CanCon

Halifax, like many cities in Canada, faces a housing crunch. Not because of how big it is geographically. There's plenty of room. But because of how hard it can be for cities to rezone for increased density and create more affordable housing. If you live in a city of decent size, you're probably familiar with why: NIMBYs, lobbyists and all the assorted complaints and opposition and money that tends to stop ambitious city-planning in its tracks. And governments that can't look further than all that opposition in the next election. A little while ago, Halifax simply ... ignored that. Council passed an ambitious plan to rezone much of the downtown. A few years later, the results are visible to everyone, and the next step is planned. The question is, will council be willing to buck the most stubborn of all city growth opponents: The suburbs? Today's episode features local independent journalist and founder of Grand Parade Matt Stickland, describing Halifax's ambitious housing plan. And its uncertain future. (Please take a moment to visit our sponsor Go RVing Canada, and learn a little more about how easy it is to get out there and explore our country this summer.)

As you may have heard (over and over again), travel to the United States by Canadians is way down. Other countries are also avoiding the US, whether due to political stances or security concerns. But Canadians, Europeans and others are still part of the post-pandemic travel boom. So where are they going? You got it! Canadians are looking to explore their own country more than ever before. Foreigners are still looking to visit North America, just maybe not ... you know. All this has created the best chance Canada has had in decades to supercharge its growing travel industry. The only questions are if we're ready to seize it, and how we go about doing that... Jordan speaks to Erin Hynes, a longtime travel industry expert and the host of Curious Tourism: A Responsible Travel Podcast, about what the past year has taught us about Canadian travel and where it might be headed this year.

Decades ago, our government, and the body that oversees Canadian broadcasting, decided that homemade content was in danger of being overwhelmed by the vast flood of music, television, and film coming from the United States. The solution? A policy that required broadcasters to fill a certain amount of their programming with Canadian-made content, or "CanCon" as it came to be known. But the media landscape looks very, very different today than it did in 1991. And while Canadian-made content still manages to break through (see: Rivalry, Heated), and the CRTC has periodically updated the regulations, there's no question the CanCon policy no longer covers all it was intended to. Should it change? Did it work? Is it still needed? Not at all, or more than ever? Michael Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, and one of the country's foremost experts in media policy in the digital age. He joins Jordan to explain 35 years of CanCon, and if we need 35 more.

This summer, given ... everything going on down there, Canadians are more interested in exploring their own backyard than traveling to the United States. And since we've spent four months exploring everything about this country we need to fix, we wanted to spend Canada Day looking around at everything we don't. No matter where you live, this episode will give you some incredible ideas for your next getaway. Bestselling author Robin Esrock (The Great Canadian Bucket List) takes us on a tour from coast to coast to coast, starting in the North, then moving from West to East. There are so many beautiful, meaningful, fun and just plain weird places in this country that we thought we'd try to celebrate them all. Later, Esrock shares travel tips for everyone from those with the money for a cross-country train ride to those who need to stick closer to home, and their budget. After that, Jordan, Laura and Mat share the podcast's plan for this summer and beyond.