The Current

The former premier of New Brunswick and former Canadian ambassador to the US gives his take on the trade war, and Canada at this moment. He has some sharp words for Alberta premier Danielle Smith and tells a wild story about the advice he and Jean Chretien got from another world leader after the 1995 Quebec referendum. Also in this episode: our conversation with beloved Acadian musician Lisa Leblanc. 

Two diseases are ravaging PEI's oyster industry and farmers and fishers say government help hasn't been enough. We travel to Tyne Valley and go to the heart of the "dead zone". This is part one of The Current's road trip across the maritimes. Also in this episode: We get a preview of the ambitious new restoration of Province House in Charlottetown.

The White House responded to Canada's retaliatory counter-tariffs with a series of proclamations. We speak with two U.S.-based trade reporters, Gavin Bade from the Wall Street Journal, and Oliver Ward from POLITICO to discuss what this all means, and the road ahead in an escalating trade war.

There have been alarm bells ringing for some time about dropping math scores in this country 

In her documentary, “Are your kids learning math the right way?”, CBC’s Julia Pagel visits a school in Gimli, Manitoba, where new teaching strategies yield impressive test results—while sparking a deeper debate over the best way to teach math.

We speak with the creators of the series North of North as they launch Season 2 after the show became an international hit. Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril tell us about what it's like to film a comedy in Iqaluit, about the good things, and the challenges faced by those living in Canada's North.

Former UN Ambassador Bob Rae and former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt reflect on what it means to be Canadian in the midst of a trade war with the US, and what the stakes are for our country as retaliatory tariffs come into effect.

Canadian authors Margaret Atwood and Stephen Marche reflect on what it means to be Canadian during a trade war, and what we need to consider when it comes to our culture, identity and politics in this moment.

Our national affairs panel, CBC's Rosemary Barton, the Toronto Star's Ryan Tumility and Stephanie Levitz from the Globe and Mail, join us to unpack the latest, and what they'll be watching for from the Prime Minister in the coming weeks.

It seems like chatting-it-up is part of Maritime culture. People love to talk, even with strangers. So, Jax Irwin has made a delightful gig of this friendly way of life. She’s a Toronto broadcaster who is originally from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. On her social media, she calls random East Coast phone numbers,  numbers in the 902 area code, and chitchats with whoever answers. We talk to her about what some of those conversations are, and why she calls herself a ‘phone call enthusiast.”

We speak with Heidi Pyper, the wife of the late bestselling author of The Demonologist and The Killing Circle, Andrew Pyper, about his latest book releasing posthumously this week and a new prize for thriller and horror writers is launching this week in his honour.