Veteran broadcaster and journalist Rob Breakenridge brings you important and fascinating conversations and offers an in-depth look at the major issues facing Alberta, the West, and Canada.
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Drawn to Win? The UCP's Controversial New Electoral Map
In the aftermath of the referendum on Alberta’s future in Canada, Premier Danielle Smith has urged her party to unite and focus on winning next year’s election. But to what extent are the UCP hoping that a more favourable electoral map can help them in their quest for victory?
In this episode of the Rob Breakenridge Show, we’ll take a closer look at the controversy around the province’s new electoral boundary report, which stemmed from the government’s unprecedented rejection of the changes proposed by the independent Electoral Boundaries Commission.
We’re joined by University of Alberta political science professor Dr. Jared Wesley, who has been critical of the government’s handling of this issue and it’s decision to upend a longstanding, independent process for determining electoral boundaries. With this proposed re-drawing - including an increase in hybrid urban-rural ridings - does this meet the standard of what would be considered ‘gerrymandering?” Is the UCP gaining an advantage here - and was that the goal?
The political debate is far from over, and the legal battle could be about to begin,
Plus, we’ll re-cap the fallout from the U.S. midterm elections, where some rather blatant attempts at gerrymandering failed to stop a massive win by Democrats. With Republicans losing both the House and the Senate, could this rebuke from American voters lead to a change in the president’s tariff and trade policies toward Canada?
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30 Oct 2026
Plenty of Pain and Few Gains - How Tariffs are Harming Both Canada & the U.S.
In this episode of the Rob Breakenridge Show: the latest on whether the American midterm elections could bring Canada and the U.S. closer to a trade deal - and why it’s so crucial to find a resolution.
We’ll re-cap what both Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump had to say this week, amid reports of some potential progress on the trade front.
We’re joined this week by Joseph Steinberg, professor of economics at the University of Toronto and senior fellow at the Montreal Economic Institute. Steinberg’s latest report for the MEI (https://www.iedm.org/tariffs-deliver-a-price-shock-not-an-industrial-revival/) takes a closer look at U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs and concludes that the result has been a price shock, not an industrial revival.
We’ll look at why these tariffs have created such significant challenges for various industries, and the potential consequences of Canadian retaliatory measures. Steinberg also explains why a return to the era of tariff-free trade may no longer be realistic, which raises important questions for how Canada’s response moving forward.
Get full access to Rob Breakenridge at robbreakenridge.substack.com/subscribe (https://robbreakenridge.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
22 Oct 2026
Alberta Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Separatism — Is the Movement Finished?
After months of debate, Albertans have delivered a decisive verdict on the province’s future, with just over three-quarters of voters rejecting separation and choosing to remain a part of Canada. It’s a resounding defeat for the Alberta separatist movement, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the movement is finished.
In this episode of The Rob Breakenridge Show, we take a closer look at the results and the political fallout - how we got here, whether the issue truly has been put to rest, and what this all means for Premier Danielle Smith and the governing United Conservative Party.
Our guest this week is Tyler Dawson, who’s an editor at The Globe and Mail and is author of “The Republic of Alberta: An Idea That Won’t Go Away.” We’ll get his thoughts on the impact this defeat will have on the separatist movement and how this all turned out so badly for them. Dawson isn’t convinced that the movement is going to disappear, and they could still cause political headaches for Smith and the UCP.
Plus, more on how the fallout from the referendum could impact next year’s election, and what it all means for Alberta’s relationship with Ottawa. The Alberta-Ottawa pipeline MOU and other policy changes surely helped the cause for Canada, but could the results from the other nine referendum questions put that relationship to the test?
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Who has been a guest on Rob Breakenridge Show
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Thomas Lukaszuk
Mark Milke
Michael Binnion
Terry Glavin
Paula Simons
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13,856
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5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 49 / 100
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67
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0
YouTube
76
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