The Decibel

There are several development projects underway for AI data centres in Canada, with plans for many, many more. The Canadian government is behind these projects as it tries to encourage Canadians to adopt the technology and increase Canada’s digital sovereignty by housing data within our borders. But there is a lot of opposition to these data centres from the communities where they’d be built, including in Hamilton, and Île-des-Chênes, Man. Residents worry about the facilities’ water use, power use and environmental impacts.

Today, The Globe’s national reporter Joe Friesen tells us about the projects slated for development in Canada, why so many have faced public backlash, and the balance the government has to strike in deciding how and whether to build these centres in Canada.

Editor's note: A previous version of the show notes incorrectly identified Ile des Chênes as being in Alberta. This version has been corrected.

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Pitch and Power is The Globe and Mail's World Cup podcast.

In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s England was a country under strain, marked by industrial decline, social unrest and sharp political divides. In that climate, English soccer became a national problem rather than a point of pride. Stadiums crumbled, hooliganism spread and tragedy struck at Bradford, Heysel, and Hillsborough. The game felt like a relic: toxic, unsafe, unloved. Then, in the summer of 1990, something shifted.

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A lot of attention has been given to the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran’s closure in response to attacks by the U.S. and Israel. But another key strait in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen, has also been threatened with a shutdown, and it’s similarly vital to trade.

Thomas Juneau is a professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. As an expert on Yemen and the Houthis, Juneau discusses the importance of the strait, the relationship between Iran and the Houthis, and what it would mean if the Bab al-Mandeb Strait were closed.

This episode originally aired April 8, 2026.

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Evacuation orders are under way in communities in northwestern Ontario, as more than 140 wildfires rage in the region. Meanwhile, smoke from the fires has drifted south, blanketing cities like Toronto in a yellow haze. Fire officials confirm more than 4.7 million acres have burned throughout Canada this year. As wildfires have become a regular occurrence in Canada, questions about what can be done to mitigate the damage and protect communities has become louder.

Dr. Jen Beverly, associate professor of wildland fire at the University of Alberta, joins The Decibel to talk about the role of climate change, whether wildfires are becoming more intense and frequent and what role forest management plays in wildfire country.

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A new deal between Canada and the U.S. resolves issues around the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is now set to open on July 27. The bridge – which will become the second bridge connecting Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich., – nearly opened last month, but the ribbon-cutting ceremony was quickly called off after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to open the American side of the bridge. A month later, the federal government has struck a new deal with hopes that this one will work.

Steven Chase is back on the show. He’s The Globe’s senior Parliamentary reporter and has been covering developments about the bridge since the original deal was struck between Canada and the government of Michigan in 2012. He’ll explain the tensions around this bridge, why it’s so important to Canada, and how this dispute fits into the wider trade context between the two countries.

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The 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., led to a major diplomatic rift between Canada and India. Mr. Nijjar was a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist. Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused agents of the Indian government of being involved in the killing. Four people had previously been arrested in connection to Nijjar’s killing. Now, U.S. officials have unsealed an indictment alleging gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi and his alleged North American deputy “ordered the assassination” of Nijjar.

Mike Hager is a staff reporter with the Globe’s B.C. bureau. Today, he joins the show to explain who Lawrence Bishnoi is, what his gang is accused of, and alleged connections to the Indian government.

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A lot of Canadians struggle to take their allotted, paid vacation days, according to new research, meaning those days go unused. It’s not just internal pressures making people skip a holiday, it’s coming from higher up – from managers’ attitudes towards vacation all the way up to the state of the economy.

Today, Globe reporter Zosia Bielski explains the reasons why Canadians aren’t taking their paid days off, and the deeper consequences – for our productivity and health – when we don’t.

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In the heat of USA ’94, Roberto Baggio carried the nation of Italy on his shoulders— and then saw it all slip away from twelve yards. This episode explores one of soccer’s most spellbinding talents and the penalty kick that turned his decorated legacy into a lingering question mark. But this isn’t only about one miss. 

Host Eoin O’Callaghan and guests John Foot, Ben Lyttleton and Kevin Kilbane explore the strange hold penalty kicks have, and why that ritual reveals so much about pressure, identity, and the human condition.

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Decisions in two landmark trials in the U.S. found social media companies responsible for harms to youth on their platforms, earlier this year. They follow years of growing concern about the dangers that social media poses to young people. And now, those concerns are starting to show up in policy decisions. Back in December, Australia banned those under 16 years old from creating accounts on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Other countries are considering similar legislation — including Canada. But what do teenagers themselves think of these potential social media bans?

Samantha Edwards is The Globe’s online culture reporter. She assembled a group of Canadian teenagers to talk about how they actually use social media, what adults get wrong, and what they think about losing access to the platforms they use to talk to their friends.

This episode was originally aired on March 27, 2026 
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Canada’s Big Six banks are doing very well financially – their stocks are up an average of 62 per cent over the past year. In previous years, five or 10 per cent increases would be considered good for the banks. Financial reporter and columnist Tim Kiladze says this development is “absurd” and “baffling”.

Today, Tim explains why the banks are doing so well. (Spoiler alert: it’s connected to a red-hot stock market.) He’ll talk about whether this rise will last, the risks and what it says about the health of Canada’s economy.

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