The Decibel

Apr 15 2025 600 ep. 21 mins 2.9k

The Decibel Podcast artwork

Context is everything. Join us Monday to Friday for a Canadian daily news podcast from The Globe and Mail. Explore a story shaping our world, in conversation with reporters, experts, and the people at the centre of the news.

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Canada’s fragmented medical records system

Apr 15 2025 20 mins

The way medical records are handled in Canada is a patchwork of disconnected systems – creating massive headaches for patients and doctors. Patients struggle to access their own data, and practitioners have to waste time compensating for inefficiencies. But, governments, companies and healthcare professionals are searching for ways to make all these systems talk to each other. C

An interview with Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault

Apr 14 2025 31 mins

The federal election is in two weeks, on April 28 – so the Decibel has invited the leaders from Canada’s major parties onto the show to share their vision for the country. And while environmental concerns haven’t been top-of-mind in this election … Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault says he isn’t just concerned about climate change. Pedneault – who previously se

Campaign Call: Western separatism amid a moment of Canadian unity

Apr 11 2025 31 mins

We’re halfway through the election period and it’s time for Campaign Call, The Decibel’s weekly election panel making sense of the major issues. This week, the embers of western separatism were stoked by an opinion piece by Preston Manning published in The Globe, arguing that national unity is on the ballot. We explore the threats of regionalism amidst the surge of pro-Canadi

Global markets reel from tariff whiplash

Apr 10 2025 22 mins

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs on most of the world, plunging markets into some of the worst days in recent memory. The tariffs took effect yesterday, but after hours of market volatility, the White House reversed course. Trump announced a 90-day pause on his initial tariff plans, instead issuing a 10-per-cent tariff on all implicated tradi

What happened to the ‘carbon tax election’?

Apr 09 2025 24 mins

For years, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been framing the federal race as a “carbon tax election.” But then Mark Carney became the Liberal Leader and Prime Minister and “axed the tax” for him, setting the consumer carbon price to zero. Now, Poilievre is targeting another federal carbon tax – the one on the industry’s largest emitters. It’s part of a broade

The case for teaching your child it’s okay not to share

Apr 08 2025 21 mins

In the age of gentle parenting, a new trend has emerged: parents are changing the ways they talk to their young children about sharing. Rather than forcing their kids to share their toys, relenting to their playmates’ demands, some parents are encouraging their children to say “no” and stand up for themselves. Amberly McAteer is a contributing parenting columnist for the Glo

Despite what Trump says, barely any fentanyl comes from Canada

Apr 07 2025 23 mins

Last week, the U.S. Senate vote to pass Senator Tim Kaine’s resolution to end the state of emergency that allows U.S. President Donald Trump to issue tariffs on Canadian goods. President Trump’s stated reason for the tariffs is that the fentanyl flowing into the United States from Canada “constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat.” The number he’s been citing is 43

Campaign Call: Trump chaos and Conservative infighting

Apr 04 2025 29 mins

It’s the end of the week, which means it’s time for Campaign Call…our election panel where we make sense of the major issues. This week we’re going to talk about one of the central themes in the campaign: the uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump. We also get into why the Conservatives are fighting in public, and what each major party is promising to help worker

Making sense of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

Apr 03 2025 23 mins

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Wednesday to put reciprocal tariffs on goods from most of its international trading partners. Trump called the tariffs a “declaration of economic independence” and accused other nations of stealing American jobs. However, Canada and Mexico, which have been in Trump’s crosshairs for months, are exempt from the n

What you need to know about U.S. travel as detentions rise

Apr 02 2025 23 mins

Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, immigration lawyers have reported seeing a rise in non-U.S. citizens being denied entry. At the beginning of March, Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian who had previously been able to obtain a U.S. work visa, was detained for nearly two weeks when she tried to renew her visa. European tourists have been detained at the border, and Ca