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A few things have changed since Leslyn Lewis ran for federal Conservative leader in 2020 with an unexpectedly strong campaign. While government spending, debt and hostility to the West and Canada’s resources have only gotten worse she says, the Liberal government’s questionable use of the Emergencies Act, the undermining of democratic institutions, and the threat to freedoms have since become key issues for her. Lewis joins Anthony this week to explain why she thinks her socially conservative positions will appeal to a broader base of Canadians than many people expect and why she believes she stands an even better chance at winning the leadership this time around. (Recorded March 17, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 20 years of housing bubble-blowing, the thought of ever owning a home now seems virtually impossible for legions of younger Canadians. But there are reasons to take heart, as Garry Marr tells Anthony in this week’s episode. Marr, a journalist who has covered Canadian real estate for decades, details how government policies have continued to inflate housing prices in Canada’s biggest cities, frustrating the ownership dreams of younger generations while older generations gut their retirement savings to help out their kids. It can’t go on like this. Marr explains how markets and mentalities are finally starting to shift in ways that could make home ownership for young families realistic again. (Recorded March 4, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canadian journalist Neil Hauer is on the ground in Ukraine living through a Russian invasion. He was in Kyiv as cruise missiles rained down and heard the gunfire as special forces advanced on the city. He joins Anthony from Lviv, Ukraine to describe what it’s really like on the ground in a country in the midst of an invasion, how Ukrainians have been trying to fight back, and some of the unexpected problems that have hampered Moscow’s plans so far. Hauer, who specializes in reporting on Eastern Europe, also discusses the harrowing nuclear threat and the dangerous possibilities of what could happen if Vladimir Putin starts to feel cornered. (Recorded March 3, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canada’s former chief of the defence staff Tom Lawson joins Anthony this week to discuss why NATO countries are watching Russia’s ruthless invasion of Ukraine with caution, and why a confrontation between western troops and Russian forces is a serious escalation that neither side should want. Lawson, who was also formerly deputy commander of the North American Aerospace Defence Command, also talks about why this is an important moment for Canada to take stock of its own military capabilities as we contemplate what could be “the end of a remarkable period of peace.” (Recorded February 24, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Emergencies Act invoked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has never been used before — and for good reason. The law that replaced the War Measures Act is so powerful, it was essentially designed to be unusable, as constitutional lawyer Ryan Alford discusses with Anthony in this week’s episode. Alford, author of the book Permanent State of Emergency, details the alarming breadth of the act’s powers, its incompatibility with the constitution, its use to target certain political viewpoints, and why its use could foreshadow an even graver expansion of state authority. (Recorded February 17, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As other federal Conservatives distance themselves from the Freedom Convoy they once backed, Pierre Poilievre joins Anthony to declare his continued support for the movement. The first declared candidate for the federal Conservative leadership race explains why he thinks government overreach during the pandemic, and too much government meddling everywhere else, has made life harder, less affordable and less promising for Canadians. And he discusses how, if he becomes prime minister, he intends to fix it with more freedom. (Recorded February 10, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First they were portrayed as a small, ignorable fringe. Then they were portrayed as dangerous hooligans with “unacceptable” views. But once the trucker convoy rolled into Ottawa it defied expectations about the size and scope of Canadians fed up with government pandemic overreach. Rupa Subramanya, a columnist for the National Post, lives in downtown Ottawa and has been walking the city’s streets and talking with protestors. She joins Anthony this week to discuss what’s really happening on the ground in the nation’s capital, why it doesn’t fit the predictable narratives, and why so many Canadians see in the protests a version of their own ordinary frustrations. (Recorded February 3, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Olympic medallist and world champion figure skater Elvis Stojko joins Anthony this week to talk about what the last two years have been like for elite athletes as they’ve been restricted from their normal training routines, missed out on competitions, and had to struggle with the possible impacts on their performance from either getting COVID or getting vaccinated. All of this has happened, meanwhile, on top of the problems and uncertainty surrounding the 2022 Games in Beijing and calls for boycotts over China’s crimes against humanity. Stojko discusses the serious toll it’s all taking on athletes, how he tries to help them through it, and why it won’t be an easy recovery. (Recorded January 20, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 crisis has presented a minefield of bioethical questions, which Canadian policy-makers have largely stomped all over. It’s not just the damage of lockdowns, the treatment of children, demonizing the unvaxxed, and the privacy invasions. It’s also the callous disregard for anything happening beyond Canada’s borders. Bioethicist Dr. Kerry Bowman joins Anthony this week to discuss the problems created by neglecting bioethical considerations during the pandemic. And why he’s worried that doing so may have changed the very fabric of Canadian society for the worse. (Recorded January 20, 2022) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He served jail time in Mississippi for defying racial segregation laws. He was there at the founding the NDP. And he once believed that private property was a crime. But Michael Audain has come a long way since then, becoming one of the most successful players in B.C.’s torrid housing sector. And he’s made a massive fortune — his foundation recently gave $100 million to the Vancouver Art Gallery — from a market he used to denounce. The founder of Polygon Homes joins Anthony to discuss his eventful life, his (mostly) changed beliefs, and his new memoir One Man In His Time. (Recorded January 6, 2022.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices