Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.

Rudyard and Janice open today's show with their key takeaway of the Canadian election: Mark Carney's functional minority was delivered to him by the Boomers who want to protect their assets and wealth accumulation. The needs of the younger generation, however, are being ignored as they are faced with poor job prospects and an inflated housing market. Governments need to address these conflicting demographic interests and provide a pathway to financial security for our young people. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice turn to the ongoing nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran. The new agreement being discussed is very similar to Obama's JCPOA, a deal which Trump backed out of in his first term in office. Why does Trump want to pursue a deal with Iran at the expense of the security of their close ally Israel? How are the Saudis influencing Trump's foreign policy in the Middle East? And will Israel be forced to go against Trump and strike against Iran on their own?

To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.

Andrew Coyne is a Globe and Mail Columnist and one of Canada’s most trusted commentators. On this Munk Dialogue Andrew and host Rudyard Griffiths unpack Canada's election results and where the parties and provinces go from here: now that they have sidelined the People's Party, can the Conservatives appeal to the centre? Will there be a surge in separatist sentiment in Alberta and Saskatchewan? And after the resounding defeat of the NDP, will Canada become a two-party system? Rudyard and Andrew also try to make sense of why young people skewed Conservative while Boomers supported the Liberals. How should we understand this demographic reversal of traditional voting habits?

Friday Focus provides listeners with a focused, half-hour masterclass on the big issues, events and trends driving the news and current events. The show features Janice Gross Stein, the founding director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and bestselling author, in conversation with Rudyard Griffiths, Chair and moderator of the Munk Debates.

Rudyard and Janice open the show with the Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal put forward by the Trump administration that would recognize Crimea as a Russian territory, deny NATO membership to Ukraine, and give Moscow control of 20 percent of Ukrainian territory in the Donbas region. This is a huge capitulation to Russia that doesn't provide any security guarantees to Ukraine. So why is Putin dragging his feet in accepting these generous terms?

In the second part of the show Rudyard and Janice reflect on the Canadian election campaign which will come to a close on Monday as voters head to the polls. Because so much focus has been paid to the Canada-US relationship, so many other important issues relating to the economy, productivity, immigration and housing have been ignored. Have we overpanicked to the Trump threat while failing to address the very real challenges at home?

To support the Friday Focus podcast consider becoming a donor to the Munk Debates for as little as $25 annually, or $.50 per episode. Canadian donors receive a charitable tax receipt.

This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue.

More information at www.munkdebates.com.