Wag The Doug

By CANADALAND

What's Wag The Doug about?

A monthly podcast grappling with the reality of four more infuriating years with the Fords and what that means for Ontario. Hosted by Allison Smith and Jonathan Goldsbie.

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

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Wag The Doug episodes:

04.17.2024
This Sh*t is Banana Cats
The next provincial election is two years away, but to turn on your TVs, you’d think we were in the midst of one. Flush with cash, Doug Ford’s party is taking out ads attempting to cast the premier as cuddly...
03.20.2024
Dougie Went a-Courtin'
Judicial independence is a foundational principle of Canadian democracy. Doug Ford sees it as an obstacle to be overcome. Because if he can’t appoint “like-minded” judges to mercilessly punish criminals, then is it really justice? Why should judges have discretion...
02.14.2024
Where the Wildfires Are
At this time of year, we’d normally pine for spring. But nowadays, that means wildfire season. And it’s only a matter of time before British Columbia’s new normal becomes Ontario’s as well — yet we’re not nearly as well-prepared. Doug Ford’s...
01.17.2024
Journey to the Centre of the Science
Doug Ford plans to uproot the Ontario Science Centre from the iconic Don Mills home it’s occupied since 1969. But what is the Science Centre other than its iconic Don Mills home? On a blustery afternoon, Allison and Jonathan traipse up...
12.20.2023
Doug Ford vs. the Mayors
We surmised that Doug Ford would punish Toronto for picking Olivia Chow as its mayor. But if anything, he seems more sympathetic to the city and its issues than before. So what gives? This month, Allison and Jonathan look at the...
11.22.2023
I Logged On to a Mining Ring of Fire
Until just a few years ago, staking a mining claim in Ontario demanded banging physical posts in the ground. Now, you can simply head online and click a square on a map. But while that may be an abstract exercise for...
10.25.2023
Doug Ford's House of Horrors
Some say Queen’s Park is haunted. Others say it’s merely possessed by the Progressive Conservatives. Either way, there’s some spooky stuff going down. This month, Allison and Jonathan guide you through Doug Ford’s ministry of terrors, as they probe into the...
10.05.2023
The End of Canadaland
Support us now! Click here: canadaland.com/join The first episode of Canadaland was published ten years ago today. If we were to announce this is the last episode of Canadaland, no one would be surprised. Journalism in Canada is in a fight for its...
09.20.2023
Roll Up for the Mr. X Tour
With his polls diving, housing minister resigning, and ill-begotten Greenbelt scheme unravelling, what’s a Doug Ford to do? Why, talk about anything else, of course! In the face of yet another report laying bare the haphazard chumminess with which power is...
08.16.2023
Greenbelt: The Movie
Ontario’s Auditor General has confirmed what we suspected: that Doug Ford’s government effectively redrew the map of the province, opening up thousands of acres of land for development, based largely on solicitations made at a party. It just wasn’t the...
07.19.2023
Students in Strip Malls
How did a Doug Ford policy move from 2019 lead to 10,000s of international students schlepping their backpacks to strip malls across the GTA? Allison and Jonathan investigate how Ontario colleges have cashed in on an international student free for...
06.21.2023
102 People Who Are Not Doug Ford
Toronto is in the midst of its most exciting election in a decade, tickling us with the possibility of hope. But does it still make sense to get invested in the outcome, when Doug Ford could easily run roughshod over...
05.17.2023
A Deep Dive Into Doug Ford’s Obsession with Smile Cookies
Ten years after becoming famous as the mean older brother of Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor, Doug Ford spends his days peddling fast-food promotions and posing for pictures with cops. Which is pretty much the future we might’ve guessed for him —...
04.19.2023
TVO Pursuit: After Ontario Place, Is TVO Next?
Doug Ford claims he’s all about building, but he sure has a thing for enthusiastically bulldozing the utopian public projects of yesteryear.First it was Ontario Place. Now it’s the Science Centre. At what point does he train his sights on...
03.15.2023
Ep. 52 - The Douggie Awards: Recognizing Stag & Does, The Greenbelt and That Rogue Bee
It’s every-Ford everywhere all at once, as we celebrate the year’s most absurd and distressing developments in Ontario politics. What was the premier’s Falsest Promise? The Most Harmful Policy? The Best Fordism? You’ll never guess what insects Allison and Jonathan...
02.15.2023
Ep. 51 - Ford Weddings and a Free-for-all
It turns out Doug Ford and his "developer buddies" are more than just a metaphor. A recent report by Global News found a fleet of lobbyists and developers were invited to a Stag & Doe last August for the daughters...
01.18.2023
Ep. 50 - "Leveraged" Health Care on Ontario's Dime
Conservatives don’t like Canada’s public healthcare system. They think it makes us like Cuba and North Korea. Now, after years of working to gradually undermine it, Doug Ford has declared that the “status quo” isn’t working, throwing open Ontario’s doors...
12.21.2022
COMMONS: Monopoly #1 - Lost in the Supermarket
This episode is from our friends on the CANADALAND network, COMMONS! This season they are digging into monopolies and asking, is there something special about Canada that makes it especially hospitable to monopolies? To listen to the rest of the COMMONS:...
12.14.2022
Trailer: Wag the Doug
A monthly podcast grappling with the reality of four more infuriating years with the Fords and what that means for Ontario. Hosted by Allison Smith and Jonathan Goldsbie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
12.07.2022
Ep. 49 - For Whom the Greenbelt Tolls
Doug Ford loves calling things “corrupt.” But just how often must his party’s friends and donors reap rewards from their policies before the word can be liberally flung back? On this month’s show, Allison and Jonathan look at who benefits...
11.09.2022
Ep. 48 - CUPE Ki Yay, MotherFORDer!
This week, Doug Ford learned that while it’s stunningly easy to toss out constitutional rights, it’s a heck of a lot harder to get away with that. By passing the Keeping Students in Class Act complete with notwithstanding clause, the government...
10.27.2022
Introducing our new series: Ratfucker
Meet David Wallace, political fixer. After decades in the game he says he’s getting out, telling all, and dumping his files in public. The result is the viral "Klondike Papers" theory of conspiracies, conservatives, and cults. But are the allegations...
10.19.2022
Ep. 47 - The Power of the Doug
With electricity demand set to rise and Pickering’s nuclear plant set to close, Doug Ford’s government is now scrambling to keep the province’s lights on. Perhaps spending hundreds of millions to cancel green-energy projects and dismantle new wind turbines might...
09.21.2022
Ep. 46 - Strong Mayors [COMMA] Building Homes
The province has got a housing crisis, and the only prescription is… more mayoral powers?? Allison and Jonathan probe the comically flimsy pretense under which Doug Ford has fundamentally, if casually, reshaped how Ontario’s two largest cities are governed. Because...
08.17.2022
We’ll be back next month
Wag the Doug will return in September, by which time who knows what else Doug Ford will have swallowed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
07.20.2022
Ep. 45 - Will Ontario Ever Have A Truly Left-Wing Party?
Allison and Jonathan talk with Jacobin’s Luke Savage about why the NDP so often provokes indifference, while its American and British counterparts sometimes seem poised to spark revolution. Might a new leader succeed where Andrea Horwath did not? Plus: The...
06.03.2022
Ep. 44 - Ford More Years
The PCs are up seven seats from last time, and the opposition parties are down two leaders. We were going to record this from Doug Ford's election-night event, but Jonathan wasn't allowed in. So he and Allison met up after...
05.27.2022
Ep. 43 - Running On Fumes In A Chicken Suit
As Doug Ford campaigns against fumes, his opponents are increasingly running on them. Less than a week away, the election's outcome is hardly a foregone conclusion, but the Liberals, at least, have reached chicken-suit levels of desperation. Are they telling...
05.20.2022
Ep. 42 - Why Are These People So Happy
Our election coverage continues into week three. This week, there was a weirdly upbeat leaders' debate, two party leaders got COVID and several trade unions came out in support of Doug Ford and the PCs. Jonathan and Allison break down...
05.13.2022
Ep. 41 - Research and Destroy
On week two of the election campaign, the dirt starts to surface about candidates, the party leaders participate in their first debate and the Liberals release their fully-costed platform. Links: Read the Press Progress piece about Stephen Lecce participating in a...
05.06.2022
Ep. 40 - Drop Writ Like It's Hot
Wag the Doug is going weekly for the Ontario election! On the first weekly Wag, Jonathan and Allison talk about Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca's introductory Youtube series, Ford's campaign launch, cringey Star Wars memes, transit ideas and plenty more. ...
04.20.2022
Ep.39 - Refund Madness
A listener writes in, wondering why she's getting a rebate cheque in the mail right before an election campaign. Jonathan and Allison take stock of everything the Progressive Conservative Party is doing to secure an election victory, from conveniently-timed cheques...
03.16.2022
Ep. 38 - The Third Annual(ish) Douggie Awards
It's once again that time of year, when the stars of Ontario politics come out to — well, not shine, exactly, so much as drably absorb a depressing fluorescent glow. The 3rd Douggie Awards honour the terrible and hilarious developments...
02.16.2022
Ep. 37 - Free Fearless Pancakes
When the trucker convoy cratered Ottawa, Doug Ford hoped he could turn the other cheek. However, when another protest blocked the Ambassador bridge in Windsor, disrupting his beloved supply chain, he declared a state of emergency to make sure Ontario...
01.19.2022
Ep. 36 - Kory & Nick: The Backroom Boys
The Toronto Sun likes to blast the “unelected” public health officials informing pandemic policy in Ontario. But who's really calling the shots in Doug Ford's government? Allison and Jonathan look at the sway held by pollster Nick Kouvalis and PC campaign manager...
12.15.2021
Ep. 35 - Rolling the Dice on Internet Gambling
It was only a matter of time before Doug Ford dragged us back into a casino debate. Except this time, it's not on the waterfront but in your pocket. Allison and Jonathan look at the possibly criminal implications of his government's...
11.17.2021
Ep. 34 - Doug's Labour Loss
With an election seven months away, Doug Ford's government has suddenly decided it's pro-worker. But would any of their proposed reforms actually improve the lives of low-income and gig workers in Ontario? Allison and Jonathan talk to Brice Sopher of...
10.20.2021
Ep. 33 - Yes, He Won't
Support us here: https://wtd.supercast.com/ How do you put a smiling, election-ready face on a government that's done little but slash regulations and mismanage a pandemic? That calls for a brand refresh! Allison and Jonathan look at how Doug Ford's PCs...
09.15.2021
Ep. 32 - Anatomy of a Flip-Flop
Doug Ford used to oppose vaccine passports. Now's he super in favour. That he changed his mind wasn't surprising; that he did so before Ontario hit a new crisis point was. With Allison in New York, where she's coming to love her...
08.18.2021
Ep. 31 - Ghosts of Ontario Place: Past, Present, Future
Opened in 1971, Ontario Place was an idealistic effort to celebrate and cement a provincial identity. Fifty years later, and having been left to rot, it's about to be carved up and privatized by the Doug Ford government. Join Allison...
08.11.2021
Introducing The White Saviors
Over 25 years, WE built a golden brand by inspiring children to rally around their charismatic leader. But behind the scenes, employees experienced a cult-like culture and a troubling blur of charitable and commercial activities. In the aftermath of a...
07.21.2021
Ep. 30 - Everything You Wanted To Know About Doug Ford (And Did In Fact Ask)
Allison and Jonathan answer listener questions, such as: Will the government really give a boost to personal-support workers? And what's the deal with Doug Ford's brother's hat? Join them as they venture into the Ford Family Extended Universe. Guaranteed more...
06.23.2021
Ep. 29 - What's Doug Ford So Afraid Of?
Doug Ford is getting ready for next year's election by increasing donation limits, shuffling his cabinet, and overriding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to pass a law limiting the criticism he'll face. This sudden bonfire of political capital has...
05.19.2021
Ep. 28 - The Government's Hidden Attack On Sex Workers
In Doug Ford's Ontario, there's no problem that can't be solved by giving police new powers. This time, the issue is human trafficking— which, well that makes sense, right? The reality is far more complicated. Allison and Jonathan talk to...
04.21.2021
Ep. 27 - Doug Ford's Gravy Train
With the pandemic reaching new levels of crisis each day, and public anger at the government rising in proportion, how has Doug Ford chosen to spend his evenings? Fundraising! The Ontario PCs have built an enormously effective big-money operation and...
03.17.2021
Ep. 26 - Tow Truck Mafia
The GTA has become the site of a massive tow truck turf war. Vehicles have been fire-bombed, a law office has been shot up, and cops face criminal charges for their involvement. And the person in charge of reining in...
02.24.2021
Ep. 25 - Canary In the Nickel Mine: Laurentian Goes Bust
Laurentian University has filed for creditor protection, while another, opening this fall, has attracted just 47 applicants. What is going on with Ontario's postsecondary sector? And what can the premier's own brief college experience tell us about his government's peculiar...
01.20.2021
Ep. 24 - The Second Annual Douggie Awards
It's the second annual Douggie Awards, where Allison and Jonathan take stock of all the hilarity and abject horror that was the Year in Ford. Who carries home the trophies for “Best Sycophant,” “Most Surreal Moment,” and the always-popular “Most...
12.16.2020
Ep. 23 - Landlord and Tenant Board of Damocles
Doug Ford vowed that those who couldn't afford rent during the pandemic wouldn't lose their homes. Instead, he made evictions easier than ever. And now, thanks to online hearings, the bleak indifference of that process is on display for all....
11.18.2020
Ep. 22 - Law & Forder
Except when they're investigating members of his family, Doug Ford really loves the police. So much so that, earlier this year, when calls for defunding became inescapable, he responded by giving them more money. In this episode, Allison and Jonathan look at...

What's Wag The Doug about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Wag The Doug episodes:

This Sh*t is Banana Cats

Dougie Went a-Courtin'

Where the Wildfires Are

Journey to the Centre of the Science

Doug Ford vs. the Mayors

I Logged On to a Mining Ring of Fire

Doug Ford's House of Horrors

The End of Canadaland

Roll Up for the Mr. X Tour

Greenbelt: The Movie

Students in Strip Malls

102 People Who Are Not Doug Ford

A Deep Dive Into Doug Ford’s Obsession with Smile Cookies

TVO Pursuit: After Ontario Place, Is TVO Next?

Ep. 52 - The Douggie Awards: Recognizing Stag & Does, The Greenbelt and That Rogue Bee

Ep. 51 - Ford Weddings and a Free-for-all

Ep. 50 - "Leveraged" Health Care on Ontario's Dime

COMMONS: Monopoly #1 - Lost in the Supermarket

Trailer: Wag the Doug

Ep. 49 - For Whom the Greenbelt Tolls

Ep. 48 - CUPE Ki Yay, MotherFORDer!

Introducing our new series: Ratfucker

Ep. 47 - The Power of the Doug

Ep. 46 - Strong Mayors [COMMA] Building Homes

We’ll be back next month

Ep. 45 - Will Ontario Ever Have A Truly Left-Wing Party?

Ep. 44 - Ford More Years

Ep. 43 - Running On Fumes In A Chicken Suit

Ep. 42 - Why Are These People So Happy

Ep. 41 - Research and Destroy

Ep. 40 - Drop Writ Like It's Hot

Ep.39 - Refund Madness

Ep. 38 - The Third Annual(ish) Douggie Awards

Ep. 37 - Free Fearless Pancakes

Ep. 36 - Kory & Nick: The Backroom Boys

Ep. 35 - Rolling the Dice on Internet Gambling

Ep. 34 - Doug's Labour Loss

Ep. 33 - Yes, He Won't

Ep. 32 - Anatomy of a Flip-Flop

Ep. 31 - Ghosts of Ontario Place: Past, Present, Future

Introducing The White Saviors

Ep. 30 - Everything You Wanted To Know About Doug Ford (And Did In Fact Ask)

Ep. 29 - What's Doug Ford So Afraid Of?

Ep. 28 - The Government's Hidden Attack On Sex Workers

Ep. 27 - Doug Ford's Gravy Train

Ep. 26 - Tow Truck Mafia

Ep. 25 - Canary In the Nickel Mine: Laurentian Goes Bust

Ep. 24 - The Second Annual Douggie Awards

Ep. 23 - Landlord and Tenant Board of Damocles

Ep. 22 - Law & Forder