What does Danielle Smith want?

The American threat has led to some strange bedfellows between the premiers and the feds. Leaders as different as Wab Kinew, Doug Ford and Mark Carney all seem to be on the same page. But not the Albertan premier.

She’s been the odd woman out during the past few months. She maintained friendly contacts with the Trump administration, she argued against the use of export controls on Albertan energy and she’s has been openly hostile to the new prime minister.

And then, a little over a week after the election, Smith announced that Alberta might hold a referendum on independence. Sort of. Kinda.

She’s lowering the threshold for a citizen’s referendum, which could lead to an independence referendum as early as next year. And while she continues to maintain that she’s a Canadian nationalist, she sure sounds like she’s sympathetic to the separatist cause.

So again, what exactly does Danielle Smith want? And would an independent Alberta even be a viable state?

I decided to ask Jen Gerson, the co-founder of The Line. Gerson is one of the most astute observers of Albertan politics. And as you’ll hear in our conversation, she is not a fan of the premier’s flirtations with Albertan separatism.

Featured in this episode: Jen Gerson (The Line)

To learn more

“Danielle Smith is destroying my kitchen” by Jen Gerson in The Line

“Separatists release potential Alberta referendum question, expect Danielle Smith to join cause” by Jason Markusoff in CBC News

Let the Eastern B******s Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation by Mary Janigan

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

The last time we spoke with John Rapley, economic columnist for the Globe and Mail, it was right after Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister, creating a crisis for the Trudeau government.

Remember that? It feels like quite a long time ago.

Here’s some of what’s happened since then — Justin Trudeau announced his resignation, Donald Trump began to joke about Canada as the 51st state, and then everyone realized that he wasn’t joking, Mark Carney creamed Chrystia Freeland in a Liberal leadership race and became Prime Minister, Trump announced across-the-board tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Trump delayed the across-the-board tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Trump tariffed our aluminum and steel industries, he announced tariffs against the entire world, almost tanked the global economy in the matter of a week, and then delayed his global tariffs, and we had a federal election, with Mark Carney winning a fourth-in-a-row government for the Liberals.

In other words, it’s been a crazy few months.

So we wanted to catch up with Rapley and talk through all of this stuff and about where Canada goes next.

To learn more:

“God save Mark Carney, the man with the simple job of completely remaking Canada’s economy”, “Why Canada must align with Europe, the new boomtown” and “Perhaps more trade with China is not a bad idea after all” by John Rapley in The Globe and Mail

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

Final thoughts on one of the strangest elections in Canadian history from the team at The Hatchet.

If you’re in Toronto, make sure to drop by our election watch party at the Dock Ellis.

For the first and only time this election, the major federal party leaders (and Yves-François Blanchet) stepped onto a stage and debated each other in English.

None of the major parties have released a fully-costed platform. And both Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre have done everything possible to avoid being subjected to the indignity of being interviewed by real journalists in their native language.

And so for the majority of Canadians, this debate was their only real opportunity to see the candidates in an environment that wasn’t controlled by their staffers and attendants.

So how did they do? What did Canadians learn about how they’d run the country?

Will Pierre Poilievre buy me a house? Why doesn’t Mark Carney fight Donald Trump in the octagon? Is Jagmeet Singh enrolling in medical school in order to strengthen our healthcare system? And is Yves-François Blanchet more handsome and charming than Gilles Duceppe?

You’ll find out the answer to at least one of those questions in this paid subscriber-only, debate-edition of The Hatchet.

Brookfield has been in the news constantly over the last few weeks. The Conservatives attacked the company for moving the headquarters of one of their subsidiaries to New York City. The NDP have accused it of avoiding taxes through offshore havens. And Prime Minister Mark Carney, the former chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, has found himself on the defensive because of his association with the company.

But what these political attacks miss is a far more important story. It’s a story of a company that has been central to Canada’s history and economy for more than a century.

So what exactly is Brookfield? That’s a question that we here at The Hatchet have set out to answer.

What we found was a company that almost defies description.

Brookfield has been a financial universe unto itself, operating by a different set of cosmic laws and fundamental forces than other corporations.

It’s a company that’s shown an almost unparalleled talent for reinvention. Over its 125-year-history, it’s morphed from a neo-colonial experiment to Canada’s most ruthless corporate raider to a seemingly boring storehouse of our collective pension earnings.

Now it is one of a tiny handful of financial entities that sit at the very centre of the global economy.

And so that’s why we’ll be spending this series focusing exclusively on this incredibly important and yet rarely understood company.

We’ll be digging into its epic history, its contentious present and what the continued domination of firms like Brookfield could mean for everyday people.

In this first episode, we shine a light on it’s first incarnation — Brazilian Traction, Light and Power — and how it managed to dominate the people of South America’s biggest nation for most of the 20th century.

Featured in this episode: Tyler Shipley

To learn more

Canada In The World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination by Tyler Shipley

The Brass Ring: Power, Influence and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann Shortell

Let Us Prey: The Practices and Profits of Canadian Corporations and Businessmen edited by Robert Chodos & Ray Murphy

The Light: Brazilian Traction, Light, and Power Company Limited, 1899-1945 by Duncan McDowall

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

It’s week two of the federal election and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are off to a rocky start.

There’s been reporting in most major news outlets about turmoil behind-the-scenes. And high ranking staffers have been openly criticizing his campaign and pushing for a change in direction.

The drama has pretty much eclipsed everything else for the federal Conservatives, so that’s what’s on the agenda for our second episode on the federal election.

We dig into the whole saga and break down everything that’s happened so far.

This episode is only available to paid supporters. Please consider supporting our work!

To learn more:

“Insiders say Pierre Poilievre called Doug Ford for ‘advice’ — but the premier said he’ll be ‘staying out’ of the election” and “Doug Ford’s internal polling paints grim election prospects for Pierre Poilievre in Ontario” by Robert Benzie in The Toronto Star

“Pressure mounts on Poilievre to refocus Conservative campaign on Donald Trump” by Robert Fife and Stephanie Levitz in The Globe and Mail

“‘The wheels are off’: Senior Conservatives think the Poilievre campaign needs a reset” by Alex Boutilier in Global News

“Conservatives fear 'dysfunctional' campaign and 'civil war' in the party: sources” by Catherine Cullen, Kate McKenna and John Paul Tasker in CBC News

Music:

I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

With the American government regularly threatening annexation on a weekly basis, there’s one question that I’ve had on the top of my mind — what does the Canadian military think about all of this?

We’re well past the point where anyone can argue that this is a joke or that Trump isn’t being serious.

I don’t think it’s a surprise for anyone that the Canadian Armed Forces are almost entirely dependent on the United States. And partially because of that fact, senior Canadian commanders often have a positive view of the American military. So has anything changed? How long can we rely on the U.S.? And what does the average enlisted man and woman think about the prospect of an invasion from the South?

There’s no one better to help answer some of these questions than David Pugliese, who has covered the Canadian Armed Forces for the Ottawa Citizen for three decades.

We put all of these questions to him and more.

Featured in this episode: David Pugliese (Ottawa Citizen)

To learn more

“Having U.S.-controlled system running Canada’s new warships too risky, warns former navy commander” by David Pugliese in The Ottawa Citizen

“Canadian general who recommended F-35 deal now calls for purchase of other jets” by David Pugliese in The Ottawa Citizen

“Feds partner with Australia on $6-billion Arctic radar project in 'slap in the face' to Canadian company” by David Pugliese in The Ottawa Citizen

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

The federal election is here! And I think we all know this is going to be a wild one. The last few months have already been some of the strangest in modern Canadian history. But worry not, The Hatchet is here to help understand everything you need to know about this race.

In addition to our in-depth coverage, we’re also launching a weekly podcast that will air during the course of the campaign that breaks down everything that’s happening.

But this will only be available to our paid supporters, so I really can’t think of a better time to sign up and help support independent Canadian journalism.

On this first instalment, Jordan and I walk through what the leaders of the three major federal parties need to do win — or at least not embarrass themselves — during this campaign.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

There’s a line about Canada that gets tossed around a lot. It comes from Harold Innis, the father of Canadian economic history, who said that Canadians have been relegated to “hewers of wood and drawers of water.”

An…

This was the week where Doug Ford finally became Prime Minister.

Okay, so technically it’s Mark Carney who was actually sworn in as PM. But for a few weeks, Doug Ford appeared to be leading the nation. After all, it was Ford that was invited down to the Washington for a meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The feds just sort of tagged….along.

And there were two people in particular that I wanted to hear ruminating on this moment, two of the longest-standing Fordologists in the land, the former hosts of Wag the Doug, Jonathan Goldsbie and Allison Smith.

And luckily for us, they wanted to talk too. Wag the Doug, which used to air on the Canadaland network, where Jordan and I both worked, has been off the air since September. And in their last episode, they ruminated on how in some ways, Doug Ford was the physical embodiment of Ontario, a man who understands the province better than anyone.

But my question this week has been, does Doug Ford also understand Canada better than anyone else?

And so we brought Allison and Jonathan into the Hatchet studios (my living room) to hear their thoughts on what might be the most interesting moment in Doug Ford’s incredibly strange political career.