Two Queen's Park journalists track Doug Ford's Ontario government, policy fight by policy fight.
Wag the Doug follows Ontario politics with a close eye on the Ford government, Queen’s Park procedure, and the strange logic of provincial decision-making. Its best stretches turn committee mechanics, contracts, media strategy, and public infrastructure fights into sharp, conversational analysis.
PRESS PLAY
Wag the Doug is a two-host discussion show, not a guest-interview format: co-hosts Alison Smith and Jonathan Goldsbie work through a small set of Ontario news stories each month in panel-style conversation. Smith brings a legislative-procedure lens from her work publishing Queen's Park Today, while Goldsbie supplies investigative and media-criticism framing from his role at Canadaland. Episodes typically open with a Canadaland fundraising appeal, often voiced by founder Jesse Brown, before moving into the month's material. Recurring subjects include Doug Ford's policy reversals and messaging (the beer store agreement, the Greenbelt), the mechanics of Queen's Park procedure and legislation, municipal-provincial friction involving Toronto and Peel Region, and government accountability stories such as judicial appointments and Sunshine List spending. The show also tracks opposition politics, including the Ontario Liberals under Bonnie Crombie and the NDP under Marit Stiles, and occasionally digs into climate and infrastructure policy such as wildfire response funding and EV manufacturing deals. An annual 'Douggie Awards' episode recaps the year's spin and scandals in a more comedic register, contrasting with the more straightforward news and investigative tone of regular episodes. Episodes run roughly 35 to 50 minutes and are produced with input from Canadaland staff including producer Sam Connard and editor-in-chief Karen Pugliese. The show benefits listeners who want continuity on a single provincial government's record rather than broad national political coverage. Its perspective is openly critical of the Ford government's communications strategy and process, drawing on legislative and journalistic detail rather than partisan talking points from any single party.
Made for: Ontario residents and Canadian politics followers who want ongoing, detailed tracking of the Doug Ford government's specific policy decisions and messaging.
What sets it apart: Unlike broader Canadian politics podcasts, it keeps a monthly, narrow focus on one provincial government, pairing a Queen's Park procedural specialist with a Canadaland investigative journalist and closing each year with a satirical awards recap.
A monthly podcast grappling with the reality of four more infuriating years with the Fords and what that means for Ontario. Hosted by Allison Smith and Jonathan Goldsbie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Wag the Doug makes Ontario's policy machinery understandable through close explanation, candid uncertainty and a steady eye for political contradictions.
Wag the Doug follows Ontario politics by tracing what provincial decisions mean after the announcement and press conference have passed. Jonathan Goldsby and Alison Smith work conversationally, pairing policy explanation with dry jokes and open disagreement rather than…
Queen's Park becomes a group chat where a Ford reversal gets receipts and a raised eyebrow.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A fundraising pitch that makes a steady case for defending Canadian media.
Jesse Brown uses Canada Land's crowdfunding month to make a plain case for support: Canadian media still needs backing, and this show wants listeners to help keep reporting and uncommon voices in circulation. The appeal stays tied to the show's purpose, which gives it some force.
A pointed Ontario politics episode connecting Doug Ford's biography, auto investment, and the province's old faith in roads and industry.
Doug Ford, Ontario Man reads Ford through the Ontario that shaped him: the family label business, the Gardiner Expressway, public health care, and a provincial economy still vulnerable to the demands of big employers.
An Ontario politics awards-show roast about official spin around the Greenbelt and Ontario Science Centre.
The Fifth Annual(ish) Douggie Awards treats Ontario politics as a year-end prize show for government spin. The segment lands hardest when it compares two familiar Ford-government reversals: the Greenbelt backtrack, framed as a renewed commitment to protection after the province…
A sharp Ontario politics read on beer retail, contract power, and the Ford government's convenience-store promise.
Wag the Doug turns Ontario's beer retail fight into a story about contracts, cabinet power, and the Ford government's taste for convenience politics.
A crisp Queen's Park read on Gaza symbolism, chamber rules, and why procedure mattered more than the theatrics.
Queen's Park and Gaza is strongest when it stays inside the machinery of the legislature. The episode tracks the fight over keffiyehs at Queen's Park alongside the harder procedural question raised by IDF-style dog tag pendants: what counts as a political symbol, who is supposed…
A sharp Ontario politics episode on TikTok-era opposition messaging and Ford's steadier, lower-drama path to reelection.
Wag the Doug turns Ontario politics into a question of attention: who gets it, what it is worth, and whether online charm can become votes. The strongest thread is the Ontario NDP's TikTok problem, framed through Jagmeet Singh's 2021 federal campaign, where strong social video…
A brisk Ontario politics read on Doug Ford's court appointments, gun-linked lobbying, and how much the province can actually change.
Wag the Doug digs into Doug Ford's judicial appointment fight by looking at who is being put near the process, not just the slogan around it. The most pointed bit is the uneasy match between Ford's tough-on-crime pitch and appointees discussed as lobbyists with firearm-related…
A dry, pointed read on wildfires, climate politics, and the incentives Doug Ford actually responds to.
Wag the Doug turns wildfire talk into a sharp read on what Doug Ford's politics is built to notice. The episode's clearest thread is the gap between climate risk as a future people have to live through and climate action as something government may only take up when it can be…
Sharp political debate with policy detail and real disagreement.
Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson debate Canadian politics, from Alberta separatism to Ottawa's bureaucracy.
Robert Evans, Katie Stoll, and Cody Johnston build fake conspiracies and mock right-wing media.
Steve Hayes and Dispatch panelists argue through the week's Iran, DOJ, and Supreme Court news.
Jonah Goldberg's solo political rants and author interviews on conservatism, courts, and current events.
John Donvan moderates two-sided debates on AI, bioethics, feminism, and film's future.
Canadaland publisher Jesse Brown introduces a new series, What Is Happening Here, examining the surge in antisemitism in Canada since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
Jesse Brown opens with a warning from a politically connected friend: Canadians will die Americans via capital flight, degraded services and elite assimilation.
Doug Ford becomes infrastructure.
Spin gets its own category.
Contracts stay the running joke.
The flashpoint is clothing.
Jesse Brown starts with a pitch.
Ontario's judge-panel story gets a dry, skeptical pass.
Wildfire fighting becomes the cleanest test case.
The Science Center comes across as a place people actually used.
Peel survives, for now.
Strip-mall classrooms are the tell.