The Paikin Podcast

Steve Paikin and Caryn Ceolin discuss Mark Carney’s expected industrial carbon pricing deal with Alberta, the political balancing act around western alienation, and Donald Trump’s meetings with Xi Jinping in Beijing as the war in Iran continues. This is your Morning Brief for Friday, May 15th.

Liberal MP Karina Gould joins the Everything Political panel with former MPs Martha Hall Findlay and Tony Clement to discuss the meeting between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and PM Mark Carney, respecting environmental law and Indigenous rights, if Carney is letting the pro-environment side of the Liberals down, meeting both our environmental commitments and utilizing our oil resources, and if we have too many regulations in Canada that inhibit us from building big things. They also discuss Brexit and separatism in Alberta, if a referendum “spreads the poison,” as Bob Rae said, partisan vs. independent Senate appointments, the census, and Tony’s decision to end the mandatory long-form census back in 2011.

Steve Paikin and Caryn Ceolin discuss Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip to Beijing, the ongoing fallout from the war in Iran, China’s role in the Strait of Hormuz and what it all could mean for Taiwan. This is your Morning Brief for Wednesday, May 13th.

In our first edition of a monthly segment, Steve is joined by “the most difficult man to introduce in Canada,” Bob Rae, to discuss how we are increasingly seeing behaviour in the world that is “tyrannical,” the fallout from the Iran War, why it has achieved nothing, why Canada must be more than just a bystander, and why Blaise Pascal’s maxim from the 17th century helps us understand the world today: “Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.” They also discuss Canada’s new Governor General, Louise Arbour, the rising separatist sentiments in Canada, the dilemma Pierre Poilievre is facing, and the state of the Toronto Blue Jays.

MP Ali Ehsassi joins Janice Stein on World on Edge to discuss the ongoing Iran War, if this could become a forever war, why regime change doesn’t come out of the barrel of a gun, and what the United States failed to understand about Iran. They also discuss the economic fallout in Iran, the Iranian diaspora in Canada, if Iran is farther away from a nuclear weapon, the possibility of nuclear proliferation across the region, the weaponization of the Strait of Hormuz, and why this is one of the worst performances ever by a United States president.

President and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, Mark Shapiro, joins Steve at the Rogers Centre, perched atop the dugout, to discuss last year’s World Series, the heartbreak of game 7, chasing excellence instead of outcomes, his father, Ron Shapiro, and if he thought he’d be with the Blue Jays this long. They also discuss why the election of Trump has made him happier to be in Canada, geopolitics and Israel, rising antisemitism in Canada, his Jewish identity, the expiring CBA, the prospect of a salary cap in baseball, and the impending negotiations.

Michael Bonner joins to discuss his book, The Crisis of Liberalism: The Origin and Destiny of Freedom, the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, then they go back and look at the early 90s and the promise of the end of history, the growing tension between individual and group identity, and why many misunderstand the origins of liberalism. Then they discuss the backlash to DEI, whether wanting to be free is part of our DNA, the western assumption of progress, and the usual round of “good on yas.”

Ric Bienstock joins Steve to discuss her documentary Speechless, the explosion of the culture wars on college campuses, why we have lost the ability to talk to each other, and how free speech has been reshaped in colleges and beyond. They also discuss the rise of the “woke right,” if they have come to mirror the woke left they oppose, if anyone really cares about free speech anymore, how to do DEI right, and if she was surprised CBC aired her documentary.

Francis J. Gavin joins Janice Stein to discuss his new book, Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy, why we need to know history to understand the uncertain geopolitical order today, whether Trump and his advisors understand history, why it’s necessary to understand countries such as China, Russia, and Iran, and which President of the United States knew the most history. They then discuss how history is misused, how to use the often contested lessons from history, the lessons from the Vietnam and Iraq wars, why we need to complicate our story of the Cold War, and why history makes the "unfamiliar familiar and the familiar unfamiliar."

Gord Stellick and Ronnie Shuker join Steve to discuss the 75th anniversary of Bill Barilko’s overtime goal to win the Leafs the Stanley Cup in 1951, if it was the greatest Leafs goal ever scored, and the mystery around his disappearance that summer while on a fishing trip. They also discuss the new feature-length documentary in production, “Frozen in Time: The Bill Barilko Story,” that will break new ground on the story.