The Backbench

Last week, Pierre Poilievre said tick tock goes your biological clock. This was the first time that host Noor Azrieh noticed, during the campaign, that someone (anyone!) was speaking to women directly and explicitly. And it prompted a wave of pushback…and some praise. 

The gap between men and women is widening. If the election happened today, and only women voted, Mark Carney would be on track for the biggest landslide in Canadian history. Gender gaps have been a mainstay of Canadian politics for years, but never quite like this. 

In this episode, we’re diving into the minds of voters. What are they thinking about when they head to the polls? And the latest on Trump’s tariff tantrums, Poilievre’s big news on drug policy, the NDP’s rent control dream, and is it defund the CBC or refund the CBC…we can’t tell anymore. 

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)

Further Reading On Our Website

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There are hundreds of unvetted candidates vying for a seat in Parliament…

Canada has 343 federal electoral districts stretching from coast to coast to coast. In every riding, candidates are stepping up…some for the first time. This means there are hundreds of unvetted candidates vying for a seat in Parliament.

This week, we’re looking at a few standouts: a candidate who bragged about making coin flipping condos, an MP that’s a “published writer on Mi’kmaw laws, history, and knowledge” but said an appalling thing about Indigenous women, and a candidate who somehow thought the death of Nathan Cirillo was a great opportunity to sell hams. Yes, hams.

Host: Sam Konnert

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)

Background reading:

• MP says she is sorry for antigay remark – Globe and Mail
• MP Gallant compares abortion to Iraq beheading – CTV News
• The Real (Estate) Talk with Peter Muraca | Ned Kuruc
• Trudeau won't remove Liberal candidate for racist, sexist social media posts | CBC

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With 78 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons, Quebec isn’t just a battleground…it could decide the entire election. And this time, the usual Bloc-Liberal-NDP tug-of-war is taking some unexpected turns. We hit the streets of Montreal to find out what is on people’s minds, and host Noor Azrieh sits down with Martin Patriquin to unpack what it all means. 

And, you’ll hear from Philippe J. Fournier, founder of 338, to talk about where the parties are at in the polls, and if we can even trust the polls…at all. 

Plus, the latest on tensions rising inside the Conservative party, and the phone call heard around the world between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump.

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: Martin Patriquin, Philippe J. Fournier

Further Reading on Our Website

Sponsors: 

Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz and its long list of added-value features, and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off & 10GB of free data. 

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protecting your family’s health or their financial future, PolicyMe is reliable and makes it

effortless and fast.

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. 

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And we’re off to the races! It’s time for the matchup, and election, of a generation. Newly minted Prime Minister Mark Carney is taking on former front-runner Pierre Poilievre on April 28th. It’s a 5-week campaign. In the backdrop of a trade war, Trump’s annexation threats, And almost 10 long years of Liberal leadership. 

For over a year, Poilievre pretty much held a 20-point lead. A landslide Poilievre win wasn't just possible, it felt inevitable. But now? The game has changed. Somehow, against all odds, the Liberals have clawed their way back to the top. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with conservative strategist Amanda Galbraith and progressive strategist Jordan Leichnitz to dissect what went so wrong for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives.

And the latest on, Mark Carney’s long-awaited seat announcement coupled with the ousting of Liberal MP Chandra Arya, and Premier Danielle Smith’s untimely appearance on Breitbart.

Host: Noor Azrieh

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

Guests: Amanda Galbraith, Jordan Leichnitz 

Further Reading On Our Website

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

Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz and its long list of added-value features, and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off & 10GB of free data. 

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more! To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/BACKBENCH, 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. 

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Is AI slop the ultimate weapon for foreign interference? Or are we spiraling into another internet-fueled moral panic?

Last week several AI-generated photos of Mark Carney and Ghislaine Maxwell looking chummy went viral. It was easy to spot the fake, but it raised an important question: should we be worried about AI in this election?

Ryan Broderick, author of the Garbage Day newsletter, and host of his own podcast Panic World, doesn’t think so.

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: Ryan Broderick

Further Reading On Our Website

Sponsors: 

Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz and its long list of added-value features, and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off & 10GB of free data. 

Visit policyme.com to explore insurance plans that cover your needs. Whether you're

protecting your family’s health or their financial future, PolicyMe is reliable and makes it

effortless and fast.

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more! To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/BACKBENCH, 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. 

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Canada is deep in the trenches of a trade war with the United States. After U.S. President Trump unpaused the 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports, all hell has broken loose: the federal government has fired back, provincial leaders are firing shots of their own, and more threats have been made - and then walked back - by the White House. All this, while Canadians are caught in the middle. What sense can we make from the mudslinging? If the chaos unfolding only covers one week of this dispute, what could possibly come next?

Host Noor Azrieh catches up on the longest week in Canadian politics with Max Fawcett, lead columnist for the National Observer. Together, they sift through the madness, and they argue whether or not Canada’s new, un-elected prime minister, Mark Carney, is up for the task of wartime leadership.

Host: Noor Azrieh

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

Guest: Max Fawcett

Further Reading On Our Website

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

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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. 

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For the first time since 2021, the Liberals are beating the Conservatives in a recent poll. We’ll find out on March 9th if Carney is officially sticking around for the long haul. And then? He’s going to be the Prime Minister - at least for a little while. Carney-mania is going around - is it real? Or seriously overblown? Is he Canada's Kamala Harris - mild, overhyped, and fated to lose - or a serious contender? Host Noor Azrieh and Luke Savage try to diagnose what's behind Carney-mania– how a socially conscious banker became the man of the moment. 

And the latest, on the ongoing saga of Trump’s tariffs. Also, King Charles’s sit-down with PM Justin Trudeau over “matters of importance” to Canadians. And BREAKING NEWS, Donald Trump doesn't like Chrystia Freeland or Pierre Poilievre. 

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: Luke Savage

Further Reading on our Website

Sponsors: 

Visit fizz.ca to learn more about Fizz and its long list of added-value features. That's fizz.ca and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 25$ off and 10GB of free data. 

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Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/BACKBENCH, 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. 

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The Arctic is quickly becoming the center of a geopolitical shitstorm. We’re talking power, resources, and territory at stake. And everyone wants a piece of it. Donald Trump floated taking Greenland and Canada to make his claim. But he’s not the only one. Russia’s making moves. So is China. And Canada? Politicians, left and right, are talking about it. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with Gavin John, a freelance journalist embedded in the Arctic, and asks, what’s really at stake for Canada in the Arctic? Is this frozen tundra our greatest vulnerability or our most valuable asset?

And the latest on, the crash and burn of Liberal candidate Ruby Dhalla, and PM Justin Trudeau’s Ukraine visit. Oh, and don’t forget the Ontario election. 

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: Gavin John

Background reading:

• Canada Tries to Break the Ice With Trump – Foreign Policy
• Trump’s Manifest Destiny in the Arctic: The Greenland Gamble – Modern Diplomacy
• Poilievre's Arctic follies – The Hill Times
• Canada to open consulates, appoint Arctic ambassador under new foreign policy – CBC News
• Poilievre promises new military base in Nunavut as part of Arctic defence plan – CBC News

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Jagmeet Singh has taken a lot of shit: his nice watch, his ambivalence on taking down the Liberals, and of course his polling. But he says he’s not giving up. He says he’s here to win.

Sit down with Noor as she goes past the “corporate interest” talking points and grills the leader on all things NDP. Why doesn’t he have a successor? Why won’t he step down? Why is he so fancy for a lefty?

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: Jagmeet Singh

Background reading:

• #115 Did Jagmeet Singh Miss His Big Chance? - CANADALAND
• Get ready for an early federal election, NDP tells candidates in an internal memo – CBC News
• Jagmeet Singh's NDP is in deep trouble – National Observer
• Singh says he will bring down government in March but wants to pass Trump tariff relief first – CBC News

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Stay tuned for the video version of this podcast by subscribing to Canadaland Podcasts on YouTube channel.

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. 

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The government hired 110,000 workers over the past 10 years, did we get 110,000 times more efficient? It doesn’t look like it, but veteran public servant Michael Wernick breaks it all down for Noor. 

And, yes folks, we’re talking about tariffs again, because Donald Trump enacted a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, with NO exceptions. Plus, our nominations for Fentanyl Czar, and the defamation case against Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, CIJA, and Ezra Levant.

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: Michael Wernick

Background reading:

• How a ballooning public sector is reshaping Canada’s economy - The Globe and Mail
• Attrition is the 'worst way' to shrink federal public service, says former clerk - Yahoo News
• Opinion: Canada can learn from Trump and cut its bloated bureaucracy - The Globe and Mail
• Poilievre says he wants to cut the federal public service, doesn't mind remote work - CBC News
• What does Justin Trudeau's departure mean for federal public servants? - CBC News

Sponsors: 

Take action at remoteworks.ca today to support a future of work that benefits everyone. 

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.

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