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
It took Danielle Smith (basically) a year to get her new West Coast pipeline from Ottawa - a massive project with a price tag between 35 to 44 billion dollars.
October 6, 2026
An interview with Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
September 29, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney came into office promising to turn Canada into an investment destination. One of the biggest tests of that promise is happening in Saskatchewan.
September 22, 2026
South of the border, billionaires are getting eaten alive.
September 15, 2026
Host Sam Konnert talks to BC political commentator and host of “This is Vancolor”, Mo Amir, to spell out what exactly is going on. 
September 8, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney made a nice speech last weekend. But what happens after you walk away from a blown-up trade deal?
September 1, 2026
Can we “build baby build” when workers “strike baby strike?”
August 25, 2026
Pierre Poilievre has a lot of haters. But his biggest hater might just be Kory Teneycke. This is a guy who comes from inside the Conservative machine. He was Stephen Harper's communications director. He helped Doug Ford win. Then win again. Then again.
August 18, 2026
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
Canadaland Politics