With the federal election nearly upon us, we’re bringing you the last edition of Campaign Call before Canadians head to the polls. This week, feature writer Shannon Proudfoot and columnists Robyn Urback and Marsha Lederman discuss how the leaders’ final pitches are sitting with Canadians.

Plus, The Globe’s economics reporter Nojoud Al Mallees breaks down the costed platforms of the Liberals and the Conservatives and explains why some people are questioning the math.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Nearly 15 years ago, the NDP became Canada’s official opposition. Now, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are trailing far behind the frontrunners of the upcoming federal election and are no longer campaigning to win — but instead to hold the winners accountable, raising questions about the party’s future.

Gary Mason is a national affairs columnist at the Globe. He’s on the show to explain how Singh’s campaign is responding to waning support, what’s led the NDP to this point and what the party’s collapse could mean for Canada’s political landscape.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, many are remembering his time as pope as one that marked a shift towards more progressive ideals, including an apology for the role of the Catholic Church in the harm done to Indigenous peoples through the residential school system, both in Rome, and again in Canada, back in 2022. Some critics said this apology didn’t go far enough.

Tanya Talaga is an Anishinaabe journalist, speaker and contributing columnist for the Globe and Mail. She’ll explain the Pope’s role in reconciling historic harms, what impact his apology actually had, and where reconciliation with the Church goes from here.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Recently, U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have created an uncertain environment for Canadian businesses, and many are considering shifting investments south of the border. But, for some, tariffs are having the opposite effect – providing opportunity to grow in Canada.

Pippa Norman is The Globe’s innovation reporter. She’ll explain how these businesses are expanding at home, and how risky the bet on Canada might be.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

On April 28, Canadians will vote in a new federal government. Voters have gotten to know the front-runners – Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and Liberal leader Mark Carney … but what about the people steering them?

With a week left, we’re looking at the people running this election’s leading campaigns – and the strategies driving the Liberal and Conservative war rooms in this tight race.

The Globe’s senior reporter Stephanie Levitz will introduce us to the strategists, advisors and campaign directors trying to win your vote – and the challenges both parties are facing in the process.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Presenting Machines Like Us, a Globe and Mail podcast on technology and people.

We’re a few weeks into a federal election that is currently too close to call. And while most Canadians are wondering who our next Prime Minister will be, host Taylor Owen and his guests today are preoccupied with a different question: will this election be free and fair?

In her recent report on foreign interference, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue wrote that “information manipulation poses the single biggest risk to our democracy”. Meanwhile, senior Canadian intelligence officials are predicting that India, China, Pakistan and Russia will all attempt to influence the outcome of this election. To try and get a sense of what we’re up against, Owen wanted to get two different perspectives on this. Aengus Bridgman is the Director of the Media Ecosystem Observatory, a project that they run together at McGill University, and Nina Jankocwicz is the co-founder and CEO of the American Sunlight Project. Bridgman and Jankocwicz are two of the leading authorities on the problem of information manipulation.

This episode was originally published on April 8, 2025.

Canadians are not particularly good at resting. According to Statistics Canada data collected between July 2022 and July 2023, people over the age of 15 spent an average of 17 minutes a day resting, relaxing, or lying down, and an average of 18 minutes a day on relaxing pursuits known as “active leisure” (think: birdwatching, camping, or going to an art gallery). That’s translating into stress – more than a fifth of employed Canadians said their stress levels were high or very high. On top of all that, Expedia’s 2024 Vacation Deprivation Report found that 45 per cent of Canadians left vacation days on the table in 2023.

Zosia Bielski is the Globe and Mail’s time use reporter. Today, she’s on the show to challenge the idea that down time needs to be earned, and to talk about some of the different approaches people are taking to prioritize rest in their lives.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

With less than two weeks until the federal election, The Decibel is bringing you another edition of Campaign Call, The Globe’s weekly election panel.

This week, ahead of the French and English leaders’ debates, feature writer Shannon Proudfoot and chief political writer Campbell Clark will explain why debates still matter and what each leader needs to accomplish during them.

In the second half, we’re joined by Nik Nanos, the chief data scientist of Nanos Research, to get a behind-the-scenes look at the polls – in terms of how the data is gathered and how reliable polls are.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? E-mail us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com