THE POLICE #9 - Northern Patrol
  • Search
    • Sign up for our newsletter
    COMMONS
    THE POLICE #9 – Northern Patrol
    For three decades, much of Northern Ontario has been engaged in an unprecedented experiment in policing. It’s called the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service. And the idea is simple: the old, colonial cops shouldn’t be policing Indigenous territory. Instead, Indigenous people should police themselves.

    Support us at commonspodcast.com

     

    For three decades, much of Northern Ontario has been engaged in an unprecedented experiment in policing. It’s called the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service. And the idea is simple: the old, colonial cops shouldn’t be policing Indigenous territory. Instead, Indigenous people should police themselves.

    Featured in this episode: Kyle Edwards, Christian Leuprecht

     

    To learn more:

    “Inside the impossible work of Canada’s biggest Indigenous police force” by Kyle Edwards in Maclean’s

    “Force 2.0: Fixing the Governance, Leadership, and Structure of the RCMP” by Christian Leuprecht

    “Memories of a fire” by Mark Blackburn in APTN News

     

    Additional music from Audio Network

     

    This episode is sponsored by Dispatch Coffee, Rotman, Cullen’s Foods, and Manscaped.

    February 10, 2021
    Share
    More from this series
    5
    Sex Work in Canada
    Kerry Porth, Akio Maroon, and Elene Lam join for a panel discussion on Bill C-36 and more.
    June 1, 2015
    2
    What Happened in Alberta?
    Desmond and Andray try to understand the NDP's shocking victory. Guests: professor Melanee Thomas and writer Drew Brown.
    October 7, 2015
    3
    Elizabeth May
    Desmond Cole talks to Green Party leader Elizabeth May about her plans to get arrested, and more.
    October 7, 2015
    4
    The PMO, what it is?
    What is the Prime Minister's Office? How many people work there, who are they, and what do they all do? Just how powerful is the PMO, and is the Prime Minister responsible for what it does?
    October 7, 2015
    6
    Residential Schools
    We haven't even begun to talk about what happened.
    October 7, 2015
    7
    Crossing the Floor
    Andray and Desmond speak with former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith about crossing the floor from the official opposition to the governing party.
    October 7, 2015
    10
    Diversity or Tokenism?
    Rachel Décoste joins to talk diversity quotas, tokenism and equity in Canadian politics.
    October 7, 2015
    8
    Barbaric Cultural Practices
    Andray Domise, guest-host Supriya Dwivedi and Ishmael Daro talk about the Zero Tolerance For Barbaric Cultural Practices Act, the new Quebec secular legislation, and the massacre in Charleston.
    October 7, 2015
    9
    The Senate, What it Do?
    Paul Wells and Heather Hughson talk about what the Senate does, and whether or not it's worth hanging on to.
    October 7, 2015
    11
    Can I Kick It?
    Desmond Cole and Andray Domise talk election fraud, Justin Trudeau, and the TRC.
    October 7, 2015
    15
    The COMMONS Guide To Debates
    Desmond Cole and guest host Supriya Dwivedi present The CANADALAND: COMMONS Guide To Debates. 
    October 7, 2015
    14
    Cash Rules Everything Around Me
    To kick off the official federal election campaign, Desmond Cole and Andray Domise talk to Harold Jansen and Gerry Nicholls about campaign financing, party fundraising, and why this campaign is set to be the longest in modern Canadian history.
    October 7, 2015
    12
    Debts and Deficits
    Andray Domise and guest host Supriya Dwivedi talk government debt, recessions and the Balanced Budget Act with Mike Moffatt of the Mowat Centre, and Aaron Wudrick of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
    October 7, 2015
    13
    Migrant Detention
    Desmond Cole and Andray Domise talk about the Canadian government's detention of migrants, many of whom have committed no crime, with Renu Mandhane and Syed Hussan.
    October 7, 2015
    16
    Survey Says!
    Andray Domise and Desmond Cole talk to Kyla Ronellenfitsch from the Gandalf Group and David Coletto, the CEO of Abacus Data to help figure out political polling. When should you pay attention to a poll and why and when should you take the results with a grain of salt.
    October 7, 2015
    17
    Kids These Days
    Andray Domise speaks with former 18-year-old mayoral candidate Morgan Baskin (@MorganBaskinTO) and Generation Squeeze founder Paul Kershaw (@GenSqueeze) about youth in politics. Don't worry. No one asks you to rock the vote.
    October 7, 2015
    18
    A Historic Election
    We've never seen one like this before. Desmond Cole is back to talk three-way races, minority governments and party cooperation with Paul Fairie (@paulisci) and Mychaylo Prystupa (@Mychaylo). Plus, Andray Domise is reticent to embrace coalitions.
    October 7, 2015
    22
    A Conservative Makes His Case
    Cartoonist and conservative commentator J.J. McCullough tells Andray and Desmond why he's voting Conservative in this election. It gets uncomfortable.
    October 8, 2015
    21
    What are women’s issues, anyway?
    Septembre Anderson and Naomi Sayers tell Desmond Cole what they think women's issues are, and what they make of how they're treated in our politics.
    October 8, 2015
    20
    Knock Knock
    Desmond Cole follows a Green Party candidate and his volunteers as they door-knock in the riding of Toronto-Danforth.
    October 8, 2015
    19
    Campaign Ads (are for grandmas)
    Andray Domise and Desmond Cole talk campaign ads with Jen Gerson and Scott Matthews. Featuring a special guest appearance from Andray’s grandma.
    October 8, 2015
    23
    The Choice for Progressives
    Tiffany Gooch explains why she's voting Liberal, and Luke Savage tells us why he's voting NDP. Plus, Desmond and Andray debate the value of voting.
    October 14, 2015
    24
    Episode #24: Live On Election Night
    Andray Domise, Desmond Cole and Supriya Dwivedi broadcast 'live and loose' to a packed room at the Monarch Tavern in Toronto. Feat. Jesse Brown in Toronto, Jen Gerson at Harper HQ in Calgary, Drew Brown in Edmonton, Morgan Baskin in Squamish. Warning: there's some profanity in this episode. Check out tweets from the event at #CL42. Special thanks to RAUR for the livestream.
    October 20, 2015
    25
    Canada’s 1st MP of Somali descent
    Ahmed Hussen is the first Canadian of Somali descent to get elected to Parliament. He joins Andray and Desmond in studio to talk about diversity in Parliament and Liberal policies on Bill C-51, the refugee crisis and more.
    October 27, 2015
    26
    Losin’ Ain’t Easy
    Andray wants to know what a party in the opposition can actually do, so he talks to Ray Martin, the former Leader of the Offiical Opposition for Alberta. He also talks about the future of the Conservative Party with Mark Warner - a candidate who was ousted in 2007 - and Tasha Kheiriddin - a conservative who's been critical of Stephen Harper.
    November 2, 2015
    27
    How the Cabinet is like Wu-Tang Clan
    Andray speaks to University of New Brunswick's JP Lewis and Buzzfeed Canada's Scaachi Koul about the new Liberal Cabinet. JP is full of weird analogies. Scaachi's dubious of the change to come.
    November 9, 2015
    29
    The Beaverton
    Andray and Desmond talk about giving teeth to political satire with Luke Gordon Field, editor-in-chief of The Beaverton.
    November 24, 2015
    30
    Electoral Reform, or How New Zealand Got a Rastafari MP
    Andray and Desmond speak to a former New Zealand politician about the electoral reform his country went through. Conservative strategist Jim Burnett thinks it would never work in Canada.
    November 30, 2015
    32
    Families of MMIW: “What can we do tomorrow?”
    Three family members of murdered or missing Indigenous women join Desmond and guest host Supriya to talk about their thoughts on the national inquiry and how they've felt let down by First Nations leaders on this issue.
    December 16, 2015
    31
    Bringing Refugees To The Rockies
    We take a look at what goes into getting 3 refugees from Syria to the small mountain town of Jasper, Alberta. And a refugee from Pakistan talks about abandoning her home country.
    December 23, 2015
    33
    Canada’s Climate Game (of Thrones)
    Andray is shamed for driving an SUV. Trudeau is shamed for brushing off young people. Desmond is shamed for not watching Game of Thrones.
    December 23, 2015
    34
    A Senator On Mischief, Mutiny And Men’s Rights
    A difficult interview in which Senator Anne C. Cools dismisses the need to audit senators' expenses and denies that violence is a gendered problem.
    January 7, 2016
    35
    White Men Gotta Speak On This
    Editor-in-chief of the Walrus Jonathan Kay and cultural critic September Anderson talk about whether white men are being stifled by political correctness. Oh, and wtf is political correctness anyway?
    January 12, 2016
    36
    What is a Post-Harper Conservative?
    Conservative strategist Jim Burnett returns to answer questions like “What is a Conservative today?” and “Did you actually like Harper?" Plus, a young Conservative gives his view on the future of the party.
    January 19, 2016
    37
    Michelle Rempel on Heckling
    Desmond and Supriya speak to Conservative MP Michelle Rempel about heckling in the House of Commons.
    January 25, 2016
    38
    The Government Finally Admitted They Illegally Spy On Us and Nobody Cares
    A watchdog report released publicly last week said CSE collected info on Canadians and gave it to other countries.
    February 2, 2016
    28
    Paris; Backlash Against Canadian Muslims?
    Following the tragedy in Paris, Desmond talks to Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, and Amira Elghawaby, communications director for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, about the backlash Canadian Muslims face when terrorist attacks carried out in the name of Islam.
    February 3, 2016
    Don’t Let Harper Happen Here: Wab Kinew on Entering Politics
    Wab Kinew talks about systemic racism against Indigenous peoples in Canada and why he's turned to politics to try to make the changes he wants to see.
    February 8, 2016
    40
    George Elliott Clarke: A Polyphony of Canadian Blacknesses
    The Parliamentary Poet Laureate talks about working for a pioneering black MP, Canada's multitude of black histories and his problem with telephone companies.
    February 15, 2016
    41
    Legal Weed is Bad for Poor People
    We talk to a Liberal MP and a criminal defense lawyer about what legalisation means for the people who built the markets.
    February 22, 2016
    42
    Live From U of Ottawa: Refugees Welcome, But Bad News About the Job Market…
    When Canadian University grads work at Starbucks and immigrant doctors drive taxis, how will refugees get on their feet?
    February 29, 2016
    43
    Rogue Senators
    Senator Diane Bellemare quit the Conservative caucus, saying pressure to toe the party line is getting in the way of Senators doing their jobs.
    March 14, 2016
    44
    Canada’s Arms Deals: Beyond Saudi Arabia
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    March 21, 2016
    45
    Police in Canada Get Away with Killing Black People
    “It’s just the mindsets of the entire police force in which they don’t see us as human and if a life is lost of ours, they just don’t care."
    March 30, 2016
    46
    Tom Mulcair: Hot Prosecutor or Wet Napkin?
    Tom Mulcair's leadership review, corrupt Quebec politics and a ton of free advice on how the government can become more open.
    April 4, 2016
    47
    Should This Old Indian Guy Lead the Conservatives?
    Conservatives jump into the leadership race, Desmond has questions about a Liberal Party flip flop on torture and economist Lindsay Tedds tells us why the Panama Papers matter.
    April 11, 2016
    48
    Parliament Needs More Women’s Bathrooms
    NOT SORRY writer Vicky Mochama talks to young women on Parliament Hill about the barriers they face and the work they do.
    April 19, 2016
    49
    Can a Conservative Be a Feminist?
    Should a politician's voting record prevent her from speaking up about sexism? Why protestors were living inside the offices of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada across the country. And Mike Duffy's acquitted. Jane Lytvenenko joins Supriya Dwivedi.
    April 25, 2016
    50
    Debating Same-Sex Marriage and Other Ways to Stay Irrelevant
    The Conservative Party is getting ready to debate same-sex marriage more than a decade after it became law. BC's Premier is getting rich off party funds. An economist on why Newfounland and Labrador are shutting down more than half their libraries. Desmond says goodbye.
    May 2, 2016
    51
    How to Make Poor People Disappear (Census Edition)
    Sex and the census, how the last government made poor people disappear and bailing out Bombardier.
    May 11, 2016
    52
    Are Libertarians Conservatives?
    Libertarian Matt Bufton does not want to be lumped in with Conservatives; a story of a Brenna Kannick's death in remand; the NDP proposed a bill to create gender equity (nearly) on the ballot.
    May 16, 2016
    Celebrating Defeat: Dispatches from the Conservative Convention
    The Syrup Trap's Winnie Code checks out the Conservative Convention, where she talks to a crude button maker and interim leader Rona Ambrose.
    June 1, 2016
    This Is Not Canada: Living as a Migrant Farm Worker
    A farm worker wants better conditions for foreign labourers, and is Trudeau bending gender norms in politics?
    June 6, 2016
    Cheri DiNovo on How to Fix the NDP
    MPP Cheri DiNovo on why she couldn't sit back and watch the NDP make any more mistakes.
    June 14, 2016
    Naming a Genocide
    The government declared that ISIS is committing a genocide against Yazidis. Vicky and Supriya look into what that means for Canada's obligations.
    June 21, 2016
    57
    Buy Gold and Raisin Bran: The Brexit and Canada
    Supriya and Vicky want to know what the Brexit means for us. Does a vote for the United Kingdom to leave the EU change our lives on this side of the ocean?
    July 5, 2016
    58
    When CSIS Comes Knocking
    Vicky and Supriya talk to human rights activist Monia Mazigh about CSIS's unannounced visits to Muslim men's homes and workplaces.
    July 12, 2016
    Canadian Police Are Racist Too
    There’s been a lot of attention on police violence against Black people in the U.S. How different is Canada's policing system?
    July 26, 2016
    MMIW: What Justice Means for a Family Member
    We talk to Maggie Cywink about the upcoming inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women. Her sister Sonya Cywink was murdered over 20 years ago and the case remains unsolved.
    August 9, 2016
    When CSIS Comes Knocking pt. 2
    Earlier this summer, we heard about CSIS agents making unannounced visits to Muslims. Now, one of those men joins us.
    August 23, 2016
    62
    When Your Councillor Spams You On Facebook
    A listener thinks a city councillor is using his platform to make money. The councillor gets philosophical. We get to the bottom of it.
    September 6, 2016
    Conservative Leadership Showdown Part 1: Michael Chong & Brad Trost
    Over the summer, Vicky and Supriya set out to interview all of the candidates for the leader of Conservative Party. Here are their interviews with Michael Chong and Brad Trost.
    September 13, 2016
    64
    Conservative Leadership Showdown Part 2: Tony Clement & Maxime Bernier
    Our quest to get to know all the Conservative leadership contenders continues with Tony Clement and Maxime Bernier.
    September 20, 2016
    65
    Drunk On Liberal Power / Kellie Leitch On Anti-Canadian Values
    Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch calls Trudeau a "Canadian identity denier" and defends her idea of screening immigrants for their values. Plus, a look at the year ahead in Parliament.
    September 27, 2016
    A Hat Trick Of Deceit: First Nations And The LNG Project
    On last week's show, Bloomberg's Josh Wingrove predicted energy projects would put an end to the Trudeau government's honeymoon. Now we have a test case.
    October 4, 2016
    67
    A Hodge Podge Of Political Hacks: Inside The War Room
    We go behind the scenes in Canadian politics with Lisa and Warren Kinsella, who share stories of Liberal war rooms and "dirty rotten lobbyists."
    October 11, 2016
    A Message About the Future of COMMONS
    We have news.
    October 18, 2016
    COMMONS returns!
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    February 13, 2017
    68
    Strong Hearts To The Front
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    February 21, 2017
    69
    “I’m Ashamed Of Myself For Being Afraid”
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    March 7, 2017
    70
    You Have No Rights At The Border
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    March 21, 2017
    71
    Being Icky Is The Job
    The Liberals, according to Conservative MP Scott Reid, are trying to "ram through whatever the f**** they want." In other, vaguely sexually-themed Conservative news, Brad Trost isn't down with the "the whole gay thing," while k.d. lang asks if Jason Kenney might be secretly fond of it. Kellie Leitch and Senator Lynn Beyak? Just crapping on Muslims and Indigenous peoples again, respectively. Nothing sexy there.
    April 4, 2017
    72
    Commons Gets High
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    April 18, 2017
    73
    That’s Why We Live In A Democracy
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    May 2, 2017
    74
    Cultural Appropriation Is An Inherently Political Act
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    May 16, 2017
    75
    Drink Like A Conservative
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    May 30, 2017
    76
    Amy Goodman/The Constitutional Clusterf**k
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    June 13, 2017
    77
    The Rise Of The Right
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    July 4, 2017
    78
    Guy Caron, Guaranteed Income And Climate Refugees
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    September 12, 2017
    79
    Ashton, Angus & Singh – Oh My!
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    September 26, 2017
    80
    Why We Need Higher Taxes, A Canadian Mt. Rushmore And A Population Of 100 Million
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    October 10, 2017
    81
    Niqabs & Nafta
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    October 24, 2017
    82
    As If They Were Pets: The Sixties Scoop
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    November 6, 2017
    No Protest is Genteel: On Antifa
    Live from Vancouver: We speak with organizers Garth Mullins and Annie Ohana to unpack what it means to resist fascism in BC. Featuring Hadiya Roderique and guest host Sandy Garossino.
    November 21, 2017
    Invisible Victims: How Police Botched the Robert Pickton Case
    I think you should be getting our newsletterGet a weekly note about our top stories.This is a good thing that we do. You'll like this.johnsmith@example.comSign UpForm is being submitted, please wait a bit.Please fill out all required fields.
    December 5, 2017
    Invisible Victims: The Quest for Police Accountability
    "It was bad enough that I had lost my daughter. But the interaction with the police was even worse." A miniseries on policing.
    December 19, 2017
    Throwing Shade at 2017: A Political Awards Show
    We look back on some notably weird political moments of 2017 and collectively cringe.
    January 8, 2018
    Unknown Road: Inside Immigration Detention
    Each year, thousands of people are indefinitely jailed in prisons without any criminal charges. Babou was one of them.  
    January 22, 2018
    Our Mis(education): the Erasure of Blackness in Canadian Schools
    "Only a few decades after slavery was abolished, you already had, in textbooks in Ontario, the removal of references of history of slavery in Canada, but still many examples of realities of slavery in the United States. This idea of identifying racism as an American phenomenon is an important part of how Canadian racism articulates itself."
    February 12, 2018
    Finding A Fix: Our Opioid Overdose Crisis
    “I tried to count up the amount of people that I knew who had died from overdose. I got to fifty, and I just had to stop. You get used to it. It’s like it becomes normal.”
    February 27, 2018
    Unconstitutional Solitude
    Part one of a two-part series in which we explore the conditions and consequences of solitary confinement use in Canada.
    March 12, 2018
    Stories From Solitude
    Two stories take us inside solitary confinement cells across Canada.
    March 27, 2018
    Canadian History X
    As a teen, Elisa Hategan joined Canada's most notorious and well-organized white supremacist group, the Heritage Front. What can we learn from the past about how white supremacists operate today? And what do we do about all these Nazis?
    April 9, 2018
    The All-White Jury In Canada
    There's a simple legal mechanism that allows lawyers to whitewash juries. A new bill proposes getting rid of it, but some lawyers are saying that will make things worse. We look back to how we got here.
    April 24, 2018
    Life In Canada Without Clean Water
    Canada has 20 per cent of the world's freshwater and yet some Indigenous communities across the country have not had clean drinking water for decades.
    May 7, 2018
    What Do Peacekeepers Actually Do?
    The Liberal government announced that it would be sending around 200 troops to assist in a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. But what does "peacekeeping" look like today and what do peacekeepers actually do?
    May 22, 2018
    Canada Is Not Racist… According To The Stats
    If you look at the stats, Canada has a low incidence of hate crimes, but the numbers that we rely on to tell us if we're racist or not are wrong.
    June 5, 2018
    What The Hell Is A Fairness Letter?
    We speak to someone who might not be let into Canada for trying to bring democracy to Syria.
    June 19, 2018
    CORRUPTION #1 – The Most Crime-Ridden Neighbourhood In Canada
    This season, Commons will be focusing on stories at the intersection of money, influence and politics in Canada. In this episode, we take you to what may be Canada’s most criminal neighbourhood — Toronto’s financial district.
    October 2, 2018
    CORRUPTION #2 – How Vancouver Became a Money Laundering Paradise
    For years, people could walk into Vancouver-area casinos with tens of thousands of dollars of suspicious cash and walk out with clean money, no questions asked. That money may be fuelling the city's housing crisis and opiate epidemic.
    October 16, 2018
    CORRUPTION #3 – The Trouble With Paradise: How Canadians Built The Offshore World
    The Panama Papers revealed to the world just how deeply enmeshed tax havens are in the global economy. And for 100 years, Canadian banks, businessmen and politicians have worked to build that offshore system, alongside crooks, fraudsters and corrupt officials.
    October 30, 2018
    CORRUPTION #4 – Papa Pump and the Small Town Shakedown
    In the eleven years that Marolyn Morrison was the mayor of Caledon, Ontario, she faced down deep-pocketed developers, mafia enforcers and corrupt federal officials. When millions of dollars are at stake, things get heated.
    November 13, 2018
    CORRUPTION #5 – The King of Cabbagetown
    For two decades, he's controlled public institutions and bragged about his connections to organized crime. So who exactly is the King of Cabbagetown?
    November 27, 2018
    CORRUPTION #6 – Charlottetown’s Web
    It might be small, but it when it comes to graft, Prince Edward Island plays in the big leagues. Inside PEI’s long, strange attempt to become Canada’s online gambling hub.
    December 11, 2018
    CORRUPTION #7 – The Only Canadian Imprisoned For Insider Trading
    One of Canada's most notorious white-collar criminals speaks about his crimes.
    January 8, 2019
    CORRUPTION #8 – Hockey’s Hall of Shame
    Canada is hockey crazy. But at the heart of the sport is a system of unpaid labour that scars some boys for life. And the teams and leagues are doing whatever it takes to make sure things stay exactly the way they are.
    January 22, 2019
    CORRUPTION #9 – Victoria’s Secrets
    Tens of thousands of dollars in suits, luggage, magazines and mustard. An epic booze heist from the legislature. An undercover legislator exposing corruption. And a wood-splitter that’s transfixed a province.
    February 5, 2019
    CORRUPTION #10 – The Canadian Company Accused of Using Slaves Today
    Canadian companies have committed all kinds of wrongdoing abroad. But this is on a different level. One Vancouver-based company has been accused by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch of using slaves to build a mine with one of the world’s most oppressive governments.
    February 19, 2019
    Introducing Our New Season: CRUDE
    Canada was built on oil.
    March 28, 2019
    CRUDE #1 – Smell This Town
    If you don’t understand oil, you can’t understand Canada. We take you to a place unlike anywhere else in the world, where the booms and busts all began. And find out why just a short distance away, children grow up afraid of the very air they breathe.
    April 2, 2019
    CRUDE #2 – Bombs, Blood & the Battle of Trickle Creek
    A family poisoned in their homes. Bombs going off in the night. Shots fired and inside jobs. The story of Wiebo Ludwig is There Will Be Blood come to life. So was he a man of faith facing down the full might of Big Oil? Or a terrorist with blood on his hands?
    April 16, 2019
    CRUDE #3 – Let the Bastards Freeze in the Dark
    The Alberta oil sands. It’s a cold patch of land (which we once almost nuked into oblivion) that’s become Canada’s economic engine. Governments have fought over it for decades. And now it’s one of the most controversial places on the planet. Will it finally tear our politics apart?
    April 30, 2019
    CRUDE #4 – Orphan Wells: Citizen Con
    What happens when the oil wells run dry? Environmental damage, government bailouts and a scheme that some are comparing to the subprime mortgage crisis. And all of this is just the beginning.
    May 14, 2019
    CRUDE #5 – A Town, Annihilated
    The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster was a calamity like we’ve never seen before. The families of the victims never got justice. But the conditions that made it possible have barely changed. And the next time could be far worse.
    May 28, 2019
    CRUDE #6 – The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea
    An unspeakable tragedy occurs off the coast of Newfoundland. But this isn’t just a story about a nautical disaster. It’s about what happens when a poor province finds immense riches just within reach. And how the promise of oil wealth can twist history around itself.
    June 11, 2019
    CRUDE #7 – The Billionaire Plot to Destroy Alberta’s Economy is Totally Real!
    Has Canada been a casualty of a nefarious campaign by foreign-funded radicals to landlock our country’s energy resources? Is Big Oil the victim of a vast international conspiracy? Naaaah. But there is, of course, another conspiracy afoot.
    June 25, 2019
    Introducing Wag The Doug
    Over the past few weeks, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was booed at the Raptors' victory parade, demoted a bunch of star members of his Cabinet amid sagging poll numbers and lost his Chief of Staff, who got caught up in a nepotism scandal.  Are we witnessing the downfall of a government, or is this just another month in Ontario? 
    July 8, 2019
    CRUDE #8 – Spies, Lies and Private Eyes
    Ever get the feeling someone is watching you? If you’ve been to an environmental protest recently, you might be right. Private intelligence firms, the RCMP and even Canada’s spies have all been caught collecting information on everyday Canadians speaking out against the oil industry.
    July 23, 2019
    CRUDE #9 – Tar Teck: The Final Frontier
    Teck Resources just got approval to build the largest tar sands operation ever. The Frontier mine would have serious and permanent consequences for the local environment, Indigenous peoples and the global climate. So why haven’t you ever heard about it?
    August 6, 2019
    CRUDE #10 – The Apocalypse is Now
    Canoe-borne bandits strike an underwater town. A new generation of wealthy lobstermen is minted. An island disappears. And hellfire engulfs a highway jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive. Just another normal day amidst Canada’s climate catastrophe. 
    August 20, 2019
    Our New Season: DYNASTIES
    Stories about the rich and powerful families who run Canada.
    September 11, 2019
    DYNASTIES #1 – The Stronachs
    Canada is a country ruled by dynasties — political, commercial and criminal. In the first episode of our new series, we bring you the story of an eccentric, billionaire patriarch; his famous, charismatic daughter; a fire-breathing monument the size of the Statue of Liberty; and the battle over one of Canada’s great business empires.
    September 17, 2019
    DYNASTIES #2 – The Irvings
    For almost a century, the Irving family has run New Brunswick like a personal fiefdom. They own the newspapers, the industry, and, according to some, even the government. So how does a single family come to so thoroughly dominate an entire province? And what happens when that family starts to fracture and split apart at the seams?
    October 1, 2019
    DYNASTIES #3 – The Fords
    They call themselves the Canadian Kennedys. And they’re one of the most famous political dynasties to ever exist in this country. But the rise of the Ford family has been marred by violence and self-destruction at almost every turn. The story of the Fords is tragic — for them, for everyone who falls into their orbit, and for the people of Toronto.
    October 15, 2019
    COMMONS Needs Your Help
    Canada is a big, weird, and complicated place. We want to keep telling you these stories, but we need your help.
    October 29, 2019
    DYNASTIES #4 – The Rizzutos
    The Rizzutos are Canada’s first family of crime. For decades, they dominated Montreal’s underworld with an iron fist. With the help of corrupt politicians and police officers, the Rizzutos built one of the most fearsome and lucrative criminal enterprises this country has ever seen. Their reign was long and bloody. But their fall was even more gruesome.
    November 12, 2019
    DYNASTIES #5 – The Sahotas
    The Sahotas are Vancouver’s most notorious slumlords. For decades they’ve let their buildings rot, leaving their tenants to live in filth and desolation. But the Sahotas are not like any other dynasty you’ve ever heard of. Their story is far stranger, and far darker, than anything you can imagine.
    November 27, 2019
    DYNASTIES #6 – The Desmarais
    The Desmarais family is by far the most influential Canadian dynasty of the last half-century. But if you don’t live in Quebec, chances are you haven’t even heard of them. Paul Desmarais had Prime Ministers and Premiers in his pocket and billions of dollars at his disposal. He wasn’t just a Laurentian elite; he was the Laurentian emperor.
    December 11, 2019
    DYNASTIES #7 – The Olands
    For 150 years, the Olands have been one of Canada’s most prominent brewing dynasties, the makers of Moosehead Beer. But in the last decade, they’ve made the news for much darker reasons. Richard Oland was murdered in 2011. And police and prosecutors believe that he was killed by his only son.
    January 8, 2020
    DYNASTIES #8 – The Regans
    Gerald Regan was the premier of Nova Scotia, the founder of a powerful political dynasty, and one of the most prolific sexual predators in Canadian political history. Even after his death last November, few in the establishment are willing to recognize, let alone reckon with, his crimes.
    January 22, 2020
    DYNASTIES #9 – The Harts
    The Harts are Canada’s first family of professional wrestling and one of the most famous dynasties the country has ever produced. And sure, wrestling is scripted. But what happens when reality begins to invade that fiction? The story of the Harts is one of triumph and tragedy that transcends the world of pro wrestling.
    February 5, 2020
    Introducing: Cool Mules
    A new investigative series about the cocaine smuggling ring inside Vice Media.
    March 1, 2020
    Our New Season: RADICALS
    Our new season is about the people who go to extreme lengths for what they believe in.
    March 12, 2020
    RADICALS #1 – Nazi Island in the Sun
    It’s one of the most audacious plots in North American history. Turn a Caribbean island nation into a criminal state — then use the money to fund Neo-Nazis and Klansmen across Canada, the US and Europe. The scariest part? They almost pulled it off.
    March 18, 2020
    RADICALS #2 – They Buried Her Heart at Wounded Knee
    There have been books and songs and plays written about Anna Mae Aquash. But she was no folk hero — she was flesh and blood. A young Mi'kmaq woman who took up arms against the United States government, Anna Mae was a revolutionary. But when she was found murdered in the South Dakotan countryside, it tore her movement apart. It took thirty years to find out who pulled the trigger. But that’s not the same thing as knowing who’s responsible for her murder.
    April 1, 2020
    RADICALS #3 – The Last Pandemic
    It began as a mysterious disease from a far off place. It turned into the deadliest plague humanity has faced since the Black Death. AIDS has ravaged and reshaped us in so many ways. But in Canada, the battle against AIDS wasn’t just a fight against a virus. It was a fight against a system that didn’t care if some people lived or died.
    April 15, 2020
    An emergency season: PANDEMIC
    A new season of COMMONS
    April 27, 2020
    PANDEMIC #1 – 33 Dead in Dorval
    They were found abandoned in the facility. The conditions were described as “akin to a concentration camp.” Within two weeks, over thirty of them would be dead. The story of the Résidence Herron in Dorval, Quebec is a national shame. And a preview of the carnage still to come.
    April 29, 2020
    PANDEMIC #2 – When the Plague Came
    Why did Commons drop everything and focus in on long-term care? Because the vast majority of deaths are happening in those homes. Because we should have known that was going to be the case, but we let it happen anyways. And because the level of suffering, isolation and trauma happening in long-term care today is almost too much for us to face up to.
    May 2, 2020
    PANDEMIC #3 – McKenzie Towne
    The McKenzie Towne Continuing Care Centre has experienced the deadliest COVID-19 outbreak in Alberta. But some people say that their loved ones were killed by neglect at McKenzie Towne long before the pandemic even began.
    May 6, 2020
    PANDEMIC #4 – Ontario Reaps its Dividends
    Over 1700 Ontarians have already been killed by COVID-19. And the vast majority of them died in long-term care. But if you live in a private, for-profit home, you’re much more likely to die from this virus. The for-profit long-term care industry is politically powerful and deeply entrenched. Is this their moment of reckoning?
    May 13, 2020
    PANDEMIC #5 – Shirley and Tracy
    Tracy Rowley lost her surrogate mother to COVID-19 in a long-term care facility. But she’s determined that Shirley Egerdeen doesn’t become just another statistic. Tracy’s suing the company that runs the home. But one of the strangest things in this story is exactly who owns them.
    May 20, 2020
    PANDEMIC #6 – Northwood
    Over the last two months, Nova Scotians have endured tragedy upon tragedy. The worst mass murder in modern Canadian history. A helicopter crash and the death of a Snowbirds’ pilot. And all the while, COVID-19 ravaged the biggest long-term care home in Atlantic Canada.
    May 27, 2020
    PANDEMIC #7 – The Frontline
    Long-term care workers are in the vanguard in the war against COVID-19. They’re not the kinds of workers who get movies or TV shows made about them. In fact, their stories are rarely told. But not only are they battling heroically against this pandemic. They’re fighting for recognition and respect within a system built to marginalize them.
    June 3, 2020
    BONUS: The Honest Fakery of Wrestling
    Wrestling is very real and Stampede Wrestling helped build World Wrestling Entertainment. Damian Abraham, host and creator of The Wrestlers, explains in this week's bonus COMMONS episode.
    June 10, 2020
    PANDEMIC #8 – Hunger Strike
    Innis Ingram’s mother is his hero. But today, she’s living in one of the worst hit long-term care homes in Ontario. She has a terminal illness. Dozens and dozens of people around her have died, including her friend and roommate. And she’s had minimal human contact for three months. But even though he can’t be there with her, Innis is determined to get her the care she needs.
    June 17, 2020
    PANDEMIC #9 – Mend the World
    After a stroke left him locked in his own body, Rabbi Ronnie Cahana has found ways to lead an incredibly full life. Then the pandemic came. It swept through Quebec, leaving a trail of devastation. Today, Rabbi Cahana is one of the thousands of Quebeckers left stranded in the middle of one of the worst disasters in modern Canadian history.
    June 24, 2020
    PANDEMIC #10 – Burn It Down
    Jonathan Marchand is one of the thousands of young disabled people living in long-term care. But Marchand doesn’t want to fix the system. He doesn’t think it can be reformed. Marchand is an abolitionist. For a century and a half, Canada has hidden away disabled people in institutions where they were neglected and abused. Is long-term care just the latest incarnation of this dark history?
    July 8, 2020
    PANDEMIC #11 – It Didn’t Have To Be Like This
    Four months after the first outbreak in a Canadian nursing home, over 7000 long-term residents have died of COVID-19. But if you look at the news or social media or our political debates, it seems like we’ve already moved on. Maybe that’s because it feels like this kind of tragedy was inevitable during a pandemic. It wasn’t. And we know that because in some places in Canada, politicians and public health officials made decisions that saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
    July 22, 2020
    PANDEMIC #12 – The Most Dangerous Story
    In the final episode in our series about the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in long-term care, we’re going to tell you a different kind of story. A story of hope. About how the people we treat as disposable, can have lives of joy and dignity. And about one place where they were given exactly that.
    August 5, 2020
    Introducing our new season…
    Stories about the power the police wield in Canada, and about the lengths they’re willing to go to hold on to it.
    October 7, 2020
    THE POLICE #1 – Julian Fantino
    Julian Fantino may be the most famous cop in Canadian history, but during his rise, people critical of the police had a way of finding themselves in the crosshairs.
    October 14, 2020
    We Need Your Support
    We want to keep doing this work. So this week we’re reflecting on the year behind us and talking about our goals for the future.
    October 20, 2020
    THE POLICE #2 – The Secret History of the RCMP
    The RCMP is one of the most famous police forces in the world — the red serge and stetson hat are practically synonymous with Canada. But that image obscures the profound power the Mounties have held throughout Canadian history. And the dark legacy of ethnic cleansing and genocide at their core.
    October 28, 2020
    THE POLICE #3 – Dirty Tricks
    He called himself the General. And he was at the heart of the RCMP's biggest scandal.
    November 11, 2020
    THE POLICE #4 – Starlight Tours
    Thirty years later, we know some of what happened to Neil Stonechild. But we still don’t have justice. 
    November 25, 2020
    THE POLICE #5 – Toronto’s Finest
    A Toronto police officer shoots and kills two Black men and is accused of beating another, all within a five-year span. He’s never found guilty of committing a crime. And he continues to rise through the ranks.   
    December 9, 2020
    THE POLICE #6 – Who Killed Myles Gray?
    Myles Gray was an unarmed man who died after seven Vancouver police officers beat him mercilessly. Half a decade after he died, not only does his family not have justice, they don’t even know the names of the people who killed him.
    December 23, 2020
    THE POLICE #7 – The G20: Conspiracy
    In the first of a two-part series on the G20, two mysterious strangers start volunteering with activist networks in southern Ontario. It’s all part of one of the biggest undercover police operations in Canadian history
    January 13, 2021
    THE POLICE #8 – The G20: Fortress Toronto
    When John and Susan Pruyn came to Toronto, they were hoping to protest against the G20 and then spend some time with their daughter. Instead, they would be caught up in a whirlwind of police misconduct with few precedents in Canadian history.
    January 27, 2021
    THE POLICE #9 – Northern Patrol
    For three decades, much of Northern Ontario has been engaged in an unprecedented experiment in policing. It’s called the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service. And the idea is simple: the old, colonial cops shouldn’t be policing Indigenous territory. Instead, Indigenous people should police themselves.
    February 10, 2021
    THE POLICE #10 – Portapique
    Almost a year after the worst mass shooting in modern Canadian history, Nova Scotians are still in the dark about what exactly happened. A gunman, dressed in an RCMP uniform, driving an RCMP cruiser killed 22 people.
    February 24, 2021
    COMMONS
    This is such an easy decision!Support our stuff, we'll make you proud.

    We are a very rare kind of company – actually and truly independent journalism. 

    We tell great stories that need to be told, without fear or favour.

    We work for you.

    Support us. We uncover secrets and hold the powerful to account. 

    We've done it before. We keep doing it. 

    Plus: ad-free podcasts, maybe some socks or a t-shirt. Up to you. 

    $5/month