The Canadian Returnee Podcast

About The Canadian Returnee Podcast

Passionate writer and observer navigating life in Canada, exploring topics like culture, politics, and personal growth, after living abroad for years. Sharing honest insights and sparking thoughtful conversations. canadianreturnee.substack.com (https://canadianreturnee.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Canadian Returnee

Category

news · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Dec 2024

Latest episode

1 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

93 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Nov 2026

   Freeland’s book on Trump, Trudeau and her firing

   If you want one takeaway from Chrystia Freeland’s new memoir, “Unreliable Boyfriend”, it’s this: she thinks conceding to Donald Trump gets Canada more demands, not goodwill. She says Trump reads every concession as submission. So she backs Mark Carney’s decision to walk away from the trade talks, because in her telling, the U.S. asked too much and offered too little. She also says Canada has to retaliate on tariffs. Her evidence is Trump’s first term, when the steel and aluminium tariffs came off without Canada giving anything up. Her playbook is what she calls the doughnut strategy, which she used during the NAFTA renegotiation (the rewrite of the old North American trade deal). You skip the White House and work everyone around it: Congress, governors, mayors, unions, business leaders and ordinary Americans. The pitch is local and factual. Canada is the top customer for more than 24 U.S. states and supplies almost all the natural gas the U.S. imports. Once those people feel it, they lean on Washington for you. She also likes the provincial unity she saw, citing Manitoba’s Wab Kinew and Ontario’s Doug Ford. She gives Justin Trudeau real credit: the Canada Child Benefit, national child care, trade deals with Europe and Asia, and the COVID-19 response. Then she gets blunt about how he ran things. Her main complaint is that he sweated the details of his own public appearances and stayed out of the details of big files like NAFTA. She points to the 2018 India trip as an example. (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/india-trudeau-trip-wrap-up-1.4550703) She also says he stayed distant from senior colleagues. In nearly a decade as his top deputy, she could count their one-on-one meetings on one hand. Crying at cabinet was routine, she writes, and Kleenex was always handy. (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chrystia-freeland-unreliable-boyfriend-memoir-9.7380824) When a minister said “crazy,” Trudeau scolded her and told ministers to say “bananas” instead. Organisational psychologist Laura Hambley calls this the showman paradox (https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/leadership/toxic-leadership-at-the-top-what-chrystia-freelands-memoir-reveals/593723). A leader who’s charming on stage but avoids one-on-one relationships drains trust and curiosity from the team. I think that fits the picture Freeland paints. In fall 2024, Trudeau fired her as finance minister on a Friday morning Zoom call, 3 days before she was due to deliver the fall economic statement. She calls it the third worst day of her life. She resigned from cabinet with an open letter less than a week later. (https://globalnews.ca/news/10919993/chrystia-freeland-resigning-from-cabinet/) Jean Chretien had already told her that as long as she kept supporting Trudeau, he’d stay on, lose to Pierre Poilievre, and part of that would be on her. She later left Parliament to run the Rhodes Trust in the UK as warden and CEO. A 1980s KGB file on her student activism concluded she’d make an excellent spy. She disagrees, since she can’t keep a poker face. In 2000, a seven-month-pregnant Freeland interviewed Vladimir Putin for the Globe and Mail, and he patted her belly. She says she’s probably the only G7 finance minister that’s happened to. Trump has called her toxic. Howard Lutnick, his commerce secretary, just called her the worst. Carney praised her intelligence and principle. If this was useful, hit like and share it with someone who follows Canadian politics. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode. If you can, consider a paid subscription or buy me a coffee. It keeps the free content coming. Thank you. #CanadianPolitics #Freeland This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe (https://canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

2. 

   25 Oct 2026

   Alberta Votes 75% to Stay, but Cracks Show

   If you want one number from Alberta’s October 19 referendum, it’s 87%. That’s the share of Albertans who told Abacus Data the cost of living was a top concern. Only 6% put independence first. Question 10 asked whether Alberta should stay in Canada or start a legal process toward a binding separation vote. About 75% to 76% chose to remain, and 24% to 25% chose the separation process. Premier Danielle Smith says she won’t call another independence referendum while she’s premier. Who actually voted for Option 2 Option 2 wasn’t a clean independence vote. In the Abacus survey (1,021 voters, October 7 to 13, margin of error 3.1%), only 32% of Option 2 voters said they wanted actual independence. (https://abacusdata.ca/days-before-albertas-referendum-support-for-remain-rises/) Others wanted a better deal inside Canada (23%), a direct say (22%) or a way to send Ottawa a message (19%). Overall, just 18% of Albertans wanted an independent Alberta. The split inside the governing United Conservative Party (UCP) is the part to watch. Current UCP supporters went 52% for Option 2 and 44% for Remain. UCP voters made up 77% of all Option 2 ballots. Meanwhile, 93% of NDP supporters voted Remain. The attachment tells you the rest. Option 2 voters felt strongly attached to Alberta (68%) but not to Canada (21%). Edmonton and Calgary weren’t close. Edmonton hit 77% Remain, and 22 of Calgary’s 26 ridings topped 80%. Option 2 won only 2 of Alberta’s 87 ridings. Central Peace-Notley went to Option 2 by 100 votes (6,515 to 6,415), and Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre went 51.1% to Option 2. Several other rural ridings were close, including Grande Prairie-Wapiti at 48.9%. The other 9 questions Voters also faced 9 other questions, and the counting ran past the legislated 48-hour window. The count covered nearly 1.9 million ballots. Early on, “Yes” led on all of them. By the time 97% of polls had reported, “No” led on the 4 constitutional ones: provincial selection of judges, abolishing the Senate, opting out of federal programs without losing funding, and putting provincial laws ahead of federal ones in shared areas. The opt-out question was the tightest, at 300,000 to 281,000 against. “Yes” kept its lead on the 5 policy questions. Those cover more provincial control over immigration, a 12-month residency wait for social supports for non-permanent residents, fees for their healthcare and education, and proof of citizenship to vote. Don’t expect most of this to happen soon. Constitutional scholar Errol Mendes called the Senate and opt-out ideas “dead in the water” because of the amending rules. Abolishing the Senate needs all 10 legislatures, the House of Commons and the Senate itself. The others need 7 provinces with 50% of the population. The residency and fee questions could face Charter challenges over equality rights. Chiefs from the Bearspaw, Chiniki, Goodstoney and Tsuut’ina Nations wrote to Smith saying the vote caused lasting division and that Treaty rights can’t be settled by a provincial referendum. Siksika Nation Chief Samuel Crowfoot said polling stations on reserves had long delays and ran out of ballots, (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/samuel-crowfoot-first-nation-referendum-ballots-9.7388621) in communities that had earlier beaten separation petitions in court. He wants Elections Alberta to explain. 🤝 What comes next Smith faces a UCP leadership review in late November, and separatist groups say they’ll push against her. Alberta Prosperity Project’s Jeffrey Rath says the independence push will continue. Keith Wilson of Let Alberta Decide reads the 25% as a quarter of the province feeling shortchanged by Confederation. Opposition leaders called the vote a waste. Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi pegged it at $200 million, and federal NDP Leader Avi Lewis put it above $100 million. Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a clear choice for unity. Pierre Poilievre backed Remain too, and also backed the immigration proposals. Elections Alberta releases verified results October 29. I think the vote ended the separation question for now, but not the grievance behind it. If you’re in Alberta, watch the November leadership review. If you’re anywhere else, ask what a 25% protest vote would look like in your province. If this helped you make sense of Alberta’s vote, please like, share and subscribe. It’s the easiest way to help more people find the show. And if you can, consider a paid subscription or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/canadianreturnee). It keeps the work going. Thanks for listening. #Alberta #CdnPoli This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe (https://canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

3. 

   18 Oct 2026

   Wildfires, Pipelines and a Stalled Status Bill

   A Bill Stuck in Committee About 29% of status Indians could lose the legal ability to pass status to their children. The cause is the Indian Act’s second-generation cut-off, which blocks status when one parent is non-status and the other only got status through a single status parent. The Senate voted unanimously in December 2025 to pass Bill S-2. (https://bccla.org/policy-submission/re-passage-of-bill-s-2-an-act-to-amend-the-indian-act-in-its-senate-amended-form/)It would end that cut-off and the 1985 one, and go back to an equal one-parent rule. Since February 2026, it has sat in the House committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. Amnesty International Canada and other groups want it passed now. The cut-off carries forward an older sex discrimination, when First Nations women who married out lost status and men didn’t. Single mothers and survivors of violence or abuse who can’t or won’t name a father on a birth certificate get hit hardest. Sharon McIvor of the Lower Nicola Band has been fighting this for her whole adult life. Losing status affects reserve housing, cultural programs, land rights and inheritance. Advocates call the rule a legislated extinction date for bands. I think a unanimous Senate vote followed by months of committee silence is hard to defend. One Project, One Review, One Year Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing energy and infrastructure projects as US tariffs bite. Bill C-39, the Build Canada Strong Act, sets a 1-year decision deadline for permitting. He has also named the Pacific Link oil pipeline a project of national interest, and critics are asking how deep the consultation can go. Mark Podlasly runs the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, which speaks for 205 nations seeking equity in 20 energy, utility and mining projects. He supports ownership stakes but says a year is too short for real engagement. (https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/economic-reconciliation-with-first-nations-remains-elusive-11-years-after-truth-and-reconciliation-report/) Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks says no to the whole approach. He sees equity offers as a way to buy people off with short-term jobs while environmental protections and rights shrink. He also says Ottawa is using tariffs as cover to undo 20 years of progress on UNDRIP, the UN declaration on Indigenous rights. For context, Ottawa offered 129 First Nations a combined 15% stake in the Trans Mountain pipeline. Meanwhile, Indigenous Watchdog reports the corporate sector has made no progress on Call to Action #92, which asks businesses to adopt UNDRIP, including free, prior and informed consent, as its framework. (https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/cta/call-to-action-92/) The Assembly of First Nations puts the reserve infrastructure gap at $376.1 billion over 10 years. 36 communities have gone more than a year without safe drinking water. Fire Season and the Budget Cuts Ontario cut $121 million from its 2026-27 firefighting budget while more than 730,000 hectares burned. (https://waterloojournal.ca/local-politics/ontario-wildfire-budget) 14 First Nations were evacuated, and over 1,800 people in all. In mid-July, residents of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation got no alert or warning and crossed Collins Lake in their own boats with no official rescue. Ontario chiefs want a full public inquiry. They also want the cuts reversed and the federal-provincial red tape removed. British Columbia saw 24 First Nations affected and 16 evacuated, and it trimmed its fire management budget by $2.3 million. Leaders are asking Premier David Eby to build Indigenous fire stewardship, meaning low-intensity controlled burns, into the provincial plan. (https://natoassociation.ca/good-fire-better-defence-the-burning-need-for-indigenous-fire-stewardship-in-canadas-wildfire-strategy/) Across Canada, 83 reserves were hit this year. Manitoba’s Checkpoint Fight Bloodvein River First Nation set up a checkpoint for moose conservation, food security and safety. (https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/kinew-urges-bloodvein-first-nation-to-reconsider-turning-moose-hunters-away/)Premier Wab Kinew sent a cease-and-desist letter on September 19 and shared it with the RCMP on September 21. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation also wanted police involved. Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson says it’s troubling to see police action urged against a First Nation while the problems that pushed it to act go unaddressed. She’s especially disappointed that a First Nations premier chose enforcement over talks with Bloodvein, Misipawistik Cree Nation and Pimicikamak Cree Nation. On September 30, Manitoba and the City of Brandon marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by buying Turtle Crossing Campground, south of the former Brandon Indian Residential School. The site was a cemetery from 1895 to 1912, and the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation estimates more than 50 children are buried there. It was sold as a private campground in 2001, and a memorial now stands on it. What to Watch Keep an eye on the House committee, because S-2 is the item here Parliament could finish quickly. If you follow the pipeline, ask who holds equity and who gets a real say inside a 1-year clock. Also, if you live in Ontario or BC, check what your province is spending on fire response, since the numbers above are on the books. If this was useful, please like it, share it, and subscribe. If you can, consider a paid subscription (https://canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=86b74013&utm_content=218515669) or buy me a coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/canadianreturnee). It keeps the free content coming, and I really appreciate it. #FirstNations #CdnPoli #Reconciliation This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe (https://canadianreturnee.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

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