The government wants to change the rules constraining Canada's spy agency, CSIS. Peter Mazereeuw talks to Professor Stephanie Carvin about the benefits, and the risks, of giving CSIS new powers.

Julie Dabrusin, the parliamentary secretary to Canada's ministers of environment and natural resources, joins The Hot Room to field questions about the government's newly-announced plan to impose a cap and trade program on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. 

What is a basic income, how might it work, and how could we pay for it? Senator Kim Pate tackles those questions, as she and host Peter Mazereeuw discuss her Senate bill proposing a basic income framework. 

Benjamin Fung does research on data mining, artificial intelligence, and cyber security at McGill University. He explains how China's government tries to use big payouts to build ties with—and leverage over—Canadian researchers, something he says he has experienced personally. 

Host Peter Mazereeuw and Conservative Senator David Wells talk about a private member's bill proposing to expand a carbon tax carveout for farmers that has progressed despite opposition from the government, and sparked acrimony in the Red Chamber.

Abacus Data CEO David Coletto joins the podcast to explain MRP polling, a technique that he says is a "game changer" that will allow pollsters to better predict what Canadians think, and how they will vote, at a local level.

Canada's environment commissioner, Jerry DeMarco, joins The Hot Room to talk about what he found during his audit of the government's climate change plan.

Angus Reid Institute President Shachi Kurl joins The Hot Room to discuss her latest poll, and the sour public attitude towards Canada's House of Commons.

The office of Canada's auditor general laid out its concerns with billions in outstanding COVID payouts, two decades of Defence Department inventory woes, and more in a recent commentary. The office's Etienne Matte joins The Hot Room to walk us through it. You can read the report here: https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_202310_00_e_44330.html

Physician and former Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili joins the podcast to talk about the lessons learned and challenges that remain following the COVID-19 pandemic, and his new book, "A healthy future: lessons learned from the frontlines of a crisis."

Host Peter Mazereeuw walks you through the government's to-do and must-do challenges for the rest of 2023, and what's coming up in federal politics for the week of Oct. 9. All in eight minutes!

Hot Room host Peter Mazereeuw speaks with Justice Minister Arif Virani about his bill to change the way repeat violent offenders go through bail hearings. Then, Mazereeuw talks to Nicole Myers, a professor of criminology at Queen's University, to get her take on the changes proposed in the bill.  

Mike Moffatt of the Place Centre has done research into Canada's housing shortage, and presented his solutions to the federal cabinet. He joined The Hot Room to share some of them with you, and explain how we got into this mess in the first place.

Former ethics commissioner Mario Dion joins the Hot Room to recount his investigation into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and discuss the state of ethics and government, and why we still don't have a permanent ethics commissioner to replace him. 

Who's responsible for fixing health care, housing, and other seemingly intractable issues in Canadian public policy? Constitutional expert Carissima Mathen explains political jurisdiction—how power is divided between governments in Canada.