The Decibel

Americans will vote for members of the U.S. Congress in the midterm elections on Nov. 3. But in a number of states, this year’s election will have a major factor: Canada. A combination of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on a range of industries, to threats of annexation and a loss of revenue from tourism – has made Canada and its relations with the U.S. prime voting issues.

Nathan VanderKlippe, international correspondent for The Globe, has been covering the U.S. midterms in the lead-up to voting day. He’ll explain why Canada matters in some key races and how the midterms are being seen by observers as a referendum on Trump 2.0

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Canadians reported over $700-million lost to scams in 2025, up from $645-million the year before; that figure is recognized to be a massive undercount because most scams go unreported. Scams are only getting more sophisticated and convincing. Today, we’re talking about the most common types of scams: investment, authority and romance.

Alexandra Posadzki is The Globe’s financial crime and cybercrime reporter. She’ll walk us through the main scams Canadians face, and why they’re so hard to stop. We also speak with a man who lost thousands of dollars to a scam himself.

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The Canadian government has invested billions in critical mineral companies in an effort to boost the sector so it can compete against China. But mining projects always come with a lot of risk for investors. So is this a smart strategy for a government to adopt?

Niall McGee is the mining reporter for The Globe. He looked into which projects the federal government is investing in, what they hope will come of their investments and whether this bet is worth taking.

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On Saturday, B.C. voters head to the polls in a snap provincial election. BC NDP Leader David Eby’s rationale for the election, held two years ahead of schedule, was to get a stronger mandate amidst a trade war. His critics called it a gamble that could threaten Eby’s government. Now, the BC Conservative party is neck in neck with the NDP and a new, young challenger could come out of the election holding the balance of power.

Mike Hager, Globe reporter in Vancouver, has been covering the election campaign. He’ll take us through the controversial election call, why the Conservatives have made a comeback in the polls and what the biggest voting issues are on the ballot.

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Four people were killed and dozens injured in a fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta on Saturday. Prime Minister Mark Carney called it one of the worst tragedies for the Armed Forces on Canadian soil in peacetime.

Today, Globe feature writer Jana G. Pruden is on the show. She was in Wainwright this week and she’ll tell us what we know, and what’s still unknown, about the tragedy.

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Albertans firmly rejected the option to separate from Canada in Monday night’s referendum vote, with 75 per cent of voters opting to keep the province in the country. But will that mark the end of the separatist movement in Alberta? And what does it mean for Premier Danielle Smith and her future?

Tyler Dawson is a Globe columnist and Opinion editor based in Edmonton. He is also the author of the book The Republic of Alberta: An Idea That Won’t Go Away. He explains the political consequences of the results of the separation question as well as the other nine questions that Albertans voted on.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at [email protected]

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Household chores can be seen as a drain on your time. But to some AI companies, how you do those chores is valuable data. Apps like Atlas Capture are using videos of people sweeping or cleaning a toilet to train humanoid robots. Who are the people doing this work for AI companies? And is the pay (usually around US$3 per hour) worth their time?

Joe Castaldo is The Globe’s AI and tech reporter and he tried out the technology firsthand. He’s on the show to tell us what this work looks like, what the people doing this labour think about it and what it means for humanity when we teach robots to do chores.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]

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Today is the referendum in Alberta, where Albertans will cast their vote either to remain part of Canada or start the process to hold another referendum to leave (among other ballot questions). But this issue stretches far beyond the past few years – it goes back to before Alberta was a province of Canada.

Today, we’re going through the history of the Alberta separatist movement with Tyler Dawson. He’s an opinion editor for The Globe based in Edmonton, and the author of The Republic of Alberta: An idea that won’t go away.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]

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This past week, a judge in Washington state heard arguments around whether a woman accused of conspiring with the Tumbler Ridge shooter should be released before her trial. James Cody Bryant – who identifies as a woman and uses she/her pronouns – was arrested by U.S. authorities at the beginning of the month.

Jesse Winter is a reporter and photographer with The Globe. He went to report on Ms. Bryant’s pretrial hearing in person. He explains the specific allegations against her, what the judge ruled regarding whether to keep her in custody and gives an update on the other legal proceedings surrounding the fallout from one of Canada’s worst mass shootings.

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For many, AI is no longer a curiosity but increasingly built into our daily lives. Whether through intentional use of chatbots or its inclusion in online searches, it’s radically changing the way we receive information. Products, brands, services are all being tailor-made for you, through the use of AI.

But what if these recommendations are being manipulated behind the scenes?

Today, we have Nick Koudas joining us on the show. Dr. Koudas is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto.

He’ll tell us how the way you are marketed products is changing, whether you’re aware of it or not and what that means for both consumers and businesses alike.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [email protected]

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