The Herle Burly – Details, episodes & analysis

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, PSAC, and the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! Tuesday this week was budget day, the Carney government’s long-awaited, first. And as we typically do when there’s a fresh budget to pick apart – we’ve assembled the policy panel for our very own Herle Burly Budget Lock-up.

 Dr. Jennifer Robson, Tyler Meredith and Ben Woodfinden are here to give us their review of Budget 2025.

You loyal Herle Burly-ites know Jennifer and Tyler well ... but Ben is new to the panel, so I’m going to start the bona fides with him.

Only one month ago, he joined Meredith, Boessenkool & Phillips as a Senior Advisor and Director of their new premium policy intelligence service, MBP Intelligence.  Over his career, he’s provided advice, translated policy and shaped messaging in the highest stakes political environments, most recently as Director of Comms for Pierre Poilievre. 

Jennifer has served in senior roles in policy development and research with the Federal Government. She’s now Program Director and Associate Professor of Political Management at Carleton University, and a fellow of the Public Policy Forum

And Tyler is the former Head of Fiscal and Economic Policy for Prime Minister Trudeau and Ministers of Finance, Chrystia Freeland and Bill Morneau. Today, he’s a Founding Partner at Meredith/Boessenkool & Phillips Policy Advisors.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, PSAC, and the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council.

Greetings, you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites. Remember about 15 years ago, when the publicly-troubled-at-the-time actor Charlie Sheen went viral for invoking the word “WINNING!” all over the place and in some pretty odd ways. Even when he wasn’t winning.

Charlie’s past that now. But let me submit our guest today has full rights to that word: Veteran PC and Conservative Party campaign manager, Steve Outhouse. 

He managed Premier Tony Wakeham’s majority winning campaign just a couple of weeks ago in Newfoundland. As well as Premier Smith’s UCP majority victory in Alberta.

Steve hails from Freeport, Long Island in southwest Nova Scotia. He worked in various comms roles in the Harper government before moving on to helm 3 federal CPC Leadership campaigns, as well as provincial leadership campaigns in Nova Scotia, PEI and the aforementioned Newfoundland and Labrador. He’s the founder of the “Just Campaigns” consultancy and says he’s “a bad business person”, but winning elections isn’t exactly bad for business. 

We’ll talk today a little more about Steve’s background about what animates his political life. Then we’ll do a deep dive into modern campaign mechanics: What works today? What doesn’t? I want his thoughts on “hot button” issues and how best to use them. Then, and this particularly relevant because he was Chief of Staff to Pierre Poilievre prior to 2015, what advice would Steve give to the federal Conservatives?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail, and Fidelity Investments Canada.

Greetings you curious, you courageous, Herle Burly-ites. The guy driving the online initiative, Build Canada, is here... Daniel Debow.

Build Canada bills itself as a community of entrepreneurs, leaders, and motivated citizens who are committed to driving Canada’s growth. The hub of it all is a website that allows Canadian “builders” to take their ideas – bold, courageous, policy ideas, and publish them as specific, actionable memos that people can read and react to. That would include government and public policy people.

I’ve talked about them on the pod before. About 5 months ago when I had on the pod journalist David Skok from The Logic.

But now, the volunteer Chair, co-creator, and “chief cheerleader” (as he calls himself) of the whole thing. Daniel Debow has quite a CV: ridiculously successful entrepreneur, early investor in over 50 tech companies, board director, educator and mentor. 

We’re going to find out more about his backstory, because I want to start the interview there. What he’s learned in business and what lessons are applicable to making Canada better. What he’s trying to achieve with Build Canada. How much, and in what ways, does he think Canada needs to change. And does he see a new government that can help us grow (and I’m quoting from the website now) ... “fast and fearlessly ... to become the most prosperous country in the world”?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The sponsored ads contained in the podcast are the expressed views of the sponsor and not those of the publisher.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Alright Herle Burly-ites, we’ve got a Minister in the House today! It’s the 2nd time he’s been on the pod in just over 6 months:  The Honourable Marc Miller is our guest.

Near the end of July, he came on here to talk about his work as Minister of Crown and Indigenous Relations. Two days later the Prime Minister shuffled his cabinet and Mr. Miller into one of the most politically sensitive, highly pressurized portfolios … Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Now that he’s sitting squarely in the sights of both the opposition and the media, never more so than right now, I’m thrilled that Minister Miller is back to talk about both the challenges and the opportunities, including our actual and perceived capacity to increase immigration levels, exploitation of temporary foreign workers, and capping international student permits.

Finally, we’ll talk about the Liberal Party of Canada’s re-election chances and his take on Pierre Poilievre.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Today on the pod, a guest who makes me feel like we’re doing something right around here at Air Quotes Media. Or, at least, not altogether wrong. That’s because she keeps coming back to the show, pretty much every time we ask her. 5 times now! And that makes her the all-time record holder for appearances … taking her out of a tie with Peter Weltman.

I want all our listeners to know, I’ve offered her the coveted full-time position as Herle Burly In-House Economist, but for some weird reason, she prefers to remain in her current job: Global Chief Economist and Strategist at Manulife Financial.

Frances Donald is with us today!

So today, a tour of most of the economic hot button issues:

• What’s the outlook for the next 18 months?
• Canadian Fiscal Policy and the role of low deficits.
• Immigration and the economy.And why is there a shortage of skilled trades to build the housing we so desperately need?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Alright, you Herle Burly-ites,  I’m always chuffed when we’re able to put a journalist panel together. And goddammit, I feel just a huge amount of power putting questions to people who do it for a living! But let’s face it … they’re far better at it than me.

Vassy Kapelos, Aaron Wherry and Campbell Clark are here today!

Just a brief bio for each because you plugged-in Herle Burly-ites know these 3 pretty well:

• Vassy is CTV News’ Chief Political Correspondent. The Host of their weekly political journal of record, Question Period, and Host of CTV News Channel’s weekday show, Power Play.
• Aaron is Senior Writer at CBC News. He’s covered Parliament Hill since 2007. And he’s the author of “Promise and Peril”, a deep dive into Justin Trudeau’s years in power.
• Campbell is Chief Political Writer for the Globe and Mail, with their Ottawa bureau since 2000. Before that, he wrote for the Montreal Gazette and National Post.

#BREAKING This is going to be a politics show. I want to get our panellists’ thoughts on the 3 major parties and leaders. Where they stand now in the minds of the electorate and how they got there. How current events and polling are shaping their strategies and their messaging. And what the “gallery” makes of the different approaches, and how best to cover it.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

We’re coming back strong with our first show of the year because of the history and political perspective we’re going to get over the next 60 minutes. Former multi-portfolio Cabinet Minister and over quarter century Member of Parliament, Carolyn Bennett is our guest.

Ms. Bennett is political wonder.  Winner of 9 straight elections in Toronto-St. Paul’s. Family Physician by training. The first-ever Minister of State for Public Health where she led the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada and appointed our first Public Health Officer. She was appointed Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs in 2015. Then, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. And in 2021, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health. Ms. Bennett announced her retirement from public life just about a month ago. 

So today on The Herle Burly: The Carolyn Bennett Exit Interview. We’re going to talk about the evolution of the Liberal Party over close to 30 years. Where the country’s at on Indigenous relations and how that’s changed. Similarly, Healthcare and Public Health.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Alright you holiday Herle Burly-ites, welcome to our last pod of the year. We’ll be back week of January 8th , 2024, as I’m heading to my prairie homeland during the break for a little L-H-R in R time. That’s a Herle acronym for Lemon Hart Rum in Regina time. But getting back to today’s show …

This is just a fantastic way to send out our podcasting year: Jason Kenney is our guest! The 18th Premier of Alberta. Former Leader of the United Conservative Party and the last leader of the Alberta PC Party. MP for the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance. And a multi-portfolio Cabinet Minister for Prime Minister Harper’s Conservatives from 2006 to 2015. Just a highly distinguished political career. Which is where you might expect me to take the bulk of this conversation. Except that, I won’t.

Instead, today I want to talk to Mr. Kenny about the Conservative movement and modes of thinking on a larger scale and on a number of issues. Global Affairs. Russia and Ukraine. China. Israel and Gaza. Climate Change and different ways to grapple with it. The future of the U.S. Republican Party, and more.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Greetings you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites. An auspicious pod for you today. It marks a first in the long and storied, yet somehow still dubious history of The Herle Burly.

We have the United States Ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen as our guest. 2 years and 2 weeks into the job! I’d need a whole separate pod to cover off Ambassador Cohen’s CV (see official bio below) — it’s that long and accomplished.

Suffice to say his career has spanned business, law, politics, academia, non-profit and a host of board work. And I’m going to spend some time with the Ambassador on his backstory, so we’ll find out more.

We’re also going to talk his impressions of Canada, U.S. politics and leadership in the world, the future of global trade.

Official bio:
Before his appointment by President Biden and unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David L. Cohen served as Senior Advisor to the CEO at Comcast Corporation as of January 1, 2020.  He was previously Senior Executive Vice President at Comcast, where his portfolio included corporate communications, legal affairs, government and regulatory affairs, public affairs, corporate administration, corporate real estate and security, and community impact.  Cohen also served as the company’s first chief diversity officer.

Before starting with Comcast in July 2002, Cohen served as a partner in and Chairman of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, one of the 100 largest law firms in the country.  From January 1992 to April 1997, Cohen served as Chief of Staff to the Honorable Edward G. Rendell, the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia.

Cohen served on many nonprofit boards, including as chair of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania and its Executive Committee; as a member of the trustee board and the executive committee of Penn Medicine; as a member of the board of directors and the executive committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; as chair of the Philadelphia Theatre Company; as a member of the Board of the National Urban League; and as chair of the corporate board of advisors of UnidosUS.   Cohen also previously served as a member of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission.  He also served on the board of directors of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and PNC Bank, National Association.

A native of New York, Cohen graduated with a B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1977 and with a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School summa cum laude in 1981.  Cohen has received numerous honors and recognitions, including Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.  Prior to his appointment to Ottawa, he lived in Philadelphia with his wife.

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.

The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Greetings you curious, you courageous Herle Burly-ites! Here we are, in late 2023. With housing prices still out of sight. Availability of affordable housing, negligible. Government measures crawling slowly into place. Poilievre making hay with a 15-minute docu-drama, viewed millions on the subject. I want to talk about all of that today. And I couldn’t have two better, more engaged-with-the-issue people, to do it with:

Mike Moffatt is an Assistant Professor in Business, Economics, and Public Policy at Ivey Business School, Western. He’s also the Senior Director of Policy at the University of Ottawa’s Smart Prosperity Institute. His current area of research is on Canada’s housing supply and affordability crisis. He’s authored many research reports, made hundreds of media appearances from TVO’s The Agenda to CBC’s The National. His team’s work has led to several public policy changes at all levels of government. And in 2023, he was named one of the most influential people in Ontario real estate.

Ron Butler is a 28-year veteran of the mortgage industry and one of its most prominent names. He’s the founder, and a principal, of discount brokerage Butler Mortgage Inc and he’s a hugely outspoken voice on the Twitter-verse on the subject. A few months ago, he launched his own weekly show — “Angry Mortgage Podcast” — to share his insights, and vitriol, on the subject.

So today, we’re going to benefit from Mike’s 30,000-foot view … and Ron’s boots on the ground experience. What’s happening in the market right now? What’s the situation for mortgage holders facing renewal? What can we expect from government action at all levels? What are the prospects for people in their 20s and 30s to ever own a home? And what did they think of Poilievre’s opus?

Thank you for joining us on #TheHerleBurly podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.

Watch episodes of The Herle Burly via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.