Show Notes
What happens when you stop watching politics… and actually go see it? This week on Politics Is Broken, Brittlestar heads to Ottawa to speak at Carleton University’s Kesterton Lecture… and ends up going behind the scenes of Canadian politics. From touring Parliament Hill and sitting in on Question Period… to meeting politicians in the hallway and eating in what may or may not be called “the cafeteria of power”… this episode is a firsthand look at how politics feels in real life. And the biggest takeaway? It doesn’t feel less broken… …but it does feel different. Less like chaos… more like choreography. Less like villains… more like very tired humans trying to do a very public job. Plus, an Alberta update featuring: The ongoing “Temu Tylenol” saga RCMP investigations And a golden cat that may or may not explain everything So… is Ottawa really a bubble? Or are we just watching it through one? If you want a slightly punchier version (or one with more humour baked into the first two lines), I can tighten it even further.
More from Politics Is Broken
Is Canada trying to protect kids online... or just trying to regulate the internet after it has already escaped the barn, stolen the tractor, and opened a TikTok account? This week, Stewart and Lisa talk Bill C-34, the proposed under-16 social media ban, age verification, Ai safeguards, deepfakes, online harms, and why protecting kids online will take more than just telling Big Tech to behave. They also get into Canadian content rules, streaming giants, the CRTC, Netflix, TikTok, Canadian creators, and whether Canada should be investing in its own culture instead of hoping American platforms fund it for us. Plus: butter tarts, migraines, Yik Yak, and the eternal truth that humans are garbage.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Peter Hoekstra is back in the headlines after reposting Donald Trump’s “51st state” comments... because apparently diplomacy now comes with a retweet button and no adult supervision. This week on Politics Is Broken, Brittlestar and Lisa B talk about Hoekstra’s latest Canada-sized diplomatic faceplant, Trump’s ongoing 51st state nonsense, and why Canadians are getting tired of being treated like a Costco sample the U.S. can just grab on the way by. They also dig into Alberta separatism, Danielle Smith’s referendum drama, Wab Kinew’s blunt response at the Western Premiers Conference, tariffs, Canadian sovereignty, and whether Hoekstra is a real problem... or simply an ambassadorial buffoon with excellent job security. It’s Canada-U.S. relations, Alberta politics, Trump chaos, and one very simple message: Hoekstra go home.
Is politics getting nastier... or just more honest? This week on Politics Is Broken, Brittlestar and Lisa talk about the collapse of political decorum, the rise of insult politics, and whether it’s sometimes okay to meet bad-faith nonsense with a little verbal fire. From Alberta separatism and anti-separation rallies to Pierre Poilievre’s media scrums, Mark Carney, Stephen Miller, Gavin Newsom’s online trolling, and the occasional political F-bomb, they ask whether political discourse can get messy without completely losing the plot. A funny, sharp, very Canadian conversation about anger, authenticity, media, rallies, and how to keep one hand on decorum while the other one reaches for the emergency swear jar.
This week on Politics Is Broken, Brittlestar and Lisa take on Alberta separatism... the political idea that sounds simple until someone asks, “Okay, but who’s paying for the borders?” With a referendum question now in play, Stewart and Lisa break down the facts, myths, and very expensive realities behind the idea of Alberta leaving Canada. They look at the big claims around Ottawa, oil, transfer payments, pipelines, federal taxes, and Alberta’s place in Confederation... then compare those claims to the actual costs of becoming a new country. They also dig into what Alberta currently receives from Canada, including healthcare transfers, federal benefits, disaster relief, national parks, trade agreements, military protection, pensions, and the many invisible pieces of federal infrastructure people tend to forget about when shouting “freedom” into the internet. It’s a conversation about frustration, misinformation, political theatre, and the danger of making massive constitutional decisions based on vibes, slogans, and Facebook comment-section economics. Because Alberta separation may sound like a breakup... but it’s more like trying to leave the house while still expecting to use the family car, fridge, Wi-Fi, and microwave.
Should we take Alberta separation seriously? On one hand, most Albertans still don’t appear to want it. On the other hand, separatists reportedly submitted nearly 302,000 signatures, there’s a voter data scandal, U.S. meetings, First Nations treaty challenges, foreign disinformation concerns, and a premier trying to balance “Sovereign Alberta” with “please don’t actually break the country.” This week on Politics Is Broken, Brittlestar and Lisa talk about why Alberta probably isn’t leaving Canada tomorrow... but why the anger, misinformation, political enabling, and machinery around the movement still matter. It’s a conversation about separatism, grievance politics, Danielle Smith’s balancing act, and the very Canadian question: “Can we please not set the country on fire just to make a point?” The episode transcript frames the central concern as not Alberta immediately leaving Canada, but the “machinery around the idea”... anger, money, data, foreign interest, and political enabling.