Left East to West
Weekly check-in on top political stories across Canada, interviews for people building this country
Episodes
22 episodes
Federal Climate Concessions and Cities on the Front Line
Shauna Sylvester, Founder and Lead Convenor of Urban Climate Leadership, sits down with Nikki and Tom to talk about Canada's city halls, convening nascent economic sectors, and long-term change that creates jobs, increases energy efficiency and...
Can Carney’s right turn be Lewis NDP’s opening?
Jennifer Howard, former Manitoba Minister of Labour and Finance, and 2025 NDP campaign director, joins Left East to West to talk about Mark Carney's direction for Canada, the Liberals undoing pharmacare, the NDP's unsolved strategic chal...
Canada's water, Trump and intensifying demands
Coree Tull, chair of the the BC Watershed Security Coalition, explores the challenges facing Canadian watersheds in our Feature Interview. Canada's watersheds face intensifying demands from industry, including new data centres, while Don...
Regional strength in a national vision
Josh Bizjak, Douglas Caldwell Layton Foundation executive director, talks with Left East to West about his organization’s movement-building work, the varying themes and challenges in different regions of the country -- and tryin...
Social democrats who built Canada
Dave McGrane, University of Saskatchewan political studies professor and “Social Democrats of the North” podcast host, tells the history of Canada’s social democratic impulses, and the movements and people that have advanced them.Through...
Good jobs with union benefits: an antidote to the far-right?
Siobhan Vipond, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress, joins Left East to West ahead of the labour federation's policy convention, which opens on May 11 in Winnipeg.Siobhan talks about the shifti...
Trump, war and the prices you pay
Jen Pedersen, foreign policy expert and advisor, took her passion for international politics through a PhD, publishing analyses on regional conflicts included Yemen and Liberia, becoming a Broadbent Institute Fellow, and into advising the Feder...
Fixing Nova Scotia affordability and supporting its culture
Claudia Chender, Nova Scotia NDP leader, joins to talk about the PCs government's budget-backdown, rising electricity and housing costs and Premier Tim Houston's mistake of attacking support to the culture of small town and rural Nova Scotia.
Avi Lewis wins Federal NDP leadership, with our Comms Pro Panel
From the Winnipeg convention centre, Nikki and Tom dig into details about the Federal NDP convention and Avi Lewis' win to become party leader.Then, Nikki and Tom are joined by our NDP comm pro panel to talk about the challenges that la...
Special pre-convention interview with Heather McPherson, candidate for leader of Canada's NDP
Heather McPherson, candidate for leader of Canada's NDP and Member of Parliament for Edmonton-Strathcona, takes a break from her campaign to join Left East to West from Edmonton, Alberta:- how the NDP can escape polarization and the str...
Special pre-convention interview with Rob Ashton, candidate for leader of Canada's NDP
Rob Ashton, candidate for the leader of Canada's NDP and President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union of Canada takes a break from his campaign to join Left East to West from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan:- how the NDP can...
Representing workers with social democrats in power
Sussanne Skidmore, President of the BC Federation of Labour, shares her thoughts about growth and austerity, labour law reform including sectoral bargaining, and trying to bring that magic alignment to the social democratic labour movement both...
Update! Here's what we have booked for you over the next few weeks
Mon Mar 16 - Guio Jacinto, economic and trade analyst, United SteelworkersMon Mar 23 - Sussanne Skidmore, President, BC Federation of LabourMon Mar 30 - Special federal NDP convention episode...
Creating jobs and industries to Trump-proof Canada
Guio Jacinto, Steelworkers union economic and trade analyst, talks about the impact of Trump's "economic force" against Canada and how adding industrial policy to existing strategies can create jobs and industries.Nikki and Tom talk abo...
An illegal war creates Mark Carney's first bad week
NDP interim leader Don Davies talks about the NDP's opposition to Mark Carney backing Trump's Iran War, the need to be clear-eyed about Modi, and how social democratic approaches can build housing where other's won't.Nikki and Tom also t...
Defeating Danielle Smith and Trump's interference
Former Alberta NDP minister Shannon Phillips joins to discuss dark money and foreign interference in Alberta referendum and where the Alberta NDP needs make gains to defeat Danielle Smith. Plus, she has some advice on how the next federal NDP l...
A growth economy driven by the right public sector investment, with BC Policy Solutions economist Iglika Ivanova
Iglika Ivanova, co-executive director of BC Policy Solutions, joins to talk about how getting the public sector right is critical to the private sector and some of the environmental causes of food price inflation.Nikki and Tom touch on a...
Rebuilding the building trades, with BC Building Trades ED Brynn Bourke
Bynn Bourke, Executive Director of the BC Building Trades, talks about rebuilding the trades system after it was gutted by the BC Liberals and that challenges of the major projects agenda. Nikki and Tom talk about provinces vying to have the ne...
Trump's threat to Canada and BC's economic pivot, with BC political analyst Aileen Machell
Aileen Machell, former Deputy Chief of Staff to BC Premier David Eby, talks about how Trump's talk of Canada as a 51st state caused a major shift to an economic focus in BC. Nikki and Tom discuss how the Ontario NDP's loss of an MPP also causes...
The rise and crushing fall of Francois Legault, with Quebec political analyst Karl Bélanger
Karl Belanger, Quebec political analyst, talks with Nikki and Tom about the rise and fall of Francois Legault, who announced his resignation as premier as polls show support for his CAQ party collapsing to near s...
Canada's defence in the Trump era, with defence reporter David Pugliese
Nikki and Tom discuss the leadership contests of the BC Conservatives and Quebec Liberals then a joint letter on lumber tariffs from Ontario, Alberta and Quebec aimed at Nova Scotia.Following, we have a feature interview with award-winni...
