The Orchardcast

Thank you Laurence Miall, Revolution Party of Canada, Thought Matters, MakeUsGreat.ca, Jill, and many others for tuning into my live video with Luke Savage! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Featured Stories

* Inquiry into suicides of 4 Indigenous teens says fear of child welfare system barrier to care, Wallis Snowdon, CBC News (Aug. 27)

* Burnaby council votes unanimously to ask Ottawa to impose arms embargo on Israel, CBC News (Aug. 26)

* Armoured vehicles from Canadian-owned company deployed in Sudan’s war zones, Geoffrey York, Globe and Mail (Aug. 27)

* Trump wants expanded death penalty, longer control over police in D.C., Emily Davies and Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post (Aug. 26)

* Ukraine to allow young men to leave the country, Fabrice Deprez, Financial Times (Aug. 26)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Stories Featured

* Internal documents show how Alberta measles outbreak began to spiral out of control, Alanna Smith, Globe and Mail (Aug. 21)

* Air Canada flight attendants vote on labour deal starting next week, Eric Atkins, Globe and Mail (Aug. 21)

* Meta banned the Epoch Times from advertising. Then it accepted $300k in new ads targeting Canadians, Rory White, Canada’s National Observer (Aug. 21)

* Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war, Emma Graham-Harrison and Yuval Abraham, The Guardian (Aug. 21)

* Ukrainian man arrested in Italy over Nord Stream attacks, Laura Pitel, Financial Times (Aug. 21)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Air Canada to start cancelling trips after flight attendants’ union issues strike notice, Vanmala Subramaniam, Globe and Mail (Aug. 13)

As Trump takes over Washington, the city watches for potential fallout, Adrian Morrow, Globe and Mail (Aug. 12)

U.K. Secretly Spent $3.2 Million to Stop Journalists From Reporting on Data Breach, Lizzie Dearden, New York Times (Aug. 13)

Sudanese RSF fighters kill more than 40 people in Darfur camp, Al Jazeera (Aug. 12)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

The Alberta government’s decision to wade into school library curation is part of a broader trend towards censoring books that has intensified in the past several years.

Lethbridge native Ira Wells, director of the free expression group PEN Canada, published a book, On Book Banning, earlier this year. He joins the Orchardcast to discuss the origins of the move towards literary censorship, whether it’s as much of a problem on the left as on the right and the role of libraries in public discourse.

The Orchard is supported by readers like you. If you value my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Related Links

* On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy (Biblioasis, 2025)

* Survey shows most Albertans don’t want province setting standards for school library books, province going ahead, CTV

* Conservative activists gave Alberta government list of ‘inappropriate’ books in school libraries, IJF

* Tyranny of the rainbow guard:’ Inside the anti-2SLGBTQ+ movement’s efforts to take over Alberta school boards, Progress Report

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

With Donald Trump’s tariffs fundamentally altering Canada’s relationship with its largest trading partner, oil and gas pipelines have been put back on the agenda as a purported means of enhancing Canadian self-reliance.

Fossil fuel industry employee-turned-critic Jenny Yeremiy argues that building more pipelines will only exacerbate the economic and environmental catastrophe of Alberta’s backlog of unfunded environmental liabilities.

Related Links

* Government adviser slams Mark Carney for promoting ‘decarbonized’ oil pipelines, Toronto Star

* 'Grand bargain': Alberta Premier Danielle Smith 'encouraged' by federal government's change of tone when it comes to energy, Edmonton Journal

* Coalition says Alberta orphan well cleanup under-funded, Stettler Independent

* Alberta's energy minister says province won't use public money to clean up abandoned wells, CP

* First Nations Chiefs Ask Feds Not To Claw Back $135 Million In Unspent Site Rehabilitation Funds, Alberta Native News

* Danielle Smith is Pushing The Same $20 Billion Corporate Giveaway She Pushed as a Corporate Lobbyist, PressProgress

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Matt Fodor is the author of From Layton to Singh: The 20-year conflict behind the NDP’s deal with the Trudeau Liberals. He joins the Orchardcast to explain the NDP consultant class’s efforts to shape the outcome of the upcoming leadership race.

Related Links

* Statement from Leah Gazan, Lori Idlout & Jenny Kwan: Leaked Internal email, Twitter

* NDP caucus members dispute appointment of interim leader Don Davies, Globe and Mail

* NDP insiders are trying to fix the leadership race for an establishment candidate, The Breach

* New Democrats say they want leadership race rules to ensure multiple serious candidates, shorter contest, Globe and Mail

* How Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives seduced working-class voters, The Breach

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Thank you Ian Weniger, Candace Northey, [email protected], and many others for tuning into my live video with Bad + B****y Podcast! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Over the past five weeks, the Orchard has been releasing weekly election update podcasts with a different guest each episode.

Joining me this week is Nora Loreto, a Quebec City-based independent journalist and author who likely needs no introduction. Nora’s latest book, the second part of her series on Canadian decline for Dundurn Press, Corporate Control, comes out May 6.

Related Links

* Corporate Control (Dundurn, 2025)

* Carney says Trump raised ’51st state’ during their call but ’the president says a lot of things’, Radio-Canada

* 'DOGE' and 'DOGE-lite': Public service unions react to costed federal party platforms, CBC

* Conservative plan to tackle tent cities looks like ‘political theatre,’ experts say, CP

* Conservatives update platform to include omitted 'anti-woke' promise, CBC

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe

Pierre Poilievre was supposed to be Canada’s next prime minister. As the 2025 federal election progresses, it’s looking increasingly less likely, but even if he loses, Poilievre will have made his imprint on right-wing politics in Canada for the foreseeable future.

Martin Lukacs has written a brief book, The Poilievre Project: A radical blueprint for corporate rule, which details the progression of Poilievre’s political career and the ideology that defines him.

Related Links

* The Poilievre Project (Breach Books, 2025)

* Conservative election platform pledges $75-billion in tax cuts, referendums before future tax hikes, Globe and Mail

* ‘Hard and fast from every direction’: inside the group plotting Poilievre’s blitzkrieg of cuts, The Breach

* The Trudeau Formula (Black Rose Books, 2019)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readtheorchard.org/subscribe