In a move that was in the works for month, the UCP government in Alberta has invoked the notwithstanding clause to shield three bills from court challenges. These bills specifically target trans kids, requiring birth gender to enter sports after 12 years old, preventing them from using differing pronouns at school without parental permission and bans on medical treatment under 16 years of age. With such unprecedented use of the clause, it's important to have a discussion on the very real implications for trans people, kids and wider society. Mel Woods, senior editor at Xtra Magazine joins the show to discuss the approach by the government, the effect on trans kids and their article calling out premier Danielle Smith for dishonest justifications.

Submit your questions for the Q&A here!

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/human-rights-trans-kids-notwithstanding-ft-mel-woods-podcast/

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If you're a news nerd, a media freak, or some sort of schadenfreude savant, you're probably aware of the spectacular implosion of CANADALAND and its equally infamous leader, Jesse Brown. This week the network drops the first two episodes of a podcast examining antisemitism in Canada. To be blunt: hopes are not high. Nothing has been convincing that they should be, either. So why do we like talking about it? For this week's monologue, I dive into my latest critique, why I hope to focus less on CANADALAND in the future, and what news media critique means in a landscape without the indie giant.

Submit your questions for the Q&A here!

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-post-canadaland-wasteland-podcast

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It's been a week since the federal Liberals released the 2025 budget. In that time we've heard a lot of coverage, some useful, some not. In the first North State panel, we discuss the potential impacts in this budget, its massive investments in the military, abandonment of the environment and the complete lack of health considerations. Of course, the news media doesn't get away unscathed either. Karyn Pugliese (APTN News national affairs correspondent), Arshy Mann (co-founder and host at The Hatchet) and Ian Barclay (editor at Avant-Garde Press) join the show to dissect the budget and the news coverage surrounding it.

The Hatchet

Avant-Garde Press

Karyn's newsletter

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/panel-sifting-through-the-sludge-of-budget-2025-the-north-state-podcast

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It's happened to all of us. We want to read an article, but the web page stops us in our tracks. We need a paid subscription, or to sign up for a newsletter, or contribute some meagre amount of money. It's one thing for an institution like CTV News, The Globe and Mail or the Toronto Star to expect a subscription, but for the last couple decades, news has had the expectation of being free. This has put journalists in an extremely precarious position, especially when they try to go out on their own. I spoke to Arshy Mann of independent podcast The Hatchet and Nicole Froio of The Flytrap, a worker-owned feminist publication, to talk about how journalists need money to live.

Check out The Hatchet

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/the-pay-wall-of-it-all-the-north-state-podcast

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Five people are running to save the NDP from itself. Who are they? What are they promising? What's the point? Who cares anymore? Well despite the tremendous disappointment the NDP has been for the past decade (at least), they nevertheless take up a lot of space on the left-wing of Canadian politics. This week I delve into an analysis of the NDP's history as the "safer" option, their latest shifts to the right and what the actual point of a political party should be. Oh and then I talk about the current candidates and what we can expect under a new NDP leader, even in the best case scenario.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/monologue-fine-lets-talk-about-the-ndp-leadership-race-the-north-state-podcast

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Last week, CBC released their 2025-2030 plan, their hopes and aims for the next five years. Soon after, president and CEO Marie-Phillippe Bouchard appeared on the CBC podcast Front Burner for an interview with host Jayme Poisson. With Canada's public broadcaster being targeted by the right and an expectation to cut nearly $200 million from their budget under direction of the Carney government, how does the current climate play into the plan and Bouchard's public comments? Luke LeBrun, investigative journalist and editor at PressProgress, joins Scott to dive deep into this document, the CBC and an ultimately disappointing interview.

Read the CBC's 2025-2030 strategy here.

PressProgress

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/diving-into-cbcs-five-year-plan-ft-luke-lebrun-the-north-state-podcast

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carney's latest trip to Europe highlighted Canada's commitment to militarism, including leaving the door open to Canadian boots on the ground in Ukraine. Billions of dollars for the military, extended missions in Latvia, commitments to buying arms for Ukraine, how is this all covered? Ian Barclay, editor-in-chief of Avant-Garde Press, journalist and Canadian Armed Forces veteran joins Scott to discuss rising militarism, news media's role in it and a more realistic picture of NATO and the Ukraine-Russia war that coverage doesn't include.

Avant-Garde Press

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/news-media-and-carney-p-for-war-ft-ian-barclay-the-north-state-podcast

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One of the stories lately that regularly gets media attention (and deserved mockery) is Ontario premier Doug Ford's insistence that his government will initiate the process to build a tunnel underneath Highway 401. This tunnel, which is supposed to stretch from Mississauga to Scarborough, will apparently have three lanes ontop of each other. This will solve congestion, we're told. No, this isn't a joke. He's dead serious. Glyn Bowerman, journalist and host of the Spacing Radio podcast, joins Scott to discuss the political utility of Ford's fantastical tunnel, how the news media has hit the criticisms on the money, but how they omit Ford's posturing in the greater scheme of his tenure as premier of Ontario. Finally, they discuss a troubling bulletin from a deputy editor at La Presse.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/doug-fords-stupid-f-king-tunnel-ft-glyn-bowerman-the-north-state-podcast

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It's been a lot for Scott lately. So rather than huddle into a ball, let's talk about what journalists have to face every day, and how it affects their reporting.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/

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