The North State

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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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.

Check out Spacing Radio

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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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The sheer scale of mass suffering and killings inflicted on Gaza by Israel is indescribable. In Canada, our news industry has been shaped by an orientalist approach, viewing Palestinians and those in the Middle-east as pitiable and inhuman. Using Edward Said's theory, journalist and researcher Sarah Samuel reflected how Canadian news has continued this racist and imperialist view in the context of Israel's genocide. Samuel joins The North State to explain the roots, approach and results of researching her article "Canadian Mainstream Media’s Orientalist Stance Towards Palestinians" in the Al Jazeera Journalism Review. She and Scott also discuss the mental health crisis going on behind the scenes in Canadian newsrooms.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/canadian-news-medias-orientalism-ft-sarah-samuel-the-north-state-podcast

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It's the Canadian Breakdown Corporation this week on The North State. In a scathing email, former host of Canada Tonight Travis Dhanraj told CBC employees that he was "forced to resign," and condemned the atmosphere at the public broadcaster. Figures, since we were going to talk about an abysmal first-person article written by a convoy antivax Alberta separatist published at CBC News. Then, news compartmentalizes extremist CAF Facebook group away from supercharged military funding, what are they missing? Finally, Prime Minister Carney's been having high-level trade talks with President Trump. The only thing we know is that he caves at pretty much every turn. How are Canadians being served by this opaque conduction of trade talks? Independent Alberta journalist at The Orchard Jeremy Appel joins Scott to breakdown these stories.

CORRECTION: Literally as we were recording, Trump sent out letters to delay tariffs again.

Check out Jeremy's work at The Orchard.

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/breakdown-back-at-it-again-at-cbc-ft-jeremy-appel

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Prime Minister Mark Carney has made AI investment a massive pillar of his government's economic plan. He appointed a Minister of AI and Digital Innovation and he tied in a new department focusing on AI research in a massive military spending announcement. You'd think with such a push, news media would delve into what this materially translates to for the average Canadian. That hasn't been the case. Most coverage has been sparse, and in the military announcement, it was omitted in a lot of stories. Meanwhile the coverage we do get leans towards the tech industry's priorities. This week on The North State, Paris Marx writer, critic and host of the tech critical podcasts Tech Won’t Save Us and System Crash joins Scott to talk about the Liberal government's AI investments and the news media's inability to properly cover this new push.

Check out Paris' podcasts: Tech Won't Save Us and System Crash

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/the-emperors-new-ai-economy-ft-paris-marx-the-north-state-podcast

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Indigenous consent is all well and good, you see, but why should we let that get in the way of resource extraction? Bills in BC, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia all aim at speeding up projects like mining for uranium and critical resources, pipelines or those in forestry, with Indigenous condemnation all the way. Meanwhile, Carney's Liberal Party is tabling similar legislation at the federal level, proposing to give cabinet almost complete control over deciding which projects can be rammed through. This week on The North State, Karyn Pugliese, instructor at Carleton University and National Affairs reporter for APTN joins Scott to shit talk the news. What do these bills mean, what will the response be, and how legacy news media has failed to paint the full picture.

CORRECTION: Scott mentions an article by The Economist, this article was later withdrawn because editorial was "not satisfied with the sourcing."

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Sources and further reading:

https://readthecatch.ca/this-isnt-canadas-land-ft-karyn-pugliese-the-north-state-podcast

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