Guests: Jack Blum and Sharon Corder, co-founders of National Canadian Film Day

Over the past few months, the president of the United States has done more to solidify a sense of Canadian identity than anyone in the past few decades.Suddenly Canadians are examining grocery labels to see what’s made here, looking at their investment portfolios to see if their dollars are working here, and an entire election has turned into a celebration of Canadian patriotism.

But perhaps nowhere has U.S. domination been bigger than in the entertainment industry — our TV screens and (especially) our movie screens are dominated by Hollywood. National Canadian Film Day this week is a chance to break out of that American mindset, offering 1,800 free screenings of Canadian movies in cinemas, concert theaters, libraries, malls, legion halls and anywhere else people can fit a screen.

Founders Jack Blum and Sharon Corder of Reel Canada talk about why they started on a mission to show people great Canadian movies, and why that mission seems especially appropriate at this moment. Plus some highlights of movies being shown Wednesday in and around Toronto, where “I guarantee there’s a screening within a few blocks of you, wherever you are.”

PLUS: Some picks for the best onscreen moments of Canadian patriotism.

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Ed Keenan & Paulo Marques

Guest: Kate Allen, Toronto Star climate change reporter

When the movie Jurassic Park was made in 1993, the technology at the heart of its plot — bringing ancient giant animals back from extinction — was in the same category as time travel and warp drives: science fiction. This week it seems it may be closer to being just plain science.

After a company named Colossal Biosciences stunned the world by announcing it had overseen the birth of three dire wolves, a species of oversized white wolf known to fans of Game of Thrones, but one that has been extinct in reality for over 10,000 years. They have plans to bring the woolly mammoth back to the northern tundra, and revive the dodo bird, too.

Even before this week’s surprise news, executives at the Toronto Zoo have been wrestling with the ethics of “de-extinction” and the mammoth question, and Toronto Star reporter Kate Allen has been reporting on the issues that they and other zookeepers around the world, and conservation experts, see with the sudden application of this technology.

Allen joins This Matters to explain just what Colossal is doing and why it chooses pop-culture celebrity “charismatic” species to revive. And she outlines the ethical, technical and practical questions, and the massive amounts of money and scientific expertise, that this startup company has suddenly brought to the field of animal conservation.

PLUS: Did they really bring back dire wolves, or are these animals something else entirely?   

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Ed Keenan & Paulo Marques

Guest: Toronto Star senior immigration reporter Nicholas Keung

For years, Canada’s immigration system was held up as a glowing model on the global stage. But what was once seen as a solution— to labour shortages, economic slowdown and an aging population—is now being blamed for everything from the housing crisis to collapsing healthcare. In today’s episode, we try to wade through the numbers, the policies and the politics behind a dramatic shift in how Canadians view immigration and how it went from celebrated to scrutinized. 

Produced by Saba Eitizaz and Paulo Marques

Guest: Brendan Kennedy, investigative reporter at The Star

On Dec. 20, 2023 a guard was assaulted by an inmate at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario. The inmate was then immediately removed from the facility. Two days later, jail guards in full riot gear carried out a violent, mass strip search of 192 inmates – none of whom were involved in the initial incident -- in a coordinated, collective punishment that spanned 48 hours. 

A judge has called it a gross display of power, something that should never happen in this country. However, the Ministry of the Solicitor General, who oversees jails across the province, has remained relatively silent on the matter. 

The incident has gone on to impact dozens of criminal cases across the province, as inmates seek to have their charges stayed or sentences reduced – and in some cases have received just that, as a recourse for having their Charter Rights violated.

Brendan Kennedy, investigative reporter with The Star, originally broke this story last year and has been doggedly trying to obtain security footage of exactly what went down at Maplehurst over the course of those 48 hours and what that tell us about the state of our jails.

PLUS: Hear from Rene Pearle, a former Maplehurst inmate who was there on that fateful day

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Sean Pattendon and Paulo Marques.

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Raisa Patel 

Liberal candidate Paul Chiang's remarks suggesting a political opponent could be handed over to Chinese authorities for a bounty has fuelled outrage, an RCMP probe and a political firestorm for the Liberals ahead of an election. Initially Liberal leader Mark Carney was seen as supporting him held back from dropping Chiang as a candidate Markham-Unionville. As backlash grew, and pressure mounted, it was Chiang who ultimately stepped down himself. This episode takes a look at how things unfolded and what it reveals about the Liberal leader's decision-making and judgement, just around the corner from a federal election.

Audio sources: Global News

Produced by Saba Eitizaz and Paulo Marques

Guest: Toronto Star reporter Allan Woods 

Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney just had their first call since Carney took office, and by all accounts, it was productive. But also, the fact that this call is making headlines is just another sign of how much Trump and the U.S. will loom over Canada’s upcoming election. From Trump’s political influence and the spread of disinformation to the idea (his own)  that his presidency actually helped keep the Liberals in power; this election is shaping up to be as much about the U.S. as it is about Canada.

Canada has always had to live in America’s shadow—but this time, the biggest foreign threat to our democracy isn’t Russia or China—it might be our closest ally.

Produced by Saba Eitizaz and Paulo Marques

Guest: Ken Greenberg, urban designer and co-founder of Elbows Up Toronto

“This is not a trade war,” Charlie Angus said to a packed crowd at a church this week, “it’s an attack on who we are as people.” A lot of Canadians have been feeling that recently, as U.S. President Donald Trump not only imposes tariffs on us, but talks about taking our country over. The response in the public is like something few of us have seen, a swelling patriotism. But a lot of us have also been feeling a sense that while we want to do something, we aren’t sure how, beyond buying Canadian at the grocery store.

Ken Greenberg, who originally came to Toronto as a Vietnam war resistor before a career in public life as a planner and designer, is co-founder of a group called 'Elbows Up Toronto' aiming to organize people to turn those feelings into grassroots action. Their Monday night meetings are part rally, part brainstorming session, and serve as what Greenberg calls a “clearing house” where people can trade information and strategy and coordinate for further action. It is, he says, a chance to realize what Canadian culture really means (and can mean), and to emerge a better, stronger country for it.

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Ed Keenan and Paulo Marques.

Guest: Michelle Shephard, former Toronto Star reporter and co-author of “Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis”

Scott Payne spent his career deep undercover in the drug trade, criminal networks and among racist terrorists — and despite some harrowing close calls that saw him stripped naked and almost exposed, he lived to tell the tale.

The woman he told it to — former Star reporter Michelle Shephard, who co-wrote a new book with Payne — sits down with This Matters to talk about what he went through and what he learned. This includes a time when he found himself in a field in the American south under a literal burning cross at a KKK rally, and how he learned that famous racist organization is now “your grandfather’s white supremacists” given the threat posed by The Base, a newer racist terrorist group bent on spurring a race war to bring about the collapse of society. Shephard discusses how Payne tried to stay safe while putting criminals in jail, and the toll it took on his mental health and family life.

PLUS: the time Payne had a hood pulled off his head and found himself being unexpectedly “knighted” into the Ku Klux Klan.

This episode was produced by Julia De Laurentiis Johnston, Ed Keenan and Paulo Marques.

Guest: Toronto Star journalist Janet Hurley 

Ontario’s colleges and universities are facing a financial crisis. Millions in deficits, staff layoffs, and program cuts have become the norm. In the midst of all this, at George Brown College, one expense is fuelling controversy. A former president receiving over a million dollars in retirement payouts while the college suspends programs and tightens its budget. It has renewed a bigger conversation about administrative growth, executive compensation, priorities and the future of post-secondary education in the province. 

This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz and Paulo Marques.

Guest: Amira Elghawaby,Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia 

Islamophobia and hate is on the rise in Canada. Political rhetoric is growing more divisive. Statistics show a surge in reported hate crimes against visible minorities. And in the middle of it all is Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Since taking on the role, she has faced relentless pushback and personal attacks. In early March, her office has released a new guide on tackling Islamophobia at a time when tensions appear to escalating in the country. With growing concerns that  rising hate and anti-Muslim sentiment from a U.S. under Trump, could spill over here, Elghawaby's job is cut out for her. In a candid conversation with This Matters, she unpacks all of this, the need for  her newly released guide and the future of her role and work in an increasingly polarized political climate. 

This episode was produced by Saba Eitizaz, Paulo Marques and Sean Pattendon.