September 9, 2025
SHARE
Canadaland Politics
#147 What If Trump Shuts Off Canada’s Data Servers?
While Donald Trump is bent on achieving and maintaining “unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance”, we’re just starting to gear up for the race.
Noor Azrieh
Host/Producer
Aviva Lessard
Senior Producer
Sam Konnert
Producer/Host
Caleb Thompson
Audio Editor
max collins
Director of Audio
Jesse Brown
Host & Publisher

While Donald Trump is bent on achieving and maintaining “unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance”, we’re just starting to gear up for the race. There are only about 300 data centres across Canada. And about HALF of them are run by American tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. Host Noor Azrieh sits down with Don Lenihan and Vass Bednar and asks whether we can control our digital sovereignty. 

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: Aviva Lessard (Senior Producer), Sam Konnert (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Post Production), Max Collins (Director of Audio) Jesse Brown (Editor), Tony Wang (Artwork)

Guests: Don Lenihan, Vass Bednar

Background reading:

Sponsors: 

Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit ARTICLE.COM/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout

If you value this podcast, Support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody. 

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Can’t get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

Canadaland Politics is recording a LIVE podcast and Q&A from Calgary on September 22nd, 2025 at 7:30PM MT hosted by Mount Royal University. Let us know you’re coming by RSVPing here: https://forms.gle/LoxvdZ8LFfubFpGeA

More from this series
Pierre Poilievre just cruised through his leadership review, but is the party really buying what he’s selling?
February 3, 2026
We’re back in the middle of another Donald Trump tariff tantrum—this time over Canada’s trade relationship with China.
January 27, 2026
 When the Liberals announced the national gun buyback program in 2019, it was supposed to be a simple and clear choice.
January 20, 2026
Mark Carney heads to Beijing, China, marking the first time in 8 years a Canadian Prime Minister sets foot in the country.
January 13, 2026
Consider this your 2025 political yearbook.
December 23, 2025
What is a middle power like Canada supposed to do when its closest ally goes rogue?
December 16, 2025
Legault’s government is sinking, the PQ is surging, and Secularism 2.0 just dropped. @samkonnert asks: is Quebec actually heading toward a referendum? Plus: John Rustad on being pushed out by his own MLAs.
December 9, 2025
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
Canadaland Politics