The Hatchet

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comThere is a spectre haunting British Columbia. If you’ve been paying any attention to BC politics over the last eight months, the province has been whipped up into a panic over Indigenous rights. And all of it can be traced back to one man — and no, it’s not Premier David Eby.The man haunting the province is Joseph Trutch, BC's first Lieutenant-Governor and the individual most responsible for the fact that the province resisted signing treaties with First Nations for a century.Instead, provincial government after provincial government closed their eyes, put their fingers in their ears and just pretended that Indigenous title didn’t exist.And now, that past is coming back to haunt British Columbia. That is the story that is largely missing from all of the panic about land rights in BC. Because if we do what the pundits and right-wing politicians want us to do — which is ignore First Nations and the legal claims they have to their territory — we will be opening the door to true chaos. Featured in this episode: Adam OlsenTo Learn More:“How Joseph Trutch Set the Stage for BC’s Indigenous Policies” by Adam Olsen in The Tyee“The True Threat to Private Property? Ignoring Indigenous Title” by Adam Olsen in The Tyee“Cowichan Decision and Beyond: Letting Go of Zero-Sum Thinking” by Adam Olsen in The Tyee“Eby Sent the Wrong Signals on DRIPA Amendments” by Adam Olsen in The Tyee

As I’m sure you all know, the media is not doing well. Layoffs and closures have left the industry in a state of absolute disrepair. Even the so-called new media outlets that were supposed to save us — think BuzzFeed and Vice — have largely packed it in.The podcasting bubble has popped and newsletters have flatlined. In short, there just isn’t some magical business model or format waiting in the wings to save journalism, especially here in Canada.But some of us just, including us over here at The Hatchet, just can’t help ourselves. We’re going to keep plugging away, hell or high water, because we think that someone has to.And there are others like us, including Peter Nowak at Do Not Pass Go, an outlet dedicated to exposing the dirty dealings of Canada’s many many monopolies and oligopolies. And despite the difficulties of trying to build new outlets from scratch in this environment, one nice thing is that folks like Peter and ourselves have been helping each other out in trying to build up a new media ecosystem.So I was so happy when Peter invited me and Vass Bednar on to his show to celebrate his 1000th subscriber, just to talk a little bit about the state of competition in the country.Give it a listen. And know that behind the scenes, we’re collaborating on some pretty interesting stories together that we think you’re going to love.Featured in this Episode: Peter Nowak, Vass BednarTo Learn More:"Six Months and 1,000 Subscribers: Celebrating Do Not Pass Go Milestones!" by Peter Nowak in Do Not Pass Go"Manitoba Takes the Power Back and Doug Ford Flip Flops on Scalpers" by Peter Nowak in Do Not Pass Go This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comIt’s not surprising that Prince Edward Island gets ignored by most of the press outside of the Maritimes. It’s by far the smallest province, with less than 200,000 residents. And the last time PEI politics were being covered nationally was when PEI senator Mike Duffy was at the centre of a massive expense scandal well over a decade ago.But that lack of attention is a disservice. Because PEI isn’t just a collection of small communities. It’s a full-fledged province, with equal standing in Confederation, and with a government responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in spending.For a relatively small place, those are some pretty high stakes.So I was really interested to read about a possible corruption scandal that’s come out in the province, which has already led to the resignation of a cabinet minister and is being investigated by the RCMP. It involves allegations of a golf course development, sensitive wetlands and allegations of bribery. Which sounds like your cookie-cutter corruption scandal.But there’s a lot of things about this story that are out of the ordinary. First off, this alleged bribe wasn’t paid to the politician, but to a sort of do-gooder group of retired francophone teachers. And secondly, it was the premier himself that exposed his alleged corruption.So I decided to give a call to Stu Neatby, the political reporter for The Guardian, PEI’s paper of record. Alongside trying to parse through this corruption scandal, Stu also walks us through the state of PEI politics and another strange conflict-of-interest case involving another PEI minister, who just wants to go fishing. It’s the most Prince Edward Island political story you’ll ever hear.Featured in this episode: Stu NeatbyTo Learn More:"RCMP confirm former P.E.I. cabinet minister under investigation" by Stu Neatby in The Guardian"'I never wanted to break rules': Former P.E.I. minister Arsenault says permit change was never linked to donation" by Stu Neatby in The Guardian"P.E.I. lobster-fishing minister says conflict laws will need to change" by Stu Neatby in The Guardian

Nora Loreto comes on The Hatchet to discuss whether Avi Lewis, the NDP's new leader, is set to be the socialist saviour or doomed to be another Dipper dud.We recorded this not long after the NDP convention and we dissect the challenges Avi will face as the party’s standard-bearer, including his relationships with labour, the provincial parties, his own party’s bureaucracy and much more.Also, an update on The Hatchet.Featured in this episode: Nora LoretoTo learn more"The Elephant in the NDP race" by Nora Loreto on Substack"Five takeaways from the NDP Convention" by Nora Loreto on Substack"Opportunity or distraction? 5 organizers debate how to work with a Lewis-led NDP" in The Breach"Avi Lewis’s Victory Is A Chance For Labour To Revitalize" by Adam D.K. King in The Maple"Avi Lewis as NDP Leader: a new disruptor or a step backwards?" by Rick Salutin in The Toronto Star This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

The Toronto Police Service is one of the oldest institutions in this country. In fact it’s 33 years older than the country itself. And in all of those nearly two hundred years of history, you’d be hard-pressed to find a darker time for the force than right now.That’s because last week, seven current and one former Toronto Police officers were arrested and charged with an absolute litany of offences — drug trafficking, theft, accepting bribes, illegal weapons possession, conspiracy to obstruct justice, fraud, breach of trust, harassment and, worst of all, conspiracy to commit murder. And while we don’t have many details yet, the little we do know is certainly breathtaking. The investigation began after hitmen attempted to assassinate a corrections officer at his home last year. And many of these officers are alleged to have used the police database to facilitate shootings across the region, seemingly at the behest of an alleged drug trafficker Brian Da Costa.During the press conference announcing the charges, the media were shown video after video of gunmen firing shots into cars and homes in suburban neighbourhoods. In addition to murder and intimidation on behalf of a drug trafficker, many of these officers were allegedly dealing themselves, everything from cocaine to adderall to fentanyl, while also working with illegal cannabis stores dotted throughout the city. And there already appears to be connections to the city’s infamous tow-truck industry, which has itself been responsible for an absurd number of shootings and murders over the last few years.This is far from the first scandal of a similar variety that has plagued police forces in Ontario. The most obvious parallel is the so-called “Scherzer crew,” a rogue TPS drug squad that was alleged to have embarked on a four-year-long crime spree, robbing drug dealers throughout the city. More recently, cops from a variety of agencies have been charged with corruption in connection with all of that tow-truck crime.But this latest set of allegation is at a level above anything else this city has ever seen. Conspiracy to commit murder? Of a corrections officer? That speaks to a level of brazenness that’s hard to comprehend. But here’s the truth of the matter — none of this should be a surprise. This deep-rooted corruption is an inevitable consequence of how the TPS operates. For at least half-a-century, the Toronto Police have been masters of this city, subject to no authority other than their own. We have allowed this police force to morph into a violent gang. It’s time they were finally brought to heel. This case of corruption is only the latest symptom of an obviously sick institution. On the Toronto subreddit, one user named u/whatistheQuestion, compiles a rolling list of news stories about local police misconduct every year. It makes for desultory reading — police shootings, excessive force, robbing civilians, lying on the stand, professional incompetence, sexual assault, drunk driving and every other kind of bad behaviour under the sun. There are around five thousand sworn officers in the service. And it’s truly hard to imagine a random sampling of five thousand city residents committing as many unethical and illegal actions on a regular basis. And the irony is that most of those stories recount the kinds of incidents that are in the news one day and gone the next. Ask your average Torontonian, and they’re likely to mention an entirely separate set of major scandals — the G20 mass arrests; the killings of people in mental health crisis, like Sammy Yatim and Andrew Loku; the specious murder prosecution of Umar Zameer; the longtime use of carding against Black boys and men; sexual harassment of female officers within the department; the negligence of allowing a serial killer to run rampant in the city’s queer community; and much more. At first glance, all of these controversies might seem to have little do with one another. But what unites all of these, as well as the most recent corruption scandal, is that they all share the same root cause — impunity. The cops simply aren’t accountable to anyone outside of themselves. Like other municipal police forces across the country, the TPS isn’t merely a public service provided by the city to its residents. It has morphed into a power centre of its own, the most influential and untouchable political entity in the city. This allows the police to ensure that the systems that are set up to hold them to account are defanged, allowing both individual officers and the force as a whole to do as they wish. None of this is new. For five decades, the Toronto Police have fought against civilian control over the agency, one of the most hallowed principles of Canadian policing. And whenever anyone or anything tries to put a limit on their unbridled powers — whether it be a mayor, city council, the police board or everyday citizens — the cops have been willing to use whatever means necessary to get their way. The Toronto Police have been at war with this city’s residents and its representatives. And it’s a war that they continue to win.Fifty years ago, the Toronto Police were facing a similar crisis. In 1976, a royal commission report detailed the brutal and illegal methods employed by many officers. The arbitrary arrests. Random beatings. Routine lying. But what was especially distributing was the normalized use of sexual torture on suspects who would be stripped and abused with implements like the so-called “claw.”Much of the public was incensed and reform was clearly in order. But the situation just got worse from there. In the late 1970s, the Toronto Police went on a killing spree. In the span of 13 months, they had shot eight men dead. That included Albert Johnson, a 35-year-old Jamaican-Canadian who had been complaining of police harassment for months before he was gunned down in his home. Two officers chased a clearly erratic Johnson into his home and killed him in his room. Things devolved to a point that Gerald Carter, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Toronto, was openly proclaiming that “it was dangerous” for everyday people to even complain about police misconduct.And then, in 1978, John Sewell, the leader of city council’s progressive wing, was elected mayor. And Sewell, to his great credit and his political detriment, did his best to take on the power of the Toronto police.It’s not like Sewell was some kind of a radical on policing — he was an advocate of reform. He wanted the cops to stop harassing Toronto’s gay community and for city council to have an actual say in how the police budget was spent. For these sins, the Toronto Police took to routinely calling him gay slurs and tried to destroy his reputation in the press. The provincial government overruled him at every turn and Sewell was defeated in his re-election bid.But it’s what happened next that’s really important to understand. Two months after Sewell was out of office, the Toronto Police initiated Operation Soap, a mass arrest of more than 300 gay men in various clubs and bathhouses throughout the city. The Bathhouse Raids were the largest mass arrest in Canadian history to the point, with the exception of the October Crisis.Even at the time, this enormous violation of civil rights was correctly understood as a rebuke to Sewell — the cops were spitting in the face of a mayor who had dared stand up to the Toronto Police. And they were sending a message to anyone else who might try to do the same.And ever since then, the Toronto Police have reigned supreme. Far more than our elected mayors or city councillors, it is the cops who have had final say in this city. And whenever anyone dared challenge them, they’ve gotten the Sewell treatmentIn 1988, a man named Lester Donaldson was shot and killed by a Toronto Police officer in his home. It was an eerie repeat of Albert Johnson killing a decade earlier. And in response, a number of Black Torontonians created the Black Action Defence Committee, an activist organization aimed at holding the police to account. They were led by a man named Dudley Laws, a longtime police critic and one of the most compelling activists in the city’s history. And they were effective. They argued that it was a conflict-of-interest for the police to investigate its own officers when they killed someone on the job. And because of their advocacy, the province created a civilian review commission, the Special Investigations Unit, to take that power away from the police. Once again, the Toronto Police could not abide by that kind of disrespect. And so, as with police critics both before and after him, they sought to destroy Dudley Laws’s reputation. The cops targeted him as if he were a mafia boss, enlisting two other police forces and using 75 individual officers, all in an effort to try to find a crime they could pin on him. And they were successful. Laws, who worked as an immigration consultant, was charged with helping four people illegally cross the border. And while the charges were eventually stayed by the Crown and Laws was never convicted, the Toronto Police had accomplished their goal — they had defamed their most prominent critic and made him a criminal in the eyes of much of the public.They were still left with the SIU, this new civilian agency. But that also proved to not be much of a problem. According to various reports written by the province’s ombudsman, SIU investigations almost never result in criminal charges. While the ombudsman’s office demonstrated that the agency itself often has a pro-police bias, they also showed that almost every part of the law enforcement apparatus — whether it be individual officers, the police services, the police unions and even the Ministry of the Attorney-General, actively work to cripple SIU. An agency built to hold the police to account became an exoneration machine. Another crucial way that the police are supposed to be held in check in this province is through direct civilian oversight. The police chiefs are hired and governed by the police services board, whose members are appointed jointly by the provincial and municipal governments. This is who the police chiefs are supposed to be directly accountable to. But as we’ve seen, the Toronto Police do not like accountability.In 1991, Susan Eng, a prominent Toronto lawyer and police critic, was appointed chair the Toronto Police Service Board. She soon began to publicly clash with the chief. And so the cops did what they’d always done — they used their extraordinary powers to target their bossThe police put together a secret dossier on Eng, full of unfounded rumours that she was connected to East Asian gangsters. And they began to surveil her, having detectives follow her around and wiretapping conversations she would have with her friends. The man who led the investigations into both Dudley Laws and Susan Eng, an up-and-coming detective named Julian Fantino, would go on to be appointed chief of the Toronto Police Service in 2000.In the years that followed, other members of the Toronto Police board, invariably politicians who were critical of the cops in some way, also came under attack.In 2000, the cops succeeded in pressuring then-city councillor Olivia Chow into resigning from the police board after she made remarks criticizing the police response to a protest in front of Queen’s Park that turned violent.In 2003, Alan Heisey, another man who was viewed as a police critic, was appointed to be chair of the Toronto Police Service Board. And within a week, the Toronto Police had leaked a memo claiming that Heisey had told a sex crimes investigator that he understood how someone could be attracted to an eight-year-old. It was a blatant attempt to smear their new boss as a pedophile.When city councillor John Filion was appointed to the police board in 2004, details of his divorce were leaked to the Toronto Sun. While it has never been proven this was done by the Toronto police, Filion made it clear who he thought was behind the story. He also alleged that neighbours had complained to him that someone was surveilling his home.All of this created a situation where Toronto police board members became fearful of criticizing, let alone enforcing any kind of accountability from, the Toronto police. In the words of one former vice-chair of the board, they had become “the tail wagging the dog.”And to see just how cowed the police board eventually became, you only have to look at what happened in 2007, when news of that secret investigation into Susan Eng finally became public. Instead of demanding an explanation of how such inappropriate and illegal surveillance could have taken place, the police board ordered an investigation into how the story had become public. While there hasn’t been evidence of this kind of surveillance in recent years, the Toronto police board has not been able to reassert true civilian oversight over the cops. Under Bill Blair, who was seen as a leader of a new generation of progressive cops, the Toronto police continued to do what they willed. The mass arrests and absurd levels of police brutality during the G20 protests in 2010 were only one indication. By the end of his tenure, Blair was fighting the police board tooth-and-nail over carding, refusing to implement new regulations over the blatantly illegal practice. Toronto police board chair Alok Mukherjee all but admitted that Blair was “insubordinate” and was forced to compromise with him. Blair, like Fantino before him, was rewarded for this disobedience. He was elected to parliament, made a minister, and, just last week, was appointed to the cushiest job in government — high commissioner to the United Kingdom.Like the Special Investigations Unit, the Toronto Police board has demonstrated time-and-time again that it doesn’t have the will or the ability to hold the cops to account.As the power of institutions like the police board have waned, the police union continues to be in the ascendancy. The Toronto Police Association is probably the single most powerful political force in this city, a cozy position its enjoyed for years.Here’s what former TPA president Craig Bromell told The Toronto Star in 2016.“We weren’t the most powerful police union, we were the most powerful union in the country. We were it.”And he was clear-eyed about what the union did.“The police union’s only job is to protect those who protect others, not the community, not the politicians. Their only function in life is to protect those coppers and their civilian members.”Whenever politicians proposed any changes in an attempt to reign the police in, the TPA had numerous tools at its disposal to make sure that they got their way. If an officer was disciplined in a manner the union disagreed with, they’d initiate a wild-cat strike, refusing to do their jobs. If there were tense negotiations over a new contract, the union would threaten that police might be liable to get the “Blue Flu” and all call in sick at once if they didn’t get their way. Take for example one of the many recent fights over the police budget. By the end of Bill Blair’s tenure as chief, the Toronto police were being asked to find savings in their ever-ballooning budgets. This did not go over well with the Toronto Police Association. The police responded with an unofficial labour action where they refused to enforce traffic laws. This was never officially acknowledged by either the top brass or the police union, but the consequences for everyday Torontonians were very real. The number of collisions in the city skyrocketed by 2018, while the money brought in by tickets declined by over $30 million.The union has long had the power to make-or-break political careers. They’ll label city councillors and MPPs they didn’t like as “soft-on-crime,” a political death sentence in a city always anxious about public safety. And they too have conducted their own off-the-books surveillance operations into police critics. All together, the political power of the police union has created a situation where, almost without fail, the police budget increases, even when other municipal services are being squeezed. And despite the fact that it’s city council that provides the actual money that funds the police force, they don’t get a say in what the cops spend that money on. In fact, until 2020, city councillors couldn’t even see what was in the budget itself.The power of the police union has never been more evident than in the last few years, where they’ve won even larger budgets for themselves — a 60 per cent increase over ten years — at a time when the city has been in a state of fiscal crisis. Just days ago, they received a $94 million increase, even in the wake of the corruption allegations. The union fights tooth-and-nail to protect the other financial benefits that cops are given, like being first-in-line for lucrative off-duty contracts to guard municipal construction sites, a job that often pays around $100 an hour. And regardless of the severity of the misconduct, the police union will use every tool in its power to ensure no Toronto police officer faces any consequences for what they do on the job.Together, all of this has created a police force whose first and last loyalty is to itself. Which brings us back to the incredible allegations announced last week. As always, whenever there’s a story about police corruption, the top cops went to great lengths to paint this as a case of “a few bad apples.”“We will not let actions of a few define the reputation of the many,” thundered TPS Chief Myron Demkiw from the podium. And while details are still minimal, the little we do know paints an extraordinary portrait of a broken institution. First, there’s the breadth of the corruption. The eight officers came from four completely different police divisions (11, 12, 23 and 52), as well as a member of a city-wide task force. In other words, many of these officers did not even work together, unlike the Scherzer crew, which was a more limited story of a drug squad gone bad.When asked by the press how these disparate officers even knew each other, York Regional Police said that they were connected by a single officer, Constable Timothy Barnhard. “Our information led us to believe that it was relationships that Constable Barnhard had with other officers….But instead of framing it as individual divisions, I would frame it more as relationships amongst individual police officers, connected specifically to Constable Barnhard at the genesis of this investigation.”Now one of the most important things to understand about these allegations is that the investigation didn’t begin within the Toronto Police, but the York Regional Police, a neighbouring force. And that might be the most damning fact of all.Because if we are to believe the police narrative about this case, it means that one constable, with ties to a drug trafficker, was able to recruit seven others into a criminal conspiracy. This leads to one of the three possibilities. Either every single police officer who Constable Barnhard approached agreed to join with him to commit crimes. Or, Barnhard approached other officers, who declined, but those officers refused to speak out about it. Or finally, there were Toronto police who were approached by Barnhard, reported his conduct through the proper channels, and nothing was done to stop him.Each of those possibilities leaves us with the same conclusion — the Toronto Police is broken. And there were opportunities to stop Barnhard before. In 2016, he pled guilty of using his police powers to illegally investigate a man who he had gotten in an argument with. He lied, claiming that he’d seen the man run a red light, using that as an excuse to search him and issue him a ticket. When Barnhard finally admitted to the lie, his punishment was giving up a few days of pay.Of course, this isn’t just a Toronto problem — we’re already seeing three officers suspended in connection with the investigation from the Peel Regional Police.Now I don’t want to downplay the fact that these charges have indeed come to light. According to the York Regional Police, more than 400 officers from four different law enforcement agencies participated in Project South, the seven-month investigation that led to these arrests. They should be applauded for that. “The investigating officers represent the very best in what we expect of our police officer; demonstrating integrity, professionalism, ethical investigations, and a commitment to uncovering the truth and holding offenders accountable, including fellow police officers,” YRP deputy chief Hogan said during the press conference. Hogan is correct. Even without knowing the details, I don’t doubt that Project South involved some of the most impressive police work that this province has seen. And yet, I’m still left asking myself an uncomfortable question. How many of those 400 officers who were involved in this totem of police accountability have ever witnessed their fellow officers engaging in unethical or criminal activity, and refused to report it? “We have left no stone unturned,” TPS Chief Demkiw told reporters. But so far, that’s obviously not the case. Other people within the police service knew something about what was going on. Kicking every single one of those officers off of the force will only be the beginning of accountability. Ontario’s inspector-general for policing, a relatively new police watchdog, has already ordered a province-wide investigation that will focus on issues such as access to police databases, vetting of officers and how officers are supervised. All of that is well and good. But if history is any guide, this new watchdog will do what the old ones did — put the interests of the police ahead of the public. That’s because the problem with the Toronto Police, and police services across this country, is a political one. They are simply too powerful. That power consistently allows them to evade external accountability and creates a culture where corruption is tolerated. Whenever controversies like this arise, reforms are initiated, police chiefs are fired, oversight agencies are created. But the fundamental problem never changes. In fact, we can already see the wheels of this big blue machine beginning to spin. Chief Demkiw claimed that understaffing was partially to blame for this corruption, incredibly turning this story about massive police misconduct into another opportunity to turn on the money spigot. The Toronto Police Association has demanded that they, and every other police union, be given a seat at the table for the inspector-general’s investigation. And politician after politician has already started to fall into line. Councillor Shelley Carroll, the current chair of the police services board, expressed her “utmost confidence” in Chief Demkiw. Mayor Olivia Chow pushed through that $94 million increase to the police budget with barely a debate. And Premier Doug Ford called this all “ a bump in the road” and deployed that ever-present cliche. That this was merely a few “bad apples.”We’re long past the point where the Toronto Police need to be brought to heel. If the cops continue to resist reform, then maybe revolution is in order. It’s time to start contemplating radical measures that will severely limit their power — you could start by taking routine discipline out of the hands of uniformed officers; assigning police responsibilities like traffic and parking enforcement to other municipal agencies; and finding ways to break the back of the police union. But the most radical reform of all may also be the most necessary — civilianizing the police force. It is not a commandment from heaven that all police forces need to be treated like the military, where one rises through the ranks and only uniformed officers can manage one another. Few other institutions in our society operate in this way. This is what creates the “thin blue line” culture where officers do whatever they can to protect each other, even at the cost of the public’s well-being.Why can’t civilians be brought in to manage cops, especially at a time when things have gone so spectacularly wrong?Of course, that kind of solution is impossible in the near-term, even if it’s necessary in the long-term. For now, we’re left with what we have — a broken institution that we have no real way of holding to account.In the aftermath of this corruption investigation, there’s been a lot of talk about trust. Mayor Olivia Chow said that the police have to “earn” back the trust of residents and Premier Doug Ford said that “I don’t want the public to lose trust in our great police.”But the problem with all of that rhetoric is that the Toronto Police never earned our trust to begin with. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comJust over a year ago, when we were launching The Hatchet, there was one thing in particular that worried me — I’ve never felt fluent in federal politics.I think I knew as much as your average journalist — I followed the news, I had my opinions and I had a general sense of the history. But outside of the occasional story, it just wasn’t a beat that I had a lot of experience covering.Once Trudeau resigned in January 2025, it became clear that Parliament Hill was going to dominate the news cycle. And so over that winter break, I set myself a mission. I was going to learn as much as I could about federal politics.I went back and read through (or at least familiarized myself with) as many of the classic books of Canadian political journalism and history as I could. Most were written by authors that we don’t talk about much anymore, despite the fact that they were giants of their respective eras. Christina McCall-Newman, Jeffrey Simpson, Peter C. Newman, Donald Creighton, John Duffy. And then there were excellent books by more contemporary writers about the Ottawa of the past and present from journalists like Susan Delacourt and John Ibbitson.But none of these writers, great though they may be, made me feel like I was getting a nitty-gritty understanding of federal politics more than Paul Wells.Now of course, like almost every journalist in the country with even a passing interesting in federal politics, I’ve been reading Wells for years. But during that winter, I really immersed myself in his work, his books, past features, his current reporting, the whole shebang.And I have to say, I often found myself disagreeing with him. But I emerged with a new appreciation for what he does.Wells has a keen eye for history and a willingness to call out b******t. His prose is evocative, without being flashy. And despite his many, many years of experience reporting on politics from Montreal and then from Ottawa, he never felt to me like he’d been co-opted by the Laurentian establishment.I’m sure this sounds like a lot of unnecessary fawning over someone who is probably the most respected political journalist in Anglo-Canada.But I just want to convey to you all how excited I was to talk to him — especially right now, at a time when Canadian politics all of a sudden feels more serious than it has in years.Since the beginning of the New Year, we’ve been inundated not with soundbites, not with scandals, but with speeches.And I don’t think there’s anybody better to dig into these serious times than Wells.During our conversation, we covered a lot of ground, including the 20th anniversary of Stephen Harper’s election and the ups-and-downs that Carney and Poilievre have recently faced. But I was especially glad that we got to spend a good amount of time talking about the return of national unity as a serious political issue in this country.Featured in this episode: Paul WellsTo Learn More"The longer he's not Prime Minister" by Paul Wells on Substack"Get started on maybe: Memories of the 1995 Quebec referendum" by Paul Wells on SubstackRight Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper's New Conservatism by Paul WellsThe Longer I'm Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006- by Paul Wells

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comThis episode is for paid subscribers. If you would like to hear the whole thing, please support The Hatchet by going to hatchetmedia.substack.com.Now this might seem hard to believe, but there was a time when the Green Party of Canada was riding high. If just a few things went their way, they were on track to becoming a mean Green winning machine and supplant the NDP as the progressive party of choice.But since then, the party has been a cavalcade of absurdities too long to document here. But for me, the lowest point might have come at the end of last year.That’s when Elizabeth May, after consulting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, voted in support of his budget. And then not too long after, he went and signed an MOU with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith committing to more pipelines for the oil sands.For Mark Lerien-Young, none of the rolling disaster that is the Green Party of Canada has come as a surprise. After all, he was watching from the inside as much of it went down.Mark is a longtime writer, journalist, humorist, science podcaster, environmental activist and former Green Party of Canada employee and campaign manager. And he’s just written a book about what it was like to try to navigate the egos and incompetence of the Greens. The book is called Greener Than Thou: Surviving the Toxic Sludge of Canadian Ecopolitics, and in it, he gives and insider account of the cult of Elizabeth May.And some of the details make working in that party sound like living in a house of mirrors. Mark says that at a certain point he came to realize that many people in the Green Party didn’t actually want to elect more MPs because that would mean more work for them.He writes that “Many books you read come with the proviso that all persons are fictional and any resemblance anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. My disclaimer is that the Green Party of Canada is purely fictional.”In our conversation, Mark was brutally honest about the frankly absurd way that a party that more than a million Canadians voted for in 2019 does business. And why despite their abysmal recent performances, Elizabeth May is here to stay.Featured in this episode: Mark Leiren-YoungTo Learn MoreGreener Than Thou: Surviving the Toxic Sludge of Canadian Ecopolitics by Mark Leiren-Young

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comIn 1978, a South African accountant orchestrated one of the most audacious and ruthless hostile takeovers in the history of Canadian business.His name was Jack Cockwell. And over the next decade, he would build a corporate empire unlike anything Canada had ever seen.This is the third episode in our series examining the history of Brookfield. In our first two episodes, we traced the company’s lineage through Brazilian Traction, the neo-colonial monopoly that dominated South America, and through the Bronfmans, the bootlegging dynasty that supplied liquor to American gangsters during Prohibition.But those were just the origin stories. This episode is about what happened when those two worlds collided.Edper-Brascan controlled over 500 companies. The beer you drank, the team you watched, the mall you shopped at, the house you lived in — all of it could be traced back to this sprawling conglomerate. At its height, it was worth more than $120 billion.All of this was Jack Cockwell’s domain. Immigrant, corporate philosopher, ruthless operator, Cockwell single-handedly imposed his will on Canada’s business establishment and dominated the 1980s like no one else.But by the end of the decade, people on Bay Street began to whisper.Something was rotten at the heart of Cockwell’s empire. They said that the whole thing was a mirage. A lie. A house of card waiting to fall over.They all turned out to be right.To learn more:The Brass Ring: Power, Influence and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann ShortellEdper by Keith Dalrymple“The Edper Puzzle” by Kimberly Noble in The Globe and Mail“The Second Coming” by Rod McQueen in The Financial Post“Fears for a Leveraged Leviathan” by Clyde Farnsworth in The New York Times“He was a titan of Bay Street and a senator. But J. Trevor Eyton died owing millions in taxes and on the verge of bankruptcy” by David Bruser & Jesse McLean in The Toronto Star This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThis is the second episode in our series about Brookfield, the Canadian financial giant. In our first episode, we told you about one half of the company’s corporate lineage — Brascan, the Canadian monopoly that dominated Brazil for half-a-century.But Brookfield has another parent — the Bronfman family. And their story is even more remarkable.It begins in the dusty prairie towns of Saskatchewan at the turn-of-the-century, where Jewish cowboys and American gangsters came together to create one of the great fortunes in world history.And behind every great fortune, there is a great crime. And the crimes of the Bronfmans were numerous. But they were able to get away with it all, thanks to bribery, destruction of evidence and the intimidation of witnesses.For decades, the Bronfmans were able to write their own history of how their wealth was acquired. But the truth can only stay buried for so long.The Bronfman dynasty is one of the greatest dynasties that the Americas have ever seen. But like so many dynasties, they would fall apart into ignominy.And at the centre of all of this was the most powerful businessman in Canadian history, the kingpin himself — Sam Bronfman.Featured in this episode: Stephen Maher, Jordan CornishTo learn moreThe Bronfman Dynasty: The Rothschilds of the New World by Peter C. Newman“The ties that bind the Liberals and the Bronfmans” by Stephen Maher in Maclean’sThe Brass Ring: Power, Influence, and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann ShortellThe Bronfmans: The Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram by Nicholas FaithMavericks: Canadian Rebels, Renegades and Anti-Heroes by Peter C. NewmanMusic“Throne of the Soul” by Nihilore. Adapted. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Magic Escape Room"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This episode was first published on April 12th, 2025. Happy New Year, Hatchet listeners!The chance to put out good journalism is its own reward, but to everyone who has listened, shared, or supported us over the last year—thank you. We wanted to kick off the year by updating you on our series on Brookfield. It’s been a long road, but we’ll be publishing the next two new episodes this week, with more to come later in the month.We can’t wait for you to hear it.But before you do, we wanted to re-publish the first episode in the series. It’s an important primer for an increasingly complicated story.Brookfield has been in the news constantly over recent months. The Conservatives attacked the company for moving the headquarters of one of their subsidiaries to New York City. The NDP have accused it of avoiding taxes through offshore havens. And Prime Minister Mark Carney, the former chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, has found himself on the defensive because of his association with the company.But what these political attacks miss is a far more important story. It’s a story of a company that has been central to Canada’s history and economy for more than a century.So what exactly is Brookfield? That’s a question that we here at The Hatchet have set out to answer.What we found was a company that almost defies description.Brookfield has been a financial universe unto itself, operating by a different set of cosmic laws and fundamental forces than other corporations.It’s a company that’s shown an almost unparalleled talent for reinvention. Over its 125-year-history, it’s morphed from a neo-colonial experiment to Canada’s most ruthless corporate raider to a seemingly boring storehouse of our collective pension earnings.Now it is one of a tiny handful of financial entities that sit at the very centre of the global economy.And so that’s why we’ll be spending this series focusing exclusively on this incredibly important and yet rarely understood company.We’ll be digging into its epic history, its contentious present and what the continued domination of firms like Brookfield could mean for everyday people.In this first episode, we shine a light on it’s first incarnation — Brazilian Traction, Light and Power — and how it managed to dominate the people of South America’s biggest nation for most of the 20th century.Featured in this episode: Tyler ShipleyTo learn moreCanada In The World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination by Tyler ShipleyThe Brass Ring: Power, Influence and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann ShortellLet Us Prey: The Practices and Profits of Canadian Corporations and Businessmen edited by Robert Chodos & Ray MurphyThe Light: Brazilian Traction, Light, and Power Company Limited, 1899-1945 by Duncan McDowallSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

I’ve had a hard time knowing what to make of the still-unfolding saga around Jeffrey Epstein.Like basically everyone else in the world, I’ve been following the story with interest for years.Even before the Miami Herald’s explosive 2018 investigation into the extend of his sexual abuse and how he had been able to get away with it, I had a vague understanding of a man named Jeffrey Epstein who abused girls and hobnobbed with powerful men like Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.And since then we’ve learned so much more. There have been so many journalistic investigations into Epstein’s connections with the elite, into his finances and into the circumstances around his death.Of course, we’re still left with more questions than answers. Which has allowed Epstein to become this sort of Ur-conspiracy theory that people online obsess over. Was he a CIA asset or a Mossad agent? Was he collecting blackmail on the rich and powerful? Did he really kill himself?But somehow, there was a part of me that felt like these were the wrong questions to ask. That they didn’t explain exactly who this guy was and why he was able to get away with what he did for so long. And didn’t really get at the heart of why this story has global importance.And then just the other week, I read a piece by Canadian journalist Jeet Heer in The Nation that made it all make sense to me.Heer argues that the Epstein was — alongside many other things — a warlord.He was basing this assessment on a number of articles that have been coming out of publications like Drop Site News and Reason that examine troves of email correspondence that Epstein had that the mainstream media is so far refusing to report on.And the case he makes is compelling. So I decided to give Jeet a call and ask him all about it.Featured in this episode: Jeet HeerTo learn more"Jeffrey Epstein Was a Warlord. We Have to Talk About It." by Jeet Heer in The Nation"Jeffrey Epstein and the Mossad: How The Sex-Trafficker Helped Israel Build a Backchannel to Russia Amid Syrian Civil War" by Murtaza Hussain & Ryan Grim in Drop Site News"Inside Jeffrey Epstein's Spy Industry Connections" by Matthew Petti in ReasonSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comThe much anticipated budget is finally here and it promises to make "Canada Strong."Between the eye-popping promise to enable $1 trillion dollars in investments over the next five years and the $78.3 billion deficit, there’s a lot to take in.And that’s before we get into the really critical stuff… like maybe Canada will try to join Eurovision for some reason? (We don't talk about Eurovision at all).Today on The Hatchet, Jordan sits down with Arshy to break down the budget and try to make sense of what this all means for Canada.Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

So last week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith used the notwithstanding clause to force Alberta teachers back to work.It’s the first time the notwithstanding clause has ever been used in this kind of a manner to end a labour action. And that’s led to some softening of support for Danielle Smith.But here’s the truth. The latest polls show that if an election were held today, Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party would still easily come out on top.Why is that? How is Smith’s appeal so resilient? And why the hell can’t Naheed Nenshi and the Alberta NDP get their s**t together?Well, luckily for us, Jeremy Appel from The Orchard is here to answer those questions and many more.A few months ago we had a great discussion with Jen Gerson about the unique political figure that is Danielle Smith and her relationship with Alberta’s nascent sovereignty movement. You can think of this conversation with Jeremy as a bit of a sequel to that one.We talk about some of the underlying reasons behind the teacher’s strike, Smith’s continued flirtation with separatism, how she holds her coalition together with culture wars, the return of pipeline politics and of course, the many failures of Alberta’s NDP.Now just for context, this was recorded before Smith invoked the notwithstanding clause, but the discussion is still just as relevant today.Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

In 1965, Canada’s postal workers did something so radical, so unprecedented, that it shook our country’s political establishment to the core.They went on strike.It was radical and unprecedented because up until then public employees had no right to walk off the job. But for two weeks, postal workers conducted an illegal wildcat action which, by the end of it, saw them winning the right to strike for almost all government workers.Over the next few decades, you’d see the same pattern time and time again. In the 1970s, union leaders were jailed for defying back-to-work legislation. And in 1981, the union won the right for paid-maternity leave, a first for the public sector, and a right that would gradually expand to many other workers.In other words, you can attribute many of our labour rights, and even key planks of the welfare state, to the resolve of posties past.But the age of the noble postal worker appears to be coming to an end. The Liberal government announced major cuts to Canada Post’s core services last months.And I know what you’re thinking.This was all inevitable, wasn’t it?After all, who sends letters nowadays? Maybe once-upon-a-time Canada needed a public mail service, but those days are long behind us. And sure, we’re all sad for the thousands of those people at Canada Post who will be laid off, but that’s just the way of the world.That’s the narrative that you’re hearing regurgitated in comment sections across the internet and in quotes from business professors to the mainstream press.But the ongoing labour dispute between Canada Post and its workers is far more complicated, and far more important, than that simplistic story.Instead this is a story about the hollowing out of the Canadian state. About the gigification of work. About how the managerial class places their need to control workers over the viability of the actual businesses that they run.So to talk about it all, we’re bringing on Adam D.K. King, a labour studies professor at the University of Manitoba and a labour columnist for The Maple, who has been following this story for years.Featured in this episode: Adam D.K. KingTo learn more"Canada Post’s Moment Of Reckoning May Finally Be Here" by Adam D.K. King in The Maple"Return to Sender: As Canada Post evades bankruptcy, workers push back on a future where efficiency trumps the collective" by Stephan Boissonneault in Maisonneuve"Liberal government instructs Canada Post to end home delivery, close some post offices" Peter Zimonjic in CBC NewsSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

I think it’s kind of funny how we talk about election campaigns while they’re in progress. Between the polling and the poll aggregators, there’s often a feeling of inevitability to the result.But it also makes those times when the result is unexpected, when the actual will of the voters turns out to be very different from what the polls and the pundits predicted, to stand out in stark relief.We got one of those last week.The polls that were conducted in Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial election campaign showed that the incumbent Liberals were set to handily win another majority, which would have been their fourth victory in a row. The only question seemed to be how big their victory would be.But it was not to be.The Progressive Conservatives, led by the mild-mannered Tony Wakeham, prevailed, rendering John Hogan a half-year premier.But really, all of this has just been a capper to an incredibly strange year in Newfoundland and Labrador politics.It started when Premier Andrew Furey announced that he and Quebec premier François Legault had created a framework for a new deal around Churchill Falls. Since 1969, Newfoundland and Labrador has provided unbelievably cheap energy to Quebec from Churchill Falls. The lopsided arrangement has been a thorn-in-the-side for the province ever since.We talked about this all in-depth earlier this year in an episode about Churchill Falls.But not long after announcing this new deal, Furey resigned. With no explanation.The PC’s election victory has put the Churchill Falls deal, which was the centrepiece of the Liberal campaign, into question.So what does all of this mean for Newfoundland and Labrador, for Churchill Falls and for the country during a testy time for Confederation?I decided to call up friend of The Hatchet Ed Hollett, one of the keenest political observers on the Rock, to talk about it all.Featured in this episode: Edward Hollett (Bond Papers)To learn moreThe Hundred Years' War between Newfoundland and Quebec from The Hatchet"Easy grift and hard graft" by Edward Hollet in Bond Papers"Red Team. Blue Team." by Edward Hollet in Bond PapersSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

Why can’t the government do stuff?I’m not being facetious here. I think most Canadians — in fact, most people who live in western democracies — have a feeling that their governments are incapable of actually delivering on projects or providing services.But it wasn’t always this way. There was an era, not so far back in the future, when the Canadian governments turned petrochemicals into plastics, dug uranium out of the ground, operated airlines and railroads and so much more.But today, governments seem to be focused exclusively on two things: handing out money to big businesses and overseeing an increasingly fraying social safety net.So how exactly did we get here?Nora Loreto has part of the answer. Earlier this year, she released the second book in her Canada in Decline series called Corporate Control.In it, she details the policy decisions that hollowed out the Canadian government and makes it next-to-impossible to actually get anything done.In our conversation, we cover a lot of ground, from free trade to the Chrétien/Martin austerity budgets, the rise and fall of Crown corporations and why governments don’t care about Canadian culture.I think it’s really one of the most interesting discussions we’ve had on this show so far, so I’m excited for you all to give it a listen.Featured in this episode: Nora LoretoTo Learn MoreCorporate Control by Nora Loreto"What Canadian nationalism?" by Nora Loreto on SubstackThe Social Safety Net by Nora LoretoSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

Back a few years ago, there was this moment where it felt like there was a movement building against monopolies.It started in the United States with academics like Lena Khan and Tim Wu and journalists like Matt Stoller speaking out about the creeping corporate concentration that was infecting so much of American life.Eventually that movement found purchase in the Biden administration, which put antitrust at the centre of their agenda.And because Canada is always a little bit behind the United States, we got our own version of that movement. And in a weird way, Jordan and I were both a part of that, when in 2022 and 2023 we put out our series on Monopolies on Canadaland COMMONS. It really felt like momentum was building and that everyday people were getting more and more upset about the domination of the big banks and the big telcos and the big grocery chains.But recently, it’s felt like that momentum has kind of….gone away. And there’s still plenty of people working on this issues here, but at least in terms of journalism, the trade war and the Trump administration and a million other things seem to have distracted away from what I still believe is such an essential issue.And that’s why I was so excited to get an email from Peter Nowak a few months ago. He said he had an idea and wanted to talk.Now for those of you don’t know Peter, he’s a longtime journalist who has done some amazing work over the years.When I was getting interested in business reporting more than a decade ago, Peter was one of the best out there. His main focus was the telecom industry. And that was a really interesting time for the telecoms. The Harper government was actually putting some pressure on them and had appointed an aggressive CRTC commissioner instead of just the usual corporate toady. And Peter was a dogged reporters covering all of this and was honestly a bit of an inspiration for me. He was the kind of journalist that I one day wanted to be. But he’d gone off to work at tech savvy, a small internet service provider, a few years back, so I thought he was out of the game.So I was really excited when he told me that not only did he want to get back into journalism, but that he saw our Monopoly series on COMMONS as his primary inspiration.You know, when you hear that kind of thing from someone you really admire, it’s pretty damn flattering. But more than that, I just think it’s so important, so necessary right now to have dedicated journalists on the monopoly beat.This week, Peter has finally launched his own Substack called Do Not Pass Go, the first two episodes are out already, and you should absolutely go subscribe and give it a listen.And we wanted to sit down to talk to him about reporting on monopolies, what he has in store and why he always forces himself to drive to another city just to watch a movie.Featured in this episode: Peter NowakTo Learn MoreDo Not Pass Go: The Debut Episode The Great Awakening: Competition Commissioner Matthew BoswellSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comVancouver is a funny place.It’s without a doubt the most beautiful city in the country, probably also the continent and maybe even the world — at least when the sun’s shining. The rainy season, which lasts around eight months of the year, can turn it into a dreary, inescapable limbo.It’s a place filled luxury car dealerships, high-end watch stores and other markers of flamboyant wealth. But also absolutely heart-wrenching displays of visible poverty.Vancouverites are simultaneously proud of their city, and often deeply insecure about how it compares to other metropolises.It’s also, I’d argue, deeply misunderstood by the rest of the country.Strangely enough, Vancouver, and British Columbia more broadly, are left out of the national conversation, despite its population, economic importance and unique political culture.There’s this conversation I always have with my journalism friends from BC about how whatever’s happening in Vancouver eventually ends up becoming the rest of the country’s problem. You’ve seen that over and over again, whether it’s about the housing crisis or debates around drug use or crime.And so I figured, why not just bring one of those friends on to have that discussion right here on The Hatchet.Last week I was at a wedding in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where I was able to corner my old friend and CBC Vancouver’s municipal reporter Justin McElroy, and bully him into being on the show.For the British Columbians in the audience, Justin really needs no introduction. He is by almost any measure one of the best-known journalists in the province. And he’s gained this enormous cult following, not just through his reporting or his penchant for ranking things, but because he has an almost uncanny ability to make people care about the things that he cares about.And in addition to being one of my oldest friends, Justin is also the man who taught me how to be a journalist more than fifteen years ago.In this conversation, we talk a little bit about Justin’s erstwhile fame, and then give listeners a full political education in all things Vancouver and why the rest of the country should be paying for attention.And after that, for our paid supporters, we have a little something extra. Justin and I do some reminiscing about the good old days, when we worked together at The Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper. So if you want to hear about how I forced Justin to resign as editor of the newspaper, whether or not I was a decent roommate or the time we were in an honest-to-god zombie apocalypse, make sure to become a paid supporter today.Featured in this episode: Justin McElroyTo Learn More:"B.C. government says more oversight coming for dysfunctional municipalities" by Justin McElroy in CBC News"Vancouver's byelection a story of big lines, big passion, and ABC coping with a big loss" by Justin McElroy in CBC NewsThe Four Pillars Revisited by Sam Fenn and Gordon Katic in The TyeeSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comThis episode is available immediately to paid supporters. For unpaid supporters, we're providing a short preview. Please consider supporting us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Canadian Pacific created a nation. But it also destroyed nations in the process.This is our third and final episode in our series about the building of the CPR and the foundation of Canada. And at the heart of this story is an unescapable question — what did it cost to create this country? And who paid that terrible price?In the years after Confederation, Canada signed treaties with numerous Indigenous nations on the plains, promising aid in the event of a famine. But when the buffalo were slaughtered into extinction, the Canadian government was unable — or unwilling — to fulfill its treaty obligations.At the same time, the CPR was facing financial ruin. And if it fell, Canada as an independent political entity would almost certainly cease to exist.Famine, disease, economic collapse — all of these calamities came to a head in 1885, the single most significant year in Canadian history. Which is when Louis Riel rose up once again. Featured in this episode: Stephen BownTo Learn More:Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada by Stephen BownThe Diary of Dukesang Wong: A Voice from Gold Mountain by Dukesang Wong, David McIlwraith & Wanda Joy HoeThe North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation by Jean TeilletThe National DreamSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comThis episode is available immediately to paid supporters. For unpaid supporters, we're providing a short preview. Please consider supporting us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThere’s a story we like to tell ourselves about how Canada was built. It’s about John A. Macdonald’s fearless vision and how Canadians across the continent came together in a noble quest to create a nation.And then there’s what actually happened.This is the second instalment in our series on the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the founding of Canada. Paid supporters can listen to it immediately. And if you aren’t already supporting us, please consider joining The Hatchet family, it’s only $11 a month.In this episode, we're looking at what happens when the most powerful politician in the land gets into bed with the richest man in the country. And how the workers caught in the wake of their machinations end up paying the price. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald promised to build a railroad that would unite Canada, and went so far as to rig an election to get his way. But the robber barons who financed his corruption ended up turning on him. They blackmailed Canada’s first prime minister and plunged the country into a crisis. And after the rich and powerful were done destroying each other, thousands of workers risked life and limb to build an industrial marvel that would benefit everyone except them. Many of the men who crossed an ocean to do this work wouldn’t make it home alive. And even those who survived saw their rights stripped away, year after year.This is the story of how Canada was really built — political corruption, exploitation and a willingness to sacrifice everyday people at the altar of the progress.Sound familiar?The final episode in our series will be available to paid supporters tomorrow.Featured in this episode: Stephen BownTo Learn More:Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada by Stephen BownThe Diary of Dukesang Wong: A Voice from Gold Mountain by Dukesang Wong, David McIlwraith & Wanda Joy HoeThe North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation by Jean TeilletThe National DreamSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

Most countries have a founding myth of some kind, a moment in time that serves as an anchor for the grand national story.For the United States, it’s the American Revolution and the founding of the republic. France’s history goes back centuries, but their national narrative begins with the storming of the Bastille. Which is why Bastille Day is their most important holiday.England has the Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings. And Mexicans usually trace their history back to the fall of Tenochtitlan.But Canada, as usual, is strange.Some will inevitably point to the Charlottetown and Quebec City conferences as the moment when our national story begins. And sure, that may be where the idea of Confederation was born. But the country that emerged was simply a union of what are today only four of our provinces.The real Canada, the one made up of a massive landmass that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, across the entire length of the North American continent, the country we have today, wasn’t born on July 1st, 1867. That nation came into existence on November 7, 1885, when the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven into the ground at Craigellachie, British Columbia.It seems fitting to me that Canada wasn’t created out of some spirit of revolutionary zeal or war of conquest or high-minded ideal.Instead, our grand national story is about an industrial project.And I find that apt. Because the story of the CPR truly does speak to what it means to be a Canadian. You can see so many of the themes of our history, so much of what it means to be Canadian, in this monumental endeavour.There’s the resistance to the American behemoth. The taming of a wild, unforgiving landscape. The ingenuity and persistence and grit of thousands of Canadians working together to build one of the greatest marvels of the industrial age.But there’s also the unparalleled corporate and political corruption. Labour exploitation on a scale that’s hard to fathom. And the utter subjugation of the Indigenous peoples of this land.And all of that put together is what makes the story of the construction of the CPR a fitting foundational myth for Canada.So on this episode of The Hatchet, at a time when Canadian nationalism is peaking, we’re going to lay out the true story of the Canadian Pacific Railway in all of its glorious and gory detail. In order to bring us closer to an honest understanding of who we are as a nation, for good and for ill.Featured in this episode: Stephen BownTo Learn More:Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada by Stephen BownThe North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation by Jean TeilletThe National DreamThe Diary of Dukesang Wong: A Voice from Gold Mountain by Dukesang Wong, David McIlwraith & Wanda Joy HoeSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

During my lifetime, there have only been a handful of times that quote unquote Canadian nationalism has been a potent force of any kind.The first, actual wave of Canadian patriotism I ever encountered was in the year 2000. That’s when Molson put out their “I Am Canadian” ad.You know the one I’m talking about.And for many people, that kind of came to encapsulate what it meant to be Canadian. Even though, at the end of the day, they’re paper-thin slogans from a beer company’s advertising campaign.And to tell you the truth, that’s kind of what I’ve been feeling about the surge in Canadian nationalism over the last few months. Aside from most people agreeing that Trump is a b*****d and we don’t want to join the United States, this much-vaunted, much-discussed nationalistic wave lacks substance. It’s paper-thin.It’s Mike Myers, a guy who hasn’t lived here in three decades. It’s shopping at Loblaws instead of Walmart. And, weirdly, it’s loosening regulations on mining and oil companies in the name of patriotism.But I do think there could be another way. There have been moments in our country’s history where we really wrestled with what it should mean to be Canadian. When different political parties and social movements put forward their own visions of nationalism.That’s why I wanted to talk to Luke Savage. Savage is a long-time journalist and one of the smartest thinkers on the left in Canada. He’s been one of the people I’ve been reading throughout the last few months to try to figure out how this moment of nationalistic fervour fits in with the rest of Canadian history.In our conversation, we cover a lot of ground, including Mark Carney’s cynical deployment of patriotic sentiment and why the left should once again embrace nationalism.And we spend a good amount of time talking about the most important Canadian political book every published, Lament for a Nation, which came out sixty years ago, but is still incredibly relevant today.Featured in this episode: Luke SavageTo learn more:“Why a 60-year-old surprise hit about the fall of John Diefenbaker is the most important Canadian read of 2025” by Luke Savage in The Toronto Star“Canadian Nationalism Is Back. Now What?” by Luke Savage in The Walrus“Canadian socialism against US domination” by Luke Savage on SubstackSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

The Hockey Canada trial has been going on for two months now. And during that time, the Canadian media has meticulously covered every twist and turn that’s taken place in the London, Ontario courthouse.Five men — Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote and Carter Hart — have been accused of sexually assaulting a twenty-year-old woman, who is only being identified as E.M., after a Hockey Canada gala in 2018.All of them have pled not guilty and the judge is set to render a verdict on July 24.And while I’ve been following the trial closely, I’ve been especially interested in how the media has been covering the story, and the way that the public has been reacting to it all.Two years ago, Jordan and I made a series at Canadaland that focused specifically on the deep, systemic issues with hockey culture.And what became incredibly clear to us is that most of the media and the powers-that-be in the hockey world don’t understand or are unwilling to acknowledge what’s going on in the sport.During this trial, that’s become even more obvious. Because hockey doesn’t just have a problem with sexual violence. It has a problem with gang rape.Between 1989 and 2018, there was, on average, one alleged case of gang rape by professional hockey players every two years. And those are just the accusations that went public.And yet, every time this happens, the hockey world acts like it’s the first time. And the media tends to go along with it. Even when the press talks about the problem of sexual violence in hockey, they refuse to acknowledge the specificity.A handful of journalists and researchers — foremost amongst them Laura Robinson, who has been covering this for years, — have tried to explain what’s really happening.The truth is that, from a young age, many junior hockey players are hazed, beaten and sexually abused. And then are groomed by older players into engaging in group sex with their teammates. Sometimes these encounters are consensual for the girls and women involved. But too often, they’re not.All of this broader context has been missing from much of the coverage around the Hockey Canada trial.And that’s why I was relieved when I read a piece in The Globe and Mail by Andrea Werhun on this topic. Werhun is a writer and performer, best known for her memoir Modern W***e, which details her experience working as an escort and stripper. She was also a consultant on the most recent Academy Award Best Picture winner, Anora.And Werhun’s piece digs into all of this necessary context. And she also focuses in specifically on one piece of testimony from the complainant, in which she describes taking on a “porn star persona” during that night in the hotel room, as a coping mechanism.That quote became a cornerstone in the defence’s narrative disputing the allegations. And something that I’ve seen constantly brought up again and again in online comments that accuse EM of being a liar.My conversation with Werhun isn’t about trying to evaluate the criminal guilt or innocence of the men who are on trial. We won’t be digging into the conflicting stories or analyzing the specific evidence.This is about trying to understand the broader cycles of violence within men’s hockey.Featured in this episode: Andrea WerhunTo learn more:“Porn isn’t to blame for sexual assault” by Andrea Werhun in The Globe and Mail“The Problem Hockey Won’t Name” from Canadaland COMMONS“Anatomy of a scandal” by CBC’s The Fifth Estate“Legal decision for the ‘Hockey Canada 5’ won’t come for weeks, but judgment can be rendered” by Dan Robson and Katie Strang in The AthleticSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

It’s so hard to know where to start a story. Choosing a starting point shapes the entire message and moral of whatever story you’re trying to tell.And that’s especially true when it comes to something like the recent Israeli and American bombardment of Iran.The simplest way to start would be to parrot what most Western governments and the mainstream media have been saying. For them, you need to begin with the fact that Iran was months, maybe even weeks, away from developing nuclear weapons. And that’s why Israel had to act. That of course ignores the fact that Rafeal Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says that there’s no evidence they were developing an atomic bomb. But let’s ignore that for now.Instead, we could decide to start the story at another point, even a few weeks earlier. Let’s say June 3. That was when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began to be cross-examined during his corruption trial, which might see him land in prison. Netanyahu has succeeded numerous times in dragging out the trial, which has been going on for five years now, because he’s been leading the country, especially during times of war. However, this month, his coalition government appeared like it might fall apart. But while he’s at war with Iran, that’s certain to not happen.Maybe we could go back even further, say to 2022 when Iranian women were leading the largest protest movement in fifty years after a young woman, Mahsa Amina, was killed by the regime’s morality police. Will the bombardment by two hostile powers strengthen similar opposition movements or will it be the most hardcore and militaristic elements of the government that gain the upper hand? That’s not a question I see being asked by much of the media these days.Of course, we could go back even further. To 2018 when Donald Trump pulled the US out of an Iranian nuclear deal that had been working. To 2003 and George Bush’s Axis of Evil of speech and the invasion of Iraq. To the mid-90s when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons, in all circumstances. To 1992, when Nentanyahu, then a backbencher, claimed that Iran was only a year away from developing a nuclear weapon.All the way back to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, that created this theocratic regime and caused millions of Iranians to flee the country. To the western-backed coup of 1953 that brought the hated Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi back to power because the democratically elected prime minister was planning on nationalizing the country’s oil reserves. Or maybe it would be best to start the mid-1800s, when Iran was so dominated by the Russian and British empires that they couldn’t even appoint their own cabinet ministers without foreign approval.Where you begin the story in some ways will determine what you think of it. And I think that helps me explain just how weird politicians and the mainstream media get when it comes to talking about this attack on Iran. They’re desperately grasping for any justification that they can get a hold of. At one moment, it’s all about ensuring that Iran doesn’t get nuclear weapons. Another, it’s retaliation for terror attacks and Iran’s support for Hezbollah or Hamas. Then all of a sudden it’s about regime change and freeing the Iranian people from tyranny. It reminds me so much of Iraq, which I’ve been thinking about a lot in the last few months. And while so far we haven’t heard any talk of a ground invasion, the Iraqi example is illustrative. Western governments and the media convinced themselves beyond any doubt that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Which of course wasn’t true. But if you had the temerity to suggest that it might not be, you were labelled either naive or heartless or an apologist for a monstrous regime.So during this moment, I wanted to talk a woman whose work I’ve followed for years, and who has been one of the most aggressive and thoughtful critics of the Iranian Regime. Samira Mohyeddin arrived in Canada as a child in 1979, one of so many refugees of the Islamic Revolution. She’s a longtime journalist whose work often focuses on highlighting the crimes of the Iranian government. But she’s also been an outspoken critic of Israel, especially the ongoing genocide in Gaza. So I wanted to know how a woman like Samira is thinking about everything that’s going on. And where the story starts for her.Featured in this episode: Samira MohyeddinTo learn more:“Iranians deserve a path to freedom that is also free from violence” by Samira Mohyeddin in The Globe and Mail“‘I urge you to hear the voices of the Iranian people.’ Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi remains unbowed” by Samira Mohyeddin in The Globe and Mail“IAEA chief: No evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon” in Al-Jazeera News“Dragging Out Netanyahu's Trial Is a Delay of Justice for the Israeli Public” by Sami Peretz in HaaretzSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

Arshy and Jordan sit down to give a quick update about how things have been going, a sneak peak at some upcoming projects, and the future of The Hatchet. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

We’re now a month-and-a-half removed from the last federal election. And it feels like we’re finally starting to get a sense of how this government is going to, well, govern. Domestically, there’s been legislation on resource development and a lot of new powers for cops and border guards. Plenty of increased spending on defence and tax cuts. And internationally, Mark Carney has been doing a lot of hobnobbing with foreign leaders.Especially this week, where he’s been hosting the G7 summit in Alberta. So Jordan and I just wanted to explore some of the early signals that we’re getting from this government. There’s so much we could talk about, but for this episode we’ll be digging into the feds new AI approach and their approach to relations with India.And, it’s safe to say, neither of us are particularly impressed. Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

Point Roberts is one of the most unique places in North America. It’s a tiny spit of land right across the American border from the Vancouver suburb of Delta. But because it’s surrounded on three sides by water, it’s not connected to the rest of Washington state. It’s a community built by both Canadians and Americans — a physical manifestation of what the relationship between our two countries can look like when it’s at its best.But tensions are at a boiling point right now. And the biggest casualty of it all might be the most innocent and beautiful of all of god’s creatures — the rubber duck. Featured in this episode: Krystal King, Neil King, Donald FalkTo learn more“US Border Towns Are Being Ravaged by Canada's Furious Boycott” by Thomas Seal in Bloomberg News“Point Roberts starts to feel the cold shoulder from Canada” by Andrea Woo in The Globe and Mail“Canada's Nationalism Hits an Isolated U. S. Town” by William Borders in The New York TimesSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

What does Danielle Smith want? The American threat has led to some strange bedfellows between the premiers and the feds. Leaders as different as Wab Kinew, Doug Ford and Mark Carney all seem to be on the same page. But not the Albertan premier. She’s been the odd woman out during the past few months. She maintained friendly contacts with the Trump administration, she argued against the use of export controls on Albertan energy and she’s has been openly hostile to the new prime minister.And then, a little over a week after the election, Smith announced that Alberta might hold a referendum on independence. Sort of. Kinda. She’s lowering the threshold for a citizen’s referendum, which could lead to an independence referendum as early as next year. And while she continues to maintain that she’s a Canadian nationalist, she sure sounds like she’s sympathetic to the separatist cause. So again, what exactly does Danielle Smith want? And would an independent Alberta even be a viable state?I decided to ask Jen Gerson, the co-founder of The Line. Gerson is one of the most astute observers of Albertan politics. And as you’ll hear in our conversation, she is not a fan of the premier’s flirtations with Albertan separatism.Featured in this episode: Jen Gerson (The Line)To learn more“Danielle Smith is destroying my kitchen” by Jen Gerson in The Line“Separatists release potential Alberta referendum question, expect Danielle Smith to join cause” by Jason Markusoff in CBC NewsLet the Eastern B******s Freeze in the Dark: The West Versus the Rest Since Confederation by Mary JaniganSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

The last time we spoke with John Rapley, economic columnist for the Globe and Mail, it was right after Chrystia Freeland resigned as finance minister, creating a crisis for the Trudeau government.Remember that? It feels like quite a long time ago.Here’s some of what’s happened since then — Justin Trudeau announced his resignation, Donald Trump began to joke about Canada as the 51st state, and then everyone realized that he wasn’t joking, Mark Carney creamed Chrystia Freeland in a Liberal leadership race and became Prime Minister, Trump announced across-the-board tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Trump delayed the across-the-board tariffs against Canada and Mexico, Trump tariffed our aluminum and steel industries, he announced tariffs against the entire world, almost tanked the global economy in the matter of a week, and then delayed his global tariffs, and we had a federal election, with Mark Carney winning a fourth-in-a-row government for the Liberals.In other words, it’s been a crazy few months.So we wanted to catch up with Rapley and talk through all of this stuff and about where Canada goes next.To learn more:“God save Mark Carney, the man with the simple job of completely remaking Canada’s economy”, “Why Canada must align with Europe, the new boomtown” and “Perhaps more trade with China is not a bad idea after all” by John Rapley in The Globe and MailSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comFinal thoughts on one of the strangest elections in Canadian history from the team at The Hatchet. If you’re in Toronto, make sure to drop by our election watch party at the Dock Ellis.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comFor the first and only time this election, the major federal party leaders (and Yves-François Blanchet) stepped onto a stage and debated each other in English. None of the major parties have released a fully-costed platform. And both Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre have done everything possible to avoid being subjected to the indignity of being interviewed by real journalists in their native language. And so for the majority of Canadians, this debate was their only real opportunity to see the candidates in an environment that wasn’t controlled by their staffers and attendants. So how did they do? What did Canadians learn about how they’d run the country? Will Pierre Poilievre buy me a house? Why doesn’t Mark Carney fight Donald Trump in the octagon? Is Jagmeet Singh enrolling in medical school in order to strengthen our healthcare system? And is Yves-François Blanchet more handsome and charming than Gilles Duceppe? You’ll find out the answer to at least one of those questions in this paid subscriber-only, debate-edition of The Hatchet.

Brookfield has been in the news constantly over the last few weeks. The Conservatives attacked the company for moving the headquarters of one of their subsidiaries to New York City. The NDP have accused it of avoiding taxes through offshore havens. And Prime Minister Mark Carney, the former chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, has found himself on the defensive because of his association with the company.But what these political attacks miss is a far more important story. It’s a story of a company that has been central to Canada’s history and economy for more than a century.So what exactly is Brookfield? That’s a question that we here at The Hatchet have set out to answer.What we found was a company that almost defies description.Brookfield has been a financial universe unto itself, operating by a different set of cosmic laws and fundamental forces than other corporations.It’s a company that’s shown an almost unparalleled talent for reinvention. Over its 125-year-history, it’s morphed from a neo-colonial experiment to Canada’s most ruthless corporate raider to a seemingly boring storehouse of our collective pension earnings.Now it is one of a tiny handful of financial entities that sit at the very centre of the global economy.And so that’s why we’ll be spending this series focusing exclusively on this incredibly important and yet rarely understood company.We’ll be digging into its epic history, its contentious present and what the continued domination of firms like Brookfield could mean for everyday people.In this first episode, we shine a light on it’s first incarnation — Brazilian Traction, Light and Power — and how it managed to dominate the people of South America’s biggest nation for most of the 20th century.Featured in this episode: Tyler ShipleyTo learn moreCanada In The World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination by Tyler ShipleyThe Brass Ring: Power, Influence and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann ShortellLet Us Prey: The Practices and Profits of Canadian Corporations and Businessmen edited by Robert Chodos & Ray MurphyThe Light: Brazilian Traction, Light, and Power Company Limited, 1899-1945 by Duncan McDowallSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comIt’s week two of the federal election and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are off to a rocky start.There’s been reporting in most major news outlets about turmoil behind-the-scenes. And high ranking staffers have been openly criticizing his campaign and pushing for a change in direction.The drama has pretty much eclipsed everything else for the federal Conservatives, so that’s what’s on the agenda for our second episode on the federal election.We dig into the whole saga and break down everything that’s happened so far.This episode is only available to paid supporters. Please consider supporting our work!To learn more:“Insiders say Pierre Poilievre called Doug Ford for ‘advice’ — but the premier said he’ll be ‘staying out’ of the election” and “Doug Ford’s internal polling paints grim election prospects for Pierre Poilievre in Ontario” by Robert Benzie in The Toronto Star “Pressure mounts on Poilievre to refocus Conservative campaign on Donald Trump” by Robert Fife and Stephanie Levitz in The Globe and Mail “‘The wheels are off’: Senior Conservatives think the Poilievre campaign needs a reset” by Alex Boutilier in Global News “Conservatives fear 'dysfunctional' campaign and 'civil war' in the party: sources” by Catherine Cullen, Kate McKenna and John Paul Tasker in CBC NewsMusic: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

With the American government regularly threatening annexation on a weekly basis, there’s one question that I’ve had on the top of my mind — what does the Canadian military think about all of this?We’re well past the point where anyone can argue that this is a joke or that Trump isn’t being serious. I don’t think it’s a surprise for anyone that the Canadian Armed Forces are almost entirely dependent on the United States. And partially because of that fact, senior Canadian commanders often have a positive view of the American military. So has anything changed? How long can we rely on the U.S.? And what does the average enlisted man and woman think about the prospect of an invasion from the South?There’s no one better to help answer some of these questions than David Pugliese, who has covered the Canadian Armed Forces for the Ottawa Citizen for three decades.We put all of these questions to him and more. Featured in this episode: David Pugliese (Ottawa Citizen)To learn more“Having U.S.-controlled system running Canada’s new warships too risky, warns former navy commander” by David Pugliese in The Ottawa Citizen“Canadian general who recommended F-35 deal now calls for purchase of other jets” by David Pugliese in The Ottawa Citizen“Feds partner with Australia on $6-billion Arctic radar project in 'slap in the face' to Canadian company” by David Pugliese in The Ottawa CitizenSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe federal election is here! And I think we all know this is going to be a wild one. The last few months have already been some of the strangest in modern Canadian history. But worry not, The Hatchet is here to help understand everything you need to know about this race. In addition to our in-depth coverage, we’re also launching a weekly podcast that will air during the course of the campaign that breaks down everything that’s happening.But this will only be available to our paid supporters, so I really can’t think of a better time to sign up and help support independent Canadian journalism.On this first instalment, Jordan and I walk through what the leaders of the three major federal parties need to do win — or at least not embarrass themselves — during this campaign.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comThere’s a line about Canada that gets tossed around a lot. It comes from Harold Innis, the father of Canadian economic history, who said that Canadians have been relegated to “hewers of wood and drawers of water.”An…

This was the week where Doug Ford finally became Prime Minister.Okay, so technically it’s Mark Carney who was actually sworn in as PM. But for a few weeks, Doug Ford appeared to be leading the nation. After all, it was Ford that was invited down to the Washington for a meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The feds just sort of tagged….along.And there were two people in particular that I wanted to hear ruminating on this moment, two of the longest-standing Fordologists in the land, the former hosts of Wag the Doug, Jonathan Goldsbie and Allison Smith.And luckily for us, they wanted to talk too. Wag the Doug, which used to air on the Canadaland network, where Jordan and I both worked, has been off the air since September. And in their last episode, they ruminated on how in some ways, Doug Ford was the physical embodiment of Ontario, a man who understands the province better than anyone. But my question this week has been, does Doug Ford also understand Canada better than anyone else?And so we brought Allison and Jonathan into the Hatchet studios (my living room) to hear their thoughts on what might be the most interesting moment in Doug Ford’s incredibly strange political career. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is starting to get ridiculous. One day we’re being tariffed to all hell, and the next day, the Trump administration says that they’re putting the trade war on pause for another month.But what we have to understand is that, from the American perspective, this is an effective strategy. Tarrifs are a tax that consumers end up paying for. So by continually pushing off the date that they come into effect, the U.S. avoids the economic pain — but Canada’s economy remains in a state of perpetual turmoil.There’s only one way out of this for us — we need to hit the Americans as hard as we possibly can, using every weapon in our arsenal. And we need to do it now.Featured in this episode: Arshy Mann & Jordan CornishSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

There’s been a surge of Canadian nationalism over the last month, and understandably so. I’ve been feeling it too, I think it’d be hard not to. You really couldn’t grow a better villain in a lab than Donald Trump to actually rally Canadians in this way.And with that has come a good amount of talk of both Canadian history and the need for modern-day nation-building. That’s a good impulse. This is not the first time that the United States has presented itself as an existential threat to our country and there’s so much we can learn from the past.And I don’t think anyone would argue against the need for more infrastructure, for us to build a more resilient economy that can withstand the trade war that we’re now in the middle of.But there’s a funny thing that seems to happens whenever Canadian nationalism surges. Indigenous people get left behind.Ten years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by the honourable Murray Sinclair, released its findings. And that reckoning helped usher in a real shift in the attitudes of many Canadians towards Indigenous peoples and their rights. But things appear to be changing. Companies that just a year ago were eager to tell anyone about their commitment to reconciliation are quietly shutting down anti-discrimination programs. Governments across the country are promising to fast-track resource projects, heavily implying that they won’t let pesky things like Indigenous land rights get in the way.And it’s First Nations that will be impacted the most by conflict between the US and Canada. The Jay Treaty, which was signed in 1794, gives First Nations the right to live and work on both sides of the border, without visas.And so those are some of the many reasons why I wanted to talk to Niigaan Sinclair. Niigaan is, amongst many other things, the city columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, and in my opinion one of the best in the country. He’s also the author of Winipek: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre, which makes the case that many of the solutions to violence and injustice against Indigenous peoples can be found in Winnipeg.Our conversation covers a lot of ground. From the ongoing trade war, to the death of DEI and Canadian’s changing relationship with reconciliation to the rise of Wab Kinew. You’re not going to want to miss it.Featured in this episode: Niigaan Sinclair (Winnipeg Free Press)To learn moreWînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre by Niigaan Sinclair “History shows trade war would hurt Indigenous people the most” by Niigaan Sinclair in The Winnipeg Free Press “Native Americans under threat in Trump’s U.S.” Niigaan Sinclair in The Winnipeg Free PressSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.substack.comWe all knew that if Donald Trump got reelected, things would get chaotic pretty fast. But what I don’t think anyone anticipated was just how much Canada would be in the new administration’s cross-hairs.And there’s been one question no one really seems to be able to give a definitive answer to — why us?During the election campaign, Trump would rant and rave about Mexico and China and even Europe, but Canada barely ever came up. And now, all of a sudden, we’re being targeted for more aggressive tariffs than China. And Trump is threatening us with annexation on a weekly basis. Frankly, I haven’t heard many good explanations as to what the hell is actually going on. The best theory I’ve come across is from journalist Justin Ling. He says that the best way to understand the current administration’s obsession with Canada is to look at one man — Peter Navarro. Navarro serves as Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing and has the direct ear of the president.And according to Ling, he has it in for Canada.Featured in this episode: Justin LingTo learn more“Beggar Thy Neighbor, Beggar Thyself” by Justin Ling in Bug-eyed and Shameless“Canada Tries to Break the Ice with Trump” by Justin Ling in Foreign Policy“Want Free Trade? May I Introduce You to the Tariff” by Robert Lighthizer in The New York Times“Trump’s plan for ‘hemispheric control’: Steve Bannon on why tariffs may only be the start” by Ashleigh Stewart in Global NewsSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.com

It’s been a weird month.When we first launched The Hatchet, we spent a lot of time talking about the kinds of stories that we wanted to cover and the kind of work that we wanted to do here. Something we did not anticipate was having to seriously entertain the notion of American annexation. But here we are. And so on today’s episode of The Hatchet, we’re going to talk about the tarrifs, the history of Canada-U.S. integration, the future of continentalism and whether or not we can survive Trump’s attacks on our sovereignty. Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

In 1969, Quebec and Newfoundland worked together to build a hydroelectric generating station in Labrador at a place called Churchill Falls. It would go on to produce an enormous amount of energy.But the deal they struck has haunted Newfoundland ever since.Because Quebec gets to buy electricity at an absolutely rock bottom price, which hasn’t changed in more than fifty years. And they then turn around and sell that same electricity to the US for as much as fifty times more than what they paid.Quebec has made tens of billions of dollars off selling Newfoundland’s energy, while Newfoundland has been left with relative peanuts.The injustice of it all has been a source of immense frustration, anger and shame in Newfoundland.But Churchill Falls is just the most stubborn knot in the long, tangled history between Quebec and Newfoundland. Both are nations within the nation. Quebec because of its unique culture and language and Newfoundland because it was in fact an independent country until it joined Canada. And Quebec has always claimed that much of Labrador rightfully belongs to them — to the point that some government maps still label it as contested territory.But it’s the bitter fight over hydroelectricity that continues to act as an open wound between these two provinces.Over the last few weeks, as the Americans have threatened to rain down economic hellfire on Canada, there’s been a lot of talk about opening up interprovincial trade. About the need for east-west pipelines, and whether or not we can use energy exports as leverage against the US.And so this deal over Churchill Falls has become about more than just righting some historical wrong. It’s another test case for the ideas underlying Confederation. Can the provinces still work together to accomplish big things? Or will we be stuck in cycles of recrimination and resentment that will ultimately be our doom?Because even a month after the new Churchill Falls deal was announced, things aren’t adding up.Featured in this episode: Edward Hollett (The Bond Papers)To learn more“Hundreds of billions at stake as N.L., Quebec draft new Churchill Falls deal” by Elizabeth Whitten & John Gushue in CBC News ·“The Ghosts of Shag-Ups Past” by Edward Hollett in The Bond Papers“1969 Redux” by Edward Hollett in The Bond Papers“After decades of rancour, can Quebec and Newfoundland finally become friends?” by Konrad Yakabuski in The Globe and MailSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

When Paul Watson was arrested in July of last year, it made headlines around the world. The presidents of France and Brazil called for his immediate release.But here in Canada — Watson’s birthplace and where much of his activism has centred — the reaction was strangely muted.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau never said a word about his case. While there was some news coverage of his case, it was nothing like the attention his arrest received in other countries.Which is surprising. Not only is Watson a founder of Greenpeace and one of the most famous environmental activists in the world, he’s also one of the most controversial. Many have labelled him as an eco-terrorist because of his willingness to use almost any means necessary to achieve his goals.Nowhere is this more obvious than his decades-long campaign against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. On a rickety ship, with a neophyte crew, Watson went to war against the illegal Japanese whale hunt, ramming their ships in the open seas.He’s been called a pirate, and it’s a label he accepts willingly.This is a story about more than just whales. It’s about a planet on the brink of ecological collapse. And the lengths that one man is willing to go to try to stop it.Featured in this episode: Peter HellerTo learn moreThe Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet’s Largest Mammals by Peter HellerWatson (2019) by Lesley Chilcott“‘They want revenge’: Canadian co-founder of Greenpeace, Paul Watson, awaits extradition hearing in Greenland jail” by Linsday Jones in The Globe and MailSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

You’ve probably heard some of the controversy swirling around ArriveCan; how one of the contracts to help build it went to a company owned by a federal government employee. And especially how the whole thing cost $60 million to make, even though, you know, it was a pretty basic app.But ArriveCan was also the beneficiary of a specific strategy that the federal government has been implementing for nearly three decades. It’s known as the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business.And the idea is simple. A certain percentage of government contracts should go to businesses owned and operated by Indigenous people.Which on paper sounds reasonable. You could think of it as reconciliation-via-contracting.Under the Trudeau government, the strategy was expanded, with the government aiming to have 5 per cent of their contracts go to Indigenous-owned businesses.But here’s the problem. For a very long time, nobody was really checking upfront whether or not a business was actually “Indigenous” in any meaningful way.And there’s good reason to believe that many of them simply weren’t.The stakes for a story like this really couldn’t be higher. It’s not only the billions of dollars in taxpayer money. But it’s the government’s ability to deliver the services that Canadians depend on. And economic reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis.Featured in this episode: Patti Sonntag (Global News/The National Post)To learn more“Billions in federal contracts awarded to ‘Indigenous’ enterprises without verification” by Patti Sonntag, Melissa Ridgen, Hannah Sangster, Celeste Bird & Alex Boutilier in Global News“Underneath the ArriveCan scandal, questions swirl about Ottawa’s Indigenous procurement requirements” by Bill Curry, Tom Cardoso & Kristy Kirkup in The Globe and Mail“Liberal minister's former business questioned over 'Indigenous' claims in government contract bids” by Patti Sonntag in The National Post“How one nursing company tapped into Ottawa’s Indigenous businesses program, despite not being Indigenous” by Bill Curry in The Globe and MailSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

So everyone seems pretty worried about a potential trade war with the United States. And for good reason — the US is our biggest trading partner by far. And I bet that over the next couple of days and weeks, a lot of journalists are going to head over to the StatsCan website to look up numbers of just how much money flows between the two countries.If they do, they might find themselves looking at a chart that shows Canadian foreign direct investment. It shows how much Canadian firms, individuals and institutions are investing in different countries. And, of course, the US is right at the top of the list, with just over a trillion dollars.But it’s the rest of the list that I find especially interesting. Do you know which country ranks second?Bermuda. In 2023, there was more than $135 billion invested in Bermuda that came from Canada.Bermuda is a tiny British Overseas Territory with a population just over 64,000. That $2.1 million dollars for every resident of Bermuda.Now Bermuda is not exactly an industrial powerhouse. This money is not being used to build new factories or invest in exciting new Bermudian industries.Everyone knows what’s happening. Bermuda is a tax haven. Almost to a dollar, that $135 billion dollars in Bermuda is for companies to avoid paying Canadian taxes.So what the hell is going on here? The truth is that government after government has made it easier for companies to avoid paying taxes in this country, depriving Canadians of billions of dollars in revenue. That’s money that could be spent on social programs or addressing the budget deficit or lowering taxes on everyday peopleSo how did we get here? And do any of the political parties have the guts to do anything about this?Featured in this episode: Alain Denault, Silas XuerebTo learn moreCanada: A New Tax Haven by Alain Deneault & translated by Catherine Browne“Deals Canada signed to catch tax cheats allow billions in taxes to escape” by Zach Dubinsky in CBC News“Foreign direct investment, 2023” in The Daily from Statistics CanadaSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comI think we all know that the Canadian economy isn’t doing great. In the years after the pandemic, inflation surged and everyday people had to deal with ever-rising prices on all kinds of staple goods.The former governor of the Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz said recently that it’s likely that Canada’s already in a recession, and we just don’t know it yet.And now, even the people in charge of the economy are in chaos. Chrystia Freeland, the finance minister resigned, claiming that she can’t tolerate the political gimmicks being forced on her by the Prime Minister’s Office.And the threat of massive tariffs from the incoming Trump administration could pulverize Canadian industry in upcoming years.But the problems with Canada’s economy go much deeper than even all that. For the last few decades, economists have pointed to Canada’s absolutely anemic rates of productivity, which measures how efficient an economy is.The housing crisis continues to be one of the very worst in the world. And no political party seems to be offering up any real solutions to any of our problems.And that’s why I wanted to talk to John Rapley.  He’s an economics columnist for the Globe and Mail and the author of a number of books, including Why Empires Fall: Rome, America and the Future of the West, and one of the sharpest thinkers on all things economic.We caught up with him while he was in South Africa and on the day after Freeland’s dramatic resignation.Featured in this episode: John RapleyTo learn more“The ‘vibecession’ is real, and economists must do some soul-searching” by John Rapley in The Globe and Mail“Bless this house: Why Canadians put so much faith in the housing market” by John Rapley in The Globe and MailWhy Empires Fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West by Peter Heather & John RapleyThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

An open secret among Canadian Sikhs is only now being spoken about publicly.For years, Indian officials have used visa approvals to extort and blackmail their critics in Canada. They’ve coerced Canadians to spy on their fellow citizens or denounce their political beliefs in writing, in exchange for the privilege of being able to visit loved ones in India.It’s just a small part of the foreign interference machine that India has built on Canadian soil.Featured in this episode: Stewart Bell (Global News)To learn more“Investigation: Visas have become an Indian foreign interference tool” by Stewart Bell & Jeff Semple in Global News“Contract to Kill” by CBC’s The Fifth EstateSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

The price of food keeps rising. And for the last few years, we’ve had a national debate about whether or not that’s the fault of the mega grocery chains.But the CEOs of Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys claim that it’s not their fault. We should be looking further up the food chain for the real culprits.They might have a point. Everywhere you look in the food industry, you’ll find rapacious corporate oligopolies. The grocery chains might have fixed the price of bread. But there’s credible accusations that other companies are fixing the price of meat, potatoes and much more.Featured in this episode: Jeff Yorga, Keldon Bester, Denise HearnTo learn moreThe Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians by Denise Hearn & Vass BednarFrom Plow to Pantry: Monopoly in the Canadian Food System by Andrew Nixon & Keldon Bester“Alleged 'potato cartel' accused of conspiring to raise price of frozen fries, tater tots across U.S.” by Rhianna Schmunk in CBC News“Sask. cattle producers call for meat pricing investigation, transparency” by Kendall Latimer in CBC NewsSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe

TD Bank has over a hundred thousand employees, almost two trillion dollars in assets and it’s a foundational part of the Canadian economy.It’s also a criminal enterprise.TD Bank has now admitted that for years, they helped launder hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money in the United States. But TD’s bad behaviour goes much further back. And leads us a lot closer to home.Featured in this episode: Michael Sallah (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Robert Cribb (Toronto Star)To learn more“TD Bank’s dirty laundry: Inside the cultural shift that seeded a money laundering crisis, succession woes and a leadership exodus” by Tim Kiladze, Rita Trichur James Bradshaw and Stefanie Marotta in The Globe and Mail“Pirate of the Caribbean” by Bryan Burrough in Vanity Fair“How Italy’s ’Ndrangheta mafia allegedly infiltrated Canadian banks” by Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Cribb, Jared Ferrie, Alessia Candito, & Alessia Cerantola in The Toronto Star, OCCRP & La RepubblicaSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. Every week, we’re going to deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works, and we’re going to do it in a way that no one else can. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.substack.com/subscribe