The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, and Fidelity.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! Frances Donald is with us today, the economist explainer in chief, the person who puts the fun in economic fundamentals! She's joining us from her new perch as senior vice-president and chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada.

All anyone can talk about is the economy these days: prices are too high... how low will interests rates go... what are the prospects for our economy... how badly will Trump tariffs hurt us? These are the questions on our minds and Frances is the person to answer them.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, and Fidelity.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! Amanda Lang and Kevin Carmichael are back! Today we're going to run through Canada-US trade relations and the state of the Canadian economy for an economic-palooza pod!

Amanda, an official “Friend of The Herle Burly” and now 3-time guest, is one of the highest profile business journalists in the country. Host of "Taking Stock" on CTV and BNN … a network she helped launch as ROBTV over two decades ago. She’s also worked at CNN, the Globe and Mail and National Post. And she was senior business correspondent for CBC news, where she anchored “The Exchange with Amanda Lang”, daily on CBC News Network.

Kevin Carmichael is also an official friend of the pod, and now, a 4-time guest. He's currently an Economics Columnist & Editor-at-Large at The Logic, previously Editor-In-Chief of The Financial Post. One of Canada’s leading, and award-winning business journalists, he also served as a Senior Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, and Fidelity.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! You know, there’s only ONE Provincial Premier in this country that has bucked the electoral trend since Covid – which is to say, NOT lost the election, or eked out a tiny margin of victory, or just managed to retain a majority with a vastly diminished number of seats.

That Premier (and former Herle Burly guest) is Tim Houston of Nova Scotia, who, this week, increased his majority from 34 to 43 seats (out of 55). Crushing the Liberals and making the NDP the new official opposition in the process.  Premier Houston is one of one.

Today, we’re talking to the leaders and architects of the campaign that helped him do it. A dream team victory lap, as it were: Cameron Mackeen, Tara Miller, and James Mitchener join us today.

A few, very brief biographical notes:

Cameron MacKeen served as Premier Houston’s campaign co-chair for both the 2021 and 2024 elections. He’s a managing lawyer with Nova Scotia Legal Aid, and a former Leg. Reporter at the Chronicle Herald.

Tara Miller served as co-chair for the 2024 election. She’s been recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada for 3 years running … and is a partner, and the “M”, in MDW Law. 

James Mitchener was campaign manager in both 2021 and 2024. He’s currently Premier Houston’s Director of Operations and Strategic Relations.

I’m going to talk to them about the whole, goddamn successful story today:

• The only incumbent government in Canada to increase their margin of seats and votes in a high inflation period. How did they do it?
• The risk/reward calculus for going early. 
• The core strategies. 
• The federal Liberal wedge and why it was so effective.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, Forestry for a Better Future, and Fidelity.

Alright, you intrepid Herle Burly-ites. Regular listeners will know we’ve been talking about cost of living and affordability issues here on the pod the last little while.

Well, mere hours before this recording … the federal Liberal government announced a new affordability package with a 1.6 billion dollar temporary GST cut, aimed primarily at families, plus a Working Canadians Rebate of $250.

Does it help a little? A lot? Is it good policy? And speaking of brand-new economic context, what’s changes will we be seeing down south because of the Trump election.  How are they going to affect Canada?

I want to dive into all of that with 2 of the smartest economic thinkers I know. Both, multi-time Herle Burly guests:  Armine Yalnizyan and Jim Stanford.

According to Maclean’s Magazine, Armine is the “Caring Person’s economist”.  A big picture thinker who looks out for the little guy.  And, the coiner of the term “She-cession”, way back in March 2020, to describe the economic fallout of the pandemic.  She’s currently the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers with a mission to bring a workers’ perspective to public policy development.  Her work focuses on the care economy and the “social and economic factors that determine our health and well-being.

Jim is the founding Director for The Centre for Future Work, a progressive think tank studying how work is changing in the modern economy. He’s one of this country’s best known economic commentators, quoted frequently in print and broadcast media, as well as the author of a regular column in the Toronto Star.  For over 20 years, he served as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, Forestry for a Better Future, and Fidelity.

Alright you curious, you courageous Herle Burly-ites! Time to summon all that courage, because today on the pod, a Pollster Panel … laying bare the current state of politics in the U.S. and Canada.

The remarkable Trump comeback and election victory is only about a week and half in our rear-view mirror. I want to look at the factors driving that result. What does the data say? Do those same conditions exist in Canada? Some? All? What’s different here?

With me to examine those questions and the follow ups that cascade from there, two of the best in the business: David Coletto and Kyla Ronellenfitsch, both appearing on the podcast for a 2nd time!

David is one of Canada’s best known public opinion analysts and social researchers. He’s the Founder, Chair and CEO of Abacus Data. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Calgary and he’s an expert on voting behaviour and the intersection of public opinion and public policy. Not only that, David teaches in the Graduate Program of Political Management at Carleton.

Kyla started her career with me at The Gandalf Group, but I think it’s safe to say she’s now successfully flipped the Mentor/Mentee relationship.  She’s a pollster, data scientist and educator, holding a Master of Science in Analytics from the University of Chicago and a Master of Political Management from Carleton where she teaches Political Data Management in the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program. In 2021, she founded her own full-service polling firm, Relay Strategies, based in Ottawa. Oh, she’s also a proud daughter of Humboldt, Saskatchewan!

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, Forestry for a Better Future, and Fidelity.

Alright, you intrepid Herle Burly-ites, just a little bit of a shake up in the U.S. this week, eh? If you’re a fan of our Air Quotes Media Universe, you know that we’ve had the masterful Keith Boag covering this election for the last 3 months, filing his written analysis on the Trump/Harris campaign weekly, to our "Quotes" platform.

Keith is a friend of the pod. A 4-time guest here. A legend with the CBC for more than 30 years as Chief Political Correspondent, much of that time working in Washington D.C. He’s stood witness to several elections down there, observing and reporting on the discourse and the upending of political norms. “Upending” is probably an understatement. And that’s where we’re going with this conversation.

I want to concentrate on 2 broad themes: What the hell happened? And, what the hell happens next?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

AIR "QUOTES" MEDIA SPECIAL: "SO HERE WE ARE" by Keith Boag

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Alright, you curious, you courageous Herle Burly-ites… the ticket is set: Trump + Vance versus Harris + Walz. And to cover that election, we're bringing our listeners a brilliant journalistic mind and political correspondent legend, Keith Boag!

Keith was with the CBC for more than 30 years, including as Chief Political Correspondent. His career included work for many years in Washington, D.C., and as Ottawa Bureau Chief. Keith covered seven federal elections in Canada, ten party leadership campaigns, as well as several US elections.

Keith will regularly offer his written analysis via "QUOTES" at Air Quotes Media.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, Forestry for a Better Future, and Fidelity.

Alright you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites, we’ll get right to it because we’ve got a time-stretched Cabinet Minister on the pod today.  The Honourable Karina Gould joins us.  Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

Minister Gould was first elected as an MP for Burlington in the Trudeau majority of 2015. In 2017, at the age of 29, she was named Minister of Democratic Institutions and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, becoming the youngest female cabinet minister in Canadian history. She’s a graduate of McGill University and the University of Oxford with a master’s in international relations, and has also served as Minister of International Development and Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. With the birth of her son Oliver, she became the first federal Cabinet minister to give birth while holding office. So, just a little bit of trailblazing with Ms. Gould.

Today, a little bit about her life and what brought her to a career in public service.

But more time spent in the present: The Trudeau leadership discussion. Where it’s at. Or not at. We’ll focus on the Liberal Government legislative agenda going forward. And how to beat Poilievre.  What is the plan for that? And when will we see signs of it?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

AIR "QUOTES" MEDIA SPECIAL: "AN OCTOBER GUT PUNCH" by Keith Boag

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Alright, you curious, you courageous Herle Burly-ites… the ticket is set: Trump + Vance versus Harris + Walz. And to cover that election, we're bringing our listeners a brilliant journalistic mind and political correspondent legend, Keith Boag!

Keith was with the CBC for more than 30 years, including as Chief Political Correspondent. His career included work for many years in Washington, D.C., and as Ottawa Bureau Chief. Keith covered seven federal elections in Canada, ten party leadership campaigns, as well as several US elections.

Keith will regularly offer his written analysis via "QUOTES" at Air Quotes Media.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail and Forestry for a Better Future.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! Today on the pod, the kind of show I love. One of those single topic podcasts, where we drill down on a question, let the conversation flow and assume its own shape. I’ll outline the question in a moment, but first our guest: My friend and heavy-hitting Canadian-economy-deep-thinker, Don Drummond.

The Right Honourable Paul Martin called Don Drummond “One of the most principled and imaginative public servants with whom I have ever worked.” Don spent almost 23 years in senior positions in the federal Department of Finance, culminating in Associate Deputy Minister. Post government, he was Chief Economist for TD Bank, he is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University, and he’s an in-demand thinker, writer and commentator.

So, the question we’re exploring here is this: With the Fall Economic Statement as a backdrop, how can government address the political demand for affordability relief to Canadians? From programs like pharmacare and school food, to Poilievre “axing the tax”, to Doug Ford cutting every Ontarian a cheque for $200 … what is smart and what is dumb?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

AIR "QUOTES" MEDIA SPECIAL: "SHORT STROKES IN THE HOME STRECH" by Keith Boag

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Alright, you curious, you courageous Herle Burly-ites… the ticket is set: Trump + Vance versus Harris + Walz. And to cover that election, we're bringing our listeners a brilliant journalistic mind and political correspondent legend, Keith Boag!

Keith was with the CBC for more than 30 years, including as Chief Political Correspondent. His career included work for many years in Washington, D.C., and as Ottawa Bureau Chief. Keith covered seven federal elections in Canada, ten party leadership campaigns, as well as several US elections.

Keith will regularly offer his written analysis via "QUOTES" at Air Quotes Media.