Shows / CanCon
CanCon
It's a fascinating time to be Canadian. This is a show that breaks all that wide open. Dangers. Opportunities. The stories that make this country what it is. And what it isn't. Longtime journalist and podcast host Jordan Heath-Rawlings (Elbows Up, The Big Story, The Gravy Train) returns to host critical Canadian Conversations with leading experts and storytellers. These are discussions—about who we are, how we got here, and where we're going—designed to offer more than soundbites and headlines…
Episodes
- CanCon
Your feedback: Privatized airports, expensive referendums and more
It's been too long, but this week the whole crew comes together to be called out (or praised!) by our listeners. Will Canada's privatized airports become…
- CanCon
With the PQ in charge, what comes next in Quebec?
Unlike their Western brethren, Quebec separatists are good at this. They've been at it a long time. They are organized, patient and understand how to get…
- CanCon
The case of the Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug kingpin
There's no way to sugarcoat the story of Ryan Wedding. Once an aspiring snowboarder from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wedding qualified for the 2002 Olympics as a…
- CanCon
Inside the ever-advancing world of grandparent scams
You've been warned about them, undoubtedly. You've probably passed on that warning to your elderly loved ones, or anyone you see as a little digitally naive…
- CanCon
How a small Canadian business copes with a trade war
Many of us have been lucky enough to experience the ongoing trade war with the United States as a small part of everyday life. We may pay slightly higher…
- CanCon
What will private investment in Canada's airports mean for travellers?
Mark Carney's government will open up three major Canadian airports to private investment, raising billions of dollars and fundamentally changing how these…
- CanCon
The state of local news in Canada
If you're reading this in a big city, congratulations! You have reliable local news options! If you're living somewhere smaller... well, it's a bit of a dice…
- CanCon
The case for the Alberta referendum. (And other referendums.)
Most Albertans don't want to leave Canada. Most Canadians don't want to see them go. The data is clear, the separatist wing is a small percentage of the…
- CanCon
Canada's economy is ... somehow doing pretty well?
New tariffs have hit us. Our government will respond in kind next week. A trade war has begun in earnest. And there's no doubt Canadian businesses will suffer…
- CanCon
How Canada is taking the lead on Arctic security
Canada's going to become one of three "framework nations" taking the lead on Arctic defence. The government is moving to purchase military equipment outside…
- CanCon
Has the Carney government abandoned climate policy? It's complicated
You may have noticed that we're talking about building another pipeline. And our acknowledgement that we'll probably blow past our emissions targets. You may…
- CanCon
IN REVIEW: How do we keep Canada's automotive industry rolling?
This week, as another set of US tariffs loom, we're revisiting a previous episode about an industry that is particularly vulnerable to them. We'll be back next…
- CanCon
IN REVIEW: Exploring Canada's Hidden Gems
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be revisiting a couple of our previous episodes—beginning with a trip through some of Canada's least-known but most worthy…
- CanCon
This Canadian social media platform wants to be in your neighbourhood
Last week, we examined the Canadian Tech from a 10,000-foot perspective. This week, we take you inside the launch of Eh!, a Canadian social media platform that…
- CanCon
So...how's that digital sovereignty thing going?
It's been well over a year since Canadians (and our governments) realized just how dependent we are on American technology—for everything from our day-to-day…
- CanCon
A trip inside Vancouver Island's dark history
Laura Palmer has been investigating and reporting on crimes on Vancouver Island for years. It's changed the way she sees one of Canada's most gorgeous places…
- CanCon
Did Canada just become a 'soccer nation'?
Nothing much had ever been expected from soccer in Canada—or at least from men's soccer in Canada, and mainstream soccer fandom. Until recently. After our…
- CanCon
The strange, silly and sad stories you've never heard about Canadian Parliament
The House of Commons is a staid, formal institution. Right? It's been that way for well over a century. Gentlemen (and eventually Gentlewomen) debating…
- CanCon
How Canada's great outdoors became a ticking time bomb
Ticks in this country used to be a minor, if dangerous, annoyance. That's changing quickly. Not only are the traditional deer ticks that we've lived with in…
- CanCon
Could Halifax's housing strategy be an example for Canadian cities?
Halifax, like many cities in Canada, faces a housing crunch. Not because of how big it is geographically. There's plenty of room. But because of how hard it…
- CanCon
Why is Canada getting a brand new police force?
Well, let's just say that if everything's going great, you don't generally need to spin up an entire law enforcement agency out of thin air. But after years of…
- CanCon
What happened to Canada's Pharmacare plan?
It was long overdue, and began with a promise: It might start small, covering just a few common drugs, and expand until Canadians without benefits were no…
- CanCon
The US just paused a joint defence effort. How worried should Canada be?
You may not have heard about it, but the Permanent Joint Board on Defense has been a part of Canada and America's shared strategy for decades. Evidently…
- CanCon
Why are gas prices so high in Canada if we produce our own? It's complicated.
Canada, as you may know, produces a ton of oil. Billions of tons every day, actually. Nearly all the oil we use was taken from the ground, one way or another…
- CanCon
Midseason update: Surveillance pricing, listener feedback and more
This week we're checking in with the audience on the first few months of CanCon, discussing episodes we did or didn't (yet!) create, reading some of your…
- CanCon
The emotional side of the Canadian housing crisis
A roof over one's head has been a necessity of life since we lived in caves. But when that roof also represents Canada's class struggle, our income inequality…
- CanCon
What is YouTube 'Slopaganda'? And why is it pushing Alberta separation?
In recent weeks, dozens of videos pushing Alberta separation (and frequently US annexation) have driven tens of millions of views on YouTube. But there's a…
- CanCon
When music went digital Canada was at the front of the line. What happened?
In the late '90s and early '00s, the music industry fundamentally changed. Within a decade, fans went from buying CDs in a local music store to purchasing…
- CanCon
Can Canadian tech fix 911 wait times? Do we trust AI enough to let it try?
It's not just a Canadian problem, though it has likely cost some Canadians their lives. Staff answering 911 calls in centres the world over are overworked…
- CanCon
What makes a company "Canadian" enough for government contracts?
Would you call Walmart Canada a "Canadian" company? It's a much more complex question than it appears—but I think most of us would agree on the general answer…
- CanCon
Canadian happiness scores are dropping fast. Why?
When the World Happiness Report first began scoring countries on their self-reported levels of happiness in 2012, Canada was consistently in the top 10. It…
- CanCon
Canada's a video game powerhouse. Why don't we ever talk about it?
In any other entertainment medium, a Canadian-made product winning the equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar would be historic, headline-grabbing news. But when…
- CanCon
Inside Canada's struggling emergency rooms, six years after Covid struck
One might've thought we'd learned our lesson in 2020. That being hit with waves of deeply ill patients that pushed our health care system—especially its front…
- CanCon
A year after a major flip, Canada's polls are shifting again
The federal Liberals miraculous early-2025 comeback was one of the biggest sudden shocks in Canadian political history. In response to Justin Trudeau's…
- CanCon
Is Canadian podcasting in trouble?
A little less than a decade ago, the podcast industry was ascendant in Canada. Independent shows were finding an audience, major media companies were starting…
- CanCon
How did Canada become a country of monopolies? It started as one.
You know the joke about Canada being three (insert sector here) companies in a trench coat? Well, it's kind of always been that way. When Canadians complain…
- CanCon
A look inside Canada's largest wholesale produce market
Marshall Cohen is one of the last of the old masters. His job, for more than four decades, has been to personally select from the tons and tons of fresh…
- CanCon
Can Canada's travel industry seize a golden opportunity?
As you may have heard (over and over again), travel to the United States by Canadians is way down. Other countries are also avoiding the US, whether due to…
- CanCon
The past, present and future of "Canadian" whisky
You may wonder, in the middle of a trade war, why Ontario's premier was pouring out a gigantic bottle of Crown Royal whisky, the spirit perhaps associated with…
- CanCon
What exactly is CanCon? And is the policy still working?
Decades ago, our government, and the body that oversees Canadian broadcasting, decided that homemade content was in danger of being overwhelmed by the vast…
- CanCon
Introducing: CanCon
Welcome to CanCon! From (most of) the team that brought you Elbows Up, comes a show dedicated to telling Canadian stories, rather than focusing our energy on…
- CanCon
A Canada Day tour of our country's hidden gems
This summer, given ... everything going on down there, Canadians are more interested in exploring their own backyard than traveling to the United States. And…
- CanCon
How to get totally fact up
One of the biggest problems Canadians face—that anyone faces—is the onslaught of misinformation online. Plenty of studies, including a new Reuters News survey…
- CanCon
Going to the US? Here's what you need to know.
Millions of Canadians are voting with their feet, and their wallets, refusing to travel to the United States this summer—or even cancelling plans they've…
- CanCon
As the G7 looms, the worst tariff impacts are yet to come
It's been a few months now since the United States placed the first in an ever-changing series of tariffs on Canadian products. And our economy, so far is…
- CanCon
A new government, more defence spending and ... a Golden Dome?!
Canada's new defence minister has promised an effort unseen since World War II to replenish and revitalize our military. How serious is he? Canada has a…
- CanCon
We're talking separation now, Alberta? Really?!
For a whole lot of Canadians outside the prairie province—and a good number of Albertans, too—the province's recent flirtation with an independence referendum…
- CanCon
Can Canada import American doctors?
Canada has a doctor shortage. Many of you are living it right now. For most of the past few decades, the brain drain for physicians has gone one way: Canada to…
- CanCon
The Carney-Trump meeting and life in the disinformation economy
Last week's meeting between Canada's new prime minister and his counterpart in Washington was, by recent standards, civil and non-confrontational. Mark Carney…
- CanCon
How do we keep Canada's automotive industry rolling?
More than 120,000 Canadians work in Canada's auto industry...for now. As tariffs imposed by the US President kick into gear, only to change and then change…
- CanCon
A history lesson for Canada's new Parliament
These might feel like unprecedented times, with the US President dropping his latest annexation proposal on Canada's election day—but in truth, we have been…
- CanCon
Going to therapy for the Canada-US divorce
The past five years have featured one global upheaval after another, so it's no surprise every Canadian's nerves were a little frayed even before Donald Trump…
- CanCon
Charlie Angus on organizing a Canadian resistance
If you've seen American television discussing Canada's response to the Trump administration's trade war and annexation rhetoric, you've probably seen Charlie…
- CanCon
Explaining "Made in Canada" vs "Product of Canada" vs Everything Else
Have you seen a lot of Maple Leaf stickers and signs in your grocery store lately? Maybe even next to products you know are sold by American companies that are…
- CanCon
Untangling Canada's national security from America's
From intelligence services to border control to the military and everything in between, Canada has designed its national security infrastructure to work in…
- CanCon
What you need to know about Canada’s reserve forces. Including … is it for you?
Whenever the prospect of "51st state" is mentioned, many Canadians wonder what would happen if it really came to that. Others wonder what they'd do in that…
- CanCon
How to save your money, and your country, in a trade war
A stated objective of President Trump's trade war is to cause Canada economic pain, in an apparent effort to bully Canada into becoming the 51st state. That…
- CanCon
Canadian cybersecurity and fighting a digital war
Basically everything Canadians send digitally, even just to one another, runs through huge American tech companies—Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, and dozens…
- CanCon
Let's build a Civil Defence Corps!
Countries like Sweden and Finland, that live near a hostile power, have made huge investments in civil defence, preparing their citizens to respond to any…
- CanCon
Welcome to Elbows Up!
The world is shifting under our feet. This is a podcast about how Canada can stay strong and free, forever. And what exactly we need to do that. Feedback from…