The Decibel

The federal government has released the 2026 budget. And this year the focus is on new net spending. It looks to put money toward boosting the housing supply, investing in Canadian businesses and bulking up the cultural sector. How do those ambitions balance against fiscal constraints and a deficit?
Matt Lundy, The Globe’s economics editor, breaks down the big takeaways from the budget and explains what story the Carney government is telling to Canadians.
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The U.S. midterm results have seemingly delivered a new era in American politics. On Tuesday, voters helped the Democratic Party take control of the U.S. House and Senate, flipping traditional Republican strongholds and sending a strong message to President Donald Trump. But what does this political shift mean for Canada? Does this impact the trade war? Will this reset U.S.-Canada relations in the next two years?
Doug Saunders, The Globe’s international affairs columnist, joins the show to talk about the ripple effects of the midterms, what it will mean for Carney-Trump relations, and reflects on the power of the U.S. Congress versus presidential powers.
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In the last several years, the village of Elora, Ont. has undergone a renaissance. Its picturesque downtown has welcomed more than 750,000 visitors annually which is up from 500,000 visitors just a few years prior. A number of Elora’s 19th century buildings have undergone restoration. Many of Elora’s recent real estate developments have been led by Kat Florence, a hotel company that has bought up historic properties and is now one of the village’s largest landlords.
But not everyone in Elora is happy. Some residents have criticized Kat Florence and say the company wields too much power in the village. Kat Florence has pushed back issuing defamation lawsuits and cease-and-desist letters against its loudest critics.
Greg Mercer, investigative journalist with the Globe, reported from Elora. He’s on the show to explain the tensions between residents and developers over a core question: who gets to decide how a community grows and changes?
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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As artificial intelligence seeps into every aspect of our lives, white-collar workers are wondering what that means for job security. And some are pre-emptively making the shift to work that they see as AI-proof in fields like skilled trades.
And while there’s not a lot of clear evidence that AI is actively eliminating white-collar jobs, there are trends in the job market to pay attention to. The Globe’s future of work reporter, Vanmala Subramaniam, tells us about the people switching careers and what white-collar workers should be thinking about in this moment.
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GLP-1 medications revolutionized the way we treat chronic weight management and diabetes by helping to quiet “food noise”. Researchers are now looking into whether these medications can also be used to dampen “drug noise” and help treat people with substance use disorders.
Alanna Smith is a health reporter for The Globe and she’s been looking into what’s going on with the research around GLP-1s being used to tread opioid addiction. She’s on the show to talk about the excitement and the reluctance on this potential treatment.
Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

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