Michael Wernick kicks off this week’s podcast by reminding me that I met him during the 1995 Quebec secession referendum campaign. He was a Privy Council official supporting the Chrétien government. It was a time when public servants routinely talked to reporters. Wernick eventually became Clerk of the Privy Council during Justin Trudeau’s first term, having worked well with the Harper government in between, and the Mulroney government before. I wanted him on the pod because he’s seen a lot of history from the inside, and whatever else this year is, it’s history.
It’s Wernick who uses the term “age of coercion” that promptly became this week’s podcast title. It’s a reference to Donald Trump’s model of international relations. While Canadian politicians are figuring out how to respond, public servants are waiting to greet one of them as the new or returning Prime Minister. Wernick’s seen a lot of this sort of thing and offers us an expert briefing.
I’m traveling less this year than in most elections, but I’m lucky to be able to pick my far-flung correspondents. Geoff Meggs worked for Larry Campbell when he was Vancouver’s mayor, and was chief of staff to the late NDP BC premier John Horgan. He guides us through BC’s turbulent recent provincial politics and its effect on federal politics, with a stop on the debate over opioid policy.
We close with my conversation with Shannon Proudfoot, the star feature writer at the Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau. Shannon and I used to work together at a magazine, and we compare thoughts by text message frequently through our work week. In this odd week where the campaign Jell-O hasn’t yet set, Shannon and I trade yarns and theories.
You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and a bunch of other platforms via the “Listen On” button that you can see at the top of this post when you view it on your desktop browser. If you listen on a podcast platform, hit “Like” and “Subscribe” buttons, and leave a good review, to help spread the word.
This week I’m launching an all-platform open-source search for the Transcript button. Every week I write here: “You can read a (machine-generated) transcript of this week’s episode via the ‘Transcript’ button at the top of this page when you view it on your desktop browser.” I keep hearing from readers who can’t find the Transcript button. I’d be grateful if readers who can spot the Transcript button would explain, in the comments below, where they see it. Say what platform you use, whether it’s laptop or phone (iPhone or Android?) or even (OK, millennials) an iPad, and describe where you found the sneaky Transcript button. I wish we could upload screenshots in the comments, but no such luck. You can post your screenshots on Substack Notes, though! I’ll go first. On Chrome on a Macbook, it’s on the line below my signature, like this:
See it? Lower right corner? Now it’s your turn.
I am grateful to be the Max Bell Foundation Senior Fellow at McGill University, the principal patron of this podcast. Antica Productions turns these interviews into a podcast every week. Kevin Breit wrote and performed the theme music. Andy Milne plays it on piano at the end of each episode. Thanks to all of them and to you. Please tell your friends to subscribe to The Paul Wells Show on their favourite podcast app, or here on the newsletter.
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