Humans of the House – Details, episodes & analysis

We’ve come to the final chapter of an MP’s civic journey. What is it like to leave office? Whether they resigned, decided not to run again, or lost an election, former MPs tell us their stories of leaving parliament. Just like any ending, it brings lots of mixed emotions. 

After hearing all the ups and downs of their lives as MPs, one question remains: was it worth it?

THIS EPISODE FEATURES:

Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, (2015-2019)

Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor-Tecumseh, (2015-2019)

James Cumming, Conservative, (2019-2021)

Hon. Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, (2008-2019)

Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, (2011-2019)

Hon. Scott Brison, Progressive Conservative, Kings-Hants, (1997-2003); Liberal, Kings-Hants, (2003-2019)

Hon. Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, (2008-2021)

Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina-Fort York, (2014-2021)

Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, 2015-2019; Independent, Whitby, (2019)

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This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project.  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Visit samaracentre.ca to access free accessible teaching resources for your classroom.

Learn more at samaracentre.ca about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by Heritage Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode features audio clips from ABC News, Global News, CNN, Bloomberg, The Ottawa Citizen, and PBS NewsHour.We elect our representatives hoping they’ll make meaningful change while in office. We lose trust when we see their election promises broken. But we don’t often get to see the process of making change from their point of view. What does it take for MPs to make a difference?

THIS EPISODE FEATURES:

Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, (2011-2019)

Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, (2015-2019)

Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, (2015-2019)

Hon. Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, (2008-2019)

Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, 2015-2019; Independent, Whitby, (2019)

Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, (2011-2018)

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This episode features audio clips from ABC News, Global News, CNN, Bloomberg, The Ottawa Citizen, and PBS NewsHour.

This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project.  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Visit samaracentre.ca to access free accessible teaching resources for your classroom.

Learn more at samaracentre.ca about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by Heritage Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who is an MP’s real boss? Their party leader? Canadians? Themselves? MPs have to strike a balance between serving their riding’s needs, their party’s interests, and their own goals that brought them to Ottawa in the first place. But what happens when these priorities clash? This episode, we explore partisan politics and party power. Former MPs tell their stories of learning unwritten rules, striking out on their own, compromise, and unlikely friendship. 

Plus, what’s the best place in parliament for making unlikely friends? 

This episode features:

Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, (2015-2019); Independent, Whitby, (2019)

Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, (2015-2019)

Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, (2011-2018)

Hon. Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, (2008-2021)

Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina-Fort York, (2014-2021)

Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, (2011-2019)

Hon. Scott Brison, Progressive Conservative, Kings-Hants (1997-2003); Liberal, Kings-Hants (2003-2019)

Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor-Tecumseh, (2015-2019)

____

This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project.  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Visit samaracentre.ca to access free accessible teaching resources for your classroom.

Learn more at samaracentre.ca about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by Heritage Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is Parliament Hill like as a workplace? Is it respectful? Is it safe? If we want our democracy to thrive, it should be. Former MPs tell us how they were treated on the job, both inside and beyond the House of Commons. How did they navigate the extreme workloads and all the pressure? And when you’re in such a huge job, where can you turn for support?

Plus, a who’s-who of the many different roles in parliament. 

This episode features:

Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, (2011-2019)

Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor-Tecumseh, (2015-2019)

Hon. Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, (2015-2021)

Hon. Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, (2008-2019)

Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, (2011-2018)

Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, (2015-2019)

____

This episode features audio clips from CTV News, CBC and CPAC.

This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project.  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Visit samaracentre.ca to access free accessible teaching resources for your classroom.

Learn more at samaracentre.ca about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by Heritage Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So, you won an election and are officially a Member of Parliament. Now what? This episode, former MPs take us inside their very first days on Parliament Hill. What does an MP do in an average week? Where do they go? And as they settle into their new jobs, are they being set up to serve Canadians well? 

Plus, how does a vote work in the House of Commons?

THIS EPISODE FEATURES: 

Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, (2015-2019); Independent, Whitby, (2019)

Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, (2011-2018)

Hon. Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, (2015-2021)

Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, (2015-2019

Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina-Fort York, (2014-2021)

Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, (2015-2019)

James Cumming, Conservative, (2019-2021)

Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, (2011-2019)

____

This episode features audio clips from Global News and The Canadian Press. 

This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project.  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Visit samaracentre.ca to access free, accessible teaching resources for your classroom.

Learn more at samaracentre.ca about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by Heritage Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you ever run for political office? For many of us, “politician” is the last job title we’d ever consider. What is it that drives people to run for political office? 

In this episode we talk to former MPs from across Canada. They each have a unique journey that brought them to Ottawa to serve their communities. For some, federal politics was a childhood dream – for others, something they had never thought to aspire to. Some were chosen by their parties, and some put their own hats in the ring. 

Plus, background on the nominations process that determines our electoral candidates in the first place.

THIS EPISODE FEATURES:

Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, (2015-2019)

Kennedy Stewart, NDP, Burnaby South, (2011-2018)

Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi-Baie James-Nunavik-Eeyou, (2011-2019)

Hon. Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, (2008-2019)

Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina-Fort York, (2014-2021)

Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, (2015-2019)

Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal, Whitby, (2015-2019); Independent, Whitby, (2019)

____

This episode features audio clips from Bloomberg, The Ottawa Citizen and CBC. 

This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project.  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Visit samaracentre.ca to access free accessible teaching resources for your classroom.

Learn more at samaracentre.ca about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by Heritage Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know what a politician sounds like on the job. But once they leave office, that’s when they can share what’s truly on their minds. 

Join host Sabreena Delhon as she speaks with former Members of Parliament, to hear, in their own words, what this job is really like. Their stories are woven together in a six-part series that explores an MPs path to politics, why they left, and what it cost them to serve their communities.

Tune in to Humans of the House, a podcast from the Samara Centre for Democracy.

Listen to the trailer and subscribe now. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special bonus episode, we celebrate and reflect upon the tenth anniversary of the bestseller book, Tragedy in the Commons, written by Samara Centre for Democracy co-founders, Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan. Samara Centre CEO Sabreena Delhon hosts this conversation to ask, what has changed? What has stayed the same? Where are the fault lines in Canadian democracy?

THIS EPISODE FEATURES:

Alison Loat

The Samara Centre for Democracy, Co-founder

Tragedy in the Commons, Co-author

Michael MacMillan

The Samara Centre for Democracy, Co-founder

Tragedy in the Commons, Co-author

Andrew Coyne

Columnist

The Globe and Mail

Zain Velji

Samara Centre for Democracy, Board Member

Official Website https://www.samaracentre.ca

Samara Centre YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@TheSamaraCentre

Samara Centre Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thesamaracentre/ 

Samara Centre Twitter https://twitter.com/TheSamaraCentre 

Samara Centre on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSamaraCentre

Join the conversation using #HumansOfTheHouse.

This podcast is part of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s MP Exit Interview Project. Listen to all 6 episodes: https://www.samaracentre.ca/podcasts/humans-of-the-house-podcast  

This series is produced by Media Girlfriends (https://www.mediagirlfriends.com) for the Samara Centre for Democracy.

Visit our website (https://www.samaracentre.ca/) to learn more about how the Samara Centre for Democracy is working to secure a resilient democracy, and consider supporting our work with a donation. 

Humans of the House is funded by the Government of Canada and Rosamond Ivey.

The Samara Centre for Democracy and SSENC/RESCC have partnered on curriculum-connected teaching resources based on Humans of the House. Click here to access free accessible teaching resources for your classroom!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Canada’s democracy is under threat, and the stakes are high. But when we focus on how we are connected, we find the power to act - to strengthen what’s working and fix what’s not. This is what’s behind the Samara Centre for Democracy’s Group Chat podcast, hosted by Sabreena Delhon. It’s where we bring people together to make sense of this moment of democratic uncertainty - with a few friends.

Group Chat builds on the success of the Samara Centre for Democracy’s debut podcast Humans of the House which won a Canadian Online Publishing Award and was a Best Podcast nominee in the 2024 Radio Television Digital News Association Awards.  

Listen to Group Chat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.