CanCon

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 come to expect. Some of them increasingly harmful. Driving this explosion are a combination of factors. Climate change, of course. But it goes beyond that. So what do you need to know about which ticks are where? What can you do to protect yourself and your family? And what can Canada do, as a whole, to beter prevent and treat tick-borne illnesses? Just before the long weekend, when we all head out in tick-filled paradise, Toronto-based journalist Rebecca Gao delivers some straightforward tick talk to help you understand how we got here and what happens next. Also: Tick puns! Please take a moment to check out our sponsor, Go RVing Canada, to learn more about how you can explore the wilds of Canada in your own (tick-free!) paradise on wheels. Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 familiar with why: NIMBYs, lobbyists and all the assorted complaints and opposition and money that tends to stop ambitious city-planning in its tracks. And governments that can't look further than all that opposition in the next election. A little while ago, Halifax simply ... ignored that. Council passed an ambitious plan to rezone much of the downtown. A few years later, the results are visible to everyone, and the next step is planned. The question is, will council be willing to buck the most stubborn of all city growth opponents: The suburbs? Today's episode features local independent journalist and founder of Grand Parade Matt Stickland, describing Halifax's ambitious housing plan. And its uncertain future. (Please take a moment to visit our sponsor Go RVing Canada, and learn a little more about how easy it is to get out there and explore our country this summer.) Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 brings, the federal government has seen enough. Instead of the RCMP, which has murders and kidnappings and daily small-town policing on its plate as well, the new Financial Crimes Agency will deal solely with the sort of crime that may seem less urgent, but actually funds some of the ugliest crime in the world. How will they do it? How successful will they be? How do you actually go about creating a brand new agency from scratch? Jess Davis, PhD and President at Insight Threat Intelligence, as well as the host of the Secure Line podcast, joins us to discuss financial crime in Canada and if we can make a dent in it. Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 program seems set to contract instead of expand. It never got beyond the first couple of drugs, and the funding might well be squeezed to zero by the federal government. What happened here? Does Pharmacare still have a chance? And why weren't necessary drugs part of a "universal" health care system in the first place? Nikolas Barry-Shaw, a campaigner at the Council of Canadians, joins us to discuss how such a promising program became at risk of vanishing as quickly as it became reality. (We're welcoming our first sponsor to CanCon. Go RVing Canada wants to help you explore the country this summer, without leaving behind the comforts of home. If you've ever been curious about RVing, but have questions, they can help.) Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 contribute more to mutual defence in North America and a suggestion that we're talking the talk more than walking the walk when it comes to military spending. It's easy to take offence to that, given recent defence spending announcements from the Canadian government. It's easy to assume this is yet another poke to the eye from a US administration that exists only to troll or threaten Canada. But ... what if those claims aren't exactly wrong? What if we should perhaps, get off our high horse, this one time, when it comes to continental security? This week, Joe Varner, Senior Fellow at the MacDonald-Laurier institute, joins us to make the case for focusing on what really matters, and not the rhetoric from the White House. (We're welcoming our first sponsor to CanCon. Go RVing Canada wants to help you explore the country this summer, without leaving behind the comforts of home. If you've ever been curious about RVing, but have questions, they can help.) Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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, just as it's done in nations that need to import almost all their oil. The answer to why that happened goes back to a policy that Canada has flip-flopped on over decades. It touches on Western Alienation and separatism, the legacy of Pierre Trudeau and a system that we theoretically could change, but practically cannot. Today, Economist Jim Stanford, of the Centre For Future Work, welcomes you to the world of Canadian energy policy! Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 forget to let us know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover. And thanks, as always, for listening. Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 they'll ever own a home. There are millions of Canadians right now who own their homes thanks to privilege, timing, relationships and...just plain ol' luck. Some of those lucky Canadians, including Cancon's host and today's guest, look around and see the generations following them stuck in shoebox apartments with no hope of qualifying for a mortgage and feel guilty for owning their homes. Not enough to do much about it, mind you, but still, guilty. Are we part of the problem? Today we unpack the complicated dynamics of home ownership, at a time when a human right has become an investment strategy. Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].

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 making them ... do not. Who's behind these videos and what's their goal? To truly drive an independent Alberta, or to sow division during a tumultuous political time for Canada? How do they manage to pump out so many, and why do they drive so much engagement? And most importantly, what do Canadians need to know about who's messing with our political discussions? We invited Alex Boyd, a Calgary-based reporter on the Toronto Star's investigations team, to join us to take the temperature on the Alberta separatist movement, break down a study of these videos and explain what and who might be behind them. Feedback from listeners is so, so welcome. If you have something to say, email us: [email protected].