WIND Mobile, now known as Freedom, was a small company that tried to break through Canada’s telecom oligopoly. It did not have an easy ride.

On December 14th, we brought The Backbench to you LIVE and in-person from the Hot Docs Cinema in Toronto. It was an evening of “serious” political discourse and endless laughs. Our host Mattea Roach and our expert panelists, Emilie Nicolas, David Moscrop, and Murad Hemmadi unpacked the seriously eventful year that was 2022 – from faulty infrastructure, to the Pope’s visit, to our 2023 political wish list, and more. 

Sarah Polley has come forward with memories of a violent sexual encounter with Jian Ghomeshi when she was 16. But why is the press tongue-tied about describing the alleged violence? Sarah sits down with Jesse to discuss how to safely run towards danger, and whether it’s even possible to ethically use child labour in the production of TV and film.

Why Twitter should be run more like a newsroom and a look at the Twitter Files. And the latest in CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme story and who was left out of the narrative. Jan Wong co-hosts. 

Stories of big news breaking when everyone else is on vacation.

Former crime reporter Tamara Cherry — who now works as a specialist-for-hire on trauma-informed practices — joins Jonathan Goldsbie to consider what allegations swirling around Leah McLaren’s memoir have taught us about what could be called “trauma-indifferent” writing.

In this episode, host Mattea Roach, and panelists, Karen Restoule, Jaskaran Sandhu, and Arshy Mann, unpack the controversial expansion for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) set to change on March 17, 2023. Also, Canada is trying to re-establish itself on the international stage after announcing its Indo-Pacific Strategy in Beautiful British Columbia. Does Canada’s future lie in the Indo-Pacific?

The largest National Park in Canada is Wood Buffalo, currently celebrating its 100th anniversary. But the people who inhabited it for thousands of years before that want it back. Brandi Morin travels to Wood Buffalo (and to Fort MacMurray and to Fort Chipewyan) to tell the real story of the Dene, the Cree, and the land they were expelled from to make way for Wood Buffalo National Park. 

Hunters are mad about the new big list of guns to be banned by the Liberals - but why should we care if it helps reduce gun violence? And the not so credible Blacklock’s reporter’s story about being evicted from the Press Gallery. Grant LaFleche co-hosts. 

Allison and Jonathan look at who benefits from dismantling the Greenbelt and then trade fav findings from the latest Auditor General’s report.