Dig into the Canadian election from the best seats in the House

The Backbench

Hosted by Fatima Syed

Dig into politics from the best seats in the House, with host Fatima Syed and our rotating roster of panelists from across the country: Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Jason Markusoff, Drew Brown, Emilie Nicolas, Jaskaran Sandhu, Murad Hemmadi, Leena Minifie, Caroline Elliott, and Stuart Thomson.

Stay on top of things through sharp commentary and incisive analysis. Drops every other Tuesday.

Latest Episodes

#19 A Bill That’s Ideally Never Used

BC's emergency on top of emergency has us wondering where the federal government needs to step in. And the latest "lockdown bill" and Throne Speech reveals where our federal government is at.

November 30, 2021

#18 A Cynical Guide To COP26

Prime Minister Trudeau celebrated Canada's role at COP26 - but what is there to celebrate really? And Conservatives MPs try to start a 'civil liberties caucus' while the Liberal caucus vote not to empower themselves.

November 16, 2021

#17 A Money Manel: Equalization & Inflation

Alberta thinks it made a "powerful" statement to Ottawa this week. And the Bank of Canada says inflation is persistent, which can also be perceived as good news if you look really hard.

November 2, 2021

#16 Two Former MPs Dish On China & Climate

We invited former MPs on because it was supposed to be the first week of Parliament. It got pushed back, but we get into what the first days of Parliament are like and what issues this government will be inheriting anyway.

October 19, 2021

#15 Truth, Reconciliation and China

Trudeau drops the first apology of his third term and has us wondering how reconciliation can go beyond symbolic actions. And as the Two Michaels make it home, what have we learned from this whole saga?

October 5, 2021

#14 A Conversation With A PPC Voter

This week, we bring you something different: an in-depth chat with a People’s Party of Canada supporter. Derek Taylor emailed Fatima after she called the party racist. He agreed to an interview. Derek gets into how he heard about the party, why he supports them, and the direction the party has taken since its creation in 2018.

September 28, 2021

#13 An Unconsequential Election

At the time of recording this episode, #elxn44 literally has yielded the same number of seats (give or take several seats) for all of our federal parties. Here's a coast-to-coast-to-coast chat on what this outcome suggests and where Canadian politics goes from here.

September 21, 2021

#12 Fairy Tales & Picture Books

What issues did the federal leaders not speak on throughout the campaign? We get into some of them. And a look into what pandemic debts and costed platforms tell us.

September 14, 2021

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