The Hatchet

So today is the day of the Alberta referendum. And we just wanted to share with you some more of my conversation with Jeremy Appel.Here we dig into Danielle Smith’s origins as a media personality, and what that can teach us about her as a political figure. And specifically we take a look at some of the columns she wrote early on in her career where she espouses ideas like….how smoking can actually reduce your risk of cancer.It’s a really interesting lens through which to understand Danielle Smith and I had a lot of fun talking to Jeremy about it. Featured in this episode: Jeremy AppelTo Learn More:Dark Phoenix: The Rise, Fall and Re-emergence of Danielle Smith by Jeremy Appel"Danielle Smith Claimed Smoking Cigarettes Had Positive Health Benefits" by Stephen Magusiak in Press Progress This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.ca/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.caRemember 2014?Pauline Marois, the Parti Québécois Premier of Quebec, had just called an election, trying to turn her minority into a majority. She was running on the so-called Charter of Values and hoping to channel the culture war forces towards a third referendum. She had just recruited Pierre Karl Péladeau, one of the province’s most powerful businessmen, as a star candidate, and it really looked like Quebec sovereignty was about to dominate Canadian politics once again.And then she lost. She lost big — giving up a majority government to the Quebec Liberals.Things only got worse for the sovereigntists in the following years. In 2018, François Legault’s party, the Coalition Avenir Québec, came to power, vowing to stop focusing so much on the federalist-separatist debate and instead focus on the economy. By 2022, the PQ was down to just three seats.Today things look very, very different.Last week, CAQ, under the leadership of Christine Fréchette, was completely wiped out. And the PQ’s Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, or PSPP, as he’s often referred to in Quebec, will be the province’s next premierBut the death of CAQ and the return of the separatist government are far from the only unlikely stories that have emerged from this election: You have the rise of the Conservative Party of Quebec under former shock jock Éric Duhaime, who captured 19 seats, mostly in the Quebec City region; the survival of the Liberal Party of Quebec, which looked like it might be finished after their leader, Pablo Rodriguez, resigned and replaced by a relative unknown Charles Milliard, and somehow he emerged with 40 seats; and even Quebec Solidaire, the leftist sovereigntist party that mostly competes for seats in the downtowns of Montreal and Quebec City, had a decent night, potentially holding the balance of power in this new minority legislature.But what's undeniable is that Quebec politics hasn’t looked this unpredictable in years.Featured on this episode: Nora LoretoTo Learn More:"A post-CAQ Quebec" by Nora Loreto on Substack"Under PSPPressure" by Paul Wells on Substack"After being wiped off political map, what's next for the CAQ?" by Antoni Nerestant in CBC NewsSupport us at Hatchetmedia.ca The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works. Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, MorusqueTo hear more, visit Hatchetmedia.ca

Allowing big, private money to buy up chunks of our airports has been a long-held neo-liberal dream in Canada. Kim Campbell proposed it during her short-lived government, as did Justin Trudeau in 2017.They were both hoping to follow in the example of Margaret Thatcher’s UK, which became the first western nation to fully privatize their existing major airports back in 1987. Since then, many European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, have followed suit, with massive pension funds often purchasing the airports outright or buying up long-term concessions to run them. But the idea has never really caught on in Canada, for one very good reason — Canadians hate it. A recent Nanos poll found that over 50% of Canadians oppose the plan and with only a little over 30% in favour. And that’s because Canadians clearly have an intuitive understanding that airports aren’t the kind of asset that it makes sense for governments to completely sell-off. They are, after all, natural monopolies, giving them enormous power to charge what they want.So why does Carney want to do this? Because it’s not about what’s best for Canadians. Instead, this is a proposal that works for the benefit of major asset managers and pension funds. These giant pools of money are on a desperate search for increased returns, wherever they can be found. And vital infrastructure is a great place for them to do it. Because they know that they can gauge consumers with no consequences.Everyone knows that’s how these kinds of deals work. So it’s especially galling that the government still frames this proposal as a way to lower costs for consumers. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.ca/subscribe

Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comIn 1978, a South African accountant orchestrated one of the most audacious and ruthless hostile takeovers in the history of Canadian business.His name was Jack Cockwell. And over the next decade, he would build a corporate empire unlike anything Canada had ever seen.This is the third episode in our series examining the history of Brookfield. In our first two episodes, we traced the company’s lineage through Brazilian Traction, the neo-colonial monopoly that dominated South America, and through the Bronfmans, the bootlegging dynasty that supplied liquor to American gangsters during Prohibition.But those were just the origin stories. This episode is about what happened when those two worlds collided.Edper-Brascan controlled over 500 companies. The beer you drank, the team you watched, the mall you shopped at, the house you lived in — all of it could be traced back to this sprawling conglomerate. At its height, it was worth more than $120 billion.All of this was Jack Cockwell’s domain. Immigrant, corporate philosopher, ruthless operator, Cockwell single-handedly imposed his will on Canada’s business establishment and dominated the 1980s like no one else.But by the end of the decade, people on Bay Street began to whisper.Something was rotten at the heart of Cockwell’s empire. They said that the whole thing was a mirage. A lie. A house of card waiting to fall over.They all turned out to be right.To learn more:The Brass Ring: Power, Influence and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann ShortellEdper by Keith Dalrymple“The Edper Puzzle” by Kimberly Noble in The Globe and Mail“The Second Coming” by Rod McQueen in The Financial Post“Fears for a Leveraged Leviathan” by Clyde Farnsworth in The New York Times“He was a titan of Bay Street and a senator. But J. Trevor Eyton died owing millions in taxes and on the verge of bankruptcy” by David Bruser & Jesse McLean in The Toronto Star This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.ca/subscribe

This episode was first published on April 12th, 2025. Happy New Year, Hatchet listeners!The chance to put out good journalism is its own reward, but to everyone who has listened, shared, or supported us over the last year—thank you. We wanted to kick off the year by updating you on our series on Brookfield. It’s been a long road, but we’ll be publishing the next two new episodes this week, with more to come later in the month.We can’t wait for you to hear it.But before you do, we wanted to re-publish the first episode in the series. It’s an important primer for an increasingly complicated story.Brookfield has been in the news constantly over recent months. The Conservatives attacked the company for moving the headquarters of one of their subsidiaries to New York City. The NDP have accused it of avoiding taxes through offshore havens. And Prime Minister Mark Carney, the former chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, has found himself on the defensive because of his association with the company.But what these political attacks miss is a far more important story. It’s a story of a company that has been central to Canada’s history and economy for more than a century.So what exactly is Brookfield? That’s a question that we here at The Hatchet have set out to answer.What we found was a company that almost defies description.Brookfield has been a financial universe unto itself, operating by a different set of cosmic laws and fundamental forces than other corporations.It’s a company that’s shown an almost unparalleled talent for reinvention. Over its 125-year-history, it’s morphed from a neo-colonial experiment to Canada’s most ruthless corporate raider to a seemingly boring storehouse of our collective pension earnings.Now it is one of a tiny handful of financial entities that sit at the very centre of the global economy.And so that’s why we’ll be spending this series focusing exclusively on this incredibly important and yet rarely understood company.We’ll be digging into its epic history, its contentious present and what the continued domination of firms like Brookfield could mean for everyday people.In this first episode, we shine a light on it’s first incarnation — Brazilian Traction, Light and Power — and how it managed to dominate the people of South America’s biggest nation for most of the 20th century.Featured in this episode: Tyler ShipleyTo learn moreCanada In The World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination by Tyler ShipleyThe Brass Ring: Power, Influence and the Brascan Empire by Patricia Best & Ann ShortellLet Us Prey: The Practices and Profits of Canadian Corporations and Businessmen edited by Robert Chodos & Ray MurphyThe Light: Brazilian Traction, Light, and Power Company Limited, 1899-1945 by Duncan McDowallSupport us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hatchetmedia.ca/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit hatchetmedia.caThe much anticipated budget is finally here and it promises to make "Canada Strong."Between the eye-popping promise to enable $1 trillion dollars in investments over the next five years and the $78.3 billion deficit, there’s a lot to take in.And that’s before we get into the really critical stuff… like maybe Canada will try to join Eurovision for some reason? (We don't talk about Eurovision at all).Today on The Hatchet, Jordan sits down with Arshy to break down the budget and try to make sense of what this all means for Canada.Support us at hatchetmedia.substack.comThe Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque