What does it really take to be the gatekeeper of a province's finances — to sit across from your own cabinet colleagues and tell them "no"? Former NL Finance Minister and Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady joins Andrew Parsons and Alex Bill for one of the most wide-ranging conversations in H&H history — from her surprising roots in the fishery and the science of genomics, to the looming risks of AI and her passionate call for a new generation to step into public life.Siobhan served 10 years at the provincial cabinet table after a term as a federal MP — and she's anything but finished.In this episode, we cover:✅ Untold stories: a youth exchange to Brazil, the fishery, Newfound Genomics & champion Labrador Retrievers✅ A first job at McDonald's — and the Ray Croc lesson she's carried ever since✅ Paul Martin, "the wrong side of the desk" and how she got into politics✅ Federal vs. provincial: why she chose home in 2015✅ First year in provincial government: Muskrat Falls and learning who to trust✅ Budget 2016: the difficult year, the libraries, and hard lessons learned✅ What it really means to be Finance Minister — the year-round gatekeeper role✅ Bond rating agencies, the Future Fund, and NL's fiscal path forward✅ AI: deep fakes, democratic risks, and why the province needs to act now✅ Why young people are leaving politics — and how to bring them back🎥 Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/WBorOkD_WrUChapters:0:00 Welcome & Intro2:12 Siobhan Coady joins the show3:31 Untold stories: Brazil, the fishery & Labrador Retrievers7:26 McDonald's roots and the "green and growing" lesson9:00 Post-politics: AI masters program & advisory work11:00 AI: opportunities and real dangers13:12 Kids, Minecraft & the RNC warning17:48 AI regulation, governance & what's needed22:44 Paul Martin and "the wrong side of the desk"25:49 Federal vs. provincial — why she stayed home27:25 Advice for the NL Opposition today29:00 First year: Muskrat Falls and learning who to trust31:27 Budget 2016: what went wrong35:24 Being Finance Minister: the gatekeeper role41:40 Balancing requests and making the tough calls49:24 Young people in politics: how to bring them back54:30 Closing reflections on a career in public service57:58 Hosts' post-interview thoughtsWhat do you think — is AI governance moving fast enough in Newfoundland and Labrador? Drop your thoughts below 👇📬 Got a question for the next mailbag? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.👍 Like | 🔔 Subscribe | 🎙️ Share it with a fellow political junkie🔗 Stay Connected🎥 Watch on YouTube: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify: 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: 👉 https://podcasts.apple.com📘 Follow on Facebook: 👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHackDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

You asked. We answered — and we didn't hold back.In Episode 26, Andrew Parsons and Alex Bill open the H&H mailbag for the first time — fielding questions submitted by listeners over the past several months. No prep calls. No talking points. Just two insiders trading honest opinions on the province's biggest political questions.

In this episode, we cover:

✅ The Mount Rushmore of Newfoundland and Labrador politicians — our four picks, where we agree, and the one wild card that had us raising eyebrows

✅ Is Bay du Nord the last standalone offshore project in the province — or is there still a chapter left in the story?

✅ Which MHA is most likely to cross the floor, and why

✅ Why NL governments — PC or Liberal — consistently fail to address the debt and deficit, and what it would actually take to change that

✅ How Alex measures the impact of his journalism — the story that went unnoticed, and the one that moved a premier

✅ The single biggest barrier to good political decision-making in this province

✅ Privatizing NLC or NL Hydro — where we land, and what we'd actually consider

✅ The labour shortage crisis and why training programs alone won't plug the hole

✅ Has NL's negotiating position with Hydro Quebec improved since the 2024 MOU — or is the clock still working against us?

✅ How ministers decide who to meet with — and how newsrooms decide what to cover

📬 Got a question for the next mailbag? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.

👍 Like | 🔔 Subscribe | 🎙️ Share it with a fellow political junkie

🔗 Stay Connected

🎥 Watch on YouTube: 👉 youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack

🎧 Listen on Spotify: 👉 open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: 👉 podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-honourable-and-the-hack/id1864962121

📘 Follow on Facebook: 👉 facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHack

Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

He spent 21 years in Ontario politics. He knows what winning looks like — and what losing teaches you.

In Episode 29, Andrew Parsons and Alex Bill sit down with Tim Hudak — former Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader, cabinet minister, and now Partner at Counsel Public Affairs — for a wide-ranging conversation that cuts across political experience, housing policy, the art of surviving in opposition, and what Doug Ford does that almost no one else in Canadian politics can.

📬 Got a question for the next mailbag? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.

👍 Like | 🔔 Subscribe | 🎙️ Share it with a fellow political junkie

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🎥 Watch on YouTube: 👉https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify: 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: 👉 https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-honourable-and-the-hack/id1864962121

📘 Follow on Facebook: 👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHack

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

He ran three of the toughest portfolios in federal politics. Now he's stepping into a role no sitting MP has ever taken — Canada's Ambassador to the European Union.

In Episode 28, Andrew Parsons and Alex Bill sit down with Jonathan Wilkinson — former Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, and Fisheries and Oceans — for a candid exit interview on his decade in elected politics and what comes next in Brussels. It's part career retrospective, part energy state-of-the-union, and part preview of what a more formal Canada-Europe relationship could mean — especially for Atlantic Canada.

📬 Got a question for the next mailbag? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.

👍 Like | 🔔 Subscribe | 🎙️ Share it with a fellow political junkie

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🎥 Watch on YouTube: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack

🎧 Listen on Spotify: 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: 👉 https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/the-honourable-and-the-hack/id1864962121

📘 Follow on Facebook: 👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHack

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

Every session of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly produces winners, losers, and a few who make you wonder why they showed up at all. So we brought in someone who watches it all — and we handed out the hardware.James Reid is a journalist covering politics across Newfoundland and Labrador. He joins Andrew and Alex at the desk to hand out the H&H HOA Session Awards: the best parliamentarian on the floor, the most impressive rookie, the worst heckler in the chamber, and a few performances that were simply... underwhelming.This is NL politics — no filter, no spin.In this episode, we cover:✅ Best Parliamentarian of the session — who actually did the work?✅ Best Rookie — the most impressive new face in the House✅ Worst Heckler — who embarrassed themselves from across the aisle?✅ Worst Performances — the politicians who had every opportunity and squandered it✅ James Reid's take on the broader state of NL political journalism✅ What this sitting tells us about the direction of the Wakeham governmentIf you think Question Period is theatre, wait until you hear who won the awards.📬 Got a question for the next mailbag? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.👍 Like | 🔔 Subscribe | 🎙️ Share it with a fellow political junkie🔗 Stay Connected🎥 Watch on YouTube: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify: 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: 👉 https://podcasts.apple.com📘 Follow on Facebook: 👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHackDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

Years after legalization, Canada's legal cannabis industry is still fighting an uphill battle. Excise taxes and product labelling designed for Big Tobacco are squeezing licensed producers. The illicit market continues to thrive. And Ottawa's response? Slow — at best.Paul McCarthy is the President & CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada, the national voice of Canada's licensed cannabis producers. With over 20 years of public sector experience as both a career public servant and senior political advisor, Paul has been at the centre of cannabis policy, regulatory reform, and the politics of an industry fighting for its future.In this episode, we cover:✅ Why Canada's legal cannabis industry is still struggling — years after legalization✅ The crushing excise tax burden and how it's driving LPs out of business✅ Why the illicit market is winning — and what it would take to change that✅ What the Cannabis Council of Canada is pushing for in Ottawa right now✅ The political calculus: who's listening in government and who's not✅ What the current federal agenda means for the industry's next chapterIf you thought legalization was the finish line, this conversation will reframe it as the starting line — and it's been a rough race.📬 Got a question for the next mailbag? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Facebook.👍 Like | 🔔 Subscribe | 🎙️ Share it with a fellow political junkie🔗 Stay Connected🎥 Watch on YouTube: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify: 👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: 👉 https://podcasts.apple.com📘 Follow on Facebook: 👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHackDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

He gave up his seat for Clyde Wells. He survived allegations that forced him out of caucus. And he served as an MHA for 25 years — three of them as an independent. Eddie Joyce has seen the Newfoundland House of Assembly at its best and its worst, and he's not afraid to tell you the real story.In this episode of The Honourable & The Hack, Andrew Parsons sits down with one of Newfoundland and Labrador's longest-serving politicians for a candid conversation about loyalty, survival, and what it really takes to last inside the Machine.In this episode, we cover:✅ Why Eddie offered his own seat to Clyde Wells — and the one condition he set✅ How political decorum has shifted from issue-based debate to personal attacks✅ The secret cross-party collaboration to save the Corner Brook paper mill✅ The allegations that forced him from caucus — and why he has zero regrets✅ His unexpected philanthropic work in Uganda and what drives him beyond politicsChapters:0:00 Introduction0:56 Eddie Joyce's 25-Year Political Career3:19 The Team Behind an MHA8:40 Giving Up His Seat for Clyde Wells11:47 Decorum Then and Now — The House Has Changed17:38 When Bipartisan Actually Worked21:55 The Harassment Allegation — Eddie's Account34:47 The Corner Brook Paper Mill: A Secret Alliance43:48 The 1991 Strike Story45:19 Giving Back: Uganda and Beyond51:30 Andrew's Maiden Speech (and Eddie's Part in It)What moment from Eddie's career do you think best defines political courage in Newfoundland and Labrador? Drop it in the comments.📩 Got a question for a future mailbag episode?Send it to: [email protected]’re building toward a full mailbag episode this spring — and we need your questions.🔗 Stay Connected🎥 Watch on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify:👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts:👉 https://podcasts.apple.com📘 Follow on Facebook:👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHackDisclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

For the first time on The Honourable & The Hack, the left gets a seat at the table.Kyle Rees — lawyer, union advocate, and former President of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP — walks us through what the political left actually believes about power in Canada. Not the version from a press release. The real version.Kyle Rees is a partner at O'Dea Earle in St. John's, NL, where he specializes in union-side labour law and worker-oriented representation. He's argued high-profile cases at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and served as President of the NL NDP during one of the party's most turbulent chapters.In this episode, we cover:✅ Why the NDP keeps losing despite being right on the issues✅ The Federal NDP has a new leader - what does that mean for NL✅ How the Provincial NDP imploded when they were at their highest point✅ Where Kyle thinks the left went wrong — and how to fix it✅ The gap between what politicians promise and what the machine deliversDo you agree? Do you disagree? Drop your take in the comments — and tell us: is the NDP the future of Canadian politics, or a party that's already had its moment?📩 Got a question for a future mailbag episode?Send it to: [email protected]’re building toward a full mailbag episode this spring — and we need your questions.🔗 Stay Connected🎥 Watch on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify:👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts:👉 https://podcasts.apple.com📘 Follow on Facebook:👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHackDisclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

Senator David Wells joins The Honourable & The Hack for a wide-ranging conversation about politics, public service, Newfoundland and Labrador, and one very unexpected passion: mountain climbing.In this episode, Senator Wells talks about what senators actually do, how the Senate appointment process worked in his case, and what it was like being in Ottawa during the Mike Duffy scandal. He also reflects on his roots in Newfoundland and Labrador’s fishing industry, his path through Conservative politics, and his views on the future of NL energy.But one of the most memorable parts of the conversation comes near the end, when Senator Wells shares stories from his climbing adventures — including Mount Kilimanjaro, the Andes, and Mount Elbrus in southern Russia, widely recognized as Europe’s highest peak. From extreme conditions to the mental battle of reaching the summit, it is a side of Senator Wells many viewers may not know.From the fishery to federal politics — and from the Senate floor to some of the world’s most challenging climbs — this is a conversation about ambition, endurance, public life, and Newfoundland grit.Have a question for a future episode?Email us: [email protected] Connected:YouTube: @TheHonourableandtheHackSpotify: The Honourable & The HackApple Podcasts: The Honourable & The HackFacebook: The Honourable & The HackDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.

Every generation has one politician who was born for exactly the moment the country needed them. Brian Tobin — "Captain Canada" himself — is one of those politicians. And in Episode 22 of The Honourable and The Hack, he's not holding back.Former Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Former federal cabinet minister. Federal leadership candidate. A man who has been in the rooms where power is won, exercised, and defended — and someone who has been watching Canada's relationship with the United States since before most people were paying attention.

This is not a civics class. This is how power actually works.In this episode, we cover:✅ The Carney government's first fiscal update — what it signals and what it doesn't say✅ The US-Canada trade war: Canada's real leverage and why Trump needs us more than he'll admit✅ Why re-engaging China isn't a political stunt — and what Brian Tobin knows that the headlines miss✅ The political art of pushing back without making noise✅ Lessons from Joey Smallwood, Don Jameson, and Beaton Tulk — the politicians who shaped a generation✅ The Rooms: the story behind Newfoundland's greatest cultural landmark, and the woman who made it happen✅ Social media, political courage, and why the smartest move is often not to listenThe Honourable and The Hack is where insider experience meets real journalism. No spin. No talking points. Just how power actually works in this country.

📩 Got a question for a future mailbag episode? Send it to: [email protected]

We’re building toward a full mailbag episode this spring — and we need your questions.

🔗 Stay Connected

🎥 Watch on YouTube:👉 https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonourableandTheHack🎧 Listen on Spotify:👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/13uw982Y8Br4CvTs🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts:👉 https://podcasts.apple.com📘 Follow on Facebook:👉 https://www.facebook.com/TheHonourableAndTheHack

Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and their guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, organization, or institution. This content is intended for discussion and commentary and should not be considered professional, legal, or political advice. Some discussion in this episode includes speculation and forward-looking commentary based on publicly available information and personal experience.