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.

This episode is essential listening for anyone following Canada-U.S. relations, trade policy, or the broader dynamics of economic nationalism and geopolitical strategy.

Hosts Heather Bakken and Yaroslav Baran are joined by Fen Hampson, Chancellor’s Professor of International Affairs at Carleton University and Co-chair of the Expert Group on Canada-US Relations. Together, they unpack the fast-approaching August 1 trade deadline, triggered by U.S. President Trump’s threat of a 35% tariff on Canadian exports.

Does this mean we're heading to Armageddon on August 1st? (Spoiler alert: it does not).

Fen provides critical insight into what’s really at stake while clarifying that most Canadian exports are CUSMA-compliant and therefore shielded from the looming tariffs. Tensions remain high over steel, aluminum, and softwood lumber, with ongoing disputes and strategic maneuvering from both countries.

The discussion also delves into supply management politics, the implications of Bill C-202, the complex dairy-quota standoff, and how geopolitics, market realities, and regulatory frameworks shape trade outcomes.

Fen makes the case for Canada's competitive edge with The North as a strategic asset, rich in critical minerals and energy potential, and how northern development could redefine Canada's economic future as well as the national conversation on pipelines and sovereignty.

Multiple summits and looming trade deadlines are keeping Canada's Prime Minister busy in back-to-back meetings with Indigenous leaders, U.S. Senators, and provincial premiers. Yaroslav and Heather cut through the headlines for a grounded perspective on the politics, policies and process behind the bid to fast-track major projects of national interest with a moving goal post on trade deal deadlines and tariffs.

This week, Pendulum co-founders Yaroslav Baran and Heather Bakken bring you inside the political machinery behind Canada’s next federal budget — and what happens before the numbers hit the page.

Finance Minister Champagne is heading out on a cross-country road trip as part of a two-track consultation process to shape national priorities ahead of the fall budget. Yaroslav breaks down how it works, who's involved and what lies ahead.

U.S. President Donald Trump pens another tariff letter — this time adding copper to the list. Ottawa has tough negotiators, but can the Carney government deliver a revamped trade deal to protect Canada’s resource-heavy exports by the August 1st deadline?

And Heather makes a patriotic pitch for the budget-day shoe reveal. (Hint: Yaroslav and Heather are both Fluevoggers.)

This week, on the heels of U.S. Embassy's Fourth of July party with the Calgary Stampede in full 'swing', Yaroslav and Heather talk about Prime Minister Mark Carney's approach to trade diversification, trade deals, and building that elusive “One Canadian Economy”!

Hop on The Swing for an executive briefing on nation building projects, defence procurement and Canada's equivalent of the executive order (hint: it's called an Order in Council). And a Canadian baseball hero's walk-off on X.

In this episode of The Swing, we dive into the machinery of Canadian democracy with a timely review of the 45th Parliament under Prime Minister Mark Carney following his first sitting session.

So — did the PM have a successful first season? Pendulum's Yaroslav Baran, a seasoned political and parliamentary expert, joins Heather Bakken to break down what has been accomplished.

Carney’s governing style is already reshaping federal politics. What about the nuts and bolts of the passage of priority legislation, and what it really means? How does Bill C-5, the government’s central economic legislation, promise to unite Canada’s internal economy and streamline major projects amid trade tensions with the U.S.?

We pull back the curtain on the hidden power of Parliamentary committees over the summer recess, assess where things stand with the Canada-U.S. trade file and explore how Carney’s team is navigating the next phase.

Hop on the swing and listen in.