We’re bringing you a special episode today from our friends at Commons. Over thirteen seasons, Commons has exposed Canada’s foundational reliance on monopolies, our addiction to real estate and the dark side of hockey. In their new season, host Arshy Mann is now dissecting the state of work in Canada to ask – how did we get here? And what can we do to fight back? Across Canada, emergency rooms have been shutting down, leaving desperate people in the lurch. And at the heart of this health care crisis, is a labour crisis. Nurses are leaving their jobs in droves, leaving hospitals understaffed ..read more

When the trucks moved out of Ottawa in 2022, our public discourse changed. Grievance politics thrived, and our political parties adapted. Supporters of the convoy splintered into different groups. They became very politically engaged in causes like the 1 Million March for Children, the Save the Children Convoy, Canadians for Truth and even a grassroots lobby group - Take Back Alberta.  As the organizers' trials reach their end, we look at the movement's lingering effects. Where are the members now? Do they represent a significant part of the country? How do we address this fundamental c ..read more

Richard Warman used to take neo-nazis he found online to the human rights commission. He used an obscure provision called Section 13, which was repealed in 2014.  But it may be coming back. The long-awaited Online Harms Act includes a section allowing users to sue each other for hate speech online. Free speech advocates are worried, but some say it’s time trolls start behaving.  Who gets to decide what’s hate speech? Is this the end of online hate or the start of something more sinister? To find out, Mattea Roach asked Emily Laidlaw, a Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity Law an ..read more

Canadian universities are barely scraping by. Queen’s is in a whole lot of debt, Laurentian declared insolvency in 2021, Alberta universities are slashing budgets, and McGill and Concordia are in danger over an out-of-province tuition battle. On top of it all, the international student visa cap will limit revenues for cash-strapped universities. Combined, it could have huge implications for our knowledge-based economy. How did this happen? Where do we go from here? To find out, Mattea Roach asked Simona Chiose, the former higher education reporter at the Globe and Mail, and Alex Usher, the pr ..read more

Alberta Premier and UCP leader Danielle Smith has unveiled what many are describing as some of the strictest anti-trans policies in the country. Shortly after, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who famously stated he would lead a “mind your own damn business party,” didn’t mind his own damn business and supported Smith’s move in interfering with trans kids' access to healthcare.  Why is it that conservatives are so obsessed with trans people? Mattea Roach asked Hannah Hodson, former Candidate for the Federal Conservatives, and Mel Woods, senior editor at Xtra Magazine. Host: Ma ..read more

The ICJ court ruled that Palestinians in Gaza face a “real and imminent risk” of genocide, and laid out the provisional measures Israel must take in order to prevent it. Canada has a legal duty to take steps to prevent genocide - yet their relationship to Israel may compromise their obligations to the Genocide Convention. What will it take for Canada to pivot on its special relationship with Israel? And might Canada be complicit in genocide? Host:  Mattea Roach Credits: Aviva Lessard (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor) Kary ..read more

Lack of investment in affordable rental units, increased financialization of housing, soaring land prices, and jacked-up mortgage rates are just some of the reasons behind the rental and housing crisis we find ourselves in. But how the hell do we get out of this crisis while still being able to sip on our $5 coffees?  Host:  Mattea Roach Credits: Aviva Lessard (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor) Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief) Guests: Jen St. Denis, Tanya Burkart Background reading: Fact Check ..read more

This year has been one hell of a political rollercoaster. Host, Mattea Roach, sits down with Riley Yesno, Nick Taylor-Vaisey, and Kyle Duggan to make sense of key political moments of this year, and to make predictions of their future implications. They unpack everything from Canada’s foreign interference problem and the controversial carbon tax, to the housing crisis and the NDP-Liberal confidence agreement.  Host:  Mattea Roach Credits: Aviva Lessard (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn P ..read more

We’re bringing you a special episode from the Canadaland feed.   It’s the holidays, and on your TV or radio you’re inevitably hit with ads telling you that this is the season of giving - it’s time to donate to a food drive. Conservative politicians, Liberal politicians, banks, broadcasters, grocery stores: they all are united in this message. With the promotion of food banks from virtually every institution and elected official in the country, you might conclude that they are the best solution to food insecurity. Except - they’re not. Food bank use in Canada is at an all-time high ..read more

In Canada, the political discourse on the news coming out of Israel and Palestine has given Backbench host, some “serious whiplash.” Discussions happening online seem extremely polarized, making it difficult to have productive and nuanced conversations. In this episode, Mattea sits down with Muhannad Ayyash, a Palestinian Professor of Sociology, and Jeremy Appel, a journalist and author, to get to the root of this contention. They unpack the role of lobby groups, the conflation of anti-semitism and anti-zionism, the role of grassroots organizing, and the rising incidents of alleged hate-motiva ..read more