The Decibel

As Canada builds out its military, there has been an increasing focus on arctic security. But military strategies that work in the southern part of the country do not always work in the North. Gavin John was embedded in a patrol with Canadian rangers as part of Operation Nanook-Nunalivut.

John, who covers national defence  for The Globe, shares what it was like to patrol more than 1,000 km in the Arctic on a snowmobile and why a small group of rangers are an important component of Canada’s military strategy.

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Canada’s economy has stalled. According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s real GDP contracted 0.1 per cent on an annualized basis in the first quarter of 2026. In the previous quarter, there was a 1-per-cent annualized decline. Two consecutive quarters of decline has sparked debate in Ottawa and on Bay Street about whether the country is in a recession.

Mark Rendell is The Globe’s economics reporter. He’s on the show to put these numbers in context, unpack the debate around what defines a recession, and what this says about Canada’s economic landscape. 

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Interprovincial trade within Canada is complicated. Existing barriers mean that many goods, like alcohol, often can’t be sold across provincial and territorial lines. Prime Minister Mark Carney has been pushing for ‘one Canadian economy’ in the wake of attempts to diversify away from the U.S. Opening up interprovincial alcohol sales, especially direct to consumer sales, have been a litmus test for this vision. But last week, the provinces and territories missed the deadline for an agreement on reducing those barriers. 

Jason Kirby is a staff reporter for The Globe’s Report on Business. He’s on the show to walk us through how alcohol sales work in Canada, what the barriers are preventing interprovincial trade and what it means that Canada hasn’t been able to resolve this issue. 

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The Canadian trucking industry touches almost every aspect of commercial  life — most Canadian products on store shelves made at least some part of their journey on the back of a truck. The conditions for drivers who got them there, however, are getting worse. 

A Globe investigation by Sara Mojtehedzadeh , an investigative reporter at The Globe, and Mahima Singh, a Globe data editor, looked into the concerns raised by drivers and experts in the trucking industry.  They found widespread accusations of wage theft and exploitation, violations of labour laws and insufficient training. Sara’s on the show to detail the working conditions for drivers , the impact of lax enforcement, and how this jeopardizes safety on the roads. 

Sara and Mahima will hold a Q&A about their investigation on Wednesday, June 3, at 12 p.m. ET. Send them your questions in advance.

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Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault has announced his resignation from Mark Carney’s government, after stepping down from cabinet last fall.. During his time in Canadian parliament Mr. Guilbeault has become a symbol for the Liberal party’s climate conscience. His decision to depart centres on the Prime Minister’s approach to climate policy and it signals the most public disruption in the perceived unity of the Liberal caucus.   

Marieke Walsh is The Globe’s senior political reporter. She’s here to discuss the politics and policy surrounding climate and what Mr. Guilbeault's resignation means for the Prime Minister. 

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