What The West?

It’s been more than a month since Mexico’s recent federal elections. With the election of an incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, or AMLO, we are now seeing announcements about the team he’ll bring to office with him. In this episode, we look at changes in Mexico and the incoming team on the issue of most interest to western Canada: the energy sector. In Mexico City, we talk to Montserrat Ramiro, Comisión Reguladora de Energía In Part II of this Mexico election 2018 special edition podcast, we're partnering with Comexi to take a closer look at Canada's distant, often forgotten neighbour, Mexico. See Part I, The forgotten neighbour, here. Host: Carlo Dade, director, Trade & Investment Centre, Canada West Foundation Guest: Montserrat Ramiro, Comisión Reguladora de Energía

We produce a lot of oil here in Western Canada. Much more than we can use. So what do we do? We send it to whoever will give us the most money for it. But no one can seem to agree on the best way to maximize the value we get for this natural resource. It’s fairly common to hear people lament the perception that Canada, specifically Alberta with its oil sands developments, ships too much crude oil without first upgrading it to a higher quality product. We sell it for cheap and let others profit. Is this perception true? Are we selling ourselves short? The Government of Alberta might think so, with recently announced financial incentives to build partial upgrading facilities in the province. But that further begs the question of what does partial upgrading even mean? And what does peanut butter have to do with it? In this episode, we’re downloading what everyone’s talking about on upgrading in Alberta. Host: Nick Martin Guests: Kevin Birn, IHS Markit; G. Kent Fellows, University of Calgary School of Public Pol

On July 1, Mexicans head to the polls to elect a new President and Congress. But here in Canada, where you'd be forgiven for thinking that NAFTA is a bilateral instead of trilateral negotiation, you'd hardly know it. In this special edition Mexico Election 2018 episode, in partnership with Comexi, we’re talking about our forgotten neighbour, Canada’s fifth largest trading partner, and Donald Trump’s other favourite punching bag: Mexico. Host: Carlo Dade Guests: José Carreño, journalist, foreign policy reporter for el Heraldo; Agustín Barrios Gómez, former Congressman, head of Imagine Mexico, former Co-director of FOCAL-COMEXI Mexico-Canada initiative and schoolmate of Justin Trudeau; Ricardo Smith, Head, Youth Program, Comexi

From reopening NAFTA to America First and musing about implementing tariffs and border taxes, U.S. President Donald Trump has thrown out the rule book on trade, and with it, everything Canada was accustomed to in dealing with the U.S. Canada’s best hope in dealing with changes in the U.S. isn’t Ottawa, it is on the ground between provinces and states. In this episode, we’re talking province-to-state engagement. Host: Naomi Christensen Guests: Jim Eldridge; Jim Horsman