The Paul Wells Show

In the two years since the Russian invasion, there's largely been a consensus in Canada about supporting Ukraine. Debates in Parliament and the media focus almost entirely on how to best help Ukraine, and not whether we should be helping in the first place. William Thorsell thinks that's a shame. He also thinks it’s time for the West to withdraw from the war and concede defeat.

William Thorsell is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum. He’s currently a distinguished fellow at the Munk School.

How do Canada’s Prime Ministers measure up when it comes to foreign policy? Political scientist Patrice Dutil polled some colleagues to come up with a ranking. They placed Trudeau right near the bottom, alongside his predecessor Stephen Harper. Dutil joins Paul to break down the rankings and make the case that foreign policy needs to be taken more seriously in Canada. 

Patrice Dutil is the editor of Statesmen, Strategists and Diplomats: Canada’s Prime Ministers and the Making of Foreign Policy.

Housing policy has become one of the main debates among federal political parties. It wasn’t always this way, even as house prices were getting out of control. So why exactly did the housing crisis become such a prominent issue on the national stage? And can the federal government solve it?

Mike Moffatt keeps a close watch on housing policy, and has advised the Trudeau Government on the issue. He is the founding director of the PLACE Centre at the Smart Prosperity Institute, and an assistant professor at Western University’s Ivey Business School. He shares his thoughts on the debate over housing playing out in Parliament.

Police have been facing heavy scrutiny lately over how they handle protests, from the convoy in Ottawa to pro-Palestine demonstrations. OPP Acting Superintendent Marcel Beaudin shares the police perspective on this issue. Until recently, Beaudin ran the OPP’s Provincial Liaison team that deals with demonstration and protests. He has also been a leader in the service’s Indigenous Policing Bureau. 

This episode was recorded at the Munk School.

Subscribe to Paul's Substack for a premium version of this show: paulwells.substack.com

Paul's former sparring partner Andrew Coyne joins us to discuss the state of politics, the media and the “difficult and dangerous” times we're living in. 

These days, Andrew Coyne is a columnist for the Globe and Mail.

This episode was recorded at the Munk School.

Subscribe to Paul's Substack for a premium version of this show: paulwells.substack.com

Join us for a night of jazz, political wonkery and a novel-length poem about werewolf whalers for some reason.

Featuring:

- Shuvaloy Majumdar, the new MP for Calgary-Heritage
- Jason Guriel, reading from his book The Full Moon Whaling Chronicles
- Larisa Galadza, Canada’s former ambassador to Ukraine
- Jazz singer Caity Gyorgy, accompanied by Mark Limacher on piano

CBC/Radio-Canada announced today that they’re cutting 600 existing jobs and leaving another 200 vacant positions unfilled.

Shortly before these cuts were announced, their president and CEO Catherine Tait joined Paul to lay out her case for a public broadcaster, and her vision for its future.

As the former president of Estonia, Toomas Henrik Ilves has a unique perspective on Russian aggression. Though he grew up in the United States, he moved back to Estonia and got into politics, helping to lead a technological revolution that has given them a unique advantage for a country of only 1.3 million inhabitants. He talks to Paul about building up his country’s tech sector, pushing to get Estonia into NATO, and what it’s like watching from a small, Baltic country as Russia grows more aggressive.

When John Tory resigned as mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow decided to take another shot at the job. Despite much of the establishment lining up against her, she won. She talks to Paul about that campaign, and about trying to implement her vision for the city on a shorter-than-usual term, while dealing with a $1.5 billion deficit from COVID.

This episode was recorded live at the University of Toronto’s Munk School.

Graham Carr, president of Concordia University in Montreal, tells Paul that these changes will cause a major blow to Concordia’s finances. He also talks about how we got here, and why this has become such a hot button issue in Quebec.

The National Gallery of Canada had a rough year, as they reckoned with shifting attitudes towards culture and representation. Their new CEO, Jean-François Bélisle, joins Paul to talk about how he plans to move forward, and what a national art gallery should look like in the year 2023.

This episode was recorded live at the National Arts Centre.

FURTHER READING:
Turmoil Engulfs Canadian Art Museums Seeking to Shed Colonial Past - The New York Times

Subscribe to Paul's Substack for a premium version of this show: paulwells.substack.com

Mark Sutcliffe decided to run for mayor of Ottawa after being frustrated by the Freedom Convoy and the city's ill-fated LRT project. He won. A year into his term, he reflects on trying to solve some of the city’s biggest problems, including saving the downtown core and getting the LRT back on track.

This episode was recorded live at the National Arts Centre.

Subscribe to Paul's Substack for a premium version of this show: paulwells.substack.com

Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu joins Paul to talk about reconciliation, drug policy, and the road that led her from working with the most vulnerable members of society, to sitting in Trudeau's Cabinet.

This episode was recorded live at the National Arts Centre.

Subscribe to Paul's Substack for a premium version of this show: paulwells.substack.com

Timothy Garton Ash has chronicled some of the biggest moments in European history for over 40 years. In his new book, Homelands: A Personal History of Europe, he offers a history of postwar Europe, told through personal memoir. He talks to Paul about the future of Europe, the war in Ukraine, advising George W. Bush on how to think about the European Union, having Victor Orbán as a student, and why these days, his main concern is about the United States.

This episode was recorded at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

You can get a premium version of this show with extra content by subscribing to Paul's newsletter: paulwells.substack.com

The part of King Lear has a storied history, with classic performances by actors like William Hutt, Brian Cox and James Earl Jones. At 64, Paul Gross has taken on the role at Stratford, and he thinks the whole mythology around it is “just bullshit.” He reflects on the weight of the role, making Lear his own, and why Shakespeare still feels relevant. 

In the episode, we mention Paul Gross's age as 62, but he is 64. We regret the error.

You can get a premium version of this show with extra content by subscribing to Paul's newsletter: paulwells.substack.com

Kennedy Stewart is a former federal NDP MP and was mayor of Vancouver from 2018 to 2022. In his new book, Decrim: How We Decriminalized Drugs in British Columbia, he writes about how he worked with the federal government — and, eventually, with a provincial NDP government he saw as far less cooperative — to decriminalize simple possession of street drugs in British Columbia. He joins Paul to talk about that experience, as the national conversation around drug policy heats up.

You can get a premium version of this show with extra content by subscribing to Paul's newsletter: paulwells.substack.com.