The North State

Eric Wickham, Ontario reporter for PressProgress helps Scott explain how you can help The Catch succeed in the future by spreading the show with your friends and starting a paid subscription.

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After weeks (even years) of a dysfunctional opposition, BC's NDP premier David Eby called a snap election shortly after the resignation of Kerry-Lynne Findlay as leader of the BC Conservative Party. Almost two years after a provincial election that saw a barely functioning political entity almost form government, there has been enough political snakery to fill several books in the BC Conservatives, and enough disaffection with the NDP to fill several MLA seats. Senior editor at The Tyee, Jen St. Denis joins Scott to explain the chaos, how Eby's plan may be backfiring and the increasing racism and threats lacing BC election cycles.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/nobodys-happy-about-the-bc-snap-election-ft-jen-st-denis-podcast

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Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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Prime Minister Mark Carney kicked off his international investment conference Sunday night, beginning a massive push to entice international investors to pour private money into public projects. From chairs of Blackrock to the UAE's oil company, Carney hopes to get private capital for ports, oil and gas, data centres and renewable projects. While the news media gauges the viability and benefits of international investment, little, if any, legacy coverage has reported the tangible, inextricable consequences of private investment; more expensive services at poorer qualities for private benefits. Independent journalist and author of the Canada In Decline book series joins Scott to discuss the conference, its possible outcomes, what it means and how news media has stuck to their belief that private interests are Canadian's interests.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/normalizing-carneys-privatization-drive-ft-nora-loreto-podcast

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Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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Trade talks collapsed and Ontario Premier Doug Ford laced up his boots and donned the flag to decry US President Donald Trump. Between telling Trump to "kiss my ass," and unveiling a Lake Ontario sign in response to Trump's executive order renaming the body of water, Ford and the PCs have seen a benefit in the polls. But Ford's tenure leading Ontario has pushed legislation and politics far closer to the MAGA movement than nearly any other premier. While Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is floundering by meekly confronting the US-Canada trade war, Ford is turning around public perception of him and his party. Eric Wickham, Ontario reporter for PressProgress, joins Scott to discuss Ford's appeal, his tenure as premier and how, despite all this fervour, life in Ontario continues to deteriorate.

Ontario’s Recent Policy Changes Are Part of a Larger Pattern to Centralize Power and Silence Dissent, Critics Say

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/reality-check-on-doug-fords-trade-posturing-ft-eric-wickham-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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Over the past few days, every large news outlet has reported about the last-minute collapse of a trade deal between Canada and the USA. Despite the fact that details of the deal have only trickled out through anonymous or second-hand channels, the majority of legacy news rallied around Carney and commended the prime minister on doing the hard task of pulling out of a deal. But little critical coverage of the methods, details and process of the trade negotiations leads most outlets to sycophantic levels of deference to Carney. Isaac A. Peltz, award-winning independent journalist behind On the Trail, joins Scott to dissect the nationalistic news climate that buries critical capacity to hide behind the flag.

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On the Trail

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/legacy-news-worship-carneys-trade-blowup-ft-isaac-a-peltz-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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In March 2025, provinces across Canada pulled US alcohol products off of their shelves in response to new tariffs announced by the US Trump administration. It's become such a sticking point that Trump specifically cited Canadian markets for US alcohol as a core reason for a new 50 per cent tariff against Canada. Have the booze bans worked? What has the effect been on the US alcohol industry? Can American brands recover after this debacle? Dave Infante, award-winning journalist and editor of the newsletter Fingers which covers drinking in the US, joins Scott to discuss these questions and more.

Note: Trump announced he paused the 50 per cent tariff for three days late on August 18.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/canadian-booze-bans-rattle-the-us-ft-dave-infante-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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Many Canadians have considered crossing the country to enjoy the sights, the communities and the people. Few end up doing it, but even less do the journey by hopping on their bikes and doing over 7k. Isaac A. Peltz and Blue Jay Walker are two best friends and journalists who did the bike-trip across the country during a political moment focused on sovereignty. Stopping off in every province, they spoke to people about what it means to be Canadian, the Alberta separation referendum and what matters to them. They join Scott to discuss their trip, what forest fire season means for the possibility of more in the future and how their gonzo journalism stands up against legacy news.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/journalists-bike-across-canada-ft-blue-jay-walker-and-isaac-peltz-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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Since Carney won the federal election in 2025, he has prioritized resource extraction. Under the guise of "unlocking" economic potential, he has pursued a pipeline funded with public money, passed laws to fast-track similar projects and ignored Indigenous communities in pursuit of these goals. How does this reflect in the country's climate reporting? Natasha Bulowski, Acting Parliamentary Bureau Chief for Canada’s National Observer, and Taylor C. Noakes, investigative journalist with DeSmog, join Scott to discuss the change from Trudeau to Carney, how legacy news fails to hold fossil fuel to task and the influence of right-wing think tanks on reporting energy and climate stories.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/climate-reporting-under-carney-ft-natasha-bulowski-taylor-c-noakes-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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When CBC announced it would establish five new international bureaus, initial reactions were positive. In a time of waning international coverage by Canadian news organizations, new bureaus to establish reporting closer to the issues are good news for the journalism industry. But when examined closer, serious cracks reveal themselves. No update on the contentious end of CBC's Beijing bureau in 2022, a vague gesture to cover an entire continent and, most harrowing, establishing a bureau in Jerusalem. All international news media in Israel must agree to abide by military censorship, which has increased dramatically since their recent attacks on Iran and since they began their genocide in October of 2023. In a monologue, Scott examines how this and absolutely no reckoning with Israel's violence against their colleagues betrays CBC's actual priorities.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-israeli-military-censor-will-oversee-new-cbc-bureau-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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Graham Platner, the former Maine Democratic candidate for senator, had a troubled campaign. He was a four-tour vet that served at Abu Ghraib prison, fought in Fallujah, bragged about killing people and signed up for the successor company to the infamous Blackwater mercenary group. Then, it was revealed he had a Nazi tattoo. Then, multiple women revealed his troubling and misogynistic outlook, with one claiming he physically assaulted her. Despite all this, he maintained support from a significant portion of journalists and media personalities... until a woman accused him of rape. In this extra episode, Julie S. Lalonde, award-winning women’s rights advocate and public educator, joins Scott to extrapolate the culture surrounding Platner that led to this point and how Canada maintains a similarly dismissive view of women's safety.

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Bystander Intervention Seminars by Julie S. Lalonde

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/misogyny-canada-graham-platner-ft-julie-s-lalonde-podcast

Artwork by Zo at Studio Bonjourhi

Intro Music: Vigilante - Cross Dog

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