This week on The Swing, Yaroslav Baran, Balkan Devlen, and host Heather Bakken unpack three pivotal developments shaping Canada’s political and economic trajectory. A Cabinet Planning Forum sets the stage for a high-stakes fall session and budget. The new Major Projects Office launches in Calgary to fast-track infrastructure and send a clear signal to Alberta’s energy sector. And China’s high-profile Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit reveals new alignments with global power blocs.

How do these shifts redefine Canada’s role in the world, its economic resilience, and its political strategy at home? Tune in for an in-depth discussion.

Hop on The Swing to look at Canadian politics through a wider, global lens.

This week, Yaroslav and Heather break down Prime Minister Mark Carney’s scrapping of U.S. tariffs, his surprise stop in Kyiv with nearly $2B in new aid for Ukraine, and a European tour cementing defence, trade, and NATO ties.

Back home, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre reclaimed a seat in Parliament with a byelection win. And from Hamilton, the curious case of a young Canadian crypto hacker who pulled off multi-million-dollar heists but is now on the lam.

This week on The Swing, Yaroslav and Heather unpack three developments that reveal just how unpredictable, and globally entangled, Canadian politics has become.

The August 1 trade deadline came and went without a deal between Canada and the United States. Meantime Statistics Canada released the latest numbers 0n Canadian International Merchandise Trade.

Ottawa made a foreign policy pivot. Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. Harkening Canada’s traditional role as a middle-power mediator, they explore the domestic implications and international fallout.

And democracy just got a stress test. Elections Canada is revising its ballot format after 'The Longest Ballot Committee' registered more than 200 candidates for the upcoming by-election in Battle River–Crowfoot, which will determine whether the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada gets a seat in The House, to protest the first-past-the-post voting system. Yaroslav has led Canadian Observation Election missions abroad and cautions against the potential danger protest movements could pose to an electoral system and the importance of election security.