Jen Pederson's passion for international politics took her through a PhD, publishing analyses on regional conflicts included Yemen and Liberia, becoming a Broadbent Institute Fellow, and into advising the Federal NDP on foreign affairs.

Jen talks with Nikki and Tom about the implications for Canadians in Trump shifting the global power system farther from multilaterialism and rules and more toward great power dominance and instability. A key implication has been the wave of global inflation triggered by Trump's Iran War at a time when Canadians are already feeling prices have increased too much, too fast.

Jen discusses possibly reasons why Carney and Poilievre backed the Iran War despite the pocketbook costs to Canadians and how that endorsement squares with Carney's words in Davos. She also helps with some thinking about how Canada could work with other progressive movements and governments in The Americans to counter-act Trump's shift to unilaterialism and his use of it to spread instability.

Nikki updates us on two new modern treaties in BC even as controversy over the Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples continues, and Tom focuses on a nine-month lockout in Windsor that has worrying consequences for other workers.

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Nova Scotia NDP leader Claudia Chender joins to talk about the PCs government's budget-backdown, rising electricity and housing costs and Premier Tim Houston's mistake of attacking support to the culture of small town and rural Nova Scotia.

Nikki delves into what Canadian municipalities are doing around maternity and parental leave for city councillors and Tom digs into first quarter fundraising results in Ontario, which suggest the Ontario Liberals' polling levels may be a halo from the Carney Liberals rather than a reflection of their own momentum.

Nikki gives a big heave to the bigoted far-right attacks on the professional and precise chairperson for the recent Federal NDP convention, and Tom gives some love to those trying to find ways to make food affordable again.

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From the Winnipeg convention centre, Nikki and Tom dig into details about the Federal NDP convention and Avi Lewis' win to become party leader.

Then, Nikki and Tom are joined by our NDP comm pro panel to talk about the challenges that lay ahead for Avi as he works to rebuild the federal NDP. Our comms pro panel is:

- Melanie RIcher, former communications director for Jagmeet Singh
- Farouk Karim, former communications director for Tom Mulcair and the Guy Caron leadership campaign, and
- Leah Ward, former communications director of Rachel Notley

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