The House

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with all of Canada’s premiers in Charlottetown on Thursday to discuss how best to respond to Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats. Guest host Mitch Cormier canvasses a room of reporters waiting for the results of the First Ministers Meeting, then speaks with PEI Premier Rob Lantz, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and incoming council of the federation chair, NWT Premier R.J. Simpson about how exactly Canada might respond.

And, The House's summer season focus on food security continues with Ottawa's push to bring down food costs and drive competition in Canada's grocery sector — namely by funding local 'food hubs' across the country.

What are these hubs, and can they really make a difference for Canadian pocketbooks? Mitch Cormier travels around Prince Edward Island to meet farmers Trisha and Rose Viaene — who flipped the table on big grocers after being lowballed for their garlic crop — and corner store owner Krunal Patel, who has to buy dry goods from Canada's grocery empires, to stock his shelves. Then, Grower's Station executive director Ann Higgs, PEI Federation of Agriculture executive director Donald Killorn and food expert Mike von Massow explain how these food hubs help both farmers and small grocers, and whether scaling them up will bring food costs down.

Finally, Agriculture Minister Health MacDonald sits down with The House to share why the federal government is concerned about grocery competition and what he hopes Canadians' grocery carts will look like as the food strategy takes effect.

This episode features the voices of:
Rob Lantz, Premier of Prince Edward Island
Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta
R.J. Simpson, Premier of Northwest Territories
Trisha Viaene, former garlic farmer
Rose Viaene, executive general manager of Riverview Country Market
Jenn Pfenning, president of the National Farmers Union
Charles Aondo, delivery driver for Growers Station
Ann Higgs, executive director of Growers Station
Mike von Massow, food economist at the University of Guelph
Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture

Wildfire evacuations can spike with a moment’s notice, but is this country equipped to handle it? Federal Minister of Emergency Management Eleanor Olszewski responds to accusations that Ontario and Ottawa failed some communities hit by fires this week, and attacks from U.S. lawmakers who say Canada isn’t doing enough to stop wildfire smoke.

Plus, the prime minister has struck a deal with the Trump administration to open up the Gordie Howe Bridge — at the cost of a toll-sharing arrangement that remain murky. Is this another example of the Carney government dropping its elbows? Hill watchers Shannon Proudfoot and Paul Wells weigh in on that, plus the infighting splitting the Conservative party.

And, Canada relies heavily on fruits and veggies from warmer countries to feed itself, but big leaps in tech are promising year-round ways to grow it at home instead. Can Canada afford the price — or the electricity? House producer Derek Vanderwyk heads to a farm sealed inside a metal box and hears about technology that could let plants tell humans when they need light and water. Then, entrepreneur Jon Lomow makes his pitch for Canada to grow nearly all of what we eat.

This episode features the voices of:
Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience
Paul Wells, author and podcaster
Shannon Proudfoot, feature writer for The Globe and Mail
Alida Burke, co-founder and CFO of Growcer
Corey Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Growcer
Lenore Newman, director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley
Richard Lee, executive director of Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers
Lesley Campbell, professor of plant biology at Toronto Metropolitan University
Jon Lomow, co-founder of Fieldless Farms

The House’s summer season focus on food security continues with a deep dive into the pressures on farmland — and the people who grow our food.

Guest host Janyce McGregor speaks to the Stevens family, who turned down millions from developers to protect their farm for a thousand years. Tyler McCann of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute details where and how this land is being lost, while Ontario’s agriculture minister Trevor Jones explains the Ford government’s move to join other provinces’ ban on foreign ownership of farmland.

Then, former farmer-turned-Saskatchewan-trade-minister Warren Kaeding reflects on the difficult decisions farmers make when it's time to pass on the family farm, and Farm Credit Canada’s Justine Hendricks outlines how the crown corporation is responding to the spike in land prices with more creative financing.

And, Janyce McGregor speaks to three people who’ve experienced mental health challenges due to the extreme stress of managing precarious finances, unpredictable weather patterns and rural isolation. Stewart Skinner, Lesley Kelley and Gerry Friesen lay out what’s needed to help farmers manage the weight of the responsibility to feed the nation in turbulent times.

This episode features the voices of:
Charles Stevens, owner Wilmot Orchards
Courtney Stevens, cafe and social media manager for Wilmot Orchards
Ian Parker, general manager of Wilmot Orchards
Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute
Trevor Jones, Ontario Minister of Agriculture
Warren Kaeding, Saskatchewan Minister of Trade and Export Development
Justine Hendricks, CEO of Farm Credit Canada
Stewart Skinner, Ontario farmer
Gerry Friesen, author of The Recovering Farmer
Lesley Kelley, co-founder of the Do More Agriculture Foundation

Alberta has formally proposed a pipeline to the southwest coast of British Columbia, in partnership with the federal government and a private company. The Globe and Mail’s Stephanie Levitz and CBC’s Anis Heydari join guest host Kate McKenna to discuss pipeline politics, the CUSMA deadline that came and went, and (of course!) Canada joining the Eurovision Song Contest.

Plus, as the political barbecue season gets underway, The House’s Jennifer Chevalier kicks off The House’s summer series on food security with a documentary exploring the high cost of beef. A rancher explains why despite good cattle prices now it’s hard to have confidence in the future, a chef wonders why interprovincial trade barriers make it so hard to buy local meat, and a meat packer shows us around his abattoir and explains why he’s tapping into a government program that would help him ship meat to Canada’s north.

This episode features the voices of:
Stephanie Levitz, senior reporter with The Globe and Mail's Ottawa bureau
Anis Heydari, CBC News business reporter
Kevin Grier, beef & cattle market analyst
Brenda Rosadiuk, cattle rancher at Rosadiuk Ranches
Tyler Fulton, president of the Canadian Cattle Association
Calvin Vaags, CEO of True North Foods
Lewis Robinson, owner of La Petite Primerose restaurant
Sarah Berger Richardson, food law professor at the University of Ottawa
Michael Coteau, Liberal MP & chair of the House of Commons agriculture committee
Eric Patenaude, owner of Henderson’s Meats and Abattoir

It's a week that embodied Carney's "build, baby, build" mantra. We started with the federal government announcing it will push to have three northern projects fast-tracked under the Building Canada Act, and ended with a new plan to refurbish 24 Sussex Drive — the prime minister's official residence.

But could this derelict building be too politically radioactive to fix? Hill watchers Tonda MacCharles and Stuart Thomson break down whether Carney's plans for 24 Sussex will trigger a thorny political fight, and Canada is today on major projects.

Plus, former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman tells The House what signals she will be looking for as the CUSMA negotiations continue and what she’s hearing from her contacts in the United States.

And, the "unparliamentary" stories you've never heard about the House of Commons. From fist fights to sneaking a salmon into Question Period, author Charlie Feldman joins Catherine Cullen on Parliament Hill to explain the crazy, spicy history he details in his new book — and why he believes it's important to include in the story of Canada's democracy.

This episode features the voices of:
Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa bureau chief for the Toronto Star
Stuart Thomson, parliamentary bureau chief for the National Post
Kirsten Hillman, Canada's former ambassador to the United States
Charlie Feldman, author of Unparliamentary