Episode list

The West Block

Episode #11.3

Sat, Nov 13, 2021
Guests: Kirsten Hillman, Ambassador of Canada to the United States; Elizabeth May, Green Party Parliamentary Leader Location: Ottawa, ON
0 /10
Episode #11.18
On this week's edition of 'The West Block' Mercedes Stephenson covers all the angles of the war in Europe - speaking with Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae and former senior director for European affairs in the Obama administration Charles Kupchan.
0 /10
Episode #11.19
The West Block" host Mercedes Stephenson is in Latvia, where she sits down with President Egils Levits to talk about European Security and the importance of having Canada's military in his country. Then, guest host Eric Sorensen speaks with Canada's Ambassador to Ukraine Larisa Galadza about her experience seeing Ukrainians flee the Russian invasion, and their hardened stoicism. With the Conservatives set to chose a new leader in September, Sorensen is joined by Summa Strategies chair Tim Powers to preview the race, which Powers anticipates becoming a "barroom brawl."
0 /10
Episode #11.20
This week on "The West Block," host Mercedes Stephenson reports on the refugee situation on the Ukraine-Moldova border and speaks about what's needed to strengthen the Canadian Armed Forces with Defence Minister Anita Anand. Then back in Ottawa, guest host David Akin speaks with Natural Resource Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz about the rising cost of energy.
0 /10
Episode #11.21
This week on 'The West Block,' guest host David Akin speaks with Immigration Minister Sean Fraser about Canada's emergency policies to help Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. Then, Akin sits down with former Canadian ambassador to the UN Allan Rock to get his insight on the challenges western countries face in trying to support Ukraine but avoid escalating the conflict. Then, a new face has entered the Conservative leadership race - akin asks Ontario MP Scott Aitchison why he thinks he's the one for the job.
0 /10
March 27th

Sat, Mar 26, 2022
This week on 'The West Block', guest host Eric Sorensen speaks with the United States' former ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker to get his insights on what Putin's next moves and how NATO can respond. Then, Canada's ambassador to the UN Bob Rae joins Sorensen share why Canadians should prepare for higher costs at home due to the conflict. Plus, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is in studio to talk about his deal to support the Liberals.
0 /10
Episode #11.25
This week on 'The West Block', host Mercedes Stephenson speaks with retired Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the parallels he sees between that conflict and the Rwandan genocide. Then, Canada is sending troops to Poland to assist in coordinating refugees. Stephenson speaks with Defence Minister Anita Anand about sending additional military support to Ukraine. Plus, acclaimed singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk joins Stephenson to discuss her work assisting raising funds for Ukraine with the Ukrainian World Congress.
0 /10
Episode #11.26
This week on "The West Block," guest host David Akin speaks with Anna Veduta, a close ally of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Veduta explains why it's important to continue to place personal sanctions on close Putin allies, as the war in Ukraine enters its third month. Then, big name Conservatives Brad Wall and James Moore join Akin to discuss the Tory leadership race and what it takes to hold the big-tent coalition together. Plus, housing policy expert Mike Moffatt joins the show to give a reality check on federal measures aimed at cooling the hot housing market.
0 /10
Episode #11.30
This week on "The West Block," host Mercedes Stephenson speaks with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who says Canada plans to ban 'high-risk vendors' in other sensitive industries in the wake of barring Huawei from the nation's 5G infrastructure. Then, Stephenson speaks with former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith about her goal to lead Alberta's United Conservative Party following Premier Jason Kenney's shocking resignation. Plus, the racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket thrust a white supremacist conspiracy theory into the spotlight. Stephenson is joined by extremism research Amarnath Amarasingam on what needs to be done to address white supremacy.
0 /10
Episode #11.34
his week on 'The West Block,' host Mercedes Stephenson speaks with Transport Minister Omar Alghabra about the end of domestic vaccine mandates for travel, plus why the ArriveCAN app and mask mandates aren't heading for the departures gate. Then, Stephenson gets economist Don Drummond's grade for the government's affordability plan and why key interest rates need to rise. Plus, Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest says he still has a path to victory, despite his main rival, Pierre Poilievre claiming to have sold more than 300 party memberships.
0 /10

Edit Focus

Stelvio. Crossroads of Peace

Stelvio. Crossroads of Peace

A documentary that showcases an extraordinary place in the heart of Europe: The Stelvio Pass. Here, at 3,000 metres above sea-level in the middle of the Italian Alps, one finds an imposing natural treasure where the present meets the past and the visitor discovers a breath-taking landscape and mountain sports experience. Whereas the Stelvio alpine glacier is a big tourist attraction for summer skiing, the mountain road to the Pass, an engineering wonder built in 1825 by the Austrian Empire, hosts the most famous stage of the Giro d'Italia. But people once battled here not just for sporting reasons: One hundred years ago soldiers on those peaks experienced the so-called White War which took place on the highest and coldest battlefield of World War I. After one hundred years trenches, cans, bombs and weapons from that cruel war are still found in the snow by people like Mario Pasinetti, a hotel porter and former member of the Italian Alpine brigade, who collects war remains in his spare time. Through Mario's story the viewer meets the people that make the Stelvio a lively microcosm: Claudia, a female forest ranger; Gustav Thöni, a former world skiing champion; Pompa, an aficionado and pilot of vintage airplanes as well as inventor of Artic rescue tools which he tests personally on the glacier; and Lorenz, a shaman who lives at the foot of the Stelvio road. Through these people and other characters, along with the help of majestic mountain shoots (including helicams and wescam shoots), this documentary enables us to discover the unexpected power and magic of this alpine microcosm that has changed from a point of collision between hostile forces to a place of interchange and discovery, of encounters and leisure activities: a "crossroad of peace".

All Filters