The Really Big Show with Jim Csek & Iain Burns

Canada is being failed by poor leadership

Canada is in a recession its own government refuses to acknowledge. The Prime Minister skipped Question Period for the 4th consecutive day to wear a hard hat at a photo opportunity. And China's intelligence-linked state newspaper is celebrating Carney's pivot away from the United States in language nearly identical to his New York speech.  Jim and Iain make sense of it all today on The Really Big Show. While the Bank of Canada tells Canadians not to put too much weight on the recession data and the Foreign Affairs Minister claims Canada will be the fastest growing G7 economy hours after the recession was confirmed, Guangming Daily, identified by intelligence experts as the preferred newspaper of China's Ministry of State Security, published a glowing essay praising Carney's push for Canadian autonomy from Washington.  It follows a 2025 CCP influence operation that ran covert WeChat campaigns casting Carney as the ideal Canadian leader to stand up to Trump. The question of who benefits from Canada's current direction is not rhetorical. Today's show covers: ►Carney skipped Question Period for the 4th consecutive day since the recession was confirmed, taking a 15-minute photo opportunity at a construction site in his riding wearing a hard hat, as Poilievre called him "the only G7 leader to cause a recession" who refuses to answer a single question from Parliament or media ►Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand claimed Canada will be the fastest growing economy in the G7 this year, hours after Statistics Canada confirmed the country had entered a technical recession, as the Bank of Canada Deputy Governor told Canadians Canada is "not really" in a recession despite meeting the standard textbook definition ►Statistics Canada reports Canada's national poverty rate stands at 11%, affecting 4.5 million Canadians, up from 7% in 2020, with 1 in 5 Canadians experiencing food insecurity and Nunavut recording the highest rate at 31.7% ►Liberals voted 193 to 134 against blocking the CRTC's tripling of the streaming levy to 15%, confirming cabinet has the power under the Broadcasting Act to reject the order but chose not to use it, directly contradicting their earlier claim of powerlessness ►CBC was flooded with viewer outrage after former host Travis Dhanraj testified managers explicitly blocked Conservatives from air, threatened to pull him off for booking a Conservative MP, and eventually forced him out, with CBC's editor in chief responding the network aims for balance "over time, not in every story" ►Guangming Daily, identified by intelligence experts as the preferred newspaper of China's Ministry of State Security, published a glowing essay celebrating Carney's turn away from the United States in language nearly identical to Carney's own, following a 2025 CCP influence operation that ran covert WeChat campaigns casting Carney as the ideal Canadian leader to stand up to Trump ►A Senate human rights committee voted 7 to 1 to criminalize public statements that "condone, deny or downplay" the Indian Residential School system, with offenders facing up to 2 years in prison under an amendment to Bill C-9, as the full bill returns to the Commons if the Senate adopts the amendments ►Federal managers told a Commons committee they never authorized a $10 million charge by Indigenous Languages Commissioner Ronald Ignace for a 4-day Ottawa conference, admitting the internal audit only began after anonymous whistleblower complaints and that the department had given the office "a blank cheque" ►Canadian judges in Ontario and Quebec have publicly criticized a two-tier justice system in which non-citizens convicted of serious crimes receive reduced sentences specifically to avoid triggering deportation, as Liberals voted down a Conservative bill in March that would have prevented the practice ►The Parliamentary Budget Office projects Bill C-3 will create 115,000 new Canadian citizens abroad through grandchild citizenship rights, far exceeding the immigration minister's estimate of fewer than 5,000 per year, as Conservative MP Brad Redekopp was told criminal background checks on adults claiming distant ancestry citizenship amount to "anybody can claim anything" ►The Temporary Foreign Worker program cost taxpayers a net $509 million over 5 years to administer, as Canada issued 126,000 TFW permits for skilled trades in 2025, nearly identical to the number of unemployed skilled trades workers that year, while 442,000 Canadian youth remain unemployed ►Canada formally notifies the U.S. and Mexico it wants to renew CUSMA ahead of the July 1 review deadline, with energy integration at the centre of its negotiating strategy ►Vancouver Coastal Health confirms mosquitoes carrying a group of viruses that can cause brain-swelling encephalitis and meningitis have been detected in specimens between Squamish and Pemberton, B.C. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Harsh reality as Canada faces hunger crisis

The day before Statistics Canada confirmed Canada had entered a technical recession, Mark Carney told New York business leaders Canada would have the second-fastest growth in the G7 this year. Carney has yet to comment on the recession data. Poilievre is calling for an emergency parliamentary debate. And Canada's food banks are asking Ottawa to modernize an Employment Insurance system built for a workforce that no longer exists. The government issued 126,000 temporary foreign worker permits last year for skilled trades while 127,000 skilled trades workers sat unemployed. The gap between what this government says and what is actually happening has never been more measurable. Today on The Really Big Show: ►Carney told New York business leaders Canada would have "the second-fastest growth in the G7 this year," one day before Statistics Canada confirmed Canada had entered a technical recession, with the economy shrinking in 3 of the 4 quarters since Carney became prime minister ►Poilievre called for an emergency parliamentary debate, saying "Mark Carney is now the only G7 leader to have plunged his economy into recession," as Carney has yet to comment on the recession data ►Food Banks Canada is calling on Ottawa to modernize Employment Insurance, saying the system has not been fully updated for decades and was built for a full-time employment era that no longer reflects Canadian working life, as food bank visits hit a record 4.1 million annually in Toronto alone with 50% of new users holding full-time jobs ►The Globe and Mail has acknowledged that 5 years after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced 215 possible unmarked graves near a Kamloops residential school, "there has been no public confirmation of the discovery of any human remains," calling it "an extraordinary assertion that requires proof" ►Kerry-Lynne Findlay has won the B.C. Conservative leadership race on the fourth ballot with 51% of the vote, defeating commentator Caroline Elliott, and now leads the Official Opposition promising "more freedom, less government" ►Canada issued 126,000 temporary foreign worker permits for skilled trades in 2025, nearly identical to the 127,000 skilled trades workers who were unemployed that same year, with the immigration minister unable to explain the discrepancy when pressed in the Commons ►The federal government admits it has no system to track whether an estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants in Canada are working on federally-funded construction sites, with the Canada Border Services Agency confirming it does not investigate whether worker sites receive government funding ►Federal figures confirm China's EV quota will grow from 49,000 vehicles this year to 63,037 by 2031, equal to 51% of Canada's average annual battery electric market, contradicting Industry Minister Joly's claim it was "a small quota" representing less than 3% of total vehicle sales ►Public Safety Canada's own internal memo warns Chinese EVs allowed into Canada under Carney's deal could enable hostile states to track Canadians and surveil sensitive sites, as the government simultaneously approved 49,000 Chinese vehicles annually through 2031 ►The federal government quietly expanded a secret contract with Palantir, Peter Thiel's controversial data analytics and surveillance company, from $14.4 million to $46.8 million through more than a dozen amendments, with the contract internally flagged as "not for public disclosure" ►Federal departments have updated media accreditation policies to prioritize outlets designated as Qualified Canadian Journalism Organizations, a government-administered tax credit program, raising concerns about whether subsidized status is becoming a de facto press credential ►Attorney General Fraser admitted Bill C-9's religious speech clause was added solely to secure Bloc Québécois support, drawing 200,000 Senate postcards, 171 Commons petitions and opposition from the Conference of Catholic Bishops ►Alberta is considering 3 potential pipeline routes through northern B.C. with terminals at Observatory Inlet, Nasoga Gulf, Kitimat and Prince Rupert, including one that follows the route of the previously rejected Northern Gateway project ►A federal appeals court ruled that unionized shipyard workers who refused to cross a colleague's picket line in solidarity were breaking the law, setting a precedent that could limit union solidarity actions across federal workplaces The day Carney was promising New York the second-fastest G7 growth, Statistics Canada was finalizing the data confirming Canada was in recession. Which number should Canadians believe?  Let us know what you think in the comments. The Really Big Show: The thinking Canadian's daily briefing, independent and informed. 🔴 Live every weekday at 9AM PST 📍 Independent. Unapologetic. Canadian. 👉 Support the show: https://thereallybigshow.ca Subscribe | Share | Comment — help us grow independent Canadian media. #canadiannews #canadapolitics

Carney goes full MAGA as Canada enters recession

Canada is in a technical recession. The Prime Minister was in New York telling Americans that "Canada Strong will help make America great again." And the first Chinese-made EVs under Carney's 49,000-vehicle tariff deal have arrived off the coast of Vancouver. Join Jim and Iain as they wrap up the week with the latest in Canadian news. Real GDP has now failed to grow for 2 consecutive quarters and business capital investment has fallen for 5 consecutive quarters. The pipeline Carney and Smith announced requires more than $100 billion in total private sector commitment with no confirmed builder, no approved route and no final investment decision. And a Labour Minister who quashed a legal strike by claiming a medical emergency has been caught by access to information records that show no such emergency ever existed. Today's show covers: ►Statistics Canada confirms Canada has entered a technical recession after real GDP was unchanged in Q1 2026, following a 0.2% decline in Q4 2025, with business capital investment falling for a 5th consecutive quarter and the household saving rate at its lowest since early 2024, though April is tracking a 0.4% rebound ►Carney told the Economic Club of New York that "Canada Strong will help make America great again," arguing Canada's energy and critical minerals make it a more valuable partner than rival, with U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra responding that "a lot of Americans can get behind that kind of message" ►Imperial Oil's CEO says the Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline will require more than $100 billion in total investment including production growth, shipping commitments and the government-mandated $16.5 billion Pathways carbon capture project, with no confirmed builder, no approved route and no final investment decision ►The finance department confirms Carney's $25 billion Canada Strong Fund will cost taxpayers $750 million annually in debt interest once fully deployed, as Canada has not balanced a budget since 2007 and has no surplus to invest ►The first Chinese-made EVs under Carney's 49,000-vehicle import deal have arrived off Vancouver, with a ship carrying Lotus luxury EVs starting at $119,900 moored outside the Port since Sunday, as U.S. lawmakers from Michigan propose banning Chinese-connected vehicles from the United States and cite Carney's tariff cut as a direct CUSMA irritant ►Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank CEO told a Commons committee that food bank visits hit a record 4.1 million last year, feeding 1 in 10 Torontonians, with the fastest growing demographic being employed, post-secondary educated Canadians aged 19 to 44 who have "done everything right" ►Canada needs 480,000 new homes annually but only 247,000 are expected this year, construction starts are projected to fall another 18%, and the government's $13 billion Build Canada Homes program will produce just 5,200 units annually according to the PBO ►The Supreme Court of Canada has allowed a New Brunswick ruling to stand confirming Aboriginal title cannot be declared over private land, with B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma saying the decision creates a "clear path" for the province to win its appeal of the Cowichan Tribes decision ►Labour Minister Patty Hajdu insists she quashed Air Canada's 2025 strike to prevent a medical emergency, but access to information records show no such emergency existed, Air Canada's own letter cited lost tourism revenue, and her deputy minister told a Commons committee he has no record of any such briefing ►The Lawrence Bishnoi gang delivered a letter to Abbotsford police boasting it had 1,000 soldiers willing to carry out shootings in B.C., with RCMP testimony confirming every individual identified in the investigation is either a temporary foreign worker or international student "relatively new to Canada" ►Conservative MP Chak Au told a Commons committee that shoplifting has hit $9.2 billion annually, up from $5 billion in 2019, with violence in shoplifting incidents up 76%, while Public Safety Minister Anandasangaree said he was "not an expert on shoplifting" and did not agree it constitutes a national crisis ►Calgary city council voted 10-5 to rescind its 2021 climate emergency declaration, making Calgary one of the first major cities in the world to reverse such a declaration ►Liberals claim they lack the authority to overturn the CRTC's decision to triple the mandatory Canadian content levy on streaming platforms to 15%, despite having created the regulator's expanded mandate through their own Online Streaming Act in 2023 Let us know what you think in the comments. The Really Big Show: The thinking Canadian's daily briefing, independent and informed. 🔴 Live every weekday at 9AM PST 📍 Independent. Unapologetic. Canadian. 👉 Support the show: https://thereallybigshow.ca Subscribe | Share | Comment — help us grow independent Canadian media. #canadiannews #canadapolitics #canada #nowmedia #thereallybigshow #recession #chineseevs #albertapipeline #foodbanks

Dismantling the dystopia: Trudeau’s minions bid farewell

The Prime Minister's in-flight food bill for 3 trips was $195,400. It’s been confirmed that Canadians will never be told what is in the security agreement Carney signed with China. And Canada has fallen from 2nd to 19th in the U.S. News Best Countries rankings, dropping behind the United States for the first time.  The contradictions are stacking up faster than the explanations. The cost per asylum claimant now exceeds the average Canadian salary. The Senate concealed 200,000 signed postcards opposing a hate speech bill in a warehouse. And Housing Minister Gregor Robertson says he believes Aboriginal title and fee simple title should co-exist on private property.  Join Jim Csek and Iain Burns as they make sense of it all. Today on The Really Big Show: ►The Canadian Taxpayers Federation reveals Carney billed taxpayers $195,400 for airplane food on 3 flights to London, Rome and Brussels, including $93,780 for a single Rome trip, more than double what Trudeau spent on the same destination in 2024 ►Food Banks Canada recorded 2.2 million visits in a single month, double the usage of 6 years ago, with 1 in 3 clients being children and nearly 1 in 5 being employed workers who still cannot afford groceries ►Steven Guilbeault confirms he will resign his Montreal seat this summer, telling the House "the fight is not over" while hinting he is not alone, with 14 Liberal MPs having already signed a letter expressing similar concerns to Carney ►Canada has fallen from 2nd place in 2023 to 19th in U.S. News and World Report's Best Countries rankings, dropping behind the United States for the first time, with the publication noting its reformed methodology now measures statistical indicators rather than perception ►Canada has failed to reach a trade deal with the U.S. nearly a year after Carney promised one, with serious doubts growing about the fate of an agreement CBC calls "crucial to the Canadian economy" ►Poilievre says Liberal MPs admitting they never read the Alberta MOU signals the pipeline is "all an illusion" and that Carney has told them it is never going to happen anyway ►Canadians will never be told what is in the security agreement Carney signed with China's Ministry of Public Security, the same ministry that operated secret police stations on Canadian soil ►China's foreign minister arrives in Ottawa for the first time in a decade as a new Montreal Institute for Global Security report warns of China's "systemic" interference in foreign countries, with its executive director saying Beijing has "murdered Canadian citizens, harassed Canadian citizens and stolen top intellectual property" ►The total government cost per asylum claimant has hit $82,000 annually, more than the average Canadian salary of $68,000 ►Carney refuses to explain remarks caught on a hot mic telling Housing Minister Gregor Robertson "what are you doing, this is stupid, you've got an off-ramp, take it" ►Housing Minister Gregor Robertson says he believes Aboriginal title and fee simple title should co-exist on private property, which is precisely what the Cowichan ruling declared, yet the federal government is simultaneously appealing that same ruling days after Liberals and NDP voted to reject a Conservative motion protecting private property rights ►A former RCMP deputy commissioner told a Senate committee that organized crime is infiltrating Canada's West Coast fishery through fishing licences and crab quotas held by unknown beneficial owners ►The Senate concealed 200,000 individually signed postcards opposing Bill C-9 in a Gatineau warehouse marked for destruction, with senators told only a sample box would be delivered to their offices before the vote The Prime Minister spent more on airplane food for 3 flights than most Canadians earn in 3 years. Last month 2.2 million of those Canadians visited a food bank.  Is there a clearer illustration of who this government is governing for?  Let us know what you think in the comments. The Really Big Show: The thinking Canadian's daily briefing, independent and informed. 🔴 Live every weekday at 9AM PST 📍 Independent. Unapologetic. Canadian.  👉 Support the show: https://thereallybigshow.ca Subscribe | Share | Comment — help us grow independent Canadian media. #canadiannews #canadapolitics #canada #nowmedia #thereallybigshow #guilbeault #china #foodbanks #carneyexpenses

Liberals will face a reckoning when the truth wins out

Steven Guilbeault resigns from the Liberal caucus today. China's foreign minister arrives in Canada tomorrow for the first visit in 10 years. And Ottawa is announcing an LNG deal with Germany from a facility that has not yet made a final investment decision. Join Jim Csek and Iain Burns as they make sense of it all. The Liberal coalition is fracturing over climate, the trade relationship with Washington is deteriorating while Mexico moves ahead without Canada, and a Buy Canadian policy that allows fully foreign-owned companies to qualify as Canadian suppliers is being defended without irony. The announcements keep coming. The details keep undermining them. Today on The Really Big Show: ►Carney calls Alberta's independence referendum a "dangerous bluff", as Smith fires back that this is a decision for Albertans, not Ottawa, and confirms she will campaign for Alberta to remain in Canada ►Carney confirms the Clarity Act does not apply to Alberta's October referendum, describing it as "a question about a question," but warns any future binding independence vote would require a clear majority well above 50% plus 1 ►Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault resigns from the Liberal caucus today over Carney's climate policy rollbacks, with sources saying he will remain as MP until the House rises to protect the government's slim majority ►Conservative MP Branden Leslie tables a motion demanding public release of the letter signed by 14 Liberal MPs expressing concern over Carney's environmental rollbacks, a letter CBC obtained but whose signatories the party refuses to name ►Ottawa is set to announce an LNG supply deal with Germany from the Ksi Lisims facility in B.C., four years after rejecting Germany's east coast LNG request, with Ksi Lisims yet to receive a final investment decision ►U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer warns Canada has taken a "different" approach to Trump's tariff policy and says it is "hard to see where that ends," as Mexico begins formal CUSMA renegotiation talks while Canada has yet to officially engage Washington ►Apple warns Bill C-22 would force companies to break encryption by inserting government backdoors into their products, saying it is something the company will never do, as Conservatives, NDP and Bloc all oppose key provisions and the government signals amendments are coming ►Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives in Canada tomorrow for a 3-day visit, the first Chinese foreign minister to do so in 10 years, as CSIS has linked China's disproportionately high diplomatic presence in Canada to espionage, foreign interference and intimidation of Canadian politicians ►Federal managers confirmed Carney's Buy Canadian policy allows 100% foreign-owned companies with a Canadian address, a GST number and one employee to qualify as Canadian suppliers, with officials unable to confirm whether that employee must be Canadian ►Labour Minister Patty Hajdu says cabinet wants better relationships with unions despite invoking Section 107 of the Labour Code 10 times in 2 years to quash legal strikes by email, bypassing Parliament entirely, a record now subject to Federal Court litigation ►Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Nicolas Vincent and a Commons committee report both conclude immigration-driven competition is a key factor in Canada's youth unemployment crisis, with job creation down to 6,000 per month from 34,000 in late 2024 and the ability to find work at its lowest point in 30 years ►74,000 rejected asylum claimants remain eligible for federal health benefits, with taxpayers spending $38.79 million on counselling and $12.41 million on home visits for asylum claimants in 2025 alone ►Canada lost its WHO measles-free status in November 2025 after an outbreak killed 2 Canadians, yet a Public Health Agency memo downplayed the designation as "merely a classification" ►90 mental health and disability groups urge Carney to halt the March 2027 MAID expansion for mental illness, warning the health system cannot reliably distinguish end-of-life requests from suicidality ►Ottawa is reviewing a secretive expense program for former governors general that cost taxpayers over $500,000 last year, on top of a $150,000 annual pension each already receives ►Winnipeg's record drug bust of 525 kilograms of narcotics and 14 firearms also contained 1.35 million contraband cigarettes, linking Indigenous-territory tobacco operations to the transnational crime networks flooding Canada with fentanyl If the Buy Canadian policy can be satisfied by the Bank of China, is it actually a buy Canadian policy?   The Really Big Show: The thinking Canadian's daily briefing, independent and informed. 🔴 Live every weekday at 9AM PST 📍 Independent. Unapologetic. Canadian. 👉 Support the show: https://thereallybigshow.ca Subscribe | Share | Comment — help us grow independent Canadian media. #canadiannews #canadapolitics #canada #nowmedia #thereallybigshow #guilbeault #billc22 #albertaindependence #china