Pod Bless Canada Macdonald-Laurier Institute

This episode features Macdonald-Laurier Institute distinguished fellow Jack Mintz in conversation with Aaron Wudrick, domestic policy director on the possibility of changes to Canada's competition law. 
Proposed changes to Canada's competition law might not make headlines but it will absolutely effect Canadian consumers. Despite what some policy makers seem to think, competition law isn't a 'swiss army knife' capable of solving various social and economic issues for government. Instead competition law needs to stay focused on its purpose, serving Canadian consumers. 

This episode of Pod Bless Canada features Domestic Policy director Aaron Wudrick in conversation with Macdonald-Laurier Institute senior fellow Peter Menzies to discuss Bill C-11 and Bill C-18, both of which are before Canada's parliament. They discuss the legislations' misguided attempts to protect Canadian content and how the bills pose a real threat to Canadian content creators who make their living online. 

Was Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine an aberration, or a predictable phenomenon? Balkan Devlen sits down with author Thibault Muzergues to discuss his recently published book “War in Europe? From Impossible War to Improbable Peace” and how Russia’s attacks are changing European attitudes regarding continental security.

They also discuss why some observers failed to identify the war as it loomed on the horizon, where the next wars could erupt, what must be done to prepare for such a future, and why all this matters to Canada.

Inequality makes it easy for many politicians and activists to cast the wealthy as villains who make our society worse. But is this the right way to think about wealth and inequality? MLI Domestic Program Director Aaron Wudrick is joined by Derek Bullen is Founder and CEO of S.i. Systems and the author of the new book "In Defence of Wealth." Bullen and Wudrick discuss the book and how many critics are overlooking crucial considerations: we need business people to build companies and generate wealth to keep our economy going, and that punishing prosperity only makes our society worse.

After months of military build up and threats, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war of aggression against Ukraine. MLI Senior Fellow Balkan Devlen is joined by Hanna Shelest, the Director of Security Programmes at Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism” and Editor-in-Chief at UA: Ukraine Analytica, to discuss the situation on the ground in Ukraine. Devlen and Shelest analyze what the world might expect in the future from Russia and what Canada and our allies can do to support Ukraine's fight against Russia. This podcast was recorded on March 2, 2022.

The Freedom Convoy received quick and heavy condemnation and backlash from Canadian politicians and media when it arrived in Ottawa earlier this year. Though criticism was certainly merited, did the vitriol of the response go too far? In the latest episode of Pod Bless Canada, MLI Domestic Policy Program Director Aaron Wudrick was joined by Stuart Parker, the President of the Los Altos Institute, to discuss Parker's article in the Hub titled, "Why the coverage of the trucker protest should worry all Canadians." Wudrick and Parker examine how the coverage of this protest may point to worrying potential consequences for Canadian society. This podcast was recorded on February 8, 2022.