-tailed Abatross. Joining us for a look back on the summer bird-spotting highlights is Ann Nightingale with the Rocky Point Bird Observatory.

Plus, last week marked the anniversary of the death of 12-year-old Xavier Rasul-Jankovics with a memorial, after he was fatally struck by a car a year prior. Since his passing, proposed legislation has been making its way through the political process, which would make it easier to issue driving bans for reckless driving. And now, the province is closing public access to Poplar Road. Juan de Fuca-Malahat MLA Dana Lajeunesse made the announcement at last week’s memorial, and he joins for more. 

With back to school fast approaching and the question of regulations for social media platforms remaining a live political issue, it’s time to talk online safety for young people. Brandon Laur is the CEO and digital literacy instructor behind the White Hatter joins to catch up.

MLA Áʼa꞉líya Warbus left the BC Conservatives this morning. The hotly anticipated BC Conservative caucus meeting today has been cancelled, and party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay also axed her press conference which was scheduled after. This comes as Premier Eby has called the Abbotsford-Mission by-election, meaning Findlay will have her shot at a seat in the legislature on September 26. CTV Vancouver legislative reporter has the latest.

As we’ve been thinking about back to school road safety, Times Colonist’s driving columnist John Ducker has been looking into the common reasons things can go wrong. He’s written about a new report from Insurance Canada which suggests the driving environment is becoming more demanding than ever, as novel distractions make a perfect storm for more issues on the road. John is joining us now for more on his take on the issue. 

What a week it has been for trade news, and some of the politics around all this are intense. Yesterday Donald Trump signed an executive order to re-name Lake Ontario. Meanwhile Canada’s trade minister clarified French language streaming rules, not labels, was a key issue when trade talks with the U.S. collapsed one week ago. Canadian Press Washington Correspondent Kelly Geraldine Malone joins for a re-cap headed into the weekend.

Plus, it's the big day: the Kids Count! Mega 50/50 draw! Johnny from Virgin Radio Mornings with Bailey & Johnny join Ryan for the draw and to call the winner. 

Meanwhile, the BC Conservatives have seen six defections over the past two weeks, startling many observers, with rumours that more could depart in the near future. CTV Vancouver legislative reporter Rob Buffam joins for the latest. 

Plus, we are 10 years into the province’s overdose emergency, the deaths still continue. Leslie Hogya is a member of Moms Stop the Harm, and she lost her own son six years ago to the toxic drug crisis. She joins to talk about a vigil scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. at Broad View United Church.

Steve Young's childhood team is coming to Victoria soon, so he joins for a Sports Guy Steve segment to catch us up on everything hockey! 

Plus, for this week's edition of Friday Food Vibes, Dallas talks, Fireside Grill's new tasting menu, Feast of Fields, Sidney Scones' Meet & Greet on Saturday, Greekfest & the 26th VNCS Japanese Cultural Fair.

As the Canada-U.S. trade war escalates, president of the U.S. signed a new executive order to impose 50 per cent on some Canadian goods, including automotives and parts, effective in the new year. Matthew Guy is an automotive writer for publications like Driver, and he’s tuned into the industry so we call him to get a sense of what this all means. 

E-mobility safety remains a live issue, with new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information suggesting hospitalization for children and adults riding e-scooters rose by nearly 40 per cent over the past year nation-wide. The institute tells us there has been a very sharp increase of these incidents in B.C. over the past year. Manager of hospital data management Michael Terner joins. 

Plus, Bailey from Virgin Mornings with Bailey & Johnny joins to discuss news of the casting of a Vancouver Island actor as the character named Ryan Price in the hit TV series, Heated Rivalry. 

Yesterday saw MLA Teresa Watt and Brennan Day leave the BC Conservative caucus. We spoke with MLA Day last Thursday, and he suggested then he intended to stay. What in the world is going so wrong so fast in that party right now? UBC political science lecturer Stewart Prest joins. 

Meanwhile, the BCSPCA is launching a new animal behavioral centre in North Cowichan today. What is this all about? Animal behaviour and welfare manager Kim Monteith joins. 

The news broke yesterday of Dolly Parton’s passing at age 80: known for her country glamour, expressing themes of life as a working class woman and the positive impact she tried to have on the world – particularly children, through things like her book program and a 2017 album for kids titled “I believe in you.” Prominent music publicist and commentator Eric Alper joins to discuss her lasting impact on music.

Plus, one of the events encouraging us to taste local is the Feast of Fields event happening at Heritage Acres in Saanichton this weekend, featuring local chefs, growers and artisans. You may know Heather Leary from the Oak Bay Business Improvement Association, but she’s joins wearing her public relations hat on behalf of FarmFolk CityFolk, which is putting on this event.

Many U.S. imports are about to get more expensive after Labour Day, and our local construction industry will not be immune to these prices. For example, some luminaries and lightings, wood products, tools and radiators will all see at least a 25 per cent mark-up when imported from America. Amid all of this, Vancouver Island Construction Association CEO Rory Kumala is encouraging us to ask if we can buy Canadian more often.

CFAX Santas Anonymous launched its breakfast foods funding initiative in the summer of 2025 to help food banks handle the added demand that can come when kids are out of school. Ultimately, it is providing 60-thousand dollars to three local food banks to support them in providing these breakfast foods throughout July and August. They will also receive additional from proceeds of the Kids Count! Mega Summer 50/50. One of those food banks is the Saanich Peninsula Lions, and operations manager Tyson Elder is joins. 

Fish imports are one of the big industries Canada is targeting with retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. in this trade war. There are literally dozens of categories of fish set to see 25 per cent levies just after Labour Day. What does this mean for Canadian fishers and fish markets here? Bob Fraumeni owns Finest at Sea and he joins to share his thoughts. 

You may think of a rave as a loud and boisterous thing, but a group of our Esquimalt neighbours are switching things up. Imagine this: people sitting in Captain Jacobson Park, silently reading books together. Where did this idea come from and why are people doing it? Diana De Cotiis is an organizer joins in studio to talk about it.

The federal conservative opposition wants to see the full details of what the U.S. offered before trade talks completely broke down late Friday night. Since Canada has withdrawn from negotiations, Prime Minister Carney has explained the decision by citing the U.S. introducing measures in the final hours of negotiations which would restrict Canada’s ability to strike deals with other countries. He also suggested the protection of Francophone language and culture, along with the auto industry was at issue. Local conservative MP Jeff Kibble is joins to share his thoughts. 

Plus, as the Kids Count! Mega Summer 50/50 surpasses $34,000, Christine Hewitt-Goodsir joins for an update. 

After walking away from negotiations, the Prime Minister has said Canada's retaliation will take effect after Labour Day. Green Party leader Elizabeth May says she’s calling for a more strategic response, including strategic reserves for Canadian aluminum, potash and wood products. She joins to discuss.

After much speculation over if more MLAs would flee the BC Conservative caucus, we learned this week that MLA Ian Paton has decided to exit and says he wants to establish yet another party with MLA Peter Milobar – who left earlier this month. Bryan Breguet is a former BC Conservative candidate and economics professor at Langara who has been outspoken about these developments, writing on social media that “in hindsight it was probably mistake to make a deal with BC United and take some of their candidates and MLAs.” He shares his take on what's happening. 

 Plus, the Country Roads Festival (headlined by Doc Walker and Aaron Pritchett) is organized by Dylan Stone with Cascadia Concerts, and he’s joining us now to discuss.

Ryan & Lisa hear from listeners on the lightning display much of Vancouver Island saw over the weekend as we catch up on current events, including what the trade war escalation means for all of us. 

After so much on-again off-again news of trade troubles, many of us have become a bit numb to what the news of Canada-U.S. trade agreement falling through actually means. But those 50 per cent U.S. tariffs on many Canadian goods are in effect now, and the government says our retaliatory tariffs will come into effect shortly after Labour Day. Canadian Federation of Independent Business VP of legislative affairs Ryan Mallough joins talk about what this means for businesses and consumers.

Meanwhile, B.C.'s capital city will be hosting the Victoria Forum this week, with this year’s theme being focused on truth, justice and wellbeing. This event is drawing groups from all over the world, including a community foundation in Australia. Hands Across Canberra CEO Genevive Jacobs joins to talk about what’s happening.

And wildfires remain top of mind, we get into the power of goats in preventing its spread! Langford had a pretty cool event over the weekend, showcasing how goats can clear brush. The owner of Vancouver Island Goatscaping brought her goats down from up-island so her heard could eat up the bushes that tend to catch flame, as part of a FireSmart awareness event. Natasha Murphy joins to share a bit more about her work.

Plus, CFAX 1070 program director Brad Challoner has been in Calgary for the Minto Cup, and he joins with the update on the final outcome.

In the cabinet shuffle that followed Minister Brenda Bailey disclosing she would be seeking cancer treatment, Minister Ravi Kahlon has been moved to health as Minister Osborne goes to finance. B.C.’s new health minister Kahlon joins to catch up as he takes on this new file.

Prime Minister Mark Carney cited late additions from the U.S. when explaining the decision to walk away from trade talks ahead of the U.S. issuing new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian goods. These red lines included the auto industry, French language and culture, along with some form of restrictions on Canada to make future trade agreements. Jeremy Kinsman is a retired diplomat based in Victoria, joining to help us make sense of how this all went wrong.

 

Another day, another deadline; now Canadian trade negotiators are being told by the U.S. we need to secure an agreement to continue facing the threatened 50 per cent tariffs on many goods. What’s the latest in Washington D.C.? Kelly Geraldine Malone is a Canadian Press correspondent there, and she’s got the update.

Plus, we are in the midst of Canadian Flowers Week, and one florist up in the Comox Valley is recognizing the occasion with an instillation of a floral display in a retired Optimist sailboat. The installation is actually a bit of a community project, with the local sailing association donating the retired boat while the flowers were grown with the help of a partnership with Project Inclusion. The florist leading this is Emily Yewchuk, the owner of Wildflower Mercantile.

Meanwhile, we've all been thinking about the human cost of wildfires recently, but it seems there is also a significant monetary cost – with the cost of fighting wildfires in B.C. nearly matching the same amount of what the province collected in gas royalty revenues in roughly the same time period. That’s according to a new analysis by researchers including Andy Hira, a political economist and the director of Simon Fraser University’s Clean Energy Research group. 

After a narrow 5-4 loss to Coquitlam on Wednesday, the senior Shamrocks are getting set for game four of the championship series in Coquitlam tonight. General manager Chris Welch takes a quick call from us to catch us up. 

Plus, we have an update on a local story that sparked significant controversy. We spoke with the founder of One with Nature Survival and Bushcraft School a few months ago about his pitch to do wilderness survival education on a patch of crown land in and around East Sooke Park. His proposal generated considerable backlash in the local community and now the province has rejected his application. However, Vitaliy Svetlichnyy tells us there’s still an important story to tell about outdoor education, environmental stewardship and what he’s learned through this process as he looks towards his next endeavours. 

Meanwhile, as the U.S. renews pressure on Canada’s trade negotiators to secure an agreement before Saturday, we are already seeing waves in domestic politics. Tape of the U.S. vice president shows him mocking Mark Carney for framing the deal as a victory for Canada and characterizing opposition leader Pierre Poilievre a “non-entity” in negotiations. Here in B.C., Premier Eby hasn’t confirmed if he’ll walk back restrictions on U.S. alcohol after the Prime Minister asked premiers to do so. Meanwhile, Manitoba's Premier is under scrutiny for publicly characterizing Carney as nearly begging to see these provincial bans lifted. Royal Roads professor of communications and culture David Black is joining to help us make sense of what’s happening.

Plus, Dallas from the Vic Food Guys joins us in studio for this week's edition to talk next level seafood, a BBQ pop up, Victoria's biggest Nigerian summer gathering and local Italian sandwiches and wraps. 

Ryan & Lisa chat about the Prime Minister asking premiers to remove the provincial restrictions on U.S. alcohol and local discourse on bike-share rolling out in Victoria.

Plus, the BC SPCA Wild Arc centre in Metchosin is currently caring for 32 young racoons, the majority of which arrived as orphans. The centre’s assistant manager Kelsi Arnott joins to help us better understand these tiny creatures.

The Junior Shamrocks have been ramping up their performance at the Minto Cup, and we catch up with CFAX 1070 program director Brad Challoner, who has been in Calgary for the games. 

Meanwhile, we’ve been enjoying all of your performances as we’ve been doing some of our recent contests, including when we were giving away tickets to Spamalot—a musical production that paints itself as lovingly ripping off Monty Python. But as we all know, there’s a story behind any of these musical performances that make their way here to the capital region. Brian Paterson is a marketing VP with Broadway in Victoria and he joins for a peek behind the show. 

At least one local bike rental business is expressing frustration over Victoria's bike share roll-out with U.S.-based Lime Bike. John Varga with the Pedlar says he’s concerned about how this will all effect the local tourism economy, as small shops like his find themselves in competition with bike share in key locations. 

It may be the dog days of summer, but the fall legislative session is fast approaching and many of the pressing issues with our health care system don’t take a break. Last we checked in on the Nanaimo inpatient tower and cath lab story, Island Health had just recently closed its application processes for a contractor on the concept plan—and up-island advocates tell us getting this thing built is badly needed for equitable care access. Meanwhile, our colleagues at CTV Vancouver Island just broke a story highlighting how a teen who has waited more than two years for a scoliosis surgery. Courtneay-Comox MLA and rural & seniors health critic Brennan Day joins to catch up ahead of the fall legislative session. 

It seems talks between the U.S. and Canada have managed to delay – and perhaps even halt – the new wave of tariffs threatened by U.S. president Trump. Within a couple hours of when Trump had said 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian goods would come into effect, he posted to social media saying there would be a three-day pause due as some sort of deal is set to be finalized. This trade uncertainty comes at a troubling time for B.C. wine producers, much of whom are based in the Okanagan and are already grappling with the lasting effects of wildfires. Wine Growers of BC president and CEO Jeff Guignard is joins. 

We’re seeing a new commercialization effort here in B.C. for the manufacture of wood foam – a biodegradable material made from forestry waste. This is happening through a partnership between UBC and the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, with a pilot plant operated by DicinFoam. UBC wood science associate professor Feng Jiang (PhD) first developed the material in a lab setting, and he’s joining us to talk about the science behind wood foam.

Plus, after the latest trade trouble got down to the wire yesterday evening, when suddenly Trump posted to social media saying the new tariffs would not come into effect today, Victoria's MP Will Greaves joins us to help us understand what happened and what comes next.

If the new wave of U.S. threatened levies ultimately do kick in, they are expected to pack a bad punch for many B.C. industries, including forestry, dairy and alcohol. What’s the assessment of how Canada has tried to navigate this, and where do we go from here? Conservative MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford Jeff Kibble also weighs in. 

We also get into a tragic local story, after a 27-year-old man died of drowning at Goldstream Falls near the campground on Monday. This comes amid an overall spike in these fatalities in B.C., with the coroner office recording 40 accidental drowning deaths from May 1 to July 16 – that’s 14 more than the same period last year. In this latest case, although bystanders pulled the man from the water and attempted life-saving measures before emergency services arrived, the incident proved fatal. Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey is joining us to discuss.

Ryan & Lisa talk gas prices, a fire in a historic Cumberland building over this past weekend and more on spiders as they seem to keep popping up in our houses these days. 

Plus, eight local high school students have been named Team Canada to compete in an international robotic competition happening this fall in South Korea.This year’s theme for the FIRST Global Challenge 2026 is a timely one, focused on developing wildfire prevention, mitigation and recovery solutions. Mount Doug student and Team Canada member Ryan Adler, along with coach Christine Nicholls, joined for more. 

CFAX Santas Anonymous executive director Christine Hewitt Goodsir joins for an update as the Kids Count Mega Summer 50/50 total passes more than $23,000. 

Meanwhile, JUUL Labs is appealing the certification of a class action suit against them over allegations of deceptive marketing of e-cigarettes as a safe alternative to smoking. This legal process has been a bit of a saga so far, since the case was first brought by representative plaintiffs in 2019. There are also other ongoing legal actions involving JUUL Labs, which can get a bit confusing. Black Press legislative correspondent Mark Page has put the pieces of this story together, and he joins to break it down. 

Canada has been having marathon trade negotiations with the U.S. ahead of the new 50 per cent tariffs U.S. president Trump promised for many Canadian goods, which are set to take effect tomorrow if nothing changes. If we don't get some sort of deal with trump's administration, many B.C. dominant industries are expecting to feel this badly, from forestry to alcohol, agriculture and dairy. BC Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Jen Riley joins to discuss.