Maclean’s magazine

Canada needs a food-sovereignty strategy—regardless of who’s in the White House. A new greenhouse north of Toronto shows how we can tariff–proof our farming future. https://lnkd.in/eU4R3_iB

As Bluesky’s head of trust and safety, Aaron R. tracks disinformation for a living. He says the upcoming federal election won’t just be shaped by parties and policies—but by online narratives. https://lnkd.in/eWUkqcM9

Tote-ally Canadian, just like Maclean’s. Join Margaret Atwood in supporting bold journalism with our made-in-Canada bag. Photo courtesy of Elbows Up, Canada. https://lnkd.in/gZbDu5HX

Many Gen Zs are worried about their future—and embracing conservative values as a result. Meet five young Canadians who are casting a vote for Pierre Poilievre. https://lnkd.in/eJUS-v3U

Pollster Frank Graves, the founder of EKOS, has never seen polls shift as dramatically as they have in the last month. The reason? Canadians are taking a collective gut-check about who we are and who we want to become, and we’re seeing signs of clarity. That recent spike in anti-immigration sentiment? It’s reversing. There’s a newfound receptivity for attracting the best and brightest talent—people who might be either leaving the U.S. or no longer attracted to the U.S. Canadians are embracing this as part of a bold new strategy to build a more independent, sovereign and productive economic future. Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre, once the polling front-runner, has struggled to pivot effectively against the threat of annexation. The highly effective and disciplined mantra of “Trudeau bad, country-broken, axe the tax” no longer fits the new zeitgeist or the Trump threat. He’s caught in a difficult position: trying to court moderates while his core base sympathizes heavily with the American right. https://lnkd.in/gwzhn6Av

In January, Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum that his country doesn’t need Canadian oil and gas. “We have more than anybody,” he declared. Like so much else Trump says, this was untrue. The U.S. ranks ninth in terms of world oil reserves, while Canada is in third place. Twenty-two per cent of the oil America uses is imported from Canada. Nonetheless, in February, the White House went further, proclaiming its plan to restore “American energy dominance” by producing more oil domestically. But this is a fantasy, from a time long before oil and gas became the continent-spanning enterprise it is today. Don Gillmor—a novelist, journalist and former roughneck in the Alberta oil fields—explains why Trump's desire for oil dominance is a pipe dream. https://lnkd.in/gZdTsiQm

The next federal election will be the most transformative in a decade, as Canadians stare down threats from abroad and pressures from within. For the first time in years, there’s a fighting chance that the federal Conservatives will take power—and CPC Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to fix what he calls a “broken” Canada. In part, that means empowering the people and industries that fell out of favour during the Trudeau era: he’s pledged new pipelines for the oil and gas industry, faster shovels in the ground for mining firms, less regulation for big tech and an Ottawa alliance with the renegade Canadian West. Here’s a deeper look at the big winners in Poilievre’s Canada. https://lnkd.in/gHJsimBD

Honoured to be nominated in the Written Feature category for Maclean’s magazine and in amazing company!

Amie Schellenberg, a professor at Thompson Rivers University, piloted an innovative project on campus: a solar-powered sidewalk. These would be different from the solar panels you’d see on a roof. Coated in epoxy and finished with a gritty, anti-slip layer; they feel like spongier, higher-grip concrete. She and colleague Michael Mehta got a $35,000 sustainability grant from the school and, in 2016, worked on two installations on campus: a 12-metre solar sidewalk and a solar compass, which is a decorative, sun-shaped walkway. The pair chose a lower-traffic, partly shaded area so students could safely practise using the installation. If this location could generate electricity, they figured, then sunnier areas could too. When Mehta and Schellenberg launched the project the following year, the sidewalks produced as much as 1,850 watt-hours per day—enough electricity to power a laptop for more than two days. By the following summer, the solar compass was producing more than 10,000 watt-hours daily, which is enough to power an entire classroom of computers at TRU’s arts and education building for the day. Overall, the project generated more than 2.6 megawatt-hours in its lifetime, enough to power a house for half a year. Could solar sidewalks be the answer to generating carbon free electricity across the country? https://lnkd.in/gquBBZJc

For two decades, Jenni Byrne has been among the most powerful backroom operators in Canadian politics. As a key player in the Conservative Party of Canada, her aim has been nothing less than to realign the nation’s political axis, ending the long dominance of the Liberals and pushing Canadian conservatism further to the right, in line with her own populist politics. She was one of Stephen Harper's strongest tacticians, helping engineer his 2011 majority government. When he lost power in 2015, she became a pariah—but today, as Pierre Poilievre’s most trusted adviser, she's on the verge of a comeback. Until three months ago, the election was theirs to lose. In Poilievre, Byrne had found a candidate who embodied her own worldview: a bristling anger against liberals, centrists and supposed elites. And in Justin Trudeau, they both had a perfect opponent: the unpopular scion of Canadian political royalty. Then Trudeau quit and Donald Trump scrambled the rules of Canadian politics. Poilievre's victory, once seemingly certain, looks precarious as polls show a history-making resurgence for the Liberals under new leader Mark Carney. Byrne will fight to the end—but if she fumbles this chance, she isn't likely to get another. https://lnkd.in/g4-uj3YA