West of Centre CBC

As the provincial political campaign begins a slow burn toward the fall election in British Columbia, the governing B.C. NDP are heading into the summer with a comfortable lead in the polls ahead of their two rival, centre-right parties. But momentum is suddenly building for the B.C. Conservatives, with the party snatching candidates from the opposition B.C. United (formerly known as the British Columbia Liberal Party). What matters more to B.C. United, according to one of West of Centre’s guests, is how that "blast radius" affects the party’s ability to ready itself to fight in October’s election. Are we seeing the "end of the B.C. Liberal era," as another of our guests suggests? Joining West of Centre host Kathleen Petty this week to break down why politics in British Columbia is never boring are Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute; Les Leyne, legislature columnist with the Victoria Times Colonist; and Mike McDonald, political strategist and co-host of Hotel Pacifico, a West Coast political podcast.

Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre opposes the government’s capital gains inclusion rate increase, and he stands firm in his refusal to get a security clearance to review the unredacted national security report that’s causing a cloud of suspicion to hang over Parliament. CBC Parliamentary Bureau senior writer Aaron Wherry and University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young join West of Centre host Kathleen Petty to discuss the strategy behind Poilievre’s positions. But first, Petty explores what makes the Conservative leader tick, with journalist Andrew Lawton, the author of Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life. 

The spring sitting of the Saskatchewan legislature went out with a bang. The Opposition NDP is calling for a government committee to meet and appoint an investigator in the wake of allegations made last month by the Speaker against former House leader Jeremy Harrison. He initially denied bringing a long gun into the legislature nearly 10 years ago, but has since admitted family helped jog his memory, and the allegation is indeed true. There are further complaints that will reverberate into the summer ahead of a provincial election this coming October. But some pundits believe there's not enough Pilsner in Saskatchewan to convince them that Scott Moe’s governing party isn't going to get re-elected this fall. Helping West of Centre make sense of the twists and turns in this story are Murray Mandryk, the political columnist for the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix; Tom McIntosh, a professor in the department of politics and international studies at the University of Regina; and Adam Hunter, who covers politics for CBC Saskatchewan. 

An ambitious spring sitting in the Alberta Legislature has resulted in 13 bills passed by the UCP government over 14 weeks. One of the many approved powers enhances the government’s authority to remove municipal councillors or overturn bylaws. This week’s panel dissecting the “pothole politics” coming out of this busy spring sitting are CBC provincial affairs reporter Janet French, Catherine Griwkowsky of political newsletter Alberta Today and the Globe & Mail’s Kelly Cryderman.

We’ve assembled a panel of number nerds to dissect our CBC news poll which shows support for the UCP remains roughly the same as it did when the party was elected nearly a year ago. But the NDP is not far behind. Pollster Janet Brown breaks down the numbers along with the CBC’s Jason Markusoff and Duane Bratt of Mount Royal University.

The path to net zero by 2050 by the oilsands industry is being spearheaded by what’s known as the Pathways Alliance. West of Centre host Kathleen Petty is joined by Derek Evans, the newly appointed executive chair of Pathways and the former CEO of Meg Energy, to discuss the industry's long-awaited carbon capture and storage project, and what Evans wants to hear from Pierre Poilievre on carbon pricing. Then, Petty is joined by Emma Graney, who specializes in energy reporting for the Globe and Mail and Andrew Leach, an energy and environmental economist at the University of Alberta.