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Foreign Interference by China and other states has been an important topic of discussion in 2024. It’s clear this has been happening for many years with little response from Canada. Listen to Dick Fadden’s take on why this matters to our democracy and the need to take these threats seriously to protect our way of life.

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On this episode, I speak with a Canadian down under, Paul Maddison. Paul spent his formative years in Ottawa and was in no way interested in joining the military. However, in an effort to find a productive path forward, he went to military college out of high school. He spent countless days at sea and eventually became the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. After he took off the uniform, he became our high commissioner to Australia and stayed on the continent as the Director of the Defence Research Institute at the University of New South Wales. We not only cover his time in uniform, but speak about finding your way as a young person, managing mental health, threats in the Indo-Pacific region, and much more.

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Although citizens are ultimately responsible for who runs the country, elected officials are hired to protect Canadians and our national interests. So what are the types of things we should expect our politicians to do to stop our slide into strategic irrelevance that is putting us at increasing risk? Paul Maddison has some thoughts on this NSP Short.

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It can be challenging to look at all that’s going on in the world and determine why this matters to you. With many demands on your time, why should you care about what is happening somewhere a million miles aways like in the Indo-Pacific? As Paul Maddison explains in this NSP Short, paying attention to China in the Indo-Pacific is important if we expect to maintain our way of life.

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NSP Podcast Music Credit (episodes 1 - 18): RomanSenykMusic, Action TrailerNSP Podcast Logo - L. Ayotte, 2023NSP Shorts Music Credit: nomaBeats, You Are The Best!NSP Shorts Logo - L. Ayotte, 2023

On this episode, I sit down with someone I had the honour to soldier with and who remains a friend and inspiration. Russ Vida was born into an Army family and eventually found his way into the same profession. He started in the militia with the field engineers and ended up as in the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Once his time was done with the airborne, he had a successful career in the Army culminating as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Upon retirement, he moved his family to Vancouver Island and found ways to continued to serve. First as an adaptive snow sports instructor on Mount Washington and then with the charity Shoulder 2 Shoulder. This charity takes ill and injured military and RCMP veterans and their spouse or caregiver and provides them with a mountain experience to introduce them to winter sports and give them a break from the daily grind. Ironically, Russ’ time as an adaptive snow sports instructor will give him the opportunity to continue to enjoy his home ski hill of Mount Washington despite his recent diagnosis of ALS. We take a deep dive into the disease and the links to military service. 

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I have my first return guest to the podcast. Steve MacBeth was featured on episode 9 and has come back to discuss his newly released book, No Names, No Pack Drill. The book is a compilation of first hand accounts from Afghanistan, but the stories are presented in a unique and compelling way. The forward was written by the Honourable Peter Mackay, another NSP alum, and he captures the spirit of the book perfectly, “This book can be summed up as the truth for Canadians about what soldiers did in our name.” Thanks for listening. Now here’s my second conversation with Steve MacBeth. 

Order the Book Here!

Amazon Canada

Amazon New Zealand / Australia

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This episode is really a conversation between two friends who happen to be retired Army officers. I first met Christian Lillington at the Royal Military College of Canada in 1994. Our relationship started with a slightly ill intentioned wrestling match at a hockey game, but has improved significantly since then. Christian served as an armoured officer and deployed to Africa and two times to Afghanistan. He concluded his career as the commanding officer and base commander of the Army Training Centre in Meaford, Ontario. Christian has been open about living with complex PTSD which he chronicles in his amazing memoire, Parade State Zero. We cover lots of ground in this discussion from mental health and addictions, veterans affairs, the military family, and transition. This is the perfect conversation to highlight many of the challenges our veterans and their families face on a daily basis.

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On this episode, I sit down with Cole Rosentreter, the founder and CEO of Pegasus, an aerospace company developing advanced technologies to unlock the full potential of autonomous flight to end destructive wildfires. Cole grew up in Edmonton and started in the trades after high school. He enrolled in the Army after 9/11 and deployed three times to Afghanistan as an infantry soldier and leader. His military career came to an end after a parachute accident, but he quickly found his new purpose in the business world.  He was inspired to build Pegasus after responding with the Army to fires and floods in western Canada. It’s clear to me that Cole has an unwavering focus on building his company and continuing to serve in a new way. 

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On this episode, I sit down with someone I have known for more than 30 years, Bona Normandeau. Originally from small town Saskatchewan, Bona joined the military to see the world and she did just that with the Royal Canadian Navy. Since leaving the military, she has had a number of jobs all with a focus on helping people. The main reason I wanted to have her on the show was to talk about her work to help people find their happy with content such as her “The Happier You” podcast. This was such a fun discussion and I’m truly grateful for having had the chance to reconnect with a friend. I hope you enjoy this episode with Bona Normandeau.

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Sometimes it can be difficult being honest with people, especially when it means doing something you don’t want to do. Listen to Bona Normandeau talk about the power of honest communication on this NSP Short. 

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