CanCon
by Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Mat Keselman, Kattie Laur
It's a fascinating time to be Canadian. This is a show that breaks all that wide open. Dangers. Opportunities. The stories that make this country what it is. And what it isn't.Longtime journalist and podcast host Jordan Heath-Rawlings (Elbows Up, The Big Story, The Gravy Train) returns to host critical Canadian Conversations with leading experts and storytellers.These are discussions—about who we are, how we got here, and where we're going—designed to offer more than soundbites and headlines. They'll introduce you to places, people and policies you might not have otherwise met, or perhaps not considered to be worth your attention. But they are.
Episodes
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Your feedback: Privatized airports, expensive referendums and more
It's been too long, but this week the whole crew comes together to be called out (or praised!) by our listeners. Will Canada's privatized airports become another example of enshittification? Was $100 million worth it to put down the Alberta separatists? How many referendums are enough, exactly?...
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With the PQ in charge, what comes next in Quebec?
Unlike their Western brethren, Quebec separatists are good at this. They've been at it a long time. They are organized, patient and understand how to get elected. And they just did. With the Parti Quebecois winning a minority government, another referendum is at the very least back on the table,...
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The case of the Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin
There's no way to sugarcoat the story of Ryan Wedding. Once an aspiring snowboarder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding qualified for the 2002 Olympics as a member of the Canadian team. He didn't medal. Two decades later, he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, being compared to the likes of El...
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Inside the ever-advancing world of grandparent scams
You've been warned about them, undoubtedly. You've probably passed on that warning to your elderly loved ones, or anyone you see as a little digitally naive. But how much do you really know about how so-called 'Grandparent Scams' operate in Canada—from the scale of them to their ever-increasing...
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How a small Canadian business copes with a trade war
Many of us have been lucky enough to experience the ongoing trade war with the United States as a small part of everyday life. We may pay slightly higher prices, or choose not to buy American products. We may read headlines about job losses or plant closures and feel sympathy, but we don't know...
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What will private investment in Canada's airports mean for travellers?
Mark Carney's government will open up three major Canadian airports to private investment, raising billions of dollars and fundamentally changing how these facilities are run. It's a strategy used in many countries around the world, but it's a new one for Canadian travellers. So, what's about to...
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The state of local news in Canada
If you're reading this in a big city, congratulations! You have reliable local news options! If you're living somewhere smaller... well, it's a bit of a dice roll, really. While most communities still have at least one options for reporting on their every day lives — everything from city council…
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The case for the Alberta referendum. (And other referendums.)
Most Albertans don't want to leave Canada. Most Canadians don't want to see them go. The data is clear, the separatist wing is a small percentage of the population, and is likely buoyed by foreign influence campaigns. To many Canadians, it seems clear there's no need for a referendum at all—that…
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Canada's economy is ... somehow doing pretty well?
New tariffs have hit us. Our government will respond in kind next week. A trade war has begun in earnest. And there's no doubt Canadian businesses will suffer and jobs will be lost. And yet. After more than a year and a half of economic turmoil, the numbers tell a story of resiliency. Of an…
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How Canada is taking the lead on Arctic security
Canada's going to become one of three "framework nations" taking the lead on Arctic defence. The government is moving to purchase military equipment outside the United States or even (gasp!) build it here at home. Is all that talk about taking national defence seriously starting to show up in...
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Has the Carney government abandoned climate policy? It's complicated
You may have noticed that we're talking about building another pipeline. And our acknowledgement that we'll probably blow past our emissions targets. You may have also noticed all the trees burning. Again. And the smoke and the flooding and the ... you get it. But the country faces economic and...
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IN REVIEW: How do we keep Canada's automotive industry rolling?
This week, as another set of US tariffs loom, we're revisiting a previous episode about an industry that is particularly vulnerable to them. We'll be back next week with fresh CanCon in your feed! More than 120,000 Canadians work in Canada's auto industry...for now. As tariffs imposed by the US...
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IN REVIEW: Exploring Canada's Hidden Gems
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be revisiting a couple of our previous episodes—beginning with a trip through some of Canada's least-known but most worthy places to visit if you've still got some time to explore this summer: This summer, given ... everything going on down there, Canadians…
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This Canadian social media platform wants to be in your neighbourhood
Last week, we examined the Canadian Tech from a 10,000-foot perspective. This week, we take you inside the launch of Eh!, a Canadian social media platform that aims to get users out into their cities, towns and neighbourhoods, rather than lost in an algorithm. It's been around for almost a year...
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So...how's that digital sovereignty thing going?
It's been well over a year since Canadians (and our governments) realized just how dependent we are on American technology—for everything from our day-to-day lives to the infrastructure of Canadian businesses and even our defence capabilities. We knew then that Canada had the talent and the...
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A trip inside Vancouver Island's dark history
Laura Palmer has been investigating and reporting on crimes on Vancouver Island for years. It's changed the way she sees one of Canada's most gorgeous places, and made her something of a local celebrity. But she's never dug into a case as old as the one she's chasing on her current season of…
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Did Canada just become a 'soccer nation'?
Nothing much had ever been expected from soccer in Canada—or at least from men's soccer in Canada, and mainstream soccer fandom. Until recently. After our women's team showed the world we could punch well above our weight in the 2000s, the game started to gather steam. Now, after a successful run...
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The strange, silly and sad stories you've never heard about Canadian Parliament
The House of Commons is a staid, formal institution. Right? It's been that way for well over a century. Gentlemen (and eventually Gentlewomen) debating important issues in a dignified manner? Not always. The real history of our halls of power includes exploding protesters, lots of cats and nudity...
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How Canada's great outdoors became a ticking time bomb
Ticks in this country used to be a minor, if dangerous, annoyance. That's changing quickly. Not only are the traditional deer ticks that we've lived with in some areas of the country spreading further north than ever before, other species that carry different tick-borne disease than what we've…
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Could Halifax's housing strategy be an example for Canadian cities?
Halifax, like many cities in Canada, faces a housing crunch. Not because of how big it is geographically. There's plenty of room. But because of how hard it can be for cities to rezone for increased density and create more affordable housing. If you live in a city of decent size, you're probably...
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Why is Canada getting a brand new police force?
Well, let's just say that if everything's going great, you don't generally need to spin up an entire law enforcement agency out of thin air. But after years of failing to meaningfully cope with financial crimes, and the subsequent hits to our reputation in the international community that failure...
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What happened to Canada's Pharmacare plan?
It was long overdue, and began with a promise: It might start small, covering just a few common drugs, and expand until Canadians without benefits were no longer struggling to afford medication prescribed by doctors under our universal health care system. Less than two years later, however, the...
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The US just paused a joint defence effort. How worried should Canada be?
You may not have heard about it, but the Permanent Joint Board on Defense has been a part of Canada and America's shared strategy for decades. Evidently, however, it may not be as "permanent" as its name suggests. Recently, the US announced it was pausing the board, citing Canada's need to...
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Why are gas prices so high in Canada if we produce our own? It's complicated.
Canada, as you may know, produces a ton of oil. Billions of tons every day, actually. Nearly all the oil we use was taken from the ground, one way or another, right here. And yet! When the Strait of Hormuz shut down, the price Canadians pay for Canadian-produced oil and gas went through the roof,...
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Midseason update: Surveillance pricing, listener feedback and more
This week we're checking in with the audience on the first few months of CanCon, discussing episodes we did or didn't (yet!) create, reading some of your feedback and getting a feel for where we're at before we dive back in to another few months of Canadian stories. If you haven't yet, don't…
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The emotional side of the Canadian housing crisis
A roof over one's head has been a necessity of life since we lived in caves. But when that roof also represents Canada's class struggle, our income inequality issues and potentially the owner's entire retirement portfolio...things get complicated. More than half of young Canadians don't expect...
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What is YouTube 'Slopaganda'? And why is it pushing Alberta separation?
In recent weeks, dozens of videos pushing Alberta separation (and frequently US annexation) have driven tens of millions of views on YouTube. But there's a problem. All these videos and accounts are remarkably similar, and to someone who actually knows the province, there are signs the people...
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When music went digital Canada was at the front of the line. What happened?
In the late '90s and early '00s, the music industry fundamentally changed. Within a decade, fans went from buying CDs in a local music store to purchasing $0.99 singles on iTunes. But before iTunes was available in Canada, and before the US giants took over the industry, Canadian startups were at...
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Can Canadian tech fix 911 wait times? Do we trust AI enough to let it try?
It's not just a Canadian problem, though it has likely cost some Canadians their lives. Staff answering 911 calls in centres the world over are overworked, stressed and sometimes ... there just aren't enough of them. As a result, callers are sometimes left on hold in the most awful circumstances...
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What makes a company "Canadian" enough for government contracts?
Would you call Walmart Canada a "Canadian" company? It's a much more complex question than it appears—but I think most of us would agree on the general answer. It's a Canadian subsidiary of a giant US retail behemoth. But when it comes to procurement spending from the federal government, often...
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Canadian happiness scores are dropping fast. Why?
When the World Happiness Report first began scoring countries on their self-reported levels of happiness in 2012, Canada was consistently in the top 10. It felt right, we were pretty happy. Over the past several years, things have been changing, first slowly and now rapidly. In the recently...
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Canada's a video game powerhouse. Why don't we ever talk about it?
In any other entertainment medium, a Canadian-made product winning the equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar would be historic, headline-grabbing news. But when Canadian-made games win Game Of The Year—and they have, multiple times—the country barely bats an eye. Games are big business in Canada…
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Inside Canada's struggling emergency rooms, six years after Covid struck
One might've thought we'd learned our lesson in 2020. That being hit with waves of deeply ill patients that pushed our health care system—especially its front lines in hospitals and ERs—to the brink would have woken us up to just how close to disaster we were operating. Alas. On this episode of...
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A year after a major flip, Canada's polls are shifting again
The federal Liberals miraculous early-2025 comeback was one of the biggest sudden shocks in Canadian political history. In response to Justin Trudeau's resignation, Donald Trump's threats and tariffs and the ascendance of Mark Carney, Canadian voters flocked back to the party that had been in…
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Is Canadian podcasting in trouble?
A little less than a decade ago, the podcast industry was ascendant in Canada. Independent shows were finding an audience, major media companies were starting podcast network and buying up podcast production houses, and it was assumed the medium would continue to grow alongside the American...
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How did Canada become a country of monopolies? It started as one.
You know the joke about Canada being three (insert sector here) companies in a trench coat? Well, it's kind of always been that way. When Canadians complain about the lack of choices for consumers in so many industries, they're continuing a long tradition that began with the founding of our…
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A look inside Canada's largest wholesale produce market
Marshall Cohen is one of the last of the old masters. His job, for more than four decades, has been to personally select from the tons and tons of fresh produce that roll through the Ontario Food Terminal every day, the best and freshest fruits and vegetables possible. It's an art form, and he's...
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Can Canada's travel industry seize a golden opportunity?
As you may have heard (over and over again), travel to the United States by Canadians is way down. Other countries are also avoiding the US, whether due to political stances or security concerns. But Canadians, Europeans and others are still part of the post-pandemic travel boom. So where are…
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The past, present and future of "Canadian" whisky
You may wonder, in the middle of a trade war, why Ontario's premier was pouring out a gigantic bottle of Crown Royal whisky, the spirit perhaps associated with this country more than any other. And why Doug Ford is now threatening to remove Crown Royal products from the shelves of Ontario's…
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What exactly is CanCon? And is the policy still working?
Decades ago, our government, and the body that oversees Canadian broadcasting, decided that homemade content was in danger of being overwhelmed by the vast flood of music, television, and film coming from the United States. The solution? A policy that required broadcasters to fill a certain…
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Introducing: CanCon
Welcome to CanCon! From (most of) the team that brought you Elbows Up, comes a show dedicated to telling Canadian stories, rather than focusing our energy on the rhetoric of our neighbours. These are conversations about who we are, how we got here, and where we're going. We hope you'll join us....
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A Canada Day tour of our country's hidden gems
This summer, given ... everything going on down there, Canadians are more interested in exploring their own backyard than traveling to the United States. And since we've spent four months exploring everything about this country we need to fix, we wanted to spend Canada Day looking around at...
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How to get totally fact up
One of the biggest problems Canadians face—that anyone faces—is the onslaught of misinformation online. Plenty of studies, including a new Reuters News survey, have shown that social media has passed traditional media as the go-to source of news for most Americans and plenty of Canadians. So we…
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Going to the US? Here's what you need to know.
Millions of Canadians are voting with their feet, and their wallets, refusing to travel to the United States this summer—or even cancelling plans they've already made. But not everyone has that luxury. Some travel may not come with cancellation options. Some Canadians need to travel south, for…
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As the G7 looms, the worst tariff impacts are yet to come
It's been a few months now since the United States placed the first in an ever-changing series of tariffs on Canadian products. And our economy, so far is doing ... alright? Not great, of course, but Canada has not yet been plunged into a recession. Does that showcase our resilience? Might we not...
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A new government, more defence spending and ... a Golden Dome?!
Canada's new defence minister has promised an effort unseen since World War II to replenish and revitalize our military. How serious is he? Canada has a history of talking about improving its defence but doing very little to make it happen. Is this time different? After Jordan and Laura wonder…
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We're talking separation now, Alberta? Really?!
For a whole lot of Canadians outside the prairie province—and a good number of Albertans, too—the province's recent flirtation with an independence referendum seems ... unhelpful, to put it mildly. At a moment Canadian unity has never been more important, Alberta's premier seems to be undermining...
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Can Canada import American doctors?
Canada has a doctor shortage. Many of you are living it right now. For most of the past few decades, the brain drain for physicians has gone one way: Canada to the United States. It's not the only reason so many of us can't find a family doctor, but it's been a big part of the problem. The past...
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The Carney-Trump meeting and life in the disinformation economy
Last week's meeting between Canada's new prime minister and his counterpart in Washington was, by recent standards, civil and non-confrontational. Mark Carney was firm in his dismissal of the 51st state rhetoric, and Trump was mostly accepting of that reality. Broadly speaking, nothing much...
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How do we keep Canada's automotive industry rolling?
More than 120,000 Canadians work in Canada's auto industry...for now. As tariffs imposed by the US President kick into gear, only to change and then change again, plants and shifts are adjusting by the day, and some have already shut down some production lines, at least temporarily. Right now,...
About this show
It's a fascinating time to be Canadian. This is a show that breaks all that wide open. Dangers. Opportunities. The stories that make this country what it is. And what it isn't.Longtime journalist and podcast host Jordan Heath-Rawlings (Elbows Up, The Big Story, The Gravy Train) returns to host critical Canadian Conversations with leading experts and storytellers.These are discussions—about who we are, how we got here, and where we're going—designed to offer more than soundbites and headlines. They'll introduce you to places, people and policies you might not have otherwise met, or perhaps not considered to be worth your attention. But they are.
Hosted by
Jordan Heath-Rawlings, Mat Keselman, Kattie Laur
Categories