It's been an interesting past few months for the Federal Conservatives, from several MPs crossing the floor, to reports of inner-circle fighting, to Pierre Poilievre questioning PM Carney's education in economics.

In more recent events, the Federal Opposition leader has since claimed that Canada is in a 'full-blown' recession, and has called for unity among Alberta separatists.

Host Maria Kestane speaks to Glen McGregor, political correspondent for CityNews to discuss what challenges Poilievre's caucus may return to after the summer recess, and what issues are currently dividing the party.

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Louise Arbour, a former lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is being inducted as Canada's next Governor General. It comes at a nuanced time for Canada's global identity.

Host Catherine Jette speaks to Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto about the Governor General's role in Canada, whether or not Canadians feel connected to the monarch, and how Arbour could use this precarious geopolitical moment to capture the country's appetite for unity and identity.

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Enjoy this special feed drop of our sister show "In This Economy?!"

Following a negative performance for economic growth in the first quarter of 2026, the Canadian economy fell into what's been described as a "technical recession". While the headline was pounced on for political debate, with such a small decline (just a 0.1% contraction) and some parts of the economy still doing quite well, economists are downplaying the significance of all this recession talk.

Nevertheless, under the weight of the trade war with the U.S., there are a lot of questions around the recent signals by the Bank of Canada even talking about hiking interest rates and whether the central bank will be changing its message to the markets next week with it's policy announcement on June 10th.

Host Mike Eppel speaks with Royce Mendes, the managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins, about this so-called "recession", and what the consequences of reading too much into it might be.

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The British Columbia Conservative Party hasn't won an election since, and hasn't won a seat in 50. As recently as the 2020 provincial election, the party earned just 36,000 votes. But in 2024, the party surged in popularity, nearly toppling the long-thought invincible BC NDP.

Then came interparty turmoil, which led to the ousting of their leader, John Rustad, and a leadership election that went on for months. In the end, it was narrow, and the BC Conservatives elected Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

Today on the Big Story, host Caryn Ceolin is speaking with Mo Amir, host of This is VANCOLOUR, a daily politics and news show, to find who she is and what she'll bring to the party.

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