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Where experience meets Canada’s future. sagecanada.substack.com

  1. 3d ago

    Sage Podcast: They Hired Mark Carney. Now They Want Him to Spend His Political Capital to Get the Really Hard Stuff Done.

    David Dodge and John Manley helped bring Mark Carney into public service. Now they have a budget warning: borrowing to build a stronger economy could leave Canada with less room to respond to the next crisis. The former Bank of Canada governor and former deputy prime minister and finance minister, join hosts Allan Gregg and Edward Greenspon to examine Carney’s growth agenda. How much will Ottawa really borrow beyond what the deficit suggests? Can spending cuts succeed without deciding which programs to end? And will the investments generate enough growth to justify the borrowing? Drawing on the hard choices of the 1990s, they explain what they’ll watch on budget day—and why both favour taxing income less and consumption more. Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Oct 24

    Sage Podcast: A Decisive Yes to Canada. Why Then Do Two Federalist Guests Feel So Sad?

    Alberta voted decisively to stay in Canada. Stéphane Dion and Janet Annesley welcome the result. But both view the referendum a “sad exercise”? Former Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and Alberta energy and public affairs adviser Janet Annesley join hosts Edward Greenspon and Allan Gregg in back-to-back conversations about what the vote exposed and what comes next. Can Ottawa address long-held grievances without rewarding separatist blackmail? Could separatists lose the referendum but still take over the United Conservative Party - and what happens then? And can Alberta channel its ambitions into a bigger role in leading Canada? Listen to this week’s Sage Podcast, and share it with your network. If you enjoyed this, you may also like from Sage: Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Oct 17

    Sage Podcast: Inflation and Affordability are Highly Personal and are Driving Elections. Welcome to the Midterms.

    A pay raise feels earned. Higher prices feel like something being taken away. When incomes fail to keep pace, the consequences reach well beyond the household budget. Former B.C. cabinet secretary Don Wright joins host Edward Greenspon to explore how stagnant living standards undermine public confidence and feed the discontent reshaping politics in Canada, the United States and other democracies. Even through Trump’s threats and the trade war, Canadians’ affordability concerns have remained front and centre. With the U.S. midterms approaching, Sage examines how Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war have compounded the squeeze on Americans—and how voters’ frustration could change the political equation on both sides of the border. Listen to the latest Sage Podcast and share it with your network. If you enjoyed this, you may also like from Sage: Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Oct 11

    Sage Podcast: Canada’s Love of Peacekeeping Became an Excuse to Neglect Defence

    Canada is preparing to spend far more on defence, reopening some uncomfortable questions about how we protect ourselves. Why do we buy military equipment once a generation, then wait for it to fall apart before replacing it? Has our love of peacekeeping become an excuse to neglect defence? And how reliable are allied supply lines when everyone needs the same ammunition? Former deputy minister of national defence Jody Thomas and former deputy minister of foreign affairs Senator Peter Harder join host Allan Gregg to unpack what rebuilding Canada’s security will demand. Listen in to why allies will replenish their own forces first, why Thomas would direct almost all defence infrastructure spending to the Arctic, and why Canada needs diplomatic expertise in countries that haven’t yet become priorities. The conversation is about sovereignty: whether Canada can turn a bigger defence budget into the ability to protect its territory, keep its forces supplied, and exercise greater influence in an increasingly uncertain world. Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Oct 4

    Sage Podcast: It’s Election Month in Canada. Are We Renegotiating the Federation on the Fly?

    Canada is heading into a revealing political month: elections in B.C. and Quebec, and an Alberta referendum that has revived familiar anxieties about national unity. But the deeper story may not be whether the country is breaking apart. It may be whether the federation itself is being renegotiated. Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star, and Darrell Bricker, Global CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, join hosts Allan Gregg and Edward Greenspon to unpack a volatile moment in Canadian politics: why Trump and Carney have frozen normal partisan lines, why Alberta’s separatist question may be less important than the other questions on the ballot, why Quebec could elect a sovereigntist government without a separatist majority, and why B.C.’s election may test the limits of Team Canada politics. The result is a conversation about power: who holds it, who feels excluded from it, and how much longer national unity can be sustained by crisis politics alone. Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Sep 27

    Sage Podcast: The Permitting Revolution Hidden Inside Bill C‑39

    Opposition to Bill C‑39 has been portrayed as a battle between new investment and environmental protection and between collective bargaining rights and warding off strikes in essential economic services. But its most consequential changes may be the ones attracting the least attention. Unlike previous reforms under the Harper and Trudeau governments, the legislation reaches right into the permitting machinery that kicks in after a project receives its initial approval. Securing these permits under the Fisheries Act, the Navigable Waters Act and the Species at Risk Act can add years to wait times. Not only will permitting fall into the government’s single-window, one-year timeline, ministers are being directed “to consider technical, economic and practical feasibility when establishing, adding or amending conditions.” That means environmental consequences will have to be weighed against economic consequences - the first use of a proportionality test. Former federal and provincial deputy ministers Michael Keenan and Don Wright join hosts Edward Greenspon and Allan Gregg to examine the ambition—and the risks—inside Bill C‑39. They discuss everything from little-noticed micro changes with big effects to the possible impacts on employment and wages. They wonder if wage inflation may push project costs into the stratosphere or whether it actually constitutes a backdoor strategy to raise living standards. Oh yes, and an interesting digression into the B.C. election. If you enjoyed this, you may also like from Sage: Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Sep 20

    Sage Podcast: $120 Trillion Walked Into Toronto. Canada Still Has to Close the Deal.

    Trillions(!) of dollars came to Toronto last week—or at least the people who manage it did. Some 300 executives managing $120 trillion(!) in assets gathered for the federal government’s “inaugural” investment summit, where Canada sought to reintroduce itself to global capital and make the case that it can be that trusted supplier everyone is seeking. Turning interest into investment will require more than an appealing pitch, convivial surroundings and the speedy tax write-downs the government has proposed. Before investors pony up, as we hear on this week’s Sage Podcast, they will also want assurance of cost stability, quicker regulatory approvals, and confidence that changes in government won’t mean changes in policy. Canada, meanwhile, must decide how much public money it is prepared to put at risk and how it will structure that support. You may recall a trio of discussion papers published in the Spring. Well be prepared for their comeback. Hosts Allan Gregg and Edward Greenspon are joined by David Dodge, Martha Hall Findlay and Miville Tremblay to assess the summit, the government’s new “productivity mega-deduction,” the proposed Canada Strong Fund and the prospect of bringing private capital into Canadian airports. Listen to the latest episode of the Sage Podcast here or on Spotify or Apple. Share it with your network! Let us know what you think! And please join our growing Sage club by subscribing to the site where experience meets Canada’s future. Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Sep 13

    Sage Podcast: Is the Trade War Just Maybe De-escalating? Plus Canada’s New Investment Pitch (No Longer Unfettered Access to the U.S.) Gets a Big Test.

    Canada and the United States appear trapped in a cycle of tariffs and counter-tariffs. But the Trump administration’s response this week to Canadian retaliation was more modest than feared. Does that signal an effort to contain the conflict — or is it merely a lull before the next storm? Meanwhile, the heavy hitters of global capital gather this week in Toronto to chew on 167 possible investments – a major test of Canada’s attractiveness as a place to do business in the unfolding world order. Senator and former federal deputy minister Peter Harder, Canada-U.S. relationship expert Scotty Greenwood, and former Bank of Canada and La Caisse executive Miville Tremblay join hosts Edward Greenspon and Allan Gregg to tackle all this and more – will the U.S. midterm elections weaken Trump’s hand or make him more unpredictable, how the trade war is shaping the Quebec election, and what it still takes to become more investible? Listen to the latest episode of the Sage Podcast here or on Spotify or Apple. Share it with your network! Let us know what you think! And please join our growing Sage club by subscribing to the site where experience meets Canada’s future. If you enjoyed this, you may also like from Sage: Get full access to SAGE at sagecanada.substack.com/subscribe

    Sage Podcast: Is the Trade War Just Maybe De-escalating? Plus Canada’s New Investment Pitch (No Longer Unfettered Access to the U.S.) Gets a Big Test.
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About

Where experience meets Canada’s future. sagecanada.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Sage
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © SAGE
  • Show Website
    Sage

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