theBreaker.news Podcast: Recent Episodes
Bob Mackin
For the week of Aug. 9, 2026:“You can’t be part of any conversation, these days, without it going to AI pretty quickly,” says Kris Krug, executive director of the B.C. + AI Ecosystem Association.
Krug hosts monthly Vancouver AI Community Meetups, a forum for techies, artists, activists, entrepreneurs and the curious to make sense of the opportunities and drawbacks of the technology.
The latest meetup was July 29 and featured guest speaker Dave Olson, mixed media storyteller and tech innovator now living in Japan. Krug and Olson are Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
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For the week of Aug. 2, 2026:Fresh off the biggest FIFA World Cup in history — subsidized by taxpayers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada — FIFA boss Gianni Infantino had visions of even bigger profits. With help from a relative of Donald Trump.
On this edition of thePodcast, one of the world’s top sports economics professors takes a closer look at the halted proposal to transform the business of FIFA tournaments into a company and sell shares to investors. A proposal that generated a substantial backlash. It could cost Infantino his presidency.
Bob Mackin’s guest is Victor Matheson, of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Matheson, who was interviewed on July 30, also comments on Major League Soccer and the future of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
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For the week of July 26, 2026:FIFA World Cup 2026 is over. Vancouverites and Torontonians will be wondering for months, maybe years: How much did it cost? Was it worth it?
Montreal was not part of it, because of the legacy of the financial disaster that defined the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Montreal Gazette editorial cartoonist Terry Mosher was there and remembers the good, the bad and the ugly of the Games in his 50th anniversary book: “Aislin’s 1976 Montreal Olympic Scrapbook — Jean Drapeau’s Baby.”
Mosher, North America’s longest active editorial cartoonist, is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
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For the week of July 19, 2026:Argentina versus Spain in New Jersey. The climax of FIFA World Cup 2026. Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump’s multibillion-dollar party. Soccer will never be the same.
A look back at the expensive, five-week carnival of controversy across the U.S., Canada and Mexico with Declan Hill, investigative journalist, author and associate professor at the University of New Haven. How much did it really cost?
Plus, Mario Canseco of Research Co dives into World Cup trivia and his latest poll about the impact of the mega-event on Vancouver, Toronto and across Canada. Could it return in 2038?
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For the week of July 12, 2026:As a fan of the beautiful game, Burnaby sports writer Alfie Lau has travelled to seven FIFA World Cups on four continents. His mementoes include framed photographs and ticket stubs from World Cup finals, including the 2022 classic in Qatar featuring Argentina and France.
Just six SkyTrain stops from where he lives, B.C. Place Stadium hosted seven matches from June 13-July 7. On this edition of thePodcast, Lau explains why FIFA’s pursuit of attendance and revenue records caused him to sit this one out.
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For the week of July 5, 2026:In the spirit of the FIFA World Cup, it is 2026’s halftime. That is why the MMA Panel returns, to look back at the first six months of the year and look ahead to the next six months.
Host Bob Mackin welcomes Mario Canseco, president of Research Co, and Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University. They pondered the province’s top political and economic headlines of the second quarter of the year. Recorded at Lonsdale Quay and the Shipyards in North Vancouver.
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For the week of Nov. 30, 2025:
Millions of Canadians watched Prime Minister Mark Carney’s coin toss at the Grey Cup. It was a promotion for CFL sponsor Coinbase, a cryptocurrency company in which Carney invested.
This week’s guest, Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher, says that’s offside, but Carney is unlikely to be penalized because federal conflict of interest rules are lax and riddled with loopholes.
After a top Brookfield executive testified to a House of Commons committee last week, Conacher explains why blind trusts and ethics screens are insufficient.
Conacher also tells host Bob Mackin about a legal roadblock in the quest to hold Justin Trudeau accountable for the SNC-Lavalin scandal and discusses how the B.C. NDP spent taxpayers’ money to defend the 2020 breach of the fixed election date law.
As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.
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For the week of Nov. 23, 2025:
Mubin Shaikh knows more than the average Canadian about political and religious violence.
The former teenage jihadist became a Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent who exposed a terrorist plot.
Shaikh teaches at universities and speaks at conferences, such as the 2025 Vancouver International Security Summit. That is where he sat down with host Bob Mackin to discuss trends in extremism and his deradicalization work with Parents For Peace.
As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.
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For the week of Nov. 16, 2025:
Is it the beginning of the end for private property in British Columbia?
After a decade-long B.C. Supreme Court battle, the Cowichan First Nation won title to 800 acres of Richmond farm and industrial land in August.
In September, the court confirmed aboriginal title on Haida Gwaii.
Both decisions sparked questions about the NDP government’s handling of Indigenous land claims and its adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Guest Geoffrey Moyse spent 31 years as a lawyer with the B.C. Attorney General’s department and advised six B.C. governments on aboriginal law. He joins Bob Mackin on this edition of thePodcast.
As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.
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For the week of Oct. 12, 2025: New beginnings, the theme of the Thanksgiving Weekend edition of thePodcast.
Michael Sachs explains why he left Vancouver to become the senior director of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he reacts to the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Also, the B.C. Legislature is back in session. What does the future hold for NDP Premier David Eby and Conservative opposition leader John Rustad? What about new Green leader Emily Lowan, who doesn’t have a seat in the Legislature?
Guests Alan Mullen (former chief of staff to ex-Speaker Darryl Plecas) and Paul Stanley (former B.C. government chief security officer).
As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.
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For the week of Oct. 5, 2025: In time for Taiwan’s 114th National Day on Oct. 10, highlights of an Aug. 27 panel discussion after the screening of “Invisible Nation,” a documentary that features Taiwan’s first female president, Tsai Ing-wen (2016-2024).
The democratic island nation, the size of Vancouver Island, thrives in the shadow of Communist China, whose leader, Xi Jinping, threatens to invade.
Featuring: Filmmaker Vanessa Hope, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office director general Angel Liu, University of British Columbia political science Prof. Yves Tiberghien and moderator Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. (Footage courtesy of TECO Vancouver.)
As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.
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For the week of Sept. 28, 2025: Premier David Eby’s NDP government is running a record $11.6 billion deficit and needs revenue wherever it can find it. One source is gambling: B.C. Lottery Corporation is budgeting a $1.4 billion profit. But at what cost?
Investigative journalist and theBreaker.news contributor Stanley Tromp obtained BCLC polling that found problem gambling is on the rise. He is Bob Mackin’s guest on this week’s edition.
Plus, the week that was in B.C. politics with Mario Canseco of Research Co. The Conservatives stand pat with leader John Rustad, even more members of the Green Party choose Gen Z Emily Lowan as their new leader and Eby went from NYC to the UBCM. Will the NDP find peace with the BCGEU?
As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.
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For the week of Sept. 29, 2024: The MMA Panel returns, as host Bob Mackin welcomes Research Co president Mario Canseco and Simon Fraser University city program director Andy Yan to look back and look ahead at local, provincial and federal political trends.
The panel analyzes the latest on Ken Sim’s clash with the integrity commissioner and move to abolish the elected Park Board, the B.C. election battle between the Conservaties and NDP and the future of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after NDP leader Jagmeet Singh ended the confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals.
Also on this edition, hear from Burnaby lawyer Mark Berry. He is one of two Law Society of B.C. members that unsuccessfully proposed correction of one sentence in the mandatory Indigenous intercultural training material that claims bodies of 215 children were discovered under the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Berry explains the resolution and reacts to the backlash before and after the Law Society’s annual general meeting.
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For the week of Sept. 22, 2024: A double dose of democracy on this week’s edition of thePodcast.
Mario Canseco of Research Co helps host Bob Mackin set the stage for British Columbia’s 43rd provincial election.
His latest poll says it will be a close race between David Eby’s NDP and John Rustad’s Conservatives on the way to Oct. 19.
North Vancouver schoolteacher John O’Flynn was one of the 90 candidates who did not win last week’s federal by-election in Montreal. He explains why he did not run to win, but as a protest in favour of electoral reform.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Sept. 15, 2024: On the way to B.C.’s Oct. 19 election, David Eby’s NDP government issued a secret order to the province’s forestry policing service.
In a nutshell, it says do not investigate government wrongdoing.
It became public because of Bryce Casavant, a former forestry investigator and conservation officer. He exposed what is officially called “General Order #5” in a story for the TheConversation.com.
He says it compromises those who are responsible for upholding laws to protect the province’s environment and economy.
“It’s an unlawful order,” Casavant told thePodcast host Bob Mackin. “It should be rescinded immediately.”
Bryce Casavant lectures at Royal Roads University’s School of Humanitarian Studies about legal aspects of environmental management. He is Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Sept. 8, 2024: A reporter’s reporter. A storyteller like no other in B.C.
Mike McCardell delivered his final Last Word report and retired on Aug. 30.
The 80-year-old made a career of telling extraordinary stories about everyday people. It all began in his native New York with the Daily News. The late-1960s and early-1970s were the glory days of newspapers and crime reporting. It was also a dangerous time to raise a family in New York.
McCardell came to Vancouver with his family in 1973 to work for the Vancouver Sun. He switched to BCTV (now Global BC) three years later. In 2013, he joined CTV News Vancouver. Along the way, he authored 13 books from Harbour Publishing.
Mike McCardell is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Sept. 1, 2024: The free enterprise feud is over.
On Aug. 28, Kevin Falcon took his BC United out of the provincial election and threw support behind John Rustad and his Conservatives’ bid to defeat David Eby’s NDP government on Oct. 19. Mario Canseco of Research Co joins host Bob Mackin to analyze the historic agreement.
Labour Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer. Back to school and, for many, back to the office.
The Lower Mainland relies on public transit utility TransLink, but it is threatening to cut services around the region if the next provincial government does not give it hundreds of millions more dollars to spend.
Meanwhile, under the Eby NDP, SkyTrain expansion projects are late and billions of dollars over budget.
Longtime TransLink critic Malcolm Johnston of Rail for the Valley says TransLink is costing too much, needs to undergo a long-overdue audit and a governance and corporate shakeup. He is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Aug. 25, 2024: On this edition of thePodcast, a late-summer football doubleheader.
First, Canada’s best Gaelic football players (and hurling and camogie players, too) are coming to Burnaby for the Aug. 31-Sept. 1 Canadian National Championships. Co-organizer Ronan Deane of the Vancouver Gaelic Athletic Association joins host Bob Mackin to preview the festival of Ireland’s national sports.
Then, Mackin welcomes back Jim Mullin, the president of Football Canada and general secretary of the International Federation of American Football.
Mullin is in Finland where Canada’s best flag football players are vying for the world championship on the road to the LA 28 Olympics. Mullin also looks ahead to the Aug. 31 Touchdown Pacific, when the B.C. Lions host the Ottawa RedBlacks in Victoria’s Royal Athletic Park. It will be the first Lions’ game in B.C. since 1969 on grass, a chance for quarterback Nathan Rourke to star in his birthplace and another example of owner Amar Doman’s province-wide vision for the Lions.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Aug. 18, 2024: War drags on in Ukraine. There is no end in sight to the war between Israel and Iranian proxy Hamas. Xi Jinping threatens to invade and annex self-governing Taiwan.
Seaforth Peace Park (Mackin)
A metaphor for the 21st century world in conflict languishes in a state of disrepair, behind a fence at Seaforth Peace Park in Vancouver’s Kitsilano.
The Vancouver Peace Flame Monument’s fountain and eternal flame were unveiled Aug. 13, 1987 to remember the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. But city crews shut both off in 2018 and the Park Board has done nothing to rescue the decaying sculpture.
On this edition, a gem from the Vancouver City Archives: highlights from the Kitsilano NTV live broadcast of the lighting of the monument. Featuring then-mayor Gordon Campbell, Hiroshima bombing survivor Kinuko Laskey, urban planner Larry Beasley and sculptor Sam Carter.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Aug. 11, 2024: For the first time in history, two men ran the mile in less than four minutes in the same race. It happened in East Vancouver on the final day of the British Empire Games in 1954, an event that introduced British Columbia to the world early in the television era.
England’s Roger Bannister defeated Australia’s John Landy in what is known as the “Miracle Mile” at Empire Stadium on Aug. 7, 1954.
The stadium is gone, but Empire Fields remain a buzzing hive of amateur sport. On the 70th anniversary, host Bob Mackin and Jason Beck from the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum took a walk in the footsteps of Bannister and Landy.
Jason Beck is also the author of “The Miracle Mile: Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.”
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Aug. 4, 2024: Happy British Columbia Day!
To celebrate Canada’s 153-year-old Pacific province, a special edition of thePodcast, featuring:
- Research Co’s Mario Canseco on his latest pre-election poll. Could John Rustad’s Conservatives knock-off David Eby’s NDP government in the Oct. 19 election? Could BC United go from official opposition to fourth-place party? [begins at 01:08]
- Alan Mullen, who was chief of staff to former B.C. Speaker Darryl Plecas. Will Mullen run in the fall or not? [begins at 14:43]
- Boating B.C.’s Bruce Hayne on boating safety. More people than ever before are on B.C. water, from stand-up paddle boards to super yachts, competing for space with container ships, oil tankers, ferries and sea planes. [begins at 31:41]
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of July 28, 2024: The XXXIII Summer Olympics are underway in Paris, now a third-time host of the five-ring circus.
We will find out if the French learned anything about the good, the bad and the ugly of the Games that came before, such as the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
This week, an encore presentation of host Bob Mackin’s February interview with Irwin Oostindie of Vancouver’s Voor Urban Labs.
Oostindie was in the French capital in February to meet with academics and critics of Paris 2024, to share his knowledge about Vancouver 2010 and its socio-economic goals.
Plus, the Canadian women’s Olympic soccer team is embroiled in scandal after a staff member was caught using a drone to spy on New Zealand’s training session. It became the biggest Olympic story before the Paris 2024 opening ceremony.
Could the precedent set by a Mexican scandal in 1988 affect Canada’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup in 2026? Hear from former Mexican radio reporter Mario Canseco.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of July 21, 2024: In less than two years, Vancouver and 15 other cities in Canada, U.S. and Mexico will host the FIFA World Cup 26.
After hordes of ticketless fans invaded Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium before the July 14 Copa America final, should Vancouverites worry that hooligans will crash the nearly $600 million party at B.C. Place Stadium?
A Burnaby sports writer who has attended seven World Cups says no.
Alfie Lau joins host Bob Mackin to talk about his experience at the world’s biggest single-sport tournament.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of July 14, 2024: In the middle of spring break, on a Friday afternoon, Metro Vancouver revealed the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant would take another $3 billion and six years to complete. It was supposed to cost $500 million to $700 million and be ready in 2020.
Seven local government politicians from around the Lower Mainland are demanding transparency, accountability and reform from the regional government. They want an audit and they want elections for directors in 2026. Two of the seven are Bob Mackin’s guests on this edition of thePodcast: New Westminster city councillor Daniel Fontaine and Richmond city councillor Kash Heed.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of July 7, 2024:The special 350th edition of #thePodcast with host Bob Mackin, featuring guests Mario Canseco and Andy Yan in the return of the MMA Panel.
Bob Mackin (left), Andy Yan and Mario Canseco, together, the MMA Panel.
It’s halftime in 2024 and the MMA Panel focuses on the second quarter of the year. Specifically, the performances of leaders at Vancouver and Surrey city halls, Metro Vancouver, the B.C. and federal governments. With 15 weeks left until the provincial election, could Conservative John Rustad upset Premier David Eby and the NDP? Will Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stay or will he go? All that and more on #thePodcast.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of June 30, 2024:The headline on the latest Research Co poll: BC NDP Lead Narrows as British Columbians Ponder Choices.
The second place Conservatives and third place Greens are up. BC United is in fourth — yes, the former BC Liberals are not even on the podium.
The provincial election approaches on Oct. 19. Just 16 weeks away.
Joining Bob Mackin on this edition of thePodcast is Mario Canseco to discuss his latest Research Co poll on the parties, their leaders and the issues.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of June 23, 2024:April Hutchinson is a Canadian champion powerlifter and advocate for keeping women’s sport for women.
Hutchinson was at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria in April when Conservative leader John Rustad tabled the Fairness in Women’s and Girls’ Sports bill. But Premier David Eby’s NDP majority blocked the private member’s bill before it could be debated.
It is an issue of health, safety and fairness, Hutchinson says. She is not alone. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova and Alberta track and field coach Linda Blade (who was a guest on this podcast) have also campaigned for rules against biological male athletes competing in women’s sport.
Listen to host Bob Mackin’s interview with April Hutchinson.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of June 16, 2024:How many Canadian lawmakers are colluding with foreign adversaries, like Xi Jinping’s China?
Who are they? Will they ever be held accountable?
Those questions remain unanswered after the heavily censored special report by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP).
On this edition of thePodcast, host Bob Mackin welcomes Sam Cooper, the investigative reporter behind TheBureau.news, to analyze the latest twist in Canada’s foreign interference scandal.
Cooper authored “Wilful Blindness: How a network of narcos, tycoons and CCP agents infiltrated the West” and his reporting for Global News in late 2022 and early 2023 helped pave the way for the Hogue Commission public inquiry into China’s meddling in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
“For people like you and me, I don’t think there’s much shock value in what NSICOP confirmed,” Cooper said. “They did go further than Justice Hogue, in saying that some Canadian parliamentarians wittingly or through wilful blindness —which I liked that they used that word from my book title — knowingly accepted transfers, concealed or layered, to disguise their origin.”
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of June 9, 2024:The Canadian Football League’s 66th season is underway. The B.C. Lions kick-off the home schedule of their 70th anniversary season on June 15 at B.C. Place Stadium — where they hope to hoist the Grey Cup in the 111th championship on Nov. 17.
Randy Ambrosie, a Grey Cup-winning offensive lineman with the 1993 Edmonton Eskimos, is the league’s 14th commissioner. He was in Vancouver on June 3 for a wide-ranging, question and answer session with reporters, including thePodcast host Bob Mackin.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of June 2, 2024:The 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre is June 4.
Throughout the spring of 1989, university students occupied the vast square in the centre of the capital, demanding democratic reforms.
Then the People’s Liberation Army violently quashed the protests as the world watched the horror unfold. Nobody knows for sure if the death toll was in the high hundreds or low thousands.
Since then, the Chinese Communist Party has only become more powerful inside and outside China. Xi Jinping has taken away civil liberties from Hong Kongers and is threatening to invade Taiwan. China continues to interfere in democracies, such as Canada, through its United Front Work Department propaganda and espionage program.
On this edition of the Podcast, hear highlights of interviews from the vault with Tiananmen Square survivor Zhou Fengsuo (2019) and former Hong Kong reporter Fenella Sung (2018).
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 26, 2024:Premier David Eby’s NDP no longer has an insurmountable lead. John Rustad’s Conservatives are poised to become the free enterprise vehicle for voters in October’s election — but are they destined for opposition? Will Kevin Falcon’s B.C. United be in a battle for third-party status with the B.C. Greens? And what about the top three issues on voters’ minds, with 21 weeks to go before voting day?
All of that is discussed in the return of Research Co pollster Mario Canseco. Listen to the full interview on this edition of thePodcast with Bob Mackin.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 19, 2024:Should athletes who were born male be allowed to compete in women’s sports against women? What is more important in sport: inclusivity or safety and a level playing field?
In 2023, World Athletics, the track and field governing body, chose the latter. It banned “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty.”
On April 30, John Rustad, the leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., tabled the Fairness in Women’s and Girls’ Sports Bill in the B.C. Legislature.
While private member’s bills rarely get passed in B.C.’s whipped Legislature, the governing party rarely stands in the way of a bill’s introduction. That is exactly what Premier David Eby’s NDP majority did, alleging that it was transphobic.
Guests Linda Blade and Hannah Driedger say Eby is wrong. They join host Bob Mackin to talk about what was in the bill. Blade is a high performance coach and author who advocates for women and girls in sport. Driedger is the communications and research director for the Conservative caucus and she helped draft the bill.
Listen to the full interview.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 5, 2024:The B.C. NDP government finally revealed that taxpayers could be paying $581 million to host seven FIFA World Cup 26 matches at B.C. Place Stadium.
The cost has more than doubled due to inflation and FIFA’s requirements to renovate B.C. Place Stadium.
Tourism and Sport Minister Lana Popham estimated a $1 billion tourism revenue windfall over the five years following the tournament. But one of the world’s top sports economists says that’s wishful thinking.
Victor Matheson, a professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
Matheson has researched World Cups, Olympics and Super Bowls and found they never live up to the hype from politicians and the boosters reliant on taxpayer subsidies.
“The biggest single thing that a tourist is going to spend money on in Vancouver in the World Cup is World Cup tickets,” Matheson said. “Of course none of that is going to be re-spent in Vancouver, because all that money goes into the pockets of FIFA who takes it back to Switzerland and divvies it up back there.”
Listen to the full interview on this edition.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of April 28, 2024:Canadian athletes campaigned for change, to end abuse and corruption in sport.
They wanted a judicial public inquiry. Last December, Liberal Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough said they would get the Future of Sport in Canada Commission instead, with a deadline in 18 months.
More than four months since then, only the announcement of the $10.6 million budget. Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics are only three months away. “It’s not great timing, it should’ve been two years ago to get everything out in the open and start reform,” said Rob Koehler, the director general of Global Athlete.
Meanwhile, a decade after the Sochi Olympics doping scandal, the World Anti-Doping Agency is under fire for allegations that it covered up cheating by the Chinese Olympic swim team in 2021. It only came to light because whistleblowers went to journalists. Koehler said it is time for the governments that fund WADA to demand transparency and accountability.
Koehler is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of April 21, 2024:For several hours on April 13, the world watched and wondered: what next for the Middle East and beyond?
Colwood city councillor Ian Ward near the border of Israel and northern Gaza (Ian Ward)
While Israel’s war on the Iran-backed Hamas terrorists drags on in Gaza, Iran directly attacked Israel for the first time. The ally of China and Russia fired missiles and drones at the Jewish state, in retaliation for Israel’s April 1 bombing of Iran’s consulate in Syria, which killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members.
A politician from Vancouver Island happened to be there. Colwood city councillor Ian Ward was near the end of a trip to meet survivors and visit sites of the Oct. 7 massacre.
Ward is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of April 14, 2024:The spring phase of public hearings in the Foreign Interference Inquiry is over.
The climax came April 10 when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified about evidence the Chinese Communist Party meddled in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue’s May 3 interim report deadline is rapidly approaching. The final report is due at the end of the year.
Kenny Chiu, the Steveston-Richmond East Conservative MP from 2019 to 2021, testified April 3 about the disinformation campaign on Chinese-language social media that led to his defeat.
Chiu is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of thePodcast.
“I’m glad at least, after the Rosenberg report, after David Johnston trying to sweep it under the carpet, we now have Judge Hogue, who seemed to understand the importance of this. She impressed me by changing her mind and granting access to witnesses, interrogation of witnesses, to parties that are are not full participants,” Chiu said.
“Her change of heart has told me that she is serious about getting to the bottom of this. But unfortunately, as you have also mentioned, that she is under an nearly impossible schedule.”
Hear the full interview on this edition.
Plus, this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of April 7, 2024:The MMA panel returns to thePodcast to wrap-up the first quarter of 2024 and look ahead to the next.
Join host Bob Mackin with guests Mario Canseco, president of Research Co, and Andy Yan, director of the Simon Fraser University city program, as they discuss the Vancouver, B.C. and federal political leaders, parties and trends that shaped early 2024.
Plus, the Sin Bin and this week’s Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of Sept. 10, 2023: Many things divide Canadians, but few things unite us as much as the love for Terry Fox.
Terry Fox (left) and Bill Vigars in 1980. (Sutherland House)
On Sept. 17, millions coast-to-coast-to-coast will walk, run or roll in memory of the Canadian hero and his dream to end cancer.
Bill Vigars of White Rock, B.C. was right there with Fox during the summer of 1980, the “summer of hope,” as he calls it.
Vigars was working for the Canadian Cancer Society in Ontario when he was sent to join Terry’s team in New Brunswick.
Vigars has written about the highs and lows of what became the most-important Canadian road trip, “Terry and Me: The Inside Story of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope” from Sutherland House Publishers.
Hear the first part of a two-part interview on this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast with Bob Mackin.
Plus, commentary on the long-awaited foreign interference public inquiry and headlines from the Pacific Rim and the Pacific Northwest.
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For the week of June 4, 2023:Benedict Rogers came to Ottawa just in time for the latest chapter in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s China Crisis.
Benedict Rogers (Facebook)
The author of “The China Nexus: 30 Years In and Around the Chinese Communist Party’s Tyranny” launched Hong Kong Watch Canada the same week that ex-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and longtime NDP MP Jenny Kwan revealed that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told them how the Chinese Communist Party targeted them for intimidation. Canada’s spy agency met with them after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accepted David Johnston’s recommendation against a public inquiry into Chinese government interference, citing national security.
“You can have an inquiry where not everything that is presented to the inquiry body is made public and I can’t see a reason why that principle couldn’t be applied here,” Rogers told thePodcast host Bob Mackin. “So it does seem like the government and the prime minister have have something to hide or at least want to control and manage the process for political reasons.”
Rogers spoke with Mackin on June 2, two days before the 34th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Hong Kong is home to the biggest concentration of Canadians outside Canada, but Mainland China’s 2020 imposition of a national security law has spelled the end of the largest annual memorial for the victims.
Listen to the interview. Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 28, 2023:Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family friend David Johnston, the ex-Governor General, said no May 23 to a public inquiry into China’s meddling in Canadian elections.
Henry Chan (ParlVu)
Canadians concerned about Chinese Communist Party’s interference were shocked by the first report of the “special rapporteur.” One of them is Henry Chan, the co-founder of Saskatchewan Stands With Hong Kong. He joins host Bob Mackin on this edition of thePodcast.
Listen to the interview. Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 21, 2023: Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West has had a busy spring, locally, nationally and internationally. He joins host Bob Mackin for an update.
West met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver and led a delegation of Metro Vancouver mayors seeking federal transit funding in Ottawa. He also squeezed-in a vacation to Taiwan, where he learned more about the thriving, self-governing island and its people who live under threat of invasion from China.
Listen to the full interview. Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 14, 2023: The story of how Canadian technology changed the world of telecommunications has made it to the silver screen.
Blackberry is based on the book, “Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of Blackberry,” by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.
Jacquie McNish
Bob Mackin’s guest on thePodcast this week is Jacquie McNish, the former Wall Street Journal and Globe and Mail reporter.
Blackberry was sold as a status symbol, McNish said, “like jewelry for businesspeople.”
“Within a couple of years after launching, they controlled the smartphone market,” McNish said. “They had, at their high, about 20% of the global smart smartphone market, and 50% of the North American smartphone market in a couple of years. To put the significance of that into context, it took the television 50 years to penetrate more than 50% of the North American market. This happened in a couple of years. This is all about the speed with which technology was changing our lives, and the first big iteration of this was the Blackberry.”
Listen to the full interview. Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of May 7, 2023: The Kremlin under drone attack. A Canadian MP on a Chinese diplomat’s blacklist — who in the Prime Minister’s Office knew what and when? Canada lost its national troubadour. The coronavirus emergency declared over. Charles crowned King.
Hear the sounds of the first week of May 2023 on this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast.
Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of April 30, 2023: High expectations and low delivery.
That sums up the long-awaited April 28 announcement by NDP Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, which did nothing to end the Surrey policing debate. Farnworth released a heavily redacted report that recommends Surrey city council continue to replace the RCMP detachment with the Surrey Police Service, a legacy of the Doug McCallum-led council.
The October-elected Mayor Brenda Locke vowed to keep the RCMP, despite the offer of provincial funds.
The MMA panel reconvenes to consider the fallout from the latest chapter in the cop swap that won’t stop. Join host Bob Mackin with ResearchCo president Mario Canseco and Andy Yan, the director of the city program at Simon Fraser University.
Listen to the full interview. Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of April 23, 2023: Fourteen months since Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. No end in sight.
The biggest war in Europe since the Second World War is also being fought globally, online. Russian cybercriminals and social media disinformation networks are creating havoc in countries that are supporting the defence of Ukraine. In Canada, DisInfoWatch.org founder Marcus Kolga has faced threats and is one of more than 300 Canadians sanctioned by Russia.
“The Russian efforts to silence analysts, journalists, activists in the West, this isn’t a new phenomenon, it didn’t start 14 months ago with this invasion,” Kolga tells thePodcast host Bob Mackin. “It’s been really ongoing, there’s been a slow escalation, going back to already around 2007, 2008, when Vladimir Putin sort of recycled the Soviet-era, active measures, the use of disinformation, influence operations.”
Russian disinformation aims to sow division, distrust and danger. Kolga said the war has brought political extremists together.
“These old labels and our sort of the political compass that we’ve been using for the past several decades, I think it’s sort of outdated,” Kolga said.
“In the context of Russian influence operations and amplification of some of these state narratives, when I say the far right, I don’t mean conservatives. The far right, when I speak about the far right, it’s more of an anti-democratic, illiberal, anti-NATO, anti-elitist group. They don’t have much in common, if anything at all with with, traditional conservatives. And I’d say much the same, with the left. When I’m talking about the far left, I’m not talking about, mostly not supporters of the NDP, or traditional socialists. These are people that might be, you know, identified as sort of anarcho-communists, also very illiberal.”
Listen to the full interview. Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of April 16, 2023: Taiwan and Ireland, two islands thriving in the face of challenges.
thePodcast host Bob Mackin welcomes Taipei Economic and Cultural Office director general Angel Liu and Louise O’Reilly, a member of the Irish parliament for Sinn Fein in the Dublin Fingal riding.
Angel Liu on the Canadian MPs touring Taiwan. What can Canada learn about dealing with China and its interference and propaganda program?
Louise O’Reilly on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. What can Canada learn about the peace and prosperity deal between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland? Could a unity referendum be next?
Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of April 9, 2023: Happy Easter… Happy Passover and Ramadan, too.
Football Canada president and Krown Gridiron Nation host on TSN Jim Mullin
Join thePodcast host Bob Mackin and guest Jim Mullin for the return of the View from Bowen Island.
Mullin, the president of Football Canada and host of Krown Gridiron Nation on TSN, weighs-in on last week’s sudden end of the Simon Fraser University football program and efforts to reverse the university’s decision. Plus the battle over a regional park on Bowen Island.
Also, headlines from the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim.
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For the week of April 2, 2023: That was quick! The first quarter of 2023 is over. Before everyone goes full-speed ahead into the second quarter, why not pause for a refreshing dose of theBreaker.news MMA Panel?
Host Bob Mackin welcomes back Mario Canseco, president of ResearchCo, and Andy Yan, the director of the city program at Simon Fraser University. Together, they discuss and dissect the big stories of the quarter, including the performance of B.C. Premier David Eby and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, ongoing healthcare and public safety challenges and the biggest federal scandal of 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s China crisis.
Also, hear clips of former Steveston-Richmond East Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and his successor, Liberal Parm Bains, at a House of Commons committee studying foreign interference in Canadian elections.
Plus headlines from the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim.
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For the week of March 26, 2023: Except for U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Ottawa, the Chinese government’s meddling in Canada continued to dominate national headlines.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave ex-Gov.-Gen. David Johnston an Oct. 31 target to complete his work as special rapporteur on foreign interference. But there were more leaks from Canada’s spy agency.
MP Han Dong left the Liberal caucus, denying that he asked a Chinese diplomat to delay freeing hostages Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for political reasons. Then Dong voted the next day, with opposition politicians, to pass a non-binding motion in favour of a public inquiry into evidence that China interfered in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
On thePodcast, Andy Yan, the director of the Simon Fraser University city program, says a full public inquiry and foreign agents registry are both needed without further delay.
“With changes in technology, the intensification of flows of people and money, that we need to make sure our institutions catch up to those changes,” Yan tells host Bob Mackin. “And that this is really a need to look at how our institutions protect minorities like Chinese-Canadians, like so many others across this country, to keep our democracy transparent and accountable.”
Hear the full interview with demographics, urban planning and political science expert Yan. Also hear testimony to House of Commons committees from human rights activists Cheuk Kwan, Mehmet Toti, Bill Chu, Cherie Wong, Ai-Men Lau, Gloria Fung and Henry Chan about the threats they face from the Chinese Communist Party on Canadian soil.
Plus headlines from the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim.
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For the week of March 19, 2023: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s China crisis continues, with revelations in the Globe and Mail that Chinese diplomat Tong Xiaoling was working to change Vancouver city hall leadership.
Ex-Mayor Kennedy Stewart (Mackin)
An earlier report on leaks from Canada’s spy agency alleged Tong worked to flip Richmond’s two Conservative-held ridings to the Liberal in the 2021 federal election.
On this edition of thePodcast, hear from former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who was warned by Canadian Security Intelligence Service officers that the Chinese government and its proxies were preparing to meddle in last fall’s civic election.
“They said they had information and it was basically being ignored, so this was an opportunity to make the public aware,” said Stewart, who lost to Ken Sim. “In fact they were happy this would come out in my public calendar, so it would get attention.”
Tong had criticized Stewart publicly on more than one occasion, including for his exploration of closer trade and cultural ties with Taiwan, which Xi Jinping wants to annex. Stewart tells host Bob Mackin that he wonders why Tong was not expelled from Canada before her term ended last July. Stewart also said municipal nomination and election laws need strengthening, to guard against foreign interference.
Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West (Mackin)
Also on this edition, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, who led a campaign against Chinese government influence operations at the 2019 Union of B.C. Municipalities convention.
West called Trudeau’s “special rapporteur” appointment of former Governor-General David Johnston a delaying tactic.
“What more do you need to hear or confirm to make a determination as a Prime Minister that a full independent public inquiry is required?” West said. “To go from the top to the bottom of our institutions and ensure that they are free from foreign influence and the interests being served by our institutions are the interests of Canadian citizens.”
Plus headlines from the Pacific Northwest and the Pacific Rim.
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For the week of March 12, 2023: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to resist calls for a public inquiry into the Chinese Communist Party’s interference in Canadian elections and is taking his time to ponder a registry for foreign government lobbyists.
Fenella Sung of the Friends of Hong Kong (Mackin)
Trudeau said March 6 that he plans to hire an “eminent Canadian” to investigate and asked two national security committees to conduct reviews. Human rights advocate Fenella Sung of the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong says those half measures announced will prolong the harm to Canadian institutions. She said a full, independent inquiry is necessary, including how Canadian political parties are funded and operated.
“I doubt anything will come out before the next election, but that’s exactly the situation we don’t want to see,” Sung told thePodcast host Bob Mackin. “We’ve already got doubts about the 2019 and the 2021 election, not about the result, but about the process, about whether any interference has affected or compromised our democracy. The last thing you want is to have Canadians to go to the polls for the election, next time, and have this doubt in the mind.”
On this edition of thePodcast, hear Mackin’s full interview with Sung.
Plus: Martin Kendell of Clean Up Burnaby on the controversial proposal to build a green waste plant on sensitive parkland and headlines from the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim.
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For the week of March 5, 2023: It is the biggest political scandal out of Ottawa in 2023, so far.
Terry Glavin (Twitter)
A leaked report from Canada’s spy agency confirms China’s government meddled in Canada’s last two federal elections, helping flip two Richmond ridings from the Conservatives to the Liberals.
Conservative and NDP members on a House of Commons committee want a public inquiry. Liberal members don’t. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his inner circle are bobbing and weaving, deflecting and denying. What did he know and when did he know it?
Terry Glavin, National Post columnist and The Real Story Substack publisher, joins host Bob Mackin on this week’s edition of thePodcast to discuss the Chinese Communist Party’s influence over Canada’s so-called “natural governing party.”
“He’s clearly hiding something, and what he’s hiding is that the Liberal Party in the Chinese communities and the United Front hierarchy, the Mandarin bloc, is the same thing,” Glavin said. “It’s one and the same.”
Has Canada reached the tipping point with Xi Jinping’s China? What next? Listen to the full interview.
Plus commentary and Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of Feb. 26, 2023: The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival is back for a 26th season.
On this edition of thePodcast, meet one of its headliners, Squamish, B.C. adventure racer Mark Sky.
Last July, Sky and Swede Malin Ek spent 17 days completing a 575-kilometre hiking, cycling, climbing and kayaking journey they call the Sea to Sky Infinity Loop. It took them to Deep Cove, Cypress, Garibaldi, Black Tusk and the Tantalus Range.
“During the COVID times, when we couldn’t travel anywhere, we were like, yeah we should really do something here,” Sky told host Bob Mackin.
Sky and Ek are featured on March 2’s Adventures in Canada night at Kay Meek Arts Centre in West Vancouver. Hear a preview on this week’s podcast.
Plus, hear former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu’s reaction to the bombshell report by Canada’s spy agency about the Chinese government’s meddling in the 2021 federal election that cost Chiu his seat in Parliament.
Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of Feb. 19, 2023: The former Liberal Party insider who sat as a one-man commission decided Justin Trudeau was correct in declaring a national emergency over last year’s trucker convoy blockades.
When Paul Rouleau handed down his Public Order Emergency Commission report on Feb. 17, he acknowledged there were many Canadians exercising their free speech rights to disagree with how governments handled the pandemic, but a small number was intent on causing others harm. Oddly, Rouleau conceded the factual basis for his decision was not overwhelming and “reasonable and informed people could reach a different conclusion than the one I have arrived at.”
On the same day, Canadians woke up to a Globe and Mail front page blockbuster. A leaked report from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Communist China had meddled in the 2021 federal election, in favour of a Liberal minority government. It even said then-Consul General Tong Xiaoling boasted of helping defeat Conservative incumbents Kenny Chiu and Alice Wong in Richmond, in favour of Liberal rookies Parm Bains and Wilson Miao.
“This foreign, authoritarian government wanted to see Justin Trudeau as prime minister, because they knew that he would work for their interest, rather than Canada’s interest,” said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. “That’s why he has covered up this information for so long.”
Hear the highlights on this edition of thePodcast.
Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of Feb. 12, 2023: Thirteen years ago, on Feb. 12, 2010, the Winter Olympics opened in Vancouver. Among the legacies: Own the Podium, the high performance strategy that helped Canada set a record for most host nation gold medals.
Rob Koehler of Global Athlete (Mackin)
Rob Koehler of Global Athlete contends that the win-at-all-costs mentality has resulted in a toxic Canadian sport system. In 2022, athletes across sports blew the whistle on abuse and corruption in their sports and are demanding the Canadian government launch a judicial public inquiry.
Koehler is Bob Mackin’s guest on this edition of the Podcast, to discuss what’s wrong in Canadian and international sport and how to fix it. He said Canada has no business bidding for another Olympics until athletes are protected. You will also want to hear his thoughts on the International Olympic Committee and Canadian Olympic Committee’s willingness to allow Russians to compete at Paris 2024.
Andrea Neil (ParlVu)
Also hear from Canadian Sports Hall of Famer Andrea Neil, who testified Feb. 2 at the House of Commons status of women committee studying abuse in Canadian sport.
The former Canadian national team assistant coach and Vancouver Whitecaps captain says an inquiry must include a forensic audit of the Canadian Soccer Association and its past and present leadership.
Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.
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For the week of April 17, 2022: Mayors of Vancouver and Whistler, along with leaders of four First Nations, are exploring a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Coun. Collen Hardwick (left) and Mayor Kennedy Stewart at the April 12 city council meeting (City of Vancouver)
Fewer cities can afford the Games, so the International Olympic Committee now prefers closed-door negotiations over bidding wars. It wants to pick the 2030 host next year, that’s why Coun. Colleen Hardwick proposed a plebiscite on the Oct. 15 civic election ballot. Let the people decide whether to host another multi-billion-dollar mega-event.
“So does this council support our citizens’ right to vote or not?” Hardwick asked on April 12. “Someone really needs to second this motion and to get it on the table. We have speakers signed up. Let them speak.”
To her surprise, none of her nine fellow councillors nor Mayor Kennedy Stewart put up a hand.
The public hasn’t been told how much a 2030 Games could cost. That could come before summer, when a feasibility study is expected. But the public doesn’t really know the cost of the 2010 Games, because organizing committee board minutes and financial records won’t be open to the public until October 2025.
Vancouver’s Olympic bid is alive, but is democracy dying?
On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, here the entire segment of the April 12 city council meeting.
Also, commentary and Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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For the week of March 27, 2022: Mega-event boosters in Vancouver want another Winter Olympics in 2030.
It could be closer than you think. The International Olympic Committee is replacing bidding wars with closed-door, fast-track negotiations. The lords of the rings have even awarded two Games at once. It’s all because too many cities are opting out, due to high costs and corruption risks.
NPA Coun. Collen Hardwick (Mackin)
There are no cost estimates for 2030 yet and the costs of Vancouver 2010 are not really known. The organizing committee archives are off-limits to the public until 2025, two years after the IOC wants to name the 2030 host.
This week’s guest on theBreaker.news Podcat, Coun. Colleen Hardwick wants the under-exploration 2030 bid added to the ballot. Olympics came from Greece, the same place that invented democracy.
“Why would we be afraid of it, why would anyone be reluctant to have this question asked? If the supporters of the Olympics bid are enthusiastic and feel that they have a strong case to be made, then they should be making it and they will be successful,” Hardwick said. “Or, if they’re not, they will hear the will of the people. I think this is a big enough question that the decision should be made by the people themselves.”
Hear the full interview with Hardwick. Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and commentary.
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For the week of March 20, 2022: Entering 2022, global supply chains were already struggling. Add a post-Olympic war in Eastern Europe and another wave of the pandemic in China and Hong Kong.
Never a dull day for logistics expert and newsletter publisher Glenn Ross of ACC Group in Surrey, B.C.
Ross says the longer Russia’s war against Ukraine (which involves major wheat and fertilizer exporters), the higher the price for fuel and food and the greater likelihood of unrest in poorer countries.
The sanctions and isolation of Russia haven’t stopped Vladimir Putin, so what’s NATO’s next move? Meanwhile, a new round of lockdowns in China as omicron spreads, shutting factories and delaying shipments.
“I think the posturing by the Russian government that they want to do peace talks, I think is nothing more than a false flag,” says Ross, the featured guest on this week’s theBreaker.news Podcast. “They’ve been knocked senseless by the Ukrainians.”
Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and commentary.
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Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.
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For the week of March 13, 2022: On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast: Four months before Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, words of warning about Russia and Belarus and ideas on how to encourage democracy in the neighbouring dictatorships.
Listen to highlights of an October 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute webinar.
Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and commentary.
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Now on Google Podcasts!
Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.
SupporttheBreaker.newsfor as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.