The Writ

Apr 08 2025 182 ep. 40 mins 181

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Hosted by Éric Grenier, The Writ podcast explores the world of elections and politics in Canada.

www.thewrit.ca

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Ep. 142: When to dump your candidate — and dump on your opponents

Apr 08 2025 44 mins

Parties proudly present their slate of candidates in every election shortly before dumping some of them. It’s an inevitable part of every campaign — rejecting candidates who don’t meet a party’s vetting standards and ejecting candidates when rival parties have dug up the dirt on them.So, what’s the process behind candidate vetting? And how do parties go about compiling, a

Ep. #141: Is it baked-in or could the polls change?

Apr 02 2025 38 mins

We’re deep into the second week of this election campaign and it appears to be Mark Carney’s to lose. But just how solid is the support for the Liberals, and what can Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives do to get back into the race?This week on The Writ Podcast, I’m joined ahead by the Pollster Panel to break it all down.Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara, was d

Ep. #140: Parties plan, the election gods laugh

Mar 26 2025 35 mins

Mark Carney kicked off Canada’s election campaign on Sunday and already parties are discovering that their best laid plans can go awry very quickly. So, what goes on behind the scenes when parties draw up their strategies for a campaign and what happens when they have to react to the unexpected?Throughout this election, I’ll be joined periodically by three veteran party organiz

Ep. #139: The polls say it's a race

Mar 19 2025 46 mins

We’re apparently only days away from an election call and the polls suggest that Mark Carney’s Liberals have taken the pole position ahead of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. So, what should we make of these emerging trends and how should they inform each party’s strategy heading into this campaign?Plus, just how will parties go about polling the electorate over the next s

Ep. #138: Is the political landscape shifting?

Jan 29 2025 47 mins

Canada’s political environment appears to be in flux, as the threats of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump, the resignation of Justin Trudeau and the resulting Liberal leadership race have jostled what had been a steady trendline in the polls. What to make of the diverging numbers and how do parties have to adjust their strategy as everything shifts beneath their feet?Plus,

Ep. #137: Freeland is out. Is Trudeau next?

Dec 18 2024 37 mins

Chrystia Freeland’s resignation as finance minister on Monday has thrown Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government into chaos. What should we make of this unpredictable week in Canadian politics, and where do Trudeau and the Liberals go from here?There’s a lot to unpack, and this week I’m joined by the CBC’s Aaron Wherry and The Globe and Mail’s Stephanie Levitz to try

The Numbers: Polls go from bad to sad for the Liberals

Dec 06 2024 37 mins

Four new polls put the Liberals and New Democrats within zero to two points of each other — and behind the Conservatives by margins of 19 to 23 points. We delve into the numbers and what they mean for each of the parties. Has Justin Trudeau’s promised GST holiday helped or hurt his chances?We also discuss provincial polls coming out of Ontario and Quebec, where two incumbent pr

The Numbers: A shock poll and a PC wave

Nov 29 2024 43 mins

A new poll, employing a new methodology, has the Conservatives at their highest and the Liberals at their lowest levels of support in years — maybe even a decade. What to make of it?On this week’s episode of The Numbers, we also break down Tim Houston’s PC landslide in the Nova Scotia election and take a look at some recent polls out of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Ed

The Numbers: Liberals, NDP tied in new poll — again

Nov 22 2024 43 mins

A new poll by Abacus Data puts the Liberals and NDP neck-and-neck in national voting intentions, well behind the Conservatives. But this isn’t the first time it’s happened. Is it a blip or another worrying sign for Justin Trudeau?On this episode of The Numbers, we take a look at the federal polling landscape. We then discuss some new numbers out of Quebec before taking a deep-d

The Numbers: Yet another tough byelection test for Trudeau

Nov 15 2024 51 mins

The Liberals face a tough test — maybe their toughest test yet — in an upcoming byelection in the B.C. Lower Mainland. Will Justin Trudeau and the Liberals lose their third contest in a row?We also take a look at the latest federal polling numbers and what they mean for Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and Jagmeet Singh’s NDP. Then, we discuss new provincial polling numbers