Podcast · News
Each week, POLITICO’s Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric bring to life the stories that are driving the news in Ottawa and beyond — drawing on their deep reporting from Parliament Hill and across the provinces to reveal the characters and conflicts that are shaping Canada’s future.
8 Oct 2026 · 26 min
A leaked draft offers a peek at an EU-Canada relationship. Or is it a partnership? Just don’t call it associate membership. Guest host Camille Gijs, POLITICO’s senior trade reporter in Brussels, tells Nick Taylor-Vaisey the idea was “born dead” — in the words of one diplomat. Also, Ottawa reacts to the PQ victory in Quebec. Europe doesn’t. And Europe and China arrive at a make-or-break moment. Plus, Eurovision!
1 Oct 2026 · 25 min
Today on Playbook Canada, poll analyst Philippe J. Fournier joins Nick Taylor-Vaisey to discuss the ups and — for Christine Fréchette — serious downs of the Quebec election campaign. Fournier brings all the data to the conversation. Also, Prime Minister Mark Carney drops in on two high-stakes provincial campaigns. And a whiff of patronage returns to the Senate. Plus, 200 seconds with Sen. Colin Deacon.
24 Sep 2026 · 28 min
Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric connect the players and politics moving between Ottawa and British Columbia’s snap election. Ambassador-designate Jonathan Wilkinson shares what’s next in Canada’s courtship with the European Union. Plus, a 200-second interview with Conservative MP Dan Albas.
17 Sep 2026 · 26 min
Today on Playbook Canada, Politico’s Jack Blanchard borrows Mickey Djuric’s chair to speak with Nick Taylor Vaisey about the Canada-EU lovefest inside the European Parliament. They dissect the politics on both sides of the Atlantic. They came, they saw but will they invest? Nick breaks down the Canada Investment Summit and Jack sees possible shades of Emmanuel Macron in Mark Carney. Also, why does Australia's populist right keep praising Canada's immigration policy?
10 Sep 2026 · 34 min
The U.S. strikes back at Canada's counter-tariffs. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric sift through the government's response, the politics at play and how one company with Bombardier in its name got caught in the crosshairs; Philippe J. Fournier makes sense of the wild ride that is the Quebec election campaign; Mark Carney hits the road on a persuasion tour; and former U.S. ambassador to Canada David Cohen sits down to talk repairing relations, and the best cheesesteak in Philly.
3 Sep 2026 · 45 min
The Alberta MP who stepped aside for Pierre Poilievre in Battle River—Crowfoot sits down with Mickey Djuric to tackle the big questions facing the country: What does it mean to be Canadian? What does it mean to be Albertan? And why are these separatist conversations happening now? From 1,000 pink slips when the Keystone XL expansion was cancelled to the original vision for Confederation, this conversation covers a lot of ground — with a brief stop for a sleepover with dinosaurs at the Drumheller museum.
20 Aug 2026 · 25 min
Mark Carney faces a political conundrum: Canadians are in no mood for concessions, but dealing with Washington demands some flexibility. How does he show Canada he's standing firm while keeping his options open with Washington? Playbook marks its 5th birthday with cake, balloons and a crush of Ottawa insiders — some of whom we cornered to share what’s blinking on their radar. Plus, Federation of Canadian Municipalities President Tim Tierney joins us to talk about the politics of potholes.
13 Aug 2026 · 26 min
Next up in our summer series looking at the separatism movement in Alberta, Ian Brodie. The first chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper weighs in on the debate dividing his province. He explains why even an 80 percent vote to remain in Canada may not be enough to quash the separatist movement without Mark Carney and Danielle Smith working to lock it down. Plus, his thoughts on Stephen Harper’s role in the campaign. And the right, and very wrong, way for federal politicians to engage with Albertans on this issue.
6 Aug 2026 · 37 min
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney joins the pod for a candid conversation about patriotism in a time of separatism. Kenney describes the movement as a “perfect umbrella for every obsession, paranoia and anxiety” gripping parts of the province's right wing. He shares how it's getting personal — ending friendships, including some of his own, and dividing families. And he predicts separatism will be a permanent wedge inside Alberta's conservative party. Plus, Nick watches for Mark Carney vacation plans as trade issues escalate. And Mickey has her eye on Pierre Poilievre, who's been unusually…
30 Jul 2026 · 29 min
Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric speak with Calgary Chamber CEO Deborah Yedlin for a frontline read on Alberta’s shifting mood — from standing ovations for Mark Carney to concerns that the referendum on a referendum is putting investment on hold. Yedlin explains what the rest of Canada misunderstands about Alberta’s frustration and why she believes generational economic opportunity is ahead. Plus, Nick watches four thousand WestJet flight attendants on the cusp of striking to see how the Liberal government reacts. And Mickey watches Canadian Heritage Minister Marc Miller — he’s not part…
23 Jul 2026 · 29 min
Canada's premiers gather in Charlottetown just as President Trump threatens new 50 per cent tariffs. They say they're united, but Doug Ford is pushing for retaliation, and Danielle Smith and Scott Moe are not interested. Our summer series on Alberta separatism continues with long-time Conservative strategist Jenni Byrne, who says the referendum vote could clear 30 per cent at the ballot box and calls Danielle Smith the politician who's done the most for national unity. Her advice for Carney and the Liberals on Alberta: drop the condescension, or sit this one out.
16 Jul 2026 · 25 min
Playbook Canada launches a special summer series on Alberta’s fight with Ottawa. First up, Martha Hall Findlay. The Alberta government has asked the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy to produce a study on the economic and fiscal consequences of separation. Hall Findlay is leading the project, and she had lots to say about the October referendum and the turnout problem hiding inside it, the pipeline announcements that landed during Stampede, and why “We gave you TMX!” is the worst thing Central Canadians can say to an Albertan.
9 Jul 2026 · 25 min
Cowboy hats, cowboy boots and big buckles: Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric record on location at the Calgary Stampede, where this year’s celebrations are politically charged amid sharp grievances. One test to be decided: Can a pipeline soothe a separatist mood? Plus, Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan sits down for a 200-second interview.
2 Jul 2026 · 23 min
A new POLITICO international poll finds voters everywhere fed up with their incumbents. Not in Canada. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric talk to Seb Wride of Public First about why Mark Carney is bucking the trend, why Canadians are loving the flag again after years of treating it as a loaded symbol, and why Albertans rank among the proudest Canadians in the poll, separatism aside. Plus: listeners' picks for Playbook Canada's summer interview list, and the politicians worth watching as Stampede and the USMCA review both kick off.
25 Jun 2026 · 26 min
A special summer edition of Playbook Canada: Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, fresh off flying around the moon on Artemis II, joins Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric for a five-chapter conversation. He talks about why a first pitch at the Rogers Centre rattled him more than a rocket launch, the triple play he wants Canada chasing in the next era of space exploration, whether he’d ever run for office, his read on the grounded Snowbirds, and what traveling around the moon taught him about how we can create together rather than cancel each other.
18 Jun 2026 · 29 min
Mark Carney went from the candidate nobody thought could win to majority prime minister in little more than a year. A new POLITICO Magazine feature co-authored by our own Nick Taylor-Vaisey traces how he pulled it off. Nick and Mickey Djuric run through Carney’s unlikely rise to power, while guest host Alex Burns explains how Washington reads, and misreads, his rise. Plus: Bill C-22, the Liberals’ lawful access bill, exposes a split in the Conservative caucus, the World Cup arrives in North America with a trail of messy politics, and Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman sits down for…
11 Jun 2026 · 27 min
Pierre Poilievre skips the governor general's installation and heads to Calgary with a new pitch: project hope, not project fear. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric break down his bid to talk Alberta separatists out of leaving, and what it means for a Conservative leader who spent years calling Canada broken. Plus, Justin Trudeau works a red carpet with Katy Perry, and Mark Carney heads to his ancestral home of County Mayo ahead of next week’s G7 summit.
4 Jun 2026 · 24 min
The recession debate has taken over Parliament Hill, and Pierre Poilievre wants Mark Carney to wear it. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric dissect the fight over the exact meaning of two quarters of negative growth. The Liberals move to reverse a rule forcing US streaming giants to fund Canadian content, one day after Dominic LeBlanc met Trump's trade rep in Washington. Plus a look inside the Senate before a tsunami of June bills rolls in. And a 200-second interview with Liberal operative and legendary Hill tour guide Kevin Bosch.
3 Jun 2026 · 21 min
A special edition of Playbook Canada: Google chief economist Fabien Curto Millet was in Toronto for Tech Week, and he sat down for a conversation that ran well past our usual 200 seconds. He makes the economic case for AI as the one force that could pull Canada out of two decades of sluggish productivity and offset the drag of an aging population. But he warns that Canada and the U.S. sit at the back of the global queue on the ratio of anxiety to enthusiasm. He argues AI is barely a factor in youth unemployment when the real driver is a soft labour market, why encouragement from employers is…
28 May 2026 · 21 min
Steven Guilbeault resigns from the Liberal caucus over the government's diluted climate plans — and he's not alone, with 14 Liberal MPs signing an anonymous letter criticizing the Alberta pipeline deal. Mark Carney lands in New York City to pitch Wall Street investors on Canada, and CANSEC is back in Ottawa, bigger and thirstier than ever, as the defense industry descends on the capital.
21 May 2026 · 27 min
Little irritants are piling up ahead of the July 1 USMCA deadline: a suspended defense board, revived potato tensions, mushrooms duties and renewed attacks on the Online Streaming Act. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric unpack the friction. POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy joins to discuss her interview with Chrystia Freeland in Europe, including a Mark Carney nickname and a “lubricious” dinner from their Kyiv days. Plus, Steve Outhouse replaces Ian Todd as Pierre Poilievre’s chief of staff, and former Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole sits down for a 200-second interview.
14 May 2026 · 24 min
A grand bargain between Ottawa and Edmonton appears to be taking shape, and details leaking out of Alberta connect carbon, pipelines and national unity. As Carney's Cabinet turns one, insiders are whispering about who should go. And finally, the first time Ottawa faced a separatist threat, they wrote it all down. What 50-year-old Cabinet minutes tell us about today's national unity battles.
7 May 2026 · 25 min
U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra pulls back the curtain on why Canada-U.S. trade talks fell apart in October: Danielle Smith keynotes the Canada Strong and Free conference in Ottawa, and the separatism question walks in with her: The childcare agreements that helped define the Trudeau era are coming up for renewal. Carney keeps citing them. Now he has to fund them.
30 Apr 2026 · 25 min
A decision on 24 Sussex is coming, raising questions about where Mark Carney will end up living: The Spring Economic Update was called boring, but buried inside it is a political play targeting voters Poilievre thought were his. And finally, the Hill has a new energy this week, but it's not flowing in the Conservatives' direction.
29 Apr 2026 · 13 min
On this special edition, Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric speak with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne ahead of the release of his Spring Economic Update. They press him on how the government plans to attract investment in a time of global uncertainty, and find out how it is balancing fiscal prudence with mounting economic pressures. And finally, the most contentious question of all: What color apple is best?
23 Apr 2026 · 25 min
Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre take their rivalry off the Hill and onto YouTube. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric explore what it means when the House of Commons stops being the main event: The Carney government has a hushed approach to trade talks. What the silence signals, and how long it can hold: And finally, Canada is the only G7 country that can't put a payload into orbit. A new bill aims to finally change that.
16 Apr 2026 · 25 min
Reaction to the Liberal majority ripples through the Conservative caucus as Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric dig into what the result means inside the opposition benches. Carney and Poilievre present duelling policies for high gas prices — each with its own gloss on tax relief at the pump. Finally, an international bromance blossoms. Mark Carney and Finnish President Alexander Stubb put their partnership on display. What it signals about Canada's place in a shifting global order.
9 Apr 2026 · 27 min
POLITICO's Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Calder McHugh break down the latest Ottawa bombshell, as another Conservative MP crosses the floor to join Mark Carney’s Liberals ahead of the party’s convention in Montreal. Plus, a closer look at the Liberal mood on the ground as delegates gather for a high-energy weekend. Finally, what the U.S.-Iran ceasefire could mean next, including the potential fallout on gas prices in Canada.
2 Apr 2026 · 24 min
Hosts Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric examine the latest developments in Canada’s deepening trade relationship with China, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and executives courting business in Beijing. Plus, a closer look at the Conservatives’ shift against high-speed rail. Finally, reflections on the life and legacy of NDP icon Stephen Lewis.
26 Mar 2026 · 26 min
POLITICO’s Deborah Kahn joins from CERAWeek in Houston to unpack Canada’s latest pitch to the global energy market with hosts Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric. Then, as the NDP prepares to elect a new leader, Nick and Mickey dig into a race defined more by low energy than momentum, and Mickey speaks one on one with one of the front-runners, Edmonton MP Heather McPherson. Finally, the pair digs into the prime minister’s pick for parliamentary budget officer – and why it feels like déjà vu.
Each week, POLITICO’s Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric bring to life the stories that are driving the news in Ottawa and beyond — drawing on their deep reporting from Parliament Hill and across the provinces to reveal the characters and conflicts that are shaping Canada’s future.
Playbook Canada is a English news podcast from Politico. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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