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Mark Carney is about to get hammered left and right by populism

Canada’s two national opposition parties, the Conservatives and NDP — now under Avi Lewis — are relentlessly focused on affordability and dismantling a system they say screws non-elites. As this week’s panel discusses, both Lewis and Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre clearly stand for something, which raises questions about what Prime Minister Mark Carney stands for … besides fighting President Donald Trump. Brian is joined by former Conservative campaign director Jenni Byrne, longtime NDP strategist Kim Wright, and former Liberal adviser Warren Kinsella. They break down how the new NDP leader, unlike the last one, will make life more difficult for the Liberals. They also consider the likelihood Carney will prorogue Parliament after securing a majority, and how much it will (or won’t) help him. (Recorded April 1, 2026) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court will just make stuff up to subvert the notwithstanding clause

If you think the Supreme Court will be reluctant to rewrite the Constitution, as Ottawa wants it to by handcuffing Section 33, then you haven’t been paying attention, as Bruce Pardy tells Brian. It doesn’t matter that the notwithstanding clause explicitly gives parliaments the right to override certain court rulings, or that it was key to the Charter of Rights being passed in the first place, says Pardy, a constitutional scholar at Queen’s University. The rule of Canadian constitutional decisions is that there are no rules. For decades, justices have simply invented interpretations and dreamt up Charter “values” that align with their left-wing politics. And our constitution is conveniently designed to keep that happening — forever. (Recorded March 27, 2026)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happened to the Mark Carney who promised to make things better?

When he first became prime minister a year ago this month, Mark Carney vowed to improve affordability, build badly needed projects quickly and make Canada more resilient and competitive in the face of President Donald Trump’s trade antagonism. As William Robson, president emeritus of the C.D. Howe Institute, discusses with Brian, the situation on all those fronts isn’t much better and, in several respects, worse than before. Canada keeps getting poorer, our fiscal situation is worse, the investment climate remains uncompetitive, projects we need aren’t happening, and Carney’s fiscal moves, from the GST grocery refund to green subsidies, are as economically misguided as the policies from the last guy. Carney can’t just blame Trump for it all. (Recorded March 20, 2026) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The former CBC host blowing the lid off its bias and dysfunction

Travis Dhanraj is not who you’d expect from a CBC critic. He’s not a conservative. He supports public broadcasting. As the host of Canada Tonight, he championed diversity. But as he tells Brian, he eventually discovered how shallow the broadcaster’s commitment was to its proclaimed values and its mandate. He explains how political coverage was controlled by a handful of politically biased personalities exercising veto control over shows seeking conservative perspectives. He also tells Brian about the preposterous stunts the CBC used to pay lip service to its standards, the corporation’s degrading human resources practices, and the lack of accountability and transparency from the top that, once he dared to challenge it, had network executives trying to silence him. (Recorded March 12, 2026) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your private property may not be safe from Aboriginal-title court cases

Confusing messages are the only guarantee after the Cowichan ruling and the Musqueam deal. The August court case confirmed a First Nation band has “title” over B.C. land that belongs to private property owners, while the federal government’s deal confirms Musqueam rights and title over Vancouver. Dwight Newman, a law professor specializing in Indigenous rights, tells Brian that assurances to private property owners that they won’t lose their land only go so far. What might not be targeted today could be tomorrow, he says. They discuss how the court case and government deal, along with the growing power of UNDRIP in Canadian law, only give more power and leverage to First Nations. And not just in B.C., but across Canada. (Recorded March 5, 2026) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices